13/03/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News today with me, Zeinab Badawi. The diplomatic

battle for Ukraine shifts to the UN. Its interim government appeals for

international backing against Russian activities in Crimea.

Ukraine's interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is about to

address the UN Security Council in New York as Russia confirms that it

has begun troop manoeuvres near the Ukrainian border.

One of the most powerful figures in football, the Bayern Munich

president Uli Hoeness, has been sentenced to more than three years

in prison in Germany for tax evasion.

Revelations in court - and expressive allegation about Princess

Diana's relations with the tabloid press dominate the latest age of

Britain's phone hacking trial. Also coming up, a rare glimpse

inside Iran. As the Persian year approaches, we report from Tehran

and ask if this year could mark a new beginning.

And a weekend's travel for nothing - how the authorities in Paris are

planning to get drivers to leave their cars at home to help combat

pollution. Hello and welcome. The interim

government of Ukraine is taking its case to the UN. Fresh from holding

talks with President Obama and members of his administration on

Wednesday, its prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is about address

-- addressed the United Nations Security Council in New York. Let's

look at what is going on. People are still milling around, evidently not

sitting down yet. When Arseniy Yatsenyuk begins to make his

statement, we will of course renew that. Let's join our correspondent,

who is also waiting for developments, at our studio at the

United Nations in New York. So, Nick, Arseniy Yatsenyuk is hotting

up the battle on the diplomatic front? Yes, the Western powers are

keen for him to address the United Nations Security Council, because

the world has no more meaningful stage in international diplomacy

than the chamber you have been looking at. Things always get

underway a little late. He was scheduled to be there at three. As

you can see, the diplomats have read milling around in anticipation of

his arrival. We are expected to hear from him this reaffirming of what he

said at the White House yesterday with Barack Obama, that Ukraine's

territorial integrity is being violated as well as its sovereignty.

That referendum scheduled for Sunday is illegal. The Western powers are

keen for him to deliver that message on this very big into national stage

in New York. Do we know what we can expect from this address? Does

anybody else talk? We will expect some responses from the permanent

representatives of the various countries of the UN Security

Council. Obviously, the clear ones will be America and Russia. We are

anticipating that the Americans may well start circulating a resolution

about Ukraine. I don't think it will be strongly critical of Russia,

because they will soften the language. I don't want China to veto

it. They want China to abstain on this one. That would be a

significant development, because China usually sides with Russia on

most things. And Russia, in this instance, will veto a resolution.

The wording will be about stating the basic principles at stake for

the West here - sovereignty, territorial integrity, the

illegality of this referendum under the Ukraine constitution. As I say,

I do not think there will be strong words condemning Russia, because the

idea of this resolution is to try and isolate Russia diplomatically.

And they will want China's pass it support. Because of that, they will

water down the language. We will bring you that session when Arseniy

Yatsenyuk begins to speak. Meanwhile on the ground, the Russian

defence ministry has confirmed that it has begun another huge military

exercise near the Ukrainian border. 8,500 Russian soldiers are taking

part, armed with anti-tank weapons and rocket launchers. These pictures

were filmed during overnight drills in Rostov on Don. In response,

Ukraine's parliament has approved a plan to create a new National Guard

of 60,000 volunteers, to bolster its regular army.

Tensions are continuing inside Crimea, where that referendum on

whether or not it should be part of Russia is to be held on Sunday. The

BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson is in Crimea, and he reports

from outside a military base. This is a curious and potentially

explosive stand-off here between a group of Ukrainian soldiers, led by

an officer, and the pro-Russian volunteers standing outside the

base, sealing it off effectively. These men did not want to be held

hostage inside their base. They decided to disregard the

instructions they were getting and go out into the town, flying their

Ukrainian flag. Now they are trying to get back and get inside, and they

are not being allowed. They are unarmed, and they say they are

peaceful. They are just trying to establish their rights to do what

they want, while they can. The pro-Russian volunteers are really

quite unpleasant and hostile. I thought one of them was going to

push me around. He certainly went to try and stop the cameraman filming.

I will not answer questions or say anything. -- they will not answer

questions. It is part of the unpleasant atmosphere that has been

generated in the run-up to the referendum on Sunday, which will

presumably get worse. We will bring you more on that story

as we get it. Moving on, a long-running trial in

central London into phone hacking by the News Of The World newspaper has

heard that the late Princess Diana leaked a royal phone directories to

the newspaper's world correspondent, Clive Goodman. He said Princess, at

the time, had been in a bitter situation with her husband, the

Prince of Wales. The man who made the claim is Clive

Goodman, a familiar face in the long phone hacking saga. He admitted

doing that at this very court in 2006. He went to prison. Now he is

accused of paying police officers at the royal palace for internal phone

directories. He denies it and today told the jury a 1992 direct weekend

to him from a very different source, Diana, Princess of Wales. --

a directory came to him. She said he was in a bitter

situation. And it was a better time. The Prince and Princess were

shortly to separate, and in public appearances, it showed. They

divorced in 1996. A year later, she was killed in a speeding car in a

Paris underpass. Of course, all of this was a huge story for the News

Of The World. The court heard that the paper had access to a series of

internal palace phone books since at least 1986. They were regularly used

for checking stories, sometimes stories denied by the palace. As a

result, the royal editor's picture and byline regularly appeared in the

paper. One of the most powerful figures in

football, the Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, has been

sentenced to three and a half years in prison in Germany for tax

evasion. Mr Hoeness admitted that he should have paid the German tax

authorities 27 million euros for stock market deals. In a moment, we

will talk about his fall from grace. First, Giles Goford looks at his

significance in the world of football.

Making his Bayern Munich debut as a teenager in West Germany in 1972,

Uli Hoeness a cheap quick success for club and country. He won the

1972 European championship title just three months after his

international debut. And despite conceding a penalty to the Dutch in

the 1974 World Cup final, he and his team, led by Franz Beckenbauer,

recovered to win 2-1 and lift the trophy for a second time. Mr Hoeness

won the Bundesliga and European cup three times each before the injury

forced him to retire at the age of 27. He continued his employment at

Bayern Munich as general manager, overseeing a long period of success

on and off the field. As Bayern Munich grew into the force that has

seen them win three domestic league titles. His conviction will leave

die-hard fans bemoaning the fall from grace of a club legend.

I have been joined in the studio by the distinguished sports writer and

broadcaster Mihir Bose. A big figure in the world of football. They will

fall for a hero? It is a real fall, and it raises questions about the

management of football. It is rare for an ex-footballer to become so

important in the administration of football. There is no question that

Bayern Munich have been a very successful club. And what is more,

Bayern Munich established a pattern of management which has been widely

admired. They were not owned by some Qatari all Russian who never speaks

to us. One can speak of Chelsea and others. I am sure the Russians will

say, what is wrong with us! But anyway. It raises the question,

sport has become a business. But do we apply the same standards of the

fit and proper person? If it happened in the corporate world,

there would be many questions raised. If you look at the reaction

of the Bayern Munich fans, they still love him. As far as they are

concerned, what happens on the field of play is not related to what

happens in the field of life. They have a strong fan base, but he can't

carry on running the club. No. He has been sentenced to jail. He is

going to appeal. If he is jailed, Bayern will have to find someone

else. And on top of that, he is a very influential figure in European

club football. So they will have to find other representatives, and

questions will have to be asked. In football, can you carry on if you

have had a sentence like this? There have been other figures in sports

who have also found themselves in trouble outside of sport, and I

think sport now faces a serious question. If you are a business,

proper standards of corporate governance? Proper standards where

people -- whereby people found guilty of certain offences are no

longer part of the game? Does that mean that the ex-football players

like Uli Hoeness who have gone into management roles are less likely to

be able to do that? They need to be educated. It is not just a question

of making money and not paying your taxes. That applies to all of us.

You have got to observe the laws of the land. You can do certain things

in sport. In boxing, you can knock somebody's head off. If you tried to

do that in the street, you would be arrested. Absolutely right! Those

are the rules of sport. So sport cannot pretend it is no longer part

of society. It provides a certain entertainment, a certain pleasure,

within certain rules. But the wider society is ill impinges on sport,

and sport can't say what happens in the wider world doesn't matter. A

man who has not paid taxes of 27 million euros doesn't matter. He is

still our lovely manager. Please don't knock anybody's head off in

the street. It is not boxing. Now some of the other news in brief.

As the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane continues,

White House spokesman has told reporters that an additional search

area may be opened in the Indian Ocean. Earlier, the Malaysian

government dismissed reports that Chinese satellite images may show

wreckage from the plane. But according to Chinese state media,

the Chinese sent a warship to the areas where the images were taken to

continue the search. Five April are still missing in New York after a

gas leak triggered an explosion that demolished two buildings and killed

at least seven people on Wednesday. Firefighters tried to find further

victims trapped beneath the rubble at the apartment blocks in Harlem.

More than 16 people were injured. The Palestinian militant group

Islamic Jihad says it has agreed a cease-fire with Israel.

It says Egypt helped broker the deal, but Israel has not confirmed

this. It comes a day after little is launched their biggest rocket attack

into Israel for more than a year. The Israeli military responded with

air raid in Gaza. The Persian new year is fast

approaching, and Iranians are busy preparing for one of the most

popular holidays in their calendar. This year, the festivities come at a

time of financial worry for many Iranian, caused by the economic

sanctions against the country. But a landmark nuclear deal reached last

November between Iran and world powers has raised hopes of a new

start. The past five years, the BBC has not received visas to report

from Tehran. Now our chief international correspondent is just

back from there with this report. This time of year, it is packed with

shoppers. Both symbols of wealth and luck to

mark the Persian New Year. -- full of. For most Iranians, it is hard

enough to make ends meet. In some cases, prices have tripled. This

hall in the grand Bazaar is also a showcase for Iran's finest wares.

This man's family has been in the business for nearly 40 years.

Business has never been so bad. TRANSLATION: Exports have dropped,

mainly because of problems in banking transactions because of

sanctions. Of course, the other factors not having enough tourists

because of recession in Europe itself. In some ways, Iranians are

facing problems experienced by people in many places, high prices,

low employment, but fixing the problems here is a lot harder

because they are rooted in something more fundamental and it means

resolving the decades long strings in relations with the West. --

strains. Things are starting to change. Even tourists are beginning

to return. Were you worried about coming? After the elections with the

new president, we think it is more safe now. We always say welcome to

Iran and have a nice day. In wealthy north to Iran there are all the

symbols that Iran isn't completely cut off from the world. Some

Iranians have even got richer under sanctions. There is a growing

confidence that Iran is open for business. They are followed by trade

delegations. This is what the business community looks for, they

want to see that the countries are taking Iran seriously. The Embassy

here is a museum for United States. Iran is still accused of trying to

export it Islamic revolution, sending arms across the Middle East

and beyond. But it sees itself differently. Iran's sense of itself

won't change. It is now trying to find its rightful place in the world

am not against it. -- in the world, not against it.

Free public transport is being offered in Paris this weekend as the

authorities there try to encourage drivers to leave their vehicles

behind and help combat severe pollution. Transport will be free

for three days from Friday morning to Sunday evening. For more, I'm

joined by Hugh Schofield in Paris. You join me on the shone

. There is something thick in the air. It is not Beijing or Sao Paulo

on a bad day, but I have just arrived here on my bike and I have a

slight catch in my throat and my eyes are slightly stinging. The

experts say this is the fourth day in a row that Paris has hit its

maximum alert level for air pollution and the reason is this

glorious spring weather we're having. Hot afternoons, cold nights,

and that means that the morning rush-hour, the particles from the

car emissions are getting caught below a layer of warm air as the day

warms up. That, plus the fact that there is little wind to disperse the

emissions. The result is that we are getting these warnings about slowing

down if we drive, about staying at home if you are an invalid or if you

have respiratory problems. The local government has stepped in to say

that public transport will be free Friday and through the weekend in

order to encourage people to leave their cars at home and take public

transport. Plus the bikes which are also now free through the weekend.

The next step, if this goes on, is to reduce -- introduce alternate day

driving. Cars with odd-numbered plates drive on one day and cars

with even-numbered numberplate strike on the next. We don't know if

we will move on to that, or see if this level of pollution persists

into Monday. Let's take you to the UN Security

Council session where the acting Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy

Yatsenyuk is addressing the meeting there. TRANSLATION: This aggression

has no reason and no grounds. It is unacceptable in the 21st-century to

resolve any kind of conflict with artillery, tanks and boots on the

ground. The Russian Federation has violated a number of bilateral and

multilateral treaties that were signed between Ukraine and Russia.

We strongly believe that article to the UN Charter that says, all

members shall refrain in their international relations from the

threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political

independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the

purposes of the United Nations is not questioned by anyone. We still

believe that we have a chance to resolve this conflict in a peaceful

manner. We command and praise the Ukrainian military that refrain from

the use of any force. We would like to be very clear that the military

presence is clearly identified. This is the Russian military presence,

with Russian numberplate on their vehicles, and we urge the Russian

Federation to pull back its military forces deployed in Crimea and to

start real talks and negotiations. That is in order to tackle this

conflict. This is not a regional conflict, it goes beyond the borders

of Ukraine. Let me remind you that in 1994 Ukraine abandoned its

nuclear weapons. We gave up one of the biggest, it was the third one in

the world, arsenal of nuclear weapons. The signatures of the

memorandum guaranteed the territorial integrity, sovereignty

and independence of the Ukrainian state. The way our Russian

neighbours, and I believe that if we start real talks with Russia, they

could be real partners, acted undermines the entire global

security and nuclear nonproliferation. After these

actions, it will be very difficult to convince anyone on the globe not

to have nuclear weapons. I would like to reiterate again that the

Ukrainian Government is open. We want to have talks, we do not want

any military aggression. Let me address the Russian Federation.

TRANSLATION: We are looking to an answer to the question whether the

Russians want war. I am sure as the Prime Minister of

Ukraine, which for decades had a warm and friendly relations with

Russia, I am convinced that Russians do not want war and I hope that the

Russian government and the Russian president will heed the wishes of

their people and that we return to the table to engage in dialogue and

resolve this conflict. We heard there the speech and short

statement that Arseniy Yatsenyuk, acting Prime Minister of Ukraine

made, at the UN Security Council meeting.

We left him there addressing directly the Russians in the

Security Council saying, do you want war? We are convinced that you do

not want war as we have enjoyed warm relations for a long time. Quite

dramatic, emotional language. I was struck by the diplomatic

theatrics of this from this young interim Prime Minister. First of

all, he brandished a copy of the UN Charter saying that Russia's actions

have violated article to which is supposed to protect member nations

from aggression and propose to stop nations acting aggressively. And

that moment where he spoke in fluent English and then started speaking in

fluent in Russian and directed his comments very squarely at the

Russian ambassador in that chamber. Yet sat implacably, poker-faced as

ever, listening to the statement. -- he. He asked whether Russia wanted

war? He asks him bluntly. A strong piece of diplomatic theatre at the

UN this afternoon. As I say, the whole point was to give him a stage

to turn the cameras on. They are not always turned on at the UN. To make

sure that those comments and those actions and those props were

broadcast around the world. When they very much.

-- thank you. Ukraine is not acting Prime Minister

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has been addressing the UN security council

and he has appealed to Russia to not interfere in the activities of his

country, including the semi-autonomous region of Crimea.

That is it for now. Next, the weather. Goodbye.

Overnight, the fog will reform and become dense by the end of the

night, particularly for England and Wales. Tomorrow, we start off chilly

and a foggy note. The fog may cause some problems. Treacherous driving