:00:07. > :00:12.This is BBC World News Today with me, Kasia Madera. Two of the world's
:00:13. > :00:14.most influential men leaders meet in Rome. Contentious issues like
:00:15. > :00:17.abortion were discussed when President Obama met Pope Francis -
:00:18. > :00:28.but their first meeting began with smiles and warm handshakes.
:00:29. > :00:32.Like people around the world I have been incredibly moved by his passion
:00:33. > :00:36.and message of inclusion. As the UN votes to declare Russia's
:00:37. > :00:40.annexation of Crimea illegal, a prominent Ukraine opposition leader
:00:41. > :00:44.says she'll run for president. Also coming up: First Twitter, now
:00:45. > :00:47.Youtube. Internet users in Turkey face another site ban. What's behind
:00:48. > :00:51.the Turkish governments latest attempt to restrict new media?
:00:52. > :00:54.It's official - the World Health Organisation declares its South East
:00:55. > :00:56.Asia region Polio-free, after no new cases were recorded in India In the
:00:57. > :01:19.past three years. Hello and welcome. Pope Francis has
:01:20. > :01:24.held his first ever meeting with President Obama. Their talks, at the
:01:25. > :01:28.Vatican, began with the US president describing himself as a great
:01:29. > :01:31.admirer of the Pope. After the meeting the Vatican confirmed that
:01:32. > :01:39.the issues raised included abortion and birth control. The BBC's Katty
:01:40. > :01:46.Kay in Rome. She is monitoring the historic meeting. Lots bringing
:01:47. > :01:54.these men together, but also a lot to divide them.
:01:55. > :01:57.Yes, welcome to a wet and rainy Vatican Square, but I must say it
:01:58. > :02:02.has not dampened the spirits of White House officials, glad that the
:02:03. > :02:08.meeting went on for one hour, feeling that there was more that
:02:09. > :02:13.united the men. Resident Obama made a point of saying that he and the
:02:14. > :02:22.Pope had not dwell on the social issues including contraception and
:02:23. > :02:27.abortion that divides them, the president and the White House keen
:02:28. > :02:30.to stress that it had been a successful meeting focusing on
:02:31. > :02:44.poverty, income inequality, and conflict around the world.
:02:45. > :02:46.The coming of the president. The American superpower engaging with
:02:47. > :02:54.the very different world of the Vatican. A place of time honoured
:02:55. > :03:01.tradition, centuries of faith and belief. Moving to the slow rhythm of
:03:02. > :03:11.ritual, the president came looking for an ally. He likes the Pope's
:03:12. > :03:17.style and says he is a man the world should listen to. He has praised the
:03:18. > :03:21.Pope's amendment to the struggle against global poverty. President
:03:22. > :03:29.Obama said that is his fight also and he is waging it back home in
:03:30. > :03:35.America. He hopes he can build an alliance based on a common concern
:03:36. > :03:42.for the plight of the poor. The smiles seemed promising. President
:03:43. > :03:49.Obama talked of his admiration for his host and thanked him for his
:03:50. > :03:53.audience. Then the men were left to discuss the affairs of a troubled
:03:54. > :04:01.world around them. Later, more tradition. An exchange of gifts.
:04:02. > :04:07.Nothing was said to the cameras about how the discussion had gone.
:04:08. > :04:11.After the president left, the Vatican made no mention of any
:04:12. > :04:17.emerging partnership between them in a war on poverty, it is said the
:04:18. > :04:21.talks focused more on tension between American Catholics and the
:04:22. > :04:28.White House. President Obama may not have got as much as he wanted out of
:04:29. > :04:35.his visit to the Vatican. Are they now divided or United? I am
:04:36. > :04:41.joined by the offer of a new book, the Vatican according to Francis.
:04:42. > :04:45.Much has been made over whether this was a construct of discussion
:04:46. > :04:51.focusing on the things that united them, or whether it was the social
:04:52. > :04:56.issues that divide them. What do you think?
:04:57. > :05:02.They both have much in common but this discussion was influenced by
:05:03. > :05:08.the American conference of Bishops. There is a scepticism on the part of
:05:09. > :05:26.Democrats towards American Catholic ships. -- Bishops. The holy see used
:05:27. > :05:32.the visit to redefine Pope Francis, perceived as a liberal in Western
:05:33. > :05:37.media. They are saying, on these issues, we are still there, Pope
:05:38. > :05:44.Francis is a Pope, not a liberal Pope.
:05:45. > :05:47.I spoke to a Vatican official who reiterated that, saying that they
:05:48. > :05:52.could not let resident away without raising social issues. But from the
:05:53. > :06:00.point of view of the White House, they were thrilled. If only for the
:06:01. > :06:03.photo opportunity. The length of the conversation means that they must
:06:04. > :06:09.have had something to say to each other. But I also think that the
:06:10. > :06:19.influence of American bishops is still very strong. This Pope had a
:06:20. > :06:23.need to demonstrate a personal understanding, but the holy see as
:06:24. > :06:29.such, they had to underline the differences. Not a disconnection,
:06:30. > :06:33.just a different role between the holy see officially, and the
:06:34. > :06:40.personal relationship between the Pope and the president.
:06:41. > :06:48.You have written a book about this Pope. Watching his body language,
:06:49. > :06:57.did you read anything into it? He seemed less enthusiastic, even
:06:58. > :07:03.personally, than the president. We must consider that the president
:07:04. > :07:11.needed this visit more than the Pope. And this Pope is Latin
:07:12. > :07:20.American. He has a different approach to the United States. He
:07:21. > :07:28.views the USA is a country that is the heartland of capitalism. And he
:07:29. > :07:36.has criticised the excesses of capitalism. For this reason, and the
:07:37. > :07:43.fact that President Obama reflects a Democratic administration, perhaps
:07:44. > :07:48.this Pope was more cautious. Thank you for joining us in a
:07:49. > :07:59.beautiful Saint Peters Square. A day of historic visit.
:08:00. > :08:02.A stunning location indeed. Moving on, Russia's annexation of Ukraine's
:08:03. > :08:05.Crimea region has been described as illegal in a resolution passed in
:08:06. > :08:09.the last few hours by the United Nations General Assembly in New
:08:10. > :08:11.York. Ukraine's Foreign Minister described Russia's action as the
:08:12. > :08:15.most flagrant violation of international law since the UN was
:08:16. > :08:18.founded. But the Russian ambassador called for respect for the voluntary
:08:19. > :08:23.choice of the overwhelming majority in Crimea. 100 nations voted for the
:08:24. > :08:33.resolution, with 11 against and 58 abstentions. In Ukraine, an
:08:34. > :08:36.opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has
:08:37. > :08:42.announced she will run for president in the election in May. She was
:08:43. > :08:46.released from jail after President Viktor Yanukovich fled Kiev. She had
:08:47. > :08:53.been imprisoned in 2011 for alleged corruption, linked to a gas deal she
:08:54. > :09:04.brokered with Russia. David Stern is in Kiev. I want to talk about the
:09:05. > :09:08.United Nations vote, and also Yulia Tymoshenko in a moment. But first of
:09:09. > :09:13.all, you have some breaking news for us?
:09:14. > :09:19.Yes, I am just above the central square in Kiev, a large crowd had
:09:20. > :09:27.just marched from the square on the parliament. They are very aggressive
:09:28. > :09:34.and angry and are demanding the resignation of the Interior
:09:35. > :09:40.Minister. They are angry over the killing of a far right activists
:09:41. > :09:45.earlier this week. They are now outside the parliament, I was just
:09:46. > :09:55.over there, they are shouting, shame, alt with the gang. -- out.
:09:56. > :10:01.That was a slogan of the revolution, now it is being directed
:10:02. > :10:08.at parliamentarians. Very emotional and aggressive crowd.
:10:09. > :10:15.What did they make of this is UN vote, this non-binding vote?
:10:16. > :10:25.They see it more as a symbolic thing. It is non-binding. Although
:10:26. > :10:30.it was a strong vote with 100 members out of 193 voting for this,
:10:31. > :10:37.Ukrainian officials say this is another vote of confidence, of
:10:38. > :10:46.support, but the question is, what will anything do to de-escalate the
:10:47. > :10:52.tension? The government is looking toward the West, looking to
:10:53. > :10:56.sanctions, but there is a great deal of worry that Russia could exercise
:10:57. > :11:01.what it considers a right to intervene militarily in the eastern
:11:02. > :11:05.part of the country. Thank you very much.
:11:06. > :11:11.Now a look at some of the days other news. 90 people are still missing
:11:12. > :11:14.after a massive mudslide in Washington state on Saturday. The
:11:15. > :11:17.official death toll is 16 - a further eight bodies have been
:11:18. > :11:21.located but not recovered. Search crews are using dogs, bulldozers and
:11:22. > :11:25.their bare hands to clear the mud at the scene, 90 kilometres northeast
:11:26. > :11:30.of Seattle. After five days, rescuers say there's little hope of
:11:31. > :11:34.finding anyone else alive. The world's longest serving prisoner
:11:35. > :11:37.on death row has walked free from prison after having his conviction
:11:38. > :11:47.for murder overturned by a court in Japan. Iwao Hakamada - a former
:11:48. > :11:50.boxer - was sentenced to death in 1968. He'd been found guilty of
:11:51. > :11:59.murdering his boss, his wife and family. He'll now face a re-trial.
:12:00. > :12:05.Ed Miliband has led the tributes at the funeral of veteran Labour
:12:06. > :12:11.politician, Tony Benn. He died earlier this month at the age of 88.
:12:12. > :12:14.Turkey has blocked access to the video-sharing website YouTube - and
:12:15. > :12:17.that's just a day after a Turkish court suspended a ban on Twitter
:12:18. > :12:21.that had been supported by the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The
:12:22. > :12:24.action against Youtube was taken after an audio recording was posted
:12:25. > :12:34.which was said to be of ministers discussing military operations in
:12:35. > :12:37.Syria. I am joined by the Opinion Editor with the English language
:12:38. > :12:48.Hurriyet Daily News, via webcam from Istanbul. What now? What is wrong
:12:49. > :12:55.with you Tube, put it into context for us?
:12:56. > :13:00.The Prime Minister had already talked about taking action against
:13:01. > :13:07.the website a couple of days ago, because after all, the audio
:13:08. > :13:09.recordings are targeting the Prime Minister and his environment,
:13:10. > :13:20.accusing them of bribery and corruption, they were on Youtube. So
:13:21. > :13:26.already, it was on the so-called hit list of the Prime Minister. But what
:13:27. > :13:35.triggered the bank today was a leakage of an audio recording. --
:13:36. > :13:40.ban. It was a recording of a very sensitive meeting between the
:13:41. > :13:45.foreign minister, his advisers, military representatives, and the
:13:46. > :13:50.chief of intelligence, talking about possible action against Syria. This
:13:51. > :13:56.is a very serious national security breach. That is why the government
:13:57. > :14:06.has taken the action of attempting to curb the website to prevent it
:14:07. > :14:09.spreading out. When we saw Twitter being banned,
:14:10. > :14:15.the Turkish people went around the back door, so to speak. What
:14:16. > :14:22.reaction to this? A similar reaction. But I must say,
:14:23. > :14:31.the fact that very sensitive information was leaked as sent a
:14:32. > :14:40.shock wave throughout the country. People are also reflecting on how
:14:41. > :14:44.such an important meeting, because at the end of the day the Foreign
:14:45. > :14:50.Ministry has confirmed it is authentic, so people are shocked
:14:51. > :14:57.that it could happen, that such an important meeting was able to be
:14:58. > :15:07.listened to and then diffused via the Internet. Obviously people try
:15:08. > :15:15.back or strategies -- back door, the same thing will happen here. But
:15:16. > :15:25.there is a serious threat to national security. The government is
:15:26. > :15:29.targeting the wrong address. It should be thinking about measures in
:15:30. > :15:43.order to prevent such listening taking place. I'm so sorry to
:15:44. > :15:47.interrupt you, but we have to leave it there. That was Barcin Yinanc.
:15:48. > :15:50.Moving on. Still no debris has been found from
:15:51. > :15:53.flight MH370 in the southern Indian ocean. Satellite pictures from
:15:54. > :15:56.Thailand apparently show 300 objects in the search area. If debris is
:15:57. > :15:59.found, sonar equipment will be used to search the sea bed. Our transport
:16:00. > :16:04.correspondent Richard Westcott reports.
:16:05. > :16:13.You couldn't pick a harder place to find a missing aircraft. Remote, two
:16:14. > :16:17.miles deep and with some of the worst weather in the world. But for
:16:18. > :16:19.all the ships, satellite and spotter planes, there is only one way to
:16:20. > :16:29.find things under the water. Sonar. Researchers at the University of
:16:30. > :16:34.Southampton showed me how it started. They call this piece of
:16:35. > :16:39.equipment the fish. It is the same sort of piece of equipment they will
:16:40. > :16:45.be using to find the aircraft. It sends sound waves down to the sea
:16:46. > :16:49.bed, listens to the Echo and a map. Scanning the bottom, line by line,
:16:50. > :16:54.the picture builds. But it is slow work, and we had good weather. In
:16:55. > :17:00.the open ocean, weather is as much as 20 metres, waves of as much as 20
:17:01. > :17:04.metres. You have to lower the fish down to just above the sea bed, and
:17:05. > :17:10.that can take a couple of hours of feeding cable out. It is dangerous
:17:11. > :17:13.and slow. They used the same technique a few years ago to locate
:17:14. > :17:18.a French airliner that had crashed into the Atlantic. It took some two
:17:19. > :17:23.years to find most of that aircraft, and they were lucky, because it came
:17:24. > :17:28.to rest on a rare, flat part of an underwater mountain range. The
:17:29. > :17:34.search for flight MH370 will be even harder. Is it easy to get confused,
:17:35. > :17:37.for a rock to look like a piece of aircraft?
:17:38. > :17:41.Very easy, and we don't know what the sea bed is like in a particular
:17:42. > :17:47.area. They could get lucky and pick up something on day one. They could
:17:48. > :17:50.be out there for ten years. If they are fortunate, they will stumble
:17:51. > :17:56.across a large piece of wreckage. It could look like this. Those two long
:17:57. > :18:02.ridges are the power cable to the Isle of Wight. The green blob over
:18:03. > :18:06.here is a 100 foot long shipwreck. They still don't know for sure
:18:07. > :18:10.whether Malaysia airline ended up. In an hour, we mapped barely one
:18:11. > :18:14.square mile of the sea bed. The search area for the missing plane
:18:15. > :18:16.spans tens of thousands of square miles.
:18:17. > :18:20.Here in Britain, a number of MPs from the Conservtive party are
:18:21. > :18:23.urging the Government to consider following Germany in considering
:18:24. > :18:28.proposals to send home out-of-work migrants from other European Union
:18:29. > :18:35.countries. The German government has welcomed a report proposing new
:18:36. > :18:37.welfare limits for EU migrants. Among the recommendations, EU
:18:38. > :18:46.migrants would be removed from the country if they failed to find work
:18:47. > :18:49.within three to six months. Immigrants currently account for 15%
:18:50. > :18:52.of those who claim welfare benefits in Germany. That's 1.2 million
:18:53. > :19:02.people, of whom 290,000 are citizens of other EU countries. With me is
:19:03. > :19:14.Imke Henkel. She's the London correspondent for the German weekly
:19:15. > :19:22.news magazine Focus. These are just proposals, not law. Exactly. They
:19:23. > :19:27.will not appear before the summer, possibly. But the coalition is
:19:28. > :19:32.interested in Nice? Definitely. It is quite a number, and it is a topic
:19:33. > :19:36.in Germany as well as it is in Britain, and there has been a spell
:19:37. > :19:42.at the beginning of the year between the two coalition partners, we have
:19:43. > :19:47.two Conservative Party is, and there is always a wrangle between them,
:19:48. > :19:52.and there has been from the Bavarian party, quite pronounced, a Pellinen
:19:53. > :20:03.it, populist move against immigrants. Do you think it is
:20:04. > :20:07.interesting that the coalition in our country, the Conservative part,
:20:08. > :20:15.is also interested? I had a laugh when I read it. MPs saying how
:20:16. > :20:26.important is David Cameron's influence is. But it is certainly a
:20:27. > :20:33.coalition that, if Britain moves and Germany moves, becomes more
:20:34. > :20:36.decisive, it is politically skilful. There have been a few British
:20:37. > :20:43.proposals around the beginning of the year, and there was an outcry
:20:44. > :20:47.about how xenophobic and anti-European David Cameron was. But
:20:48. > :21:00.he wasn't saying much different from watch Angela Merkel was saying. And
:21:01. > :21:12.she now very much more adeptly does a very technical report, looks into
:21:13. > :21:16.the conditions, basically says, EU law already says that you are
:21:17. > :21:24.allowed to stay for three months, and the freedom of movement only
:21:25. > :21:29.applies for people in work. As a job-seeker, you can stay another six
:21:30. > :21:34.months. In general, it is within the already given boundaries, and this
:21:35. > :21:41.report just looks at, maybe we can tweak it a bit more. It is a good
:21:42. > :21:46.point that you make, it is not that easy to get benefits within the U.
:21:47. > :21:52.Imke, we have to leave it there. Thank you very much.
:21:53. > :22:00.Now, what happened at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war will now be
:22:01. > :22:03.investigated by the United Nations. The UN Human Rights Council voted
:22:04. > :22:06.for an inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during that time.
:22:07. > :22:08.The resolution calls for an investigation into alleged abuses
:22:09. > :22:11.committed by both the Sri Lankan state and Tamil rebels, during their
:22:12. > :22:13.25-year conflict. Our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins reports.
:22:14. > :22:16.Five years ago, the long civil war in Sri Lanka was brought to a bloody
:22:17. > :22:19.end. Both sides are accused of war crimes, but it is the conduct of
:22:20. > :22:21.government forces in the final assault which has been the subject
:22:22. > :22:26.of global controversy ever since. Pressure for a full investigation,
:22:27. > :22:29.allegations they deliberately shelled civilians, used rape and
:22:30. > :22:34.torture as weapons of war, has now resulted in a UN vote to open an
:22:35. > :22:41.international investigation. TRANSLATION: The result of the vote
:22:42. > :22:45.is as follows. 23 member states voted for the
:22:46. > :22:48.resolution, 12 against, and 12 abstained, including India, which
:22:49. > :22:54.many had expected to support an investigation.
:22:55. > :22:59.The draft resolution is thereby adopted.
:23:00. > :23:11.In northern Sri Lanka, many will be delighted by newsmen -- news that
:23:12. > :23:13.the UN will now look into this. We are only interested in the welfare
:23:14. > :23:27.of the country, the people of the country. So this investigation
:23:28. > :23:31.should be allowed. If you have nothing to hide, why don't you allow
:23:32. > :23:38.this investigation? They can do that.
:23:39. > :23:42.Sri Lanka's government stands accused of abusing the law, ignoring
:23:43. > :23:46.unexplained disappearances of dissenters and move into greater
:23:47. > :23:50.authoritarianism. But a senior minister told the BBC that the Tamil
:23:51. > :23:57.Tigers remain a threat, and Sri Lanka's sovereignty could be
:23:58. > :24:02.violated. We are not in agreement with any investigation into our
:24:03. > :24:10.internal matters. We have our legal system. We have able people, very
:24:11. > :24:14.eminent people with the knowledge of international law and human rights.
:24:15. > :24:19.So the test now is this. We'll Sri Lanka's president
:24:20. > :24:23.cooperate in anyway with the UN enquiry? Last year chairing a
:24:24. > :24:28.Commonwealth summit in Colombo, he rejected all of the pressure for
:24:29. > :24:35.full investigation of the past. He shows no sign of any change of
:24:36. > :24:39.heart. 80% of the world is now free of
:24:40. > :24:42.polio after no new cases were recorded in India in the past three
:24:43. > :24:46.years. The World Health Organisation has declared that the deadly virus
:24:47. > :24:48.has been stamped out of its entire South East Asia region, which
:24:49. > :24:51.includes India but not other neighbouring countries. The
:24:52. > :24:54.announcement is being seen as a major milestone in the fight against
:24:55. > :24:57.polio. The BBC's global health correpondent Tulip Mazumdar reports.
:24:58. > :25:03.Many thought it couldn't be done. Immunising all of India's 170
:25:04. > :25:08.million children. But the country hasn't had a new polio case in three
:25:09. > :25:11.years, which means the WHO can now declare the whole of its Southeast
:25:12. > :25:18.Asian region free of this deadly virus. Countries like Britain have
:25:19. > :25:23.been polio free for decades, but the WHO says this announcement brings
:25:24. > :25:30.the goal of a polio free world much closer. However, major challenges
:25:31. > :25:34.remain. Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
:25:35. > :25:40.In a scanner stand and Nigeria, cases of strop substantially, -- in
:25:41. > :25:47.Afghanistan and Nigeria, cases have dropped substantively. But in
:25:48. > :25:52.Pakistan, polio is on the rise, with new infections increasing from 58 in
:25:53. > :25:57.2012 to 93 last year. And here's why. Militants in the country have
:25:58. > :26:02.killed dozens of polio workers in the last couple of years, believing
:26:03. > :26:08.programmes are cover-up for Western espionage or a plot to harm Muslim
:26:09. > :26:11.children. There have been outbreaks in countries such as Syria and the
:26:12. > :26:16.Horn of Africa where immunisation campaigns have been disrupted by
:26:17. > :26:21.conflict. Globally, cases actually rose by more than one third between
:26:22. > :26:26.2012 and 2013. But with most of the world is now officially polio free,
:26:27. > :26:30.there is greater optimism that the goal of wiping this virus off the
:26:31. > :26:35.face of the planet by 2018 is achievable. Tulip Mazumdar, BBC
:26:36. > :26:42.News. A reminder of our main news: Pope
:26:43. > :26:47.Francis has held his first ever meeting with President Obama. Their
:26:48. > :26:49.talks began with the US president describing himself as a great
:26:50. > :26:51.admirer of the Pope. Well, that's all from the programme.
:26:52. > :26:54.Next, the weather. But for now from me and the rest of the team,
:26:55. > :27:05.goodbye. Hello. Whether changes are on the
:27:06. > :27:13.way for most of the UK. It is going to warm up. Some hail, sleet and
:27:14. > :27:16.snow is still around at the moment. Going through Friday, we have this
:27:17. > :27:18.week whether France still producing outbreaks