:00:00. > :00:09.This is BBC World News today with me, Zeinab Badawi. Afghanistan
:00:10. > :00:13.enters a new era on the eve of elections for a new President.
:00:14. > :00:19.Hundreds of thousands of security forces across the country amidst
:00:20. > :00:22.fears of violence at the polls. In a sign of the tensions and dangers,
:00:23. > :00:34.two foreign journalists have been shot in eastern Afghanistan. One is
:00:35. > :00:38.dead, the other injured. We are shattered at the loss of her, one of
:00:39. > :00:44.the great photographers of the world. She covered combat from
:00:45. > :00:49.Bosnia to Afghanistan. The search for the missing Malaysian
:00:50. > :00:53.Airlines goes underwater. High-tech listening devices are helping to try
:00:54. > :00:55.to locate the flight recorders. Also coming up: Formula One star Michael
:00:56. > :00:59.Schumacher show signs of consciousness after months spent in
:01:00. > :01:02.a coma following a skiing accident. The world's most expensive Easter
:01:03. > :01:06.egg - before it goes on public display, we will hear the remarkable
:01:07. > :01:23.story of how the man who bought it for thousands and then sold it for
:01:24. > :01:26.more than $30 million. Hello and welcome. Nearly 400,000
:01:27. > :01:30.military personnel are out in force across Afghanistan in the run up to
:01:31. > :01:36.tomorrow's elections because of course security is a major issue.
:01:37. > :01:39.Earlier today Anja Niedringhaus, a German photojournalist working for
:01:40. > :01:47.the Associated Press news agency was killed in the eastern city of Khost.
:01:48. > :01:50.She had been travelling with a convoy carrying election workers
:01:51. > :01:53.when an Afghan policeman opened fire on her vehicle. Another journalist
:01:54. > :02:05.travelling with her was seriously wounded. Kathy Gannon is said to be
:02:06. > :02:10.in a stable condition and then use was received in New York earlier
:02:11. > :02:15.today. We are shattered at the news of the
:02:16. > :02:22.death of Anja needing house, one of the greatest photographers in the
:02:23. > :02:26.world. She covered combat from Bosnia to Afghanistan. A wonderful
:02:27. > :02:29.human being. Much has been said about her joyful laugh which is what
:02:30. > :02:38.most of us from member about her. She was a great cook, a good friend.
:02:39. > :02:44.A big heart but they both kooky. -- tough cookie. They were the two
:02:45. > :02:50.journalists in the world who spend more time than anyone else in the
:02:51. > :02:54.world covering Afghanistan. For years they have been telling the
:02:55. > :03:04.story of the people. It is with bitter irony that we learn they were
:03:05. > :03:07.attacked today. Our chief international
:03:08. > :03:10.correspondent Lyse Doucet is also in Afghanistan for the election. It is
:03:11. > :03:13.a pivotal moment for Afghanistan because the elections will be
:03:14. > :03:16.followed by the final phasing out of western combat troops. Lyse sent
:03:17. > :03:24.this report from the strategic area of Parwan, not far from Kabul.
:03:25. > :03:28.This is not the first time that foreign forces have left
:03:29. > :03:34.Afghanistan. The Soviet Union used this major road to bring the troops
:03:35. > :03:40.home in 1989. The highway runs very close to the base used by
:03:41. > :03:49.international forces. We will be returning to the Valley throughout
:03:50. > :03:53.the year. The snow has not yet melted on the mountains but there
:03:54. > :03:58.are all the signs that spring has arrived in this valley. This year,
:03:59. > :04:04.the greatest change is political. Election posters still plastered
:04:05. > :04:08.walls here. In rural areas like this, many Afghans have always had
:04:09. > :04:15.their own gardens. Some carry them with him. I have come to see this
:04:16. > :04:21.man again and some neighbours have dropped by. These politicians have
:04:22. > :04:28.spent millions of dollars on these elections, this man complains. They
:04:29. > :04:33.do not know how we are. In the last two months since we met, you have
:04:34. > :04:39.been -- you have become more pessimistic? The whole nation is
:04:40. > :04:46.enthusiastic about these elections because people are tired of war and
:04:47. > :04:52.poverty. We want change but we are not expecting change in our own
:04:53. > :05:01.lives. Our readers will build palaces and we will suffer. -- our
:05:02. > :05:06.leaders. On the other side of the valley, this lady has other matters
:05:07. > :05:12.on her mind. Military aircraft roared overhead but she takes no
:05:13. > :05:18.notice. This mother of six is involved in the local elections. It
:05:19. > :05:22.is a family affair. She proudly wears the colours of the Afghan flag
:05:23. > :05:30.and she spent the last two months meeting people in her community and
:05:31. > :05:34.has left full of hope. I learned that people 's awareness is much
:05:35. > :05:41.higher than it was five years ago. Women, young boys and girls and even
:05:42. > :05:46.older people. I did not expect men to receive me so warmly. I even had
:05:47. > :05:52.calls from farmers who wanted to know about the elections. It made me
:05:53. > :05:57.feel so proud. This family also worries about security. Gunfire rang
:05:58. > :06:04.out just before we arrived. There was a shooting the day before. In
:06:05. > :06:16.the quiet of the day, she finds solace in Afghan poetry. Here, like
:06:17. > :06:21.much of Afghanistan, most of them worried people harbour hope that
:06:22. > :06:27.these elections can at last to bring peace and prosperity to this land.
:06:28. > :06:30.Search teams have begun using underwater locators to hunt for the
:06:31. > :06:36.black box of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. It is a race against
:06:37. > :06:41.time as the batteries which send out a signal are due to run out any day.
:06:42. > :06:45.The plane which disappeared on March eight is believed to have crashed in
:06:46. > :06:58.the southern Indian Ocean with 239 people on board.
:06:59. > :07:02.After a fruitless month looking for the missing airliner, searchers have
:07:03. > :07:09.begun listening for it as well. Beneath the waves. Two ships are
:07:10. > :07:14.using special kit to try to hear distress signals from the plane's
:07:15. > :07:25.back -- black boxes. They have their work cut out. The sea bed there is
:07:26. > :07:29.like 4.5 kilometres deep. This is the kind of terrain that hides many
:07:30. > :07:35.secrets. This is what investigators are after, the black box that should
:07:36. > :07:40.solve this puzzle. It will tell us what the crew were saying on board.
:07:41. > :07:48.This piece of American kit shaped like a stingray is called a towed
:07:49. > :07:52.pinger locators but it is like an underwater microphone, chained to
:07:53. > :07:57.hear signals from the black box locator. A Royal Navy submarine is
:07:58. > :08:04.also common in the area, listening for the same things. They might get
:08:05. > :08:07.lucky but it is a long shot. The battery runs out in a feuding and
:08:08. > :08:13.they will be listening across an area the size of Britain. There is
:08:14. > :08:17.other high-tech kit on stand-by. This vehicle swims up and down
:08:18. > :08:21.mapping the sea bed. They will not stop -- they will not start using it
:08:22. > :08:24.until they find a piece of the plane. They have the best tools
:08:25. > :08:29.available but that does not mean it will work. They had the same
:08:30. > :08:33.state-of-the-art technology five years ago to find the black boxes
:08:34. > :08:37.from a French airliner that crashed into the Atlantic. For a month,
:08:38. > :08:43.patrolled the area, listening for signals, about realising that even
:08:44. > :08:46.went over the wreckage yet they heard nothing. The company that
:08:47. > :08:54.helped find that plane told me why. In hindsight, it was revealed that
:08:55. > :09:03.both fingers had failed. It is very similar to the situation we face now
:09:04. > :09:08.with flight MH370. We have no information and it is an area 20
:09:09. > :09:14.times the size of the previous flight. The search enters a new
:09:15. > :09:23.phase but the reality is, if they don't find a clue soon, they may
:09:24. > :09:28.never find the aircraft. Belgian police have used water
:09:29. > :09:33.cannon to disperse protesters in Brussels. Protesters hurled oranges
:09:34. > :09:36.at the police as they marched through the centre of Brussels
:09:37. > :09:40.protesting against austerity policies backed by the European
:09:41. > :09:44.Union. Many roads were closed causing traffic disruption. The US
:09:45. > :10:00.Embassy went into a security lockdown.
:10:01. > :10:04.An update now on the condition of Michael Schumacher will stop
:10:05. > :10:07.according to his manager, he is showing some signs of
:10:08. > :10:10.consciousness. He has been in a medically induced coma since
:10:11. > :10:19.December when he had that skiing accident.
:10:20. > :10:25.As though waiting for his family turned from days to weeks to months,
:10:26. > :10:28.rumours about whether Formula one's most decorated driver would ever
:10:29. > :10:33.recovered continues to fly. Today, a small but encouraging sign will stop
:10:34. > :10:46.his manager said Michael is making progress on his way. He shows
:10:47. > :10:54.moments of consciousness. Four days after Christmas, Michael
:10:55. > :10:57.Schumacher skied off piste and hit a rock. He was taken to hospital in
:10:58. > :11:02.critical condition and since then have been working to bring him out
:11:03. > :11:08.of a medically induced coma. His friends are holding their breath.
:11:09. > :11:11.Maybe it is too early for us to start celebrating anything but let
:11:12. > :11:19.us hope he is in good hands and that he comes out of this medically
:11:20. > :11:22.induced coma and hopefully with the effect is that we will know as
:11:23. > :11:26.Michael Schumacher and let him live a positive life thereafter. Don't
:11:27. > :11:31.want him to come back and ride this in cars, we just want him around.
:11:32. > :11:35.Despite these encouraging signs, experts remain concerned about the
:11:36. > :11:41.length of time he has been in hospital. From experience of
:11:42. > :11:44.patients who have been in a medically induced coma for a long
:11:45. > :11:50.period of time, I am cautious because the duration of the
:11:51. > :11:55.medically induced coma is a good surrogate for the severity of the
:11:56. > :11:59.underlying condition. Michael Schumacher won seven world titles in
:12:00. > :12:07.total. Along the way, he claimed many Formula one records. Put
:12:08. > :12:12.simply, he is one of the greatest riders of all time.
:12:13. > :12:15.Medical teams dealing with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa are trying
:12:16. > :12:32.to confirm whether the disease has spread to a new country, Mali.
:12:33. > :12:35.Nearly 90 people have died in neighbouring Guinea and at least six
:12:36. > :12:45.in Liberia. There are more suspected cases in Sierra Leone and Gambia.
:12:46. > :12:52.With me is Dr Ben Newman, a virologist at Reading University. We
:12:53. > :13:02.know that this virus is spread through human contact but tell us
:13:03. > :13:06.what kind of contact is that? When you have the virus, you start to
:13:07. > :13:10.feel ill and the symptoms are a lot like the flu. There will be
:13:11. > :13:14.diarrhoea, muscle aches and vomiting. Cleaning up those bodily
:13:15. > :13:19.fluids, this is one of the best ways to get infected. Once a person has
:13:20. > :13:24.died, that person still remains very infectious and touching the corpse
:13:25. > :13:29.is a good way to spread the disease as well. What about people on
:13:30. > :13:40.crowded buses, can you pick it up like that? It is technically
:13:41. > :13:44.possible. Do you think we can talk about this being an epidemic almost
:13:45. > :13:49.because the outbreak has taken a deadly path? It has and it has
:13:50. > :13:57.travelled much farther than Ebola has travelled before. It has always
:13:58. > :14:02.been quite isolated in the past. How do you isolate somebody you know has
:14:03. > :14:11.been infected? When do you know that they are infected? This is the
:14:12. > :14:15.problem, it is such a slow virus. For I deadly killer, it takes two
:14:16. > :14:19.weeks for you to know you are infected and to see the symptoms.
:14:20. > :14:26.Bring that time, you could be spreading the virus to many people
:14:27. > :14:32.potentially. We can also talk to the head of the world health
:14:33. > :14:38.organisation's epidemic response team. This situation in Mali, can
:14:39. > :14:48.you confirm there are cases of Ebola there? No, they are suspected cases
:14:49. > :14:57.that have been reported and what we are doing right now is to ensure
:14:58. > :15:02.that samples can be shipped to Guinea for confirmation. There is no
:15:03. > :15:13.outbreak in Mali. Only suspected cases have been reported. Can I ask
:15:14. > :15:17.you, from the World Health Organisation's point of view, and
:15:18. > :15:23.you or the person leading that response team in West Africa, what
:15:24. > :15:30.is your plan of action to try to contain the path of the Ebola virus?
:15:31. > :15:41.What we are doing right now, we started first of all by trying to
:15:42. > :15:48.increase the capacity of West African countries to have
:15:49. > :16:01.laboratories to diagnose a bowler. -- diagnose Ebola. In terms of
:16:02. > :16:05.coordination, WHO has been in contact with 20 international
:16:06. > :16:09.experts from all over the world who are down there to provide the
:16:10. > :16:16.technical support and guidance to respond to this outbreak. There are
:16:17. > :16:22.experts in social mobilisation who are supporting national governments
:16:23. > :16:28.and informing them about the disease. As we speak there are lots
:16:29. > :16:36.of people going down there to ensure that the outbreak can be contained
:16:37. > :16:44.quickly. Carry on. I want to point out the fact that all the necessary
:16:45. > :16:52.prevention control measures are being put in place. We are trying to
:16:53. > :17:02.closely work with the community. We are also closely working with
:17:03. > :17:07.facilities to prevent transmission. With that type of actions, we are
:17:08. > :17:13.hoping that we should be able to contain the outbreak. I would like
:17:14. > :17:17.to ask you something. Medicins Sans Frontieres says the outbreak is
:17:18. > :17:22.unprecedented in terms of the spread of cases. Are you looking at an
:17:23. > :17:33.epidemic? Can the WHO say that is what this is? It is an epidemic of
:17:34. > :17:43.Ebola, which is happening in Guinea and Liberia. Usually, Ebola
:17:44. > :17:56.outbreaks in the past have been in remote areas. What the WHO are
:17:57. > :17:59.trying to do right now is really to respond with an international team
:18:00. > :18:05.of experts and provide mobile laboratories able to pick up cases
:18:06. > :18:11.quickly. Dr Benido Impouma, from the WHO, thank you for joining us from
:18:12. > :18:18.Congo-Brazzaville. Dr Ben Newman, the Ebola virus is deadly but
:18:19. > :18:21.needn't kill? It needn't kill and we can predict with some certainty
:18:22. > :18:29.whether it will kill or not. It is in your genetics. It is a lottery.
:18:30. > :18:33.And when could we get a vaccine? There are experimental vaccines but
:18:34. > :18:40.right now we do not know that any of them are safe to use in humans.
:18:41. > :18:52.Thank you. Some of the other news: In India,
:18:53. > :18:57.three men have been sentenced to death for the rape of able men in an
:18:58. > :19:01.abandoned textile mill. They had already been convicted of an earlier
:19:02. > :19:04.attack on another woman at exactly the same spot. They're the first to
:19:05. > :19:06.be sentenced under tough new laws, introduced after the Delhi bus rape
:19:07. > :19:10.in 2012. A Turkish court has overturned a ban
:19:11. > :19:13.on YouTube that was imposed after the video-sharing website was used
:19:14. > :19:16.to spread leaked audio files from a state security meeting. The Ankara
:19:17. > :19:20.court ruling says a blanket ban of the social media website violated
:19:21. > :19:23.human rights. It comes a day after the government was forced to comply
:19:24. > :19:25.with a court ruling to unblock Twitter in Turkey.
:19:26. > :19:28.Japan's biggest online retailer, Rakuten, has decided to stop selling
:19:29. > :19:31.whale meat following Tokyo's decision to cancel its annual whale
:19:32. > :19:36.hunt in the oceans off the Antarctic. Japan called off the hunt
:19:37. > :19:40.after the International Court of Justice in The Hague said it was
:19:41. > :19:44.illegal, in a case brought by Australia and New Zealand. Rakuten
:19:45. > :19:54.has also announced that it will stop selling dolphin meat.
:19:55. > :19:57.Now, there is good luck, and outrageously good fortune. A scrap
:19:58. > :20:01.metal dealer in the American Midwest bought this egg for around ?8,000,
:20:02. > :20:06.thinking he could sell it on or melt it down for gold. It was only after
:20:07. > :20:09.reading an article that he discovered it was in fact an
:20:10. > :20:16.imperial Faberge Easter egg, one of just 50, made for the Russian Royal
:20:17. > :20:20.Family. It has just been sold to a private collector for ?20 million -
:20:21. > :20:25.that's $33 million - and is soon to go on display in London. The
:20:26. > :20:37.original article was written by Roya Nikkhah, and she has the story.
:20:38. > :20:41.Alexander III had money and palaces in abundance but when he wanted to
:20:42. > :20:45.give something truly unique to his empress, he turned to the most
:20:46. > :20:51.sought after July of the day, Carl Faberge. And here it is, a lost
:20:52. > :20:56.treasure, remarkably rediscovered, set with diamonds and sapphires, and
:20:57. > :21:02.be sumptuous golden egg is among the rarest artworks in the world.
:21:03. > :21:08.Faberge's eggs opened to contain a surprise. They became increasingly
:21:09. > :21:15.elaborate as he honed his craft. Each is unique. Only 50 were ever
:21:16. > :21:19.made. But the Russian Revolution of 1917 saw imperial treasures seized
:21:20. > :21:26.by the new government. Later, many were sold to the West by the
:21:27. > :21:30.Bolsheviks. So how rare is it to rediscover an imperial Faberge egg?
:21:31. > :21:38.It is beyond breath. If you can say that. It is so unbelievable that
:21:39. > :21:43.this has been discovered and saved. It is a time capsule that we will
:21:44. > :21:48.never, ever see again. The egg was last seen in public in 1902 at an
:21:49. > :21:53.exhibition of imperial Faberge treasures in Saint Petersburg. It
:21:54. > :21:58.was not seen again until 1964, when it was auctioned in New York for
:21:59. > :22:03.?875, but it was not identified as Faberge at the time. It reappeared
:22:04. > :22:13.last year when the egg was bought by a scrap metal dealer at a flea
:22:14. > :22:16.market in America's midwest. He paid just ?8,000 for it and kept it in
:22:17. > :22:18.his kitchen. It was only when he opened up the eighth and found this
:22:19. > :22:21.inscription inside, the name of the watchmaker, that he looked it up
:22:22. > :22:25.online. He found an article about the hunt for missing Faberge eggs
:22:26. > :22:32.and found that this lump of gold is worth ?20 million. This is the Julie
:22:33. > :22:39.who verified the find as the third imperial Faberge egg. -- this is the
:22:40. > :22:48.July. I felt like Indiana Jones. This is the thing that we search for
:22:49. > :22:53.everyday. The man who discovered the ultimate golden egg wants to remain
:22:54. > :22:56.anonymous. It will soon disappear into the vaults of a private
:22:57. > :23:01.collector, and this historic peace may never -- this piece may never be
:23:02. > :23:05.seen again. With me in the studio is Toby Faber,
:23:06. > :23:13.the author of the book Faberge's Eggs. Just eight coincidence, your
:23:14. > :23:20.name! Extraordinary story, isn't it? Do you think it is surprising
:23:21. > :23:25.that such a beautiful, elaborate, albeit small piece just went
:23:26. > :23:30.unnoticed? If you surprising but not unlikely. It is quite small. It is
:23:31. > :23:34.not backed elaborate. There is nothing about it that makes it
:23:35. > :23:39.personal to his original owners. Other eggs have pictures of the
:23:40. > :23:45.palaces and their children. This one just happens to be vaguely egg
:23:46. > :23:51.shaped. Very detailed work. I note he bought it just for the value of
:23:52. > :23:56.the gold and the gems in it. But he would have thought that somebody
:23:57. > :24:01.would have clocked that it is very beautifully crafted... Yes, we will
:24:02. > :24:06.all be frequenting American flea markets, I think exhibition at it is
:24:07. > :24:13.an amazing piece. Stunning. Tell us where this particular find... How it
:24:14. > :24:17.sits with the rest of the Faberge... What is interesting about it is it
:24:18. > :24:21.is very early. If you think about the eggs that we already know about,
:24:22. > :24:26.we know about the very first one, which looks like a hen egg on the
:24:27. > :24:35.outside. It is more elaborate open. The next one to survive comes from
:24:36. > :24:40.five years later, 1890. From then on they are very elaborate. It has pink
:24:41. > :24:46.enamel. So this is part of the progression. It shows gradual
:24:47. > :24:50.increasing collaboration, probably Faberge himself getting more
:24:51. > :24:56.autonomy as he is allowed to come up with his own ideas. And just tell
:24:57. > :25:01.us, quick bit of history, why are Faberge eggs so desirable? They are
:25:02. > :25:07.wonderful. So many things. There is a wonderful series of inventiveness
:25:08. > :25:10.in the eggs that spans 30 years of different designs. There are
:25:11. > :25:16.wonderful stories. There are stories of the individual eggs reflecting
:25:17. > :25:21.what is going on in the lives of the stars, and after the revolution you
:25:22. > :25:29.have the stories of the eggs being lost and rediscovered. You have this
:25:30. > :25:33.thing about here are the rulers, separate from their people, living
:25:34. > :25:42.their lives and commissioning these eggs. They represent the end of an
:25:43. > :25:51.era. Are they all in private hands? After the revolution, of the 50
:25:52. > :25:58.made, roughly 40 appeared in the Kremlin. Stalin sold many of. 30
:25:59. > :26:05.were sold to the West and our current Queen has three. Bought by
:26:06. > :26:15.her grandmother. There are several in American museums. And a Russian
:26:16. > :26:18.oligarch has some. Another story related to art before we go.
:26:19. > :26:22.The former US President George Bush has found the time to develop a new
:26:23. > :26:26.passion since leaving the White House - he's become a painter. The
:26:27. > :26:29.Take a look and see what you think. Here's Vladimir Putin. The
:26:30. > :26:32.paintings, which are to be displayed at the Bush Presidential Library in
:26:33. > :26:34.Texas, also feature the former British prime minister Tony Blair.
:26:35. > :26:38.And Pakistan's former President, Pervez Musharraf, has also been been
:26:39. > :26:41.captured on canvas. Mr Bush said the subjects of his portraits had all
:26:42. > :26:44.earned his respect and admiration. And evidently, that includes himself
:26:45. > :26:50.- the collection includes this self portrait.
:26:51. > :27:05.Over the past 24 hours, we have seen a shift in wind direction and that
:27:06. > :27:10.has meant an improvement in air quality. Tomorrow looking cloudy.
:27:11. > :27:12.Some rain, although not everyone will see it. Light, patchy