16/04/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas. The struggle

for control of eastern Ukraine intensifies, focussed on the armed

separatists whom Moscow calls protestors and Kiev calls

terrorists. Are events beginning to spin out of control? Today,

Ukrainian military vehicles have been seized by pro-Russian militia,

and the head of NATO has warned that he's stepping up deployments. We

will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water and more

readiness on the land. A frantic search effort in the seas

off South Korea, with around 300 still missing after a ferry being

used for a school trip goes down. And coming up: A special report on

the lengths African migrants will go to, to jump a Spanish wall. Angry

and desperate to enter a tiny piece of Europe they can see down below.

And how much of a style statement do beards make? They've been getting

more and more popular but a new study says they may be falling out

of fashion. Hello and welcome. A day before top

level talks on Ukraine, military activity in the east has stepped up

again from both Ukrainian government troops and pro Russian forces. The

defence ministry in Kiev says six Ukrainian armoured personnel

carriers have been seized in the town of Kramatorsk. And pro-Russian

protestors demanding greater regional autonomy still occupy many

official buildings. The escalating crisis led the head of NATO, Anders

Fogh Rasmussen, to announce a state of greater military readiness. Today

we agreed on a package of further military measures to reinforce our

collective defence and demonstrate the strength of allied solidarity.

So what does this mean for those NATO members affected, especially

those which existed for decades behind the Iron Curtain? Mr

Rasmussen says the alliance will now reinforce its eastern borders. He

said allied ships will deploy to the Baltic Sea, the Eastern

Mediterranean and elsewhere, as needed. And the air-policing and

surveillance sorties which already happen over the Baltic region, will

be stepped up. Since first light armed vehicles

loyal to the government in Kiev have been manoeuvring through eastern

Ukraine. But time and again they were foiled by rebellious

villagers. These vehicles tried to get to a local airfields but were

stopped by people who were upset by what had been branded an

anti-terrorism operation. Do I look bigger terrorist? This man said. I

have just been planting onions. The villagers were passed by attack

helicopters. And even fighter jets. But in the end the soldiers had to

give up. And so blockaded by the villagers the armoured personnel

carriers are having to turn round and find another way through what is

becoming increasingly hostile territory. In some places there were

scuffles and even the occasional gunshot. It was largely peaceful.

These are found themselves blocked in and were forced to surrender.

They vehicles now under a Russian flag were driven in triumph to an

anti-government stronghold. The captured armoured personnel carriers

are now on display as trophies in the centre of the most rebellious

town in Ukraine. Around the corner we found one of the captors who

described the surrender. TRANSLATION: It was peaceful without

any shooting. Now they will have a food and wash because they were

angry and dirty. 20 yards away in the Park we found this woman playing

with her son. After weeks of being bombarded by Russian propaganda,

many people there their own troops. TRANSLATION: I am worried about the

helicopters flying overhead. I am worried the Kiev government send

them against peaceful citizens. As government troops reinforce the

airfield NATO said it was strengthening its forces in eastern

Europe well the Ukrainian Promina state claimed Russia was erecting a

new bill wall. Tomorrow's talks in Geneva take laced with relations

between Russia and the West at their worst since the end of the Cold War.

So what is the nature of the threat on the ground? Let's go to the scene

now in Donetsk and talk to the BBC's David Stern. The tensions and the

setbacks in the villages and towns, we've heard about that, but we've

also had some develop once here. Some gunmen have taken over the maze

building today. It is just down the road from here, about a colour

matter. I went there and saw they were men in scheme asks, well

armed, who had taken over the city administration building. They are

occupying it but they are still allowing business to go on there.

They say they will remain there until the government accepts they

demand that there be a referendum for political status whether or not

to grant more autonomy or independence to the eastern regions.

The question is now, what will be the government 's next action? The

soldiers are very uncomfortable with their role in moving against

civilians and nobody quite knows what the government 's decision will

be tomorrow. More importantly, nobody knows what their reaction

will be in the rest of the Ukraine. Joining me from Washington is a

former US Ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker. He's now Executive Director

of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona

State University. What you think Russia is doing here? They are

laying the groundwork for doing what they did in Crimea. The armed groups

are Russian Special Forces. We have seen the propaganda and how it is

influencing the views of the local population and their intention is to

either create a situation where they can force a referendum or if not

with Ukrainian armed forces trying to fight that at the special

operatives will create disorder and conflict which would justify a

Russian troop intervention. Either way, I think Russia is playing a

very hard game to break away this territory from the rest of you the

Ukraine. What if anything can be done to stop that sequence of events

unfolding? I am pleased to see the steps by NATO today that a

reinforcing security allies but of course that applies only to those

allies and we need to be doing more with respect to the Ukraine as well.

We could be providing some arms and I think we should be providing

advisors and trainers because it is a very difficult operation

tactically for the Ukrainians to re-establish control without

escalating the -- violence. I do think we also need to put immediate

sanctions on Russia to get them to want to negotiate a way out. Right

now, they do not take what has been put in place in the form of

sanctions very seriously. But aren't they are genuine Russian interests

at stake here especially when you look at what is happening in the

west of Ukraine and Kiev? Russia is not losing the Ukraine because

Ukraine is an independent country. The people they ought to be left in

peace. Russia is playing an active role here. I am not sure what

legitimate interest Russia has over the affairs of its neighbours. This

is something for the Ukrainians themselves to work out but they are

not being given a chance to do that. Thank you for your time.

Now to the latest news about the ferry which has sunk off South Korea

while carrying many teenage students on a school trip. Four people have

been confirmed dead, a number that's expected to rise. Almost 300 are

still missing. The country's Prime Minister urged those involved in the

search not to give up. But as he visited some of the families, he was

heckled and shouted at by relatives understandably desperate to hear

from the rescue mission which is going on through the night. The

boat, the "Sewol", was travelling from Incheon to Jeju island, a

popular tourist destination. It ran into trouble about 20 kilometres

from Byungpoong island. Survivors say they heard a loud 'thud' just

before the ferry began to tip on its side. Lucy Williamson reports.

12 miles off the South Korean coast the first glimpse of this disaster.

A ferry full of schoolchildren slowly sinking in the sea. By the

time rescue boats arrived several floors were already underwater. One

by one they climbed out of cabin windows, each rescue a small victory

against the rising sea. Down below others waited in the water for

rescue. They jumped into the sea to survive. They were the lucky ones.

The speed and scale of this disaster was no match for rescuers. Hundreds

of passengers were still trapped inside when the ship began to sink.

An hour later, only this remained. Dry land brought comfort for

survivors and the first stories of what had happened. The

schoolchildren said they did exactly as they were told. The announcement

told us we should stay still but this -- ship was sinking -- was

sinking. This video apparently filmed by a survivor shows the

passenger in life jackets waiting patiently on board. For those now

reunited with their families, the horror of what might have been is

already fading. For others, it is the hope that is ebbing away.

Tonight this list of survivors is what divides families. Hundreds of

parents have been scanning these boards searching for their

children's names. Most of them are not here. Here in the town 's

gymnasium, people are still waiting. Family say they want more

information and fewer mistakes. TRANSLATION: Nobody is organising

the information being given to us and not knowing what's happening is

increasing the pain of the families. Tonight, divers have been searching

the ghostly corridors of the -- of the sunken ship. Until they find the

missing children flew in the town will sleep.

Now a look at some of the day's other news.

A robotic mini-submarine, which is helping with the search for the

missing Malaysian airliner in the Indian Ocean, has been forced to

resurface for a second time. Australian officials coordinating

the search haven't said why its mission was cut short, but they do

expect to redeploy it. Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens on March

the 8th, with 239 people onboard. Britain's biggest provider of food

banks says an alarming number of people are now receiving emergency

help. The Trussell Trust, a Christian organisation, said more

than 900,000 people received a free food parcel, containing three days

supply of food, in the 12 months to March, compared with 350,000 the

year before. Clashes have again broken out near

the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. It's believed that the violence

started after the compound was opened to Jewish visitors.

Palestinian protesters began throwing stones, and the police

responded by firing stun grenades and rubber bullets. 30 protesters

are said to have been injured. On Monday, several people were arrested

following similar clashes. Spain says it needs more help from

the European Union to control one of Europe's most southern borders. In

recent weeks, hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have scaled

the border fence separating Morocco from the neighbouring Spanish

enclave territory of Melilla. Thousands more migrants live in the

hills near Melilla, from where our Spain correspondent Tom Burridge

reports. A home in a wood. In the mountains of North Africa. They

wait. Hungry and desperate to enter a tiny piece of Europe which they

can see down below. This man has been living in a forest for years.

11 of you living here. He travelled from Cameroon but now he is trapped,

an illegal immigrant in Morocco hiding from the police. I am a

prisoner because I can't go in the street, I can't walk in the street.

I am a prisoner. That is why I decided to come in a forest. There

are thousands living here. An unwelcome community within touching

distance of their ultimate goal, Europe. The mountains is hell. This

is what stands in their way. On this side of the border, a fence which

stretches for 11.5 km, we are in Spain. On the other side is Morocco,

Africa. The tallest of the three fences is eight metres high but the

migrants have developed techniques which have proved effective. In

recent weeks, hundreds at a time have scaled the fence, filmed by the

police who call it a human avalanche. Spain is spending more on

policing its border but the Spanish government's representative says the

European Union needs to take action to help the country control one of

Europe's both southern borders. For those that cross, there is

little work but there is somewhere to sleep. This is the overcrowded

immigration centre. They dream of life in Britain but the authorities

plan to send most back to the country where their journey began.

It manages tens of thousands of crossings from Morocco every day. It

is now calling on its European partners for help. They want to stop

those on the mountain who are planning their illegal attempt

toenter Europe and Spain. John Springford joins me. A massive

issue. What can be done? The EU can supply

more funds to help with investment in terms of the board protection for

a lot of these countries which face very large numbers of immigrants

coming. That is probably the main thing that the EU can do to help.

That just means build taller walls. It doesn't say anything about the

numbers who wants to get to Europe. Stronger protection is the one thing

that will come out of it. The EU can do more in terms of development aid

in a lot of these regions to help prevent the flows from coming in the

first place, given the fact that they are pretty poor places. They

are struggling with high unemployment and there is a lot of

push factors which are driving a lot of these people into the EU. When

they come through, not just Spain but Italy in particular, what are

the main issues that are created? What issues do governments have to

tackle the most? The biggest problem is people don't have the papers that

they need in order to be able to work. They are driven into the

underground economy and there is a lot of crime. They can quite often

end up in prostitution. It is a big problem. Also governments to receive

the tax money which they would if they were proper, irregular

migrants. Where do you stand on recognising this situation and

legalising them so you can get tax revenue from them? We are quite a

long way away from this. Some others are likely to do this. Some have

done amnesties in the past. In Britain where we are the land of the

go home fan, it seems unlikely that this is going to happen. -- go home

fan. You don't have people involved in so much crime and prostitution

and also it means if these people can move into jobs, you can generate

quite a lot of tax revenue from them as well. I am sure we will hear more

about this in the run-up to the elections.

Controversial surveillance programme targeting Muslim communities has

been abandoned by the New York police Department. The programme

involved a special police unit used to monitor everyday activities. Nick

Bryant has more on that secret operation. The secretive 's wired

and sent plain offices -- plainclothed officers in to

eavesdrop on Muslim communities. They wanted to know where they ate,

where they were shipped, where they shop and played cricket. The New

York Police Department believe it would help them identify what they

called hotspots of radicalisation. The secret programme never lead to

any terror related prosecutions. Some law enforcement officials even

thought it was counter-productive because it bred so much mistrust

within Muslim communities. The disbandment of the unit has been

welcomed by those community groups and also by civil liberties groups

who always believed it could -- it curtailed freedoms. The New York

Police Department have to mend some relations and this all came in after

the September 11 attacks. Let's get more now from Linda Sarsour who is

the Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York.

This is an attempt to repair damage done. What kind of damage has been

done? The intelligence division created psychological warfare in the

American Muslim community. It creates paranoia and missed/--

mistrust within our own community and the closing of the unit is the

first step in mending the relationships between the American

Muslim community and the NYPD. It will take many years to roll back

the trauma because of these discriminatory police practices.

What can be done to bring trust? They need to bring substantial

change within the New York Police Department. They need to amend their

guidelines to create mechanisms so that the public understand when an

informant or undercover goes to an open investigation into a mosque. We

need to understand why it happens, what the steps we are taking and

what type of suspicious activity was gathered for them to open that

investigation. If the community understands the process and it

becomes more transparent, that will put us on a path to building or

rebuilding that relationship. Sometimes these operations do have

to happen, there is a process of radicalisation of a few and security

still matters. Absolutely. We are not an anti-law force meant

committee. We have to counter-terrorism. Faith is not a

predicate to crime or terrorism and that is the point we are making. We

want the NYPD to keep us solve but uphold our civil freedoms. Is this

part of a cultural shift another management of New York City, the new

mayor has changed Western Mark I hope so. -- the new mayor has

changed? They are bringing their harshest critics to the table. I

welcome more meaningful change in the New York Police Department.

Thank you. The end of the beard is nigh - not

according to fashion stylists, but to evolutionary biologists.

Australian scientists have found that as facial hair grows more

common it gets less attractive and the clean shaven look becomes more

desirable to potential mates. To find out if they're right, we sent

our science reporter James Morgan to one of the beard capitals of

Britain. A wave of beards has swept across

the manly chins of Britain but according to a study published

today, these hairy humans could be doomed by evolution. Scientists have

found the more beards there are, the less attractive baby, and that is

because in evolution, traits which are rare or noble such as

clean-shaven nurse in this area of London can become sexually

attractive to potential mates. To see if the tide is really turning,

we came to Shoreditch in east London, home of the hipster, to ask

the female of the species. The amount of beards needs to go. It is

like tatties, they become common. IMA -- I am not a big fan of beards

as they hide the face. When they share -- shave their face, are they

going to be ugly? Could barbers like this become an endangered species? I

get people who want their partners to grow beards. Maybe we will see a

decline. Gent's barbers like this may go out of business but the peak

beard in a row of fashion isn't going to go away any time soon. I

don't want to lose my beard. Let us remind you of the menus. In

UK and, -- Ukraine, the head of NATO has warned that he is stepping up

deployment of ships, warplanes and troops in eastern Europe. You can

get in touch with me as some of the team on Twitter. Thanks very much

for being with us. The Easter weekend weather will get

off to a fine start. Before then, tomorrow, there is a bit of a blip.

It will bring cloud to weather has been plenty sunshine today.