:00:09. > :00:11.This is BBC World News Today with me, Kasia Madera.
:00:12. > :00:14.Our top story - the first glimpse of Nigeria's abducted schoolgirls.
:00:15. > :00:18.A video which appears to show more than 100 of them is released
:00:19. > :00:22.Their leader says they will only be released
:00:23. > :00:37.The polls close in the world's biggest democracy.
:00:38. > :00:43.So is Narendra Modi about to become India's next Prime Minister ?
:00:44. > :00:46.Also coming up, Ukraine's separatist leaders reach out to Russia.
:00:47. > :00:49.But the government in Kiev calls their controversial
:00:50. > :01:24.Hello and welcome. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has
:01:25. > :01:28.released a new video which it says shows some of the more than 200
:01:29. > :01:32.girls who were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria four weeks ago.
:01:33. > :01:36.In the recording, the group's leader says the girls would not be freed
:01:37. > :01:39.until its members had been released from prison.
:01:40. > :01:42.The girls were taken from their school in Chibok in the North
:01:43. > :01:46.Eastern state of Borno on the 14th of April.
:01:47. > :01:49.Our World Affairs Editor John Simpson sent this report from nearby
:01:50. > :02:12.136 girls, most Christian until a month ago, obediently chanting the
:02:13. > :02:17.first part of the Koran dressed in Islamic headscarves.
:02:18. > :02:25.If you look closely, not all of them are chancing. It is the first
:02:26. > :02:31.sighting of them, yet more than half of the girls are not here, maybe
:02:32. > :02:36.because they refused to convert or because of some other reason, we
:02:37. > :02:40.don't know. One of the girls is led to the front and told to give a
:02:41. > :02:50.Muslim name rather than her Christian one. She is clearly
:02:51. > :02:57.frightened. In the video, Boko Haram's leader,
:02:58. > :03:03.said to be Frank Bryant, clever and mocking, launches into a harangue.
:03:04. > :03:09.-- said to be flamboyant. Translation-macro These girls, we
:03:10. > :03:17.have liberated them. They have become Muslims, they are staying
:03:18. > :03:21.with us. This man is desperate for news of
:03:22. > :03:28.the girls. He has made the dangerous journey from Chibok, where they were
:03:29. > :03:35.kidnapped. No fewer than six of his relatives were taken but he can't
:03:36. > :03:40.spot in the video. This must be pretty shocking for you
:03:41. > :03:46.to see this. It is one of the most shocking moments I have ever found
:03:47. > :03:53.myself in. This is in human, it is not correct, it is unfair, there is
:03:54. > :03:56.no need for them to impose on them the Islamic religion. Everybody has
:03:57. > :04:00.the right to choose what religion to follow.
:04:01. > :04:05.Politicians here are furious with the federal government. They say
:04:06. > :04:07.that although Nigeria has one of Africa's biggest army is nothing
:04:08. > :04:14.serious is being done to get the girls back.
:04:15. > :04:20.They tell you they are doing their best but we as parents would only
:04:21. > :04:25.say the government have done very well if the girls are back safe and
:04:26. > :04:30.healthy. No politician travels anywhere here
:04:31. > :04:37.without a heavily armed escort. This is a silent and frightened city. The
:04:38. > :04:43.fact is, Boko Haram has the upper hand in Borno State as a whole and
:04:44. > :04:48.its influence of power even here in the capital city is certainly
:04:49. > :04:52.present. It looks as though the government down in Abuja simply does
:04:53. > :04:57.not care about any of this, any more than it has put any effort at all
:04:58. > :05:03.into searching for the missing girls. The question is, when Boko
:05:04. > :05:11.Haram suggest a swap, those Christian girls who have refused to
:05:12. > :05:14.convert in exchange for guerrillas captured by the government, could
:05:15. > :05:22.this be the beginning of negotiation or is it just talk?
:05:23. > :05:25.With me is the freelance journalist and academic Lizz Pearson, who's
:05:26. > :05:28.written about Boko Haram and the abduction of women. And also with us
:05:29. > :05:44.Zero Mackay look, this video appears to be genuine. Describe what we see.
:05:45. > :05:50.The Boko Haram leader made it clear that the reason he decided to
:05:51. > :05:55.release this video is because of the international outrage about the
:05:56. > :05:58.kidnapping of these girls. It is genuine as far as we understand and
:05:59. > :06:03.in this video he made it clear that he is ready, if the Nigerian
:06:04. > :06:12.government is willing, to release Boko Haram prisoners, he is ready to
:06:13. > :06:17.release the girls who have not converted to Islam. For those who,
:06:18. > :06:20.he says, have decided to convert, they have now become their sisters
:06:21. > :06:28.so he is not going to release them even if the government is releasing
:06:29. > :06:33.Boko Haram prisoners. This video does not show all of the girls, we
:06:34. > :06:37.believe it is just over a hundred of the over 200 kidnapped, and it seems
:06:38. > :06:44.they are in the process of being converted to Islam. Yes, we count
:06:45. > :06:52.about 130 girls in living the O. We had them reciting the first verse of
:06:53. > :07:01.the Koran. -- 130 girls in the video. It is clear that the Koran is
:07:02. > :07:05.trying to either force them or convince them to convert to Islam,
:07:06. > :07:11.that is why we saw them wearing hijab, the full Islamic dress for
:07:12. > :07:16.women, so I think Boko Haram is trying to force or convince those
:07:17. > :07:22.girls to convert to Islam, while others who have not converted are
:07:23. > :07:26.not in the video. The scale of what happened in Chibok is unprecedented
:07:27. > :07:36.but Boko Haram have four main kidnapping schoolgirls, kidnapping
:07:37. > :07:43.women. -- have form in kidnapping. Yes, this dates to 2011, 2012, when
:07:44. > :07:49.the Nigerian police began to arrest wives and members of Boko Haram. The
:07:50. > :07:55.leader says, you take are women, we will take your women, and he
:07:56. > :08:01.threatens retaliation. -- you take our women. He wants to use them as
:08:02. > :08:06.bartering chips to force the release of these women and other militants
:08:07. > :08:11.who have been arrested. The conditions in which these women are
:08:12. > :08:15.kept, how are they being treated? We have seen in other cases where women
:08:16. > :08:20.have been released by have been unharmed, they were not badly
:08:21. > :08:31.treated or injured, but we know that the Koran is also abducted women as
:08:32. > :08:36.they flee. -- Boko Haram. They are forcing girls to convert if they are
:08:37. > :08:42.Christian to Islam, they are raping them, forcing them into marriage,
:08:43. > :08:45.using them to entice soldiers into positions where they can be
:08:46. > :08:57.targeting. The women are not always well treated. -- they can be
:08:58. > :09:01.targeted. The Nigerian government is saying it is reviewing all of its
:09:02. > :09:11.options. It isn't -- under incredible treasure to do something.
:09:12. > :09:20.-- it is under. We have the interior minister saying he finds it absurd
:09:21. > :09:25.to talk to the organisation. What we understand is that minute -- the
:09:26. > :09:33.Nigerian government in the past tried to reach out to Boko Haram,
:09:34. > :09:40.they looked into ways of finding how to reach out to them, a report was
:09:41. > :09:44.submitted and it suggested the government should set up another
:09:45. > :09:47.committee that would work underground to reach out to
:09:48. > :09:51.officials of Boko Haram but what we don't know now is whether the
:09:52. > :09:56.government is doing something underground to reach out to them. I
:09:57. > :10:03.think everything is possible at the moment. It seems the Nigerian
:10:04. > :10:10.government's initial attempts to scare off Boko Haram by abducting
:10:11. > :10:20.their wives has completely backfired. Yes, the strategy has
:10:21. > :10:24.worked to some degree in the past, but the long-term security of women
:10:25. > :10:28.living in these affected areas of Nigeria has to be a priority,
:10:29. > :10:35.because they have been vulnerable, they have not been protected, and
:10:36. > :10:42.this can't go on. We are out of time but thank you both very much for
:10:43. > :10:47.coming in to speak to us. We will keep you updated when we hear no. --
:10:48. > :10:51.here more. Polls have closed in the final day
:10:52. > :10:54.of India's six-week long voting process, with exit polls indicating
:10:55. > :10:57.a victory for the opposition party BJP. Surveys also suggest the worst
:10:58. > :11:00.ever performance by the governing Congress Party, but it's important
:11:01. > :11:03.to remember that polls have been wrong in the past. Official results
:11:04. > :11:07.are due out on Friday. Many key Election Commission figures show
:11:08. > :11:11.that it was the highest ever turnout at 66%. Which means that just short
:11:12. > :11:16.of 550 million Indians voted in these landmark elections. It's worth
:11:17. > :11:22.remembering that a party or coalition needs a minimum of 272
:11:23. > :11:26.seats to form a majority government. So, what do we know so
:11:27. > :11:29.far from today's exit polls? Well, my colleague Sanjoy Majumder is in
:11:30. > :11:42.Delhi. It is important to stress that the
:11:43. > :11:46.exit polls have been wrong before. That is right. Many people in India
:11:47. > :11:52.don't take these polls seriously because they have been so inaccurate
:11:53. > :11:56.in the past. In the last two elections they got it completely
:11:57. > :12:03.wrong and they have often overestimated the BJP's performance.
:12:04. > :12:07.Nevertheless, in the last few hours we have seen several exit polls
:12:08. > :12:16.pointing to a dramatic victory for the BJP, suggesting that they will
:12:17. > :12:22.cross the magic figure -- magic figure of 272, one poll suggesting
:12:23. > :12:25.it will fall slightly short. It points to a massive defeat for the
:12:26. > :12:29.Congress Party. We will have to wait until Friday to see how these
:12:30. > :12:35.numbers stack up but one person who will be very pleased if it turns out
:12:36. > :12:41.how it is being projected is the BJP leader, Modi. Many people believe he
:12:42. > :12:50.is poised to take over the reins of the world's largest democracy. He
:12:51. > :12:54.was in one of the country's most holy cities, from where my colleague
:12:55. > :12:59.sent this report. The longest election in Indian
:13:00. > :13:03.history is finally over and the organisers say it has set an even
:13:04. > :13:14.more important record for turnout. I am happy to inform you that the
:13:15. > :13:19.National voter turnout in this election is 66.38%, the highest ever
:13:20. > :13:26.in the history of Indian national elections.
:13:27. > :13:39.This is the man now being tipped to become in the's next prime minister
:13:40. > :13:43.Modi the Hindu nationalist BJP. He is promising stronger leadership and
:13:44. > :13:46.faster growth. Exit polls put him ahead of his rivals but the actual
:13:47. > :13:55.results will not be counted until Friday. There was a record turnout
:13:56. > :14:03.in this holy city where he was running. Voters came early and in
:14:04. > :14:08.large numbers to beat the heat. Today even the city's holy men
:14:09. > :14:13.shared the same goal, to cast their vote.
:14:14. > :14:18.In villages and homes everybody has to come out and vote to make India
:14:19. > :14:24.stronger. By running in Varanasi, Mr Modi was
:14:25. > :14:29.hoping for a personal mandate in the spiritual capital of the Hindu
:14:30. > :14:33.religion. He has faced significant opposition, especially from
:14:34. > :14:37.minorities who fear he hopes to turn India away from its secular
:14:38. > :14:41.traditions but his vow to get the economy back on track seems to have
:14:42. > :14:46.struck a chord with millions of voters. Exit polls have often been
:14:47. > :14:51.wrong but record turnouts in elections usually mean big change
:14:52. > :14:59.and the BGP says that Modi is on course to be India's next prime
:15:00. > :15:03.minister. -- the BJP. We heard him say that it was the
:15:04. > :15:10.economy that really hurt -- struck a chord with voters. If you look at
:15:11. > :15:14.what voters have been saying throughout this election, it does
:15:15. > :15:18.not matter which part of the country you go to, largely the concerns are
:15:19. > :15:27.the same, the state of the economy, the cost of living, rising prices. A
:15:28. > :15:34.third of the voters is under the age of 30, so jobs are the big issue,
:15:35. > :15:39.and many look to Mr Modi's record in Gujarat, his home state, where he
:15:40. > :15:42.has managed to make the state a magnet for foreign investment,
:15:43. > :15:46.infrastructure is significantly better than other parts of the
:15:47. > :15:51.country, so many people hope he can bring that kind of administrative
:15:52. > :16:00.skill to Delhi and do what he did to Gujarat for the rest of India. Thank
:16:01. > :16:01.you very much. You can expect full results on Friday, we will bring
:16:02. > :16:03.that to you. Now a look at some
:16:04. > :16:07.of the day's other news. The Taliban have launched their
:16:08. > :16:10.summer offensive in Afghanistan Several locations across
:16:11. > :16:14.the country have been attacked. Two rockets hit
:16:15. > :16:16.Kabul International Airport There was also an attack on the US
:16:17. > :16:20.airbase in Bagram And at a courthouse in Jalalabad
:16:21. > :16:25.in the east of the country, The World Health Organisation says
:16:26. > :16:32.alcohol abuse kills more than three million people every year
:16:33. > :16:35.and it's called on governments to do The WHO says
:16:36. > :16:40.the excessive consumption of alcohol is linked to more than 200 diseases,
:16:41. > :16:44.and also leads to deaths through Europeans are the heaviest drinkers,
:16:45. > :16:49.but the UN body also says nearly half of all adults worldwide have
:16:50. > :16:58.never touched alcohol. Australian scientists say
:16:59. > :17:00.strengthening winds in the Southern Ocean are
:17:01. > :17:02.the reason why temperatures in Antarctica are not rising
:17:03. > :17:05.as much as in other continents. The researchers from the
:17:06. > :17:07.Australian National University say high levels of greenhouse gases have
:17:08. > :17:11.triggered the strongest storms in 1,000 years and these are
:17:12. > :17:18.trapping cold air over Antarctica. Pro-Russian militants
:17:19. > :17:21.in eastern Ukraine have said they want to become part of the
:17:22. > :17:24.Russian Federation following The government in Kiev has denounced
:17:25. > :17:30.the polls as illegal and EU foreign ministers have expanded sanctions
:17:31. > :17:34.imposed as a result of Russia's Sarah Rainsford reports
:17:35. > :17:50.from Donetsk. The morning after the rabble
:17:51. > :17:54.referendum. Slaviansk is astral cold. There were clashes overnight
:17:55. > :17:58.with troops on the outskirts. Now, it is calm. Across the region,
:17:59. > :18:01.activists have been collating the results of the vote. As expected,
:18:02. > :18:06.they declared a landslide victory for self-rule, claiming a record
:18:07. > :18:11.turnout. But this was no ordinary ballot. Held alongside the armed men
:18:12. > :18:15.now in control here. The rebels say this region has now spoken, and its
:18:16. > :18:18.destiny is decided. But away from the barricade, I found opinion
:18:19. > :18:24.deeply divided, even among Russian speakers. TRANSLATION: There are
:18:25. > :18:27.lots of nationalities in this region, not just brushing. Why
:18:28. > :18:30.should they become Russian citizens, just because some people speak
:18:31. > :18:36.Russian? They want to live in Ukraine. Slavic people should be
:18:37. > :18:40.together. I want to join Russia. After what has happened here, this
:18:41. > :18:44.country can no longer be united. On the streets here, life looks pretty
:18:45. > :18:48.normal. People are going about their business. But just a few metres away
:18:49. > :18:52.at City Hall, there are still pro-Russian rebels in control. There
:18:53. > :18:57.are armed men on checkpoints right around the city. And Russia, which
:18:58. > :19:00.has called on the rebels to postpone their referendum, now says that
:19:01. > :19:04.people here have spoken and there will must be respected. TRANSLATION:
:19:05. > :19:10.We respect the will of the population of the Donetsk and
:19:11. > :19:12.Luhansk regions. We hope that article in the mentation of the
:19:13. > :19:17.outcome of the referendums will proceed along civilised lines
:19:18. > :19:20.without further outbreaks of violence, and through dialogue.
:19:21. > :19:25.International leaders have condemned the vote as a farce. These
:19:26. > :19:29.referendums have zero credibility in the eyes of the world. They are
:19:30. > :19:33.illegal by anybody's standards. They don't meet any standard, not a
:19:34. > :19:42.single one, of objectivity, transparency, fairness. But events
:19:43. > :19:45.are moving very fast. In bold and buy their votes, the rebels are
:19:46. > :19:47.talking of a parallel government, even a military one. Stepping back
:19:48. > :19:50.is becoming increasingly difficult. A migrant boat believed to be
:19:51. > :19:52.carrying around 200 people has sunk south of
:19:53. > :19:55.the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. The Sicilian Navy says vessels from
:19:56. > :19:59.the Mare Nostrum task force, set up after hundreds of people drowned in
:20:00. > :20:19.migrant boat disasters last year, Yet another tragedy in what is a
:20:20. > :20:30.very tragic set of historical situations with Lampedusa. And
:20:31. > :20:33.Italian navy ship gave quite a detailed account of what has been
:20:34. > :20:39.going on here. It seems this has been happening in an area very far
:20:40. > :20:43.south of Lampedusa, in fact, only about 45 miles from the Libyan
:20:44. > :20:47.coast. It seems that around late morning local time, a couple of tug
:20:48. > :20:52.boats working in the Libyan oil field noticed that there was a
:20:53. > :20:55.migrant vessel in trouble, and it was taking in water, and as those
:20:56. > :21:00.tug boats reported this to the Italian Navy, I saw that the boat
:21:01. > :21:04.actually sank, and it seems that passengers were plunged into the
:21:05. > :21:08.water. The tug boats did heroic work, it seems, picking up survivors
:21:09. > :21:13.from the sea and picking up some of the dad that we have heard about, at
:21:14. > :21:19.least 17 picked up so far. # the debt. The Italian Navy and Coast
:21:20. > :21:29.Guard raced to the scene, and they are on station at the moment.
:21:30. > :21:32.Apologies for the loss of sound. We appear to be having technical
:21:33. > :21:36.difficulties with our line, but just to let you know, at least 14 people
:21:37. > :21:39.have drowned following the sinking of a boat carrying migrants from
:21:40. > :21:43.Libya to Italy, the second such incident in one week. We will keep
:21:44. > :21:48.you updated when we get more details.
:21:49. > :21:51.The murder trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has heard
:21:52. > :21:53.a psychiatrist explain that an untreated anxiety order could
:21:54. > :21:56.have influenced his behaviour the night he shot
:21:57. > :21:59.Merryll Vorster was called as a defence witness and said
:22:00. > :22:02.Oscar Pistorius suffered from a life-long anxiety order
:22:03. > :22:04.because of his amputated legs and his mother's early death.
:22:05. > :22:06.He denies intentionally killing Ms Steenkamp.
:22:07. > :22:11.She said that his actions and should be seen in that context. Here is our
:22:12. > :22:14.correspondent with more. Today Wednesday 30 of the murder trial
:22:15. > :22:23.here in Pretoria. The court heard from a defence witness, who has a
:22:24. > :22:27.Ph.D. In forensic psychiatry. She told the court that when Oscar
:22:28. > :22:35.Pistorius was a young child, at the tender age of 11, when he had his
:22:36. > :22:39.legs amputated, he may have experienced that as a traumatic
:22:40. > :22:42.assault. She also said he may have grown up being told he must be like
:22:43. > :22:47.other kids, but he knew there was something wrong with him, he was a
:22:48. > :22:50.double-amputee. She also explained that when she interviewed him, she
:22:51. > :22:56.had diagnosed him with a condition called generalised anxiety
:22:57. > :22:59.disorder. The prosecution pounced on that, saying that if he had
:23:00. > :23:12.generalised anxiety disorder, could that be equal to a mental illness?
:23:13. > :23:17.He is now putting in an application to the courts for him to go for an
:23:18. > :23:21.evaluation. His "true and fearsome friend" -
:23:22. > :23:24.that's how internationally acclaimed photographer
:23:25. > :23:26.Stephen Dupont describes the Pacific For more than a decade, he has been
:23:27. > :23:31.taking portraits of the country's tribal traditions and capturing
:23:32. > :23:33.images that outsiders seldom see. Recently Dupont's diaries
:23:34. > :23:56.and pictures were published, Papua New Guinea is known as the
:23:57. > :24:01.land of the unexpected. You really feel like you are stepping back in
:24:02. > :24:07.time, in a way. You can be in the Highlanders and feel like there is
:24:08. > :24:10.first contact, it is that promotes and way off the beaten track. What
:24:11. > :24:15.is so fascinating about Papua New Guinea and the clash of
:24:16. > :24:18.modernisation of the West against the Stone Age, any sense, and that
:24:19. > :24:24.is what I have been drawn to the photographer, to covering society
:24:25. > :24:32.and looking at that clash of cultures. August 20 three, 2011.
:24:33. > :24:36.This is the heart and soul of TNG, along with the islands missing out
:24:37. > :24:39.on this would be like going to Brazzaville and not going up the
:24:40. > :24:46.Congo river. Ever since I picked up a camera, essentially, I wrote
:24:47. > :24:52.diaries. The diaries progressed in a way from handwritten diaries two
:24:53. > :24:55.more like art books, so I am now sketching, putting into things and
:24:56. > :25:01.making collages, and they become very much a part of my entire body
:25:02. > :25:06.of work. September 15, 2011. Heard of Paradise Hotel. Room 212. Every
:25:07. > :25:09.town in Papua New Guinea feels like a border town. They all seem to have
:25:10. > :25:18.this frontier feeling, transit places. People coming and going. An
:25:19. > :25:23.edgy kind of vibe life to it. The whole gang thing is quite new. It is
:25:24. > :25:28.not something that has been around for some time. It is something that
:25:29. > :25:32.grew out of urbanisation and 80% unemployment. I don't know anywhere
:25:33. > :25:35.in the world that has that kind of figure for unemployment. The
:25:36. > :25:38.conditions of that society, the poverty, the unemployment, has
:25:39. > :25:45.forced these people into crime, think. From here, we took the river.
:25:46. > :25:50.The water is so dark and chocolatey collard, it is almost black,
:25:51. > :25:55.reflecting the sky and clouds and the approaching foothills of the
:25:56. > :26:01.Highland mountains. The tribal gatherings in the
:26:02. > :26:05.Highlands are essentially cultural festivals. Thousands of different
:26:06. > :26:15.tribes coming together from all over to compete for fame and glory. It is
:26:16. > :26:20.Stone Age would start. It is wild. Dash-macro Woodstock. I feel
:26:21. > :26:24.grateful more than anything that I allowed to go and capture these
:26:25. > :26:31.moments, because you don't take pictures, you are given pictures. It
:26:32. > :26:36.is a gift. The acclaimed photographers Steven
:26:37. > :26:39.Dupont sharing some of his remarkable photos from Papua New
:26:40. > :26:44.Guinea. We have lots more as always on our website, but from me and the
:26:45. > :26:46.team, thanks very much for watching, and you can follow me on Twitter.
:26:47. > :27:00.For now, goodbye. Parts of the UK have been dealing
:27:01. > :27:02.with some intense thundery downpours again today, with showers in the
:27:03. > :27:03.forecast