c -- www.vitac.com this is bbc america. and now, live from london, "bbc world news". hello. i'm nik gowing with "bbc world news". our top stories. malaysia's prime minister joins prayers for the passengers and crew of flight mh opinion 370, seven days after it disappeared shortly after takeoff from kuala lumpur. how can a plane disappear without any trace of any kind? u.s. secretary of state john terry is due shortly to meet his russian counterpart sergei lavrov in london.

three years on from the start of the syria conflict, we look at the plight of the millions of people who have fled the fighting there. hello, everyone. it's nearly a week since the disappearance of the airliner mh-470 with 239 people on board. the search has had to be widened yet again. they have confirmed their focus has shifted much further to the northwest towards the islands in the indian ocean, andaman islands. the acting traps port minister

has just given this update on the search. >> there's been a lot of media speculation today after comments from unnamed u.s. officials suggested the plane may have traveled for some time after losing contact. as is standard procedure, the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has properly been verified and corroborated with relevant authorities. nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made in the media. since sunday, we have worked closely with our international partners, including the u.s. team whose officials have been here on the ground in kula l lumpur. they are working on finding very detailed information but nothing

to confirm at this moment. widening of the investigation. the aircraft is still missing and the search area has expanded. two days ago the search area was widened to include the andaman sea. we are pushing further into the south china sea and the indian ocean. we want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. but circumstances have cost us to widen our search. as new information focuses on the search. but this is not a normal investigation. it forces us further and further afield. >> not a normal investigation. the words of the acting transport minister if malaysia. we go to bbc's martin patience. you're at the hotel where relatives and family members of

those who disappeared on the plane are at the moment. can you just help us on this report about a seismic event tracked by chinese scientists. >> there is anger, grief and exasperation here. one man's sister was on board that plane which disappeared almost a week ago. according to this gentleman, she has two children. you get the sense that people are desperate, still searching for answers. as the search goes on, as time goes on, there was one report that a university in china spotted usual seismic activity in the south china sea. it was 100 kilometers from where

flights mh-370 was spotted in the south china sea. i'm sure that will be getting checked out. but for the relatives here, well, they just want answers. they want to know what has happened to their loved ones who were due to arrive in beijing in 10 hours time almost a week ago. >> martin, for the most, thank you. what the transportation minister was taking question on was this reported benign signal which seemed to be picked up somewhere in the indian ocean from something which is transmitted in a benign way. the question many people are asking, how can a modern aircraft just vanish apparently without trace? well, the transport correspondent richard wescott has this analysis on what airliners transmit and how the signals are received. >> the boeing 777 is full of sophisticated gadgets that

should constantly tell the world where it is. satellites track the aircraft's location. something called a transponder tracks it on the ground. this seems to show the last time that transponder was heard. interestingly, look at the other aircraft that are around. they would normally be keeping on the emergency radio channel. no one heard anything. finally, the signal goes. that does not mean it crashed in this area. it could have dropped simply out of range, the transponder could have simply stopped. they don't know if it was the a

malaysian aircraft. >> we would expect it to squawk emergency which means the indication to the control is sos. hjk means hijack to the control room. the flash draws attention to it. in the event there were catastrophic failure of an aircraft and it broke up in midair, we would expect to see something like this. >> now, you probably heard a lot about the black box. it's in the tail, because that's normally furthest from any impact. it's not black, it's orange so you can find it. they can withstand fires, explosions, even years at the bottom of the sea. it pings out a signal, but the

battery only lasts a month. it also be fitted with an emergency stress beacon. modern airliners send outbursts of real-time technical data to the people who make and run the aircraft. it helps with maintenance. rolls-royce monstdaitormonitors. they got basic data back from this flight, but it's not yet clear if it has yielded any clues. a lot of speculation, a lot of confusion. and an aircraft that seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. >> trying unpick the digital and electronic realities. i'm joined by the chief executive of the uk flight safety. for many years he flew x707s

with giant mushrooms on top of them. i describe it like that because people can then understand the kind of thing you've been involved in in the past when you've been looking and monitoring. now, we have explained the reality at the moment. what is going through your mind, someone in charge of the flight safety. >> firstly, the aviation industry. and they are desperate to find out what's happened to say preventive understand can be put in place to stop it from happening again. nearly 1200 block, assuming it's been involved in an accident. only one of those occurred on the ground with no passengers on board. magnificent safety record. if we can put knit perspective, if that original search started around the last known location with an airplane traveling at

500 miles per hour, you are looking at throwing a five pence coin into the olympic stadium and looking for it in the dark with a torch on. it's a very tough task. >> you and nato have been up there involved in massive team operations to try to detect stuff which is happening maybe before the people on the ground know it's happening. but when you look at what is visible, particularly for aircraft which you are now responsible for, up the peninsula and so on, what is in your mind about approximate flight safety there? >> well, i don't think it's a safety issue for that part of the world. and until we work out what's happened to this aircraft, it's going to be difficult to say what particular action should be taken. i think in terms of the search and rescue operation, and at this point it is search and

rescue rather than a recovery operation; trying to focus the senses you've got available on the -- in the right area. because we could be talking about looking for a ship that sunk in the channel which we meant the channel between two of the islands in the pharoahs. using sonar, radar and visual search to try and find some sort of debris. because if the aircraft has actually crashed into the water, something is going to be floating somewhere. it's just a question of finding. >> finally, help us understand. these are very complex electronic issues. how if switched awe for whatever reason in the cockpit, and we know the the last stphapl was 1:07 for the engines and 1:31

for the transponder, somehow signals are still being received, how does that happen? >> the locater transmitter is automatic. the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder again have impact, tripped and water activated location devices. to reach those you have to be in range of them. and the range will be affected by exactly how the wreckage is distributed. it will be affected bywater depth, water temperature and sea state. it's still a tough task. and i think the mark of that was air france in the south atlantic where those recorders took two years to find and recover.

huge task. expensive as well. >> thank you very much for that explanation. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in london for talks with sergei lavrov. the last chance face-to-face dialogue before that haste live organized referendum on sunday. on his way to the encounter he was asked what hopes there were for something to be accomplished. >> we're working together in order to protect the integrity of ukraine. >> are you confident you can make progress? >> we're going to see where we are. >> that meeting due to begin around now at the u.s. ambassador's residence here in london. other news at this hour, completely unconnected to what's happened to the malaysian aircraft, the nose gear

collapsed on the run way at philadelphia international airport. 149 passengers were evacuated from the plane. the landing gear failed, forcing the pilot to abort takeoff. six people have been killed in a knife attack in changsha. police shot dead one suspect. there are reports the incident was triggered by a dispute at the market. the veteran british labor party politician tony benn died at the age of 88. he gave up a title in the house of lords to become a member of parliame parliament. he championed many causes including unilateral military disarmament. still to come, three years from the start of the syria conflict we ask have the sides fought themselves into a

stalemate? what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo.com to get your complimentary q&a book, with information from experts on your condition. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

you're watching bbc news with me nick doug. secretary of state john kerry in london due have talks with sergei lavrov. teams searching for the malaysian passenger jet which disappeared almost seven days ago now have had to widen their area east and west. the u.s. confirmed it is shifting focus to the indian ocean hundreds of kilometers from the last known contact. four people killed in a helicopter crash in the east of london. the helicopter came down in thick fog shortly after takeoff.

this report does contain flashing images. thick fog shrouds the emergency vehicles. four people were on board when it came down in a field in norfolk 7:30 last night. all four died. one has been named as lord bally edmo edmond. it's believed the helicopter was flying to northern ireland. >> we are working closely with our other colleagues to ensure the circumstances of this crash are thorough and detailed. of course our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives this evening. >> it's too early to say what

caused the crash, but witnesses reported thick fog in the area at the time and said it crashed soon after taking off. now, to syria. it's a conflict that neither diplomacy nor fighting have managed to end in any way. three years ago protests in the southern town of derat marked what has become a brutal civil war. the company remains divided against itself. since march 2011, an estimated 140,000 people have died within the country. 6.5 million are trapped inside syria itself and 9 million now displaced. 2.5 million have fled across borders. sunni nevertheless fighting minorities show signs of destabilizing the entire region, well beyond syria's borders.

so who is in control? if you thought it was a stalemate in syria, it is they have made significant gains in territory the last year. this is a map from january 2013 with the government controlled areas highlighted in pink. a year later and you can see assad forces increased their holdover the part of the country that borders lebanon, including the area around homs and pushed north to aleppo. recent months has seen fierce clashes. president a sawed has exploited these complex shifting divisions. in the shape of iran and the

lebanese hezbollah he has had committed allies too. he's not afraid to use weapons of terror. most recently these crude home made barrel bombs rolled out of helicopters, filled with petrol, shrapnel and explosives. there are 2.5 million refugees doing their best to survive. half a million in turkey and jordan. perhaps 6.5 million displaced inside syria.

>> i'm joined by a syrian doctor who worked for the charity hand in hand. there was a bbc documentary which followed you and one of your colleagues as you struggled in one part of syria where you were able to get to with great risk. what's your assessment now of the humanitarian areas. you remember what they are going

through and the shortages of medicine and what they are struggling. >> unfortunately, the situation continues to get worse. atrocities against civilians continue every single day. the health system is pretty much destroyed. so all of what you see on the panorama, the health struggles are far bigger than they used to be. >> what about the supply of basic medicines? >> there's about 3 million people besieged. they are completely beyond preach of most international ngos. the situation is utterly desperate. >> we are seeing those manage to go work in syria at the moment. but what's your overall feeling? you haven't been back since we followed you when you were in northern syria. what's your feeling about the

enormity of the challenge now on the humanitarian side? >> the frustration is it is still three years on and there's a war on civilians. over 90 charities have gotten together as part of a with syria campaign to say this must be the last year of bloodshed and suffering. >> do you see any possibility of that being the case? the last year of bloodshed given there's a stalemate? >> i think if governments have a political will of stopping bloodshed that can be the case. if syrian civil society and organizations are involved in the process i could see that would help ameliorate it. there needs to be a political will to bring about peace, and that's missing. >> if you're in touch with anyone you know from any of the

places you were trying to operate as a doctor a few months ago, what kind of message are they giving of what they are going through right now? >> people are incredibly desperate, tired and want peace. we want a chance to rebuild syria and transition to a just and fair society. i would hope after this three-year anniversary of the uprising we can start to do that. >> thank you very much indeed for joining me here on "bbc world news". that's the view of syrian-born doctor in britain at the moment. and after her experiences in the north of syria. let's go to the middle east correspondent jim muir from eastern lebanon, close to the border with syria. jim, what's your assessment now three years on on what on earth is happening both on the political and humanitarian side?

>> translato >> the humanitarian side is what you feel now. it doesn't allow the formal. you have these shanty towns sprung up in fields throughout the valley with 3,000 new refugees being added every single day. they say we just don't know. that's the tragedy. this is going into its fourth year. some of the people living here in these shanties have been here three years and when will they ever be able to go home? it is pretty much a dead end at the moment. nobody is talking about geneva because the russians have fallen out over the ukraine.

that certainly hasn't help. president assad seems to be preparing to run another reelection for presidencies. in other words, they don't see any change coming up. as i say, there's no end in sight. that's what makes it very depressing for the hundreds of thousands of syrians who flocked here into lebanon. >> jim muir, thank you. no end in sight in syria. our correspondent there in the valley. t that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind. all the goodness of milk, all the deliciousness of hershey's syrup.

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the first rise in employment in three years with more people in work and recovery and finally a reality. >> big money at stake. the gold cup race runs today

with a total price of $800 million. but is this a growing business with opportunities for new comers? hello. a very world welcome. this is "world business report" with me, alice baxter. employment numbers have just come out in the last few minutes. for the first time in three years it was actually a positive number. employment in the eurozone edged up 0.1% in the last quarter of 2013. on a yearly basis it was still down half a percent. no need to get too excited just yet. greece released employment data and it wasn't a pretty picture. now 27.5% of the country's working population is out of work. not only is that a new record but it is the highest in europe. so what can be done to turn the

situation around? well, mark lowen is in athens. it's not a pretty picture. what can be done? >> greece remains the black sheep. 27.5% unemployment here. that is a rise of 1.3% on third quarter of last year. and among young people, it is still eye wateringly high. 57% of those under the age of 24 out of work. now, what the critics of the greek government's policy and of the eurozone point to, before greece got its first bailout in may 2010 and started that crippling austerity, unemployment was under 12%. so it has gone at a soar in that time and created a huge spike in the jobless figure is a mix of austerity in the public sector and the private sector, a mix of recession and a lot of

austerity. demand has dropped. it meant businesses are simply going out of business. one in three businesses in the center of athens have now closed down in the space of six years. >> which is a staggering figure, mark. of course all of this just fuels the debate whether over a pan-european policy of austerity is a one-fits all model, especially when it comes to a case like greece. >> absolutely. and there are plenty of voices that would say the medicine simply killed the patient here. there's some positive figures for the greek economy. and they are that greece has cut its deficit by 10% in the space of four years. it is now in a primary surface, which means it is no longer borrowing to lead its daily life. it is not spending more than it has earned. it is no longer importing more

than it exports. they believe that will persuade the eurozone to loosen the commands on the greek economy to give a little bit of relief. but for ordinary people, those opaque numbers don't mean much. until they come down, ordinary people here won't feel the recovery. >> indeed. a few bright spots for greece. many thanks for talking us through those numbers. >> let's say in the region but head to ukraine now. it's not only hovering on a political knife edge. it's also in a desperate financial position as well. and world markets are reflecting that anxiety. ukraine says it is ready to deliver change and its prime minister has been seeking financial aid from western donors and washington this week. economists say the problems run deep in the country.

and it is still dealing with the legacy of its soviet past as it tries to embrace trade opportunities beyond russia. the mission to gather data was due to end today and has now been extended to march the 21st. well, they are expected to call for reforms as a condition of any long-term aid. president barack obama has promised $1 billion in loans to ukraine. but that's not expected to be approved for quite some time as well. republicans are pushing their own aid bill that doesn't including russian sanctions or imf progressions. let's hear about what the imf had to say about all of this and what strings could be led to any potential imf bailout. >> ukraine's quarter would

increase so that potentially its access to imf resources would increase other things being equal. of course i want to is add the caveat that quarters are just one relative metric in terms of an overall potential financing package. it is con ti it is con tingent on policies. >> it's one of the biggest races in the world. with the prize of $800 million, it's clear why the jockeys and the trainers take this so seriously. over the four-day racing festival, more than a quarter million is placed in bets with the majority being placed on the gold cup itself.

but is this a growing business. my next guest is chairman. simon's father this year is the 21st anniversary. many thanks for joining us. desert orchard, what made him such a special and successful racing horse? >> the primary was he was a gray. it helped everybody identify where he was on the racetrack. spectacular jumper. he would start to jump before the wings of the fence and get over the other side quite easily. the other thing that made him popular with the crowds is he always tried his hardest. often he was in happens and

still kept on winning. and they loved his spirit more than anything, i think. >> on the slightly more financial side of things, give us a sense as to how much money and investment it takes to get a horse of that caliber up to that sort of standard. >> up to that sort of standard is a difficult bid because you never know. you have to either breed the horse or to buy the horse. and training is probably about 30,000 pounds a year. you have fences, vets, insurance, transports on top. that doesn't necessarily guarantee you a successful horse or even a horse that runs a lot. if you think desert orchid was running 3 to 13, that's 10 years of a significant investment. >> okay. many thanks for joining us. we were talking about big money

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hello. this is "sport today". coming up on this program, mercedes are fast set in australia as formula 1 gets ready for the first race of the season.

roger federer is through to the finals in the masters in indian wells. and england with the final t-20 but both teams are off to the world cup in bangladesh. hello. thanks for joining us. mercedes are fastest so far in melbourne, the first grand prix take place on sunday in australia. per se december are the team to catch at the moment. even though he missed most of the first session after problems with his car, lewis hamilton headed rossberg one-two in second practice. a landreau took three. vettel was fourth from mcclaren's jenson button. nick has been following all the events in melbourne.

nick, you join me now. who is pleased and who is pretty upset? >> hostly mercedes pleased. red bull will be absolutely delighted. they had lots of problems in preseason testing with their engines, struggling to get any laps in. really they thought they would be off the the pace. although they are unlikely to win on sunday, they should get a good points score. they did well in preseason testing. but they struggled today. they could only manage 8th and 12th. a crash towards the end of the session. he finished 18th. >> what can we expect on saturday? >> it's likely per day december on the front row. whether hamilton or rosberg, we don't know. that's the safe bet. >> and the roar of the engines

has got people talking, hasn't it? >> we know what formula 1 used to sound like. but they have brought in much quieter and smaller engines. let's have a listen to them. >> malia said the noise of formula 1 has gone. what we need is that formula 1 noise. well, unfortunately it is going to be gone for this season. we will just have to get used to the quieter cars. >> all very interesting. thank you very much that was nick there. on to tennis. roger federer is through to the masters in indian wells after beating kevin anderson. after a tough first set in california, which 17-time grand slam champion took 7-5, the second set was pretty

straightforward. the swiss race into a 4-0 lead before taking it 6-1. it's his 10th consecutive victory. federer is yet to drop a set in the tournament. while federer will play dolgopolov who beat raonic. he had beaten rafael nadal early in the season. raonic put out andy murray. the ukrainian took this one taking the first set, 6-3. and 6-4 to seal the match. meanwhile, li na is through. the top seed from china won the first 6-3 before cybill cova.

after two and a half hours on court, li getting through to the last four. li na will play flavia pennetta. sloan stevens of the usa. 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. >> in cricket west indies begin their defense of the 2020 title in bangladesh. won the last of the three matches in sunny barbados. top score 63 after 40 bowls. chris jordan was born in barbados. england made 165 for 6 for 20

overs. ordan was the pick of the england bowlers. 3 for 39. west indies labored in their replay. in the end they were recollected at 160-7. west indies won the series, 2-1. now, the president of bayern munich says he won't appeal against his prison sentence for tax evasion. he is beginning a three and a half year jail term for evading $38 million in taxes. he is stepping down as business chairman of bayern munich. he was a world cup winner with west germany in 1974 and also helped build bayern in one of the world's biggest clubs. they are the current holders of the champions league and are well clear in the top of the bundesliga. well, the first leg matches of the last 16 in the europa league were played on thursday with teams looking to get a step

closer to the quarterfinals. sevilla hosted their local rivals batiste. they scored after 15 minutes. lopez came off the bench to score the winner with just under 15 minutes to go. meanwhile, it was an all italian affair in turin as juventus were held to a draw by fiorentina. vitale put them up 1-0 up. a level score for the return leg in florence in a week's time. jackson martinez got the only goal of the game in the second half as porto beat napoli. >> translator: it proved to be a complex and hard working team. very strong when they attack so

quickly as well. and they created plenty of problems when they lost the ball. we had to defend well because napoli tried to break us down to get through. >> elsewhere, basel held to a goalless draw by salzburg. and wins for valencia, lyon and benfica. you can get all the latest sports news at bbc.com. that's all from me. bye-bye. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night

before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

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hello. i'm nik gowing with bc world news. our top stories. malaysia's prime minister joins prayers for the passenger and crew of flight mh370. the search for the aircraft has now been widened west into the andaman sea and east to the south china sea. how can-can a plane disappear without any trace