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tv   BBC World News  BBC America  April 17, 2014 6:00am-7:01am EDT

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hello i'm marie with bbc world news. our top stories this hour. president putin says he hopes not to use his rights to descend russian troops to ukraine and denies they're already operating there. >> these are all local residents. a president says time is running out to find more survivors from the sunken ferry. the captain gives regrets.
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>> i'm really sorry, deeply ashamed. nigeria's president is discussing emergency talks about recent groups boko haram. the duke and duchess receive a warm welcome in the mountains. president putin has said he hopes he will not have to use what he calls his right to descend russian troops to ukraine. on his phone-in mr. putin denied russia was involved in any way in the protest that swept eastern ukraine for several days. he admitted for the first time russian forces were active in
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crimea that became part of russia last month. in the incident in ukraine, the government said the attack by pro russian militants in the space killing three people. nick has the latest. >> this after the aftermath by what they say is a ukrainian base. >> according to kiev, three pro russians were killed, more than a dozen injured. elsewhere in eastern ukraine, it's operations to re-establish control appears to have made little head way. it's an unhappy backdrop to the latest diplomatic push in geneva to defuse the crisis. russia's foreign minister strides in on the talks that will bring him together with u.s., european and ukrainian
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counter parts. diplomats defer. hopes aren't high here. previous diplomacy has gotten nowhere. from washington a new warning for russia. >> each time russia takes steps designed to destabilize ukraine and violate sovereignty, there are going to be consequences. what you have seen is the russian economy weaker, capital fleeing out of russia. mr. putin's decisions are not just bad for ukraine over the long term they're bad for russia. >> translator: mr. putin himself in the russian phone in said geneva talks are important and called for dialogue. also new condemnation of the kiev government and denial of russian interference in eastern ukraine. >> translator: this is all mountains. there are no russians in eastern ukraine. no instructors, no special
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services. these are all local residents. the best proof of that is that people are literally have taken off their masks. >> also from the russian leader an acknowledgment that russian units were in crimea before. he says he hopes he won't have to use military forces in eastern ukraine. pro russian group, whoever they are, are very much manning the barricades. in donetsk and elsewhere in eastern ukraine, it remains a high stakes battle of wills in the country and beyond. >> now we're going to take you straight to the island where survivors of the south korean ferry are brought after shore. the news guard is having a news conference. listen.
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>> the president has come down and to give insistence for rescue efforts. we will expedite the rescue effort as much as possible following the president's instructions. and the organization -- operations is briefed. >> well we were hearing from the regional coastal guard chief in south korea about the ferry that capsized more than 24 hours ago with almost 500 people including more than half of high school students on board. there has been quite a bit of n
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anger and frustration because the number of death toll is changing and there are a lot of mixed messages. the president said time is running out, but they are putting efforts to the rescue operation. jane francis kelly has the report. >> reporter: coast guard shows rescue efforts before the ferry went down. among those found, this 6-year-old carried off in a life jacket. later in hospital staff gathered around her bed, a chocolate bar provided her a moment of comfort. the fate of her family is still unknown. all that is visible of the ferry is the hull out of the water. dive teams tried to enter overnight but were prevented by strong currents. shielding his face, the captain
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of the ferry expressed regret for what happened. >> i am really sorry. i am deeply ashamed. i cannot put it into words. >> we're going to take you back to the press conference hearing from the guard chief in south korea. >> 45 near the island. the ship sank, and while sinking down, asked for help to rescue. the number of people, passengers were 475. and the 464 people were on board. and 179 people were rescued.
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and unfortunately nine people were dead. 287 people are being searched are the relevant authorities of the search parties. when it happened on the 16th of april -- 167 ships, planes and patrol boats were mobilized to rescue. today, 171 vessels were
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mobilized. 29 planes were constantly put into efforts of the rescue. and the ferry cranes will be arriving tomorrow, and we'll do our best to rescue the remaining missing people. and coast guard, head of authority and national crime scene investigation team will be there to investigate the cause of the accident. all specialists will be there to
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investigate whether or if any regulations were ignored. and when the report of the investigation is completed, then we'll update you of course. and we will give you answers you may have regarding whether or if the ship deviated recommended to recommended course. and if any of the ship deviated from the recommended course. they have to get approval from the coast guard. and at the moment, the ship followed the recommended course.
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once again i -- my condolences to the family of the passengers affected. even if there's 1% of survivors, coast guard will do its best to rescue 1% survivor.
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well we have been hearing from the coastal chief many in south korea about the ferry that capsized and sunk more than 24 hours ago. he was giving us details. seems the numbers are same as we have been reporting. 475 people on board including 325 students on a school trip. he said that 179 people have so far been rescued but nine people are confirmed to have died because of this incident. 287 people are still searched for -- let's go back to him and hear a little bit more. >> whether or if the captain fled the ship and whether the
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rescue boats were there together -- but the investigation is still going on. so i promise that i will give you update once the investigation is more well known. at the moment, the captain fleeing in the first group is violation of the maritime regulations.
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how many times the rescue team have been through the ship to rescue the people. i guess the question depends on how you categorize the rescue effort. the surface rescue efforts on
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board the ship or near the ship. and the people who may have trapped inside alive in the cabins. the possibility when we look at possibiliti possibilities. operation at sea will be 24 hours. under the sea rescue efforts and if there's a tidal wave like a low tide and the high tide and there's a 12 hour gap between
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high and low tide. and there is a six hour in between high tide and low tide. that's when the rescue effort will be put in at most. and the visibility was only two meters. the rescue workers had to grope with hands to feel for -- visibility was poor. the 17th and 18th by lunar calendar. the current was 4.6.
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the current floor was quite strong. people with excellent diving skills would be dead by just a slip of a one mistake or something. that's one of the reasons the captain could not get the ship. weather conditions are not favorable at the moment. flood lights have been shot to rescue the missing during the night. this cloudy, dark cloud --
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that's the difficulty. whether if the weather improves, we'll put in planes for the rescue efforts. and regarding the three missing divers, i only read it through the newspaper. so i just heard that the three divers went missing. when i found out and looked into the matter, the coast guard have
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not received any report that three divers went missing. regarding that question, i'm hoping that's fact. at the start of the briefing i said unconfirmed rumors are
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getting out. but if there is possibility of fact then we'll do our best to rescue effort operation. we pursued three or four reports. people receiving phone calls. and the text message coming in. we found out the time of the
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text message being sent. to give you example, people on high mountains sometimes lose communications like that. the communications from the ship may have been intermittent. we are not quite sure whether the text message received were truly coming from the ship.
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i will keep check on update, rescue entering the cabin capsized. because of the strong current, we have not accessed the cabins yet. we put guardrail so that the people could. the guardrails are being
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constructed. if the visibility can be secured then we will put in under water cameras in place. we will endeavor to get the rescue work going on. with naked eye we can't see clearly. that's the regretful point at the moment. regarding civilian divers, if families will allow the divers to work for the rescue operation, yeah why not? i would allow them to work for
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rescue operations. and if the trust can be viewed and if civilian divers are needed, i would approve them for the rescue operations. regarding the release even the minister may have said and the coast guard and maritime and officials department will be ready to give you the possibilities when ready. and the weather, the rescue boat has been punctured, whether
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punctured or not. the rescue boats should be protected when the accident happened. the ship had the inspection a few months ago. why the rescue boats were not fully released i'm not quite sure. the rescue boats capacity is about 25 people. the capacity of the ship is up to 900 people or something so -- how many rescue boats were used i didn't confirm, so yes.
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as the person responsible for the rescue efforts, i question
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myself regarding what would be the best way whether the cranes should be used or whether the sinking ship should be pulled. what would be the best method i was considering the the options. when i concerted specialists we were pushing for operation of the ship. the best way forward is to put oxygen into the cabins so that the survivor time will be
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increased. as i said before, strong currents and poor visibility are hampering the rescue efforts. we are doing best for divers or rescuers to access the cabins. for the operations we will minimize the damages and loss and maximize rescue efforts, yes.
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two students -- the two missing chinese, one female and one male as far as i know. i was notified of the missing chinese today. there were two chinese nationals
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i was reported. every human being's life is the same in terms of value so we tried to rescue no matter what nationality they are. we will give you an update.
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the investigation is going on. there are assumptions. the coast guard have the option open for truth, and we'll get to the bottom of the truth. since the investigation is sensitive matter, until the more investigation is further into the matter, then i'll give you update on that.
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first of all, regarding rescue effort, i have data regarding rescue efforts, how many times we did. at the accident scene on the level tide the team of two, two teams of people, two divers, tried to access the cabins. the divers could not succeed entering the hull. that's why i said the guardrails
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have been installed for rescue efforts. today submarine, civilian submarines were put in place for rescue effort. about five or six times. even the divers from the submarine, they did not succeed entering the cabins. and whether the divers followed manuals for their safety, as the coast guard authority, if the missing report is not received
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by the coast guard, we would like to give you that unless the missing report is received. then it will not carry out the rescue effort. i will finish the briefing. thank you. >> well those of you that just joined us, we have been listening to the south korean coast guard talking about the ferry which capsized and sunk over 24 hours ago. he was giving us updates on some of the numbers. they seem to be the same as what we have been reported. 475 people on board, 179 have been rescued. nine have been confirmed dead
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including five students. he said that's nearly 300 people. 287 to be exact are being searched. he seems like he was taking questions. we couldn't hear the questions. he seemed to be asked about the investigation that caused the incident especially the captain interviewed by police. he said that's an ongoing investigation. he also mentioned the rescue operation. he said because of bad weather, even though divers have been trying to reach the cabins, they couldn't reach the cabins. there have been reports that initially when the ferry started to sink, initially those on board were told to stay in their seat. by the time the evacuation order was given, it was too late to evacuate them. there are reports and fears some of those on board that are missing might still be inside
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the cabin. he has been talking quite a bit of details. he says ship planes have been # mobilized. cranes will arrive tomorrow for the continued operation. stay tuned to bbc news and website for latest information. the russian president, vladimir putin has denied suggestions it has special forces operating in eastern ukraine. that's where there's been a wave of pro russian occupation of government buildings in several towns and cities. in the latest incident, ukraine says it has attack by pro russian militants killing three people. james reynolds has been to the site. >> reporter: this is the aftermath of last night's attack on this interior ministry compound. officials here say the attacks by pro russian protestors started at about 8:00 in the
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evening. we're told it got violent 10:00 in the evening. this is one of the military jeeps damaged and almost entirely smashed. if you look over here, here's a guy with a clipboard, one of the officials noting the damage. this lady has been going around with numbers pointing out the damage here. essentially last night protest the ers managed to get to the gate. if you look, these were smashed in. about 10:00 in the evening, forces started fighting back. that battle went on until 1:00 in the morning. the ukrainian interior ministry says a number of people were injured, number of attackers were injured. what you see here gives evidence of the difficulty faced by the ukrainian authorities here in eastern ukraine. they want to take back the buildings they've lost to pro russian forces. they haven't been able to do so
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and now spending time defending their own spaces. >> now in his his annual live phone-in, putin denied russia was involved in the crisis and annexation of crimea dominated the annual phone-in. >> there are no russians in eastern ukraine. no instructors, no special services. these are all local residents. best proof of that is that people literally have taken off their masks. there's nowhere for them to go. they're the owners of this land. you should talk to them. >> president putin admitted the first time there have been russian forces in crimea before the referendum was carried out last month. >> had to take measures that did not develop in the way think develop in eastern ukraine. there are not military units of extremists, nationalists were
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armed. so behind the backs of the forces of self-defense, there were our military. they were acting in a very, very correct way professionally. otherwise the referendum would not have happened. >> we are in moscow with tom. tom, a lot of details in those statements from vladimir putin as those leaders in geneva start talks. how do you assess the situation? they keep talking diplomatic efforts but also tensions in eastern ukraine seem to be escalating. >> yes indeed. i think we've had quite a long message from vladimir putin. he spoke an hour and 45 minutes just on ukraine and crimea. the televised phone-in which
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he's taking part in is continuing. it's quite interesting he focused such a long time on the crisis. in that time i think he sought to insure anyone in crimea for the first time able to take part in this phone-in. it's now under russian control. and the rest of russia that had concerns or grievances about russia's involvement in ukraine has started. so that was really what he sought to do. it may reassure people at home. a broad it leaves people wondering who the russian president is trying to kid. there's more denial russia is involved in the ukraine, something ukrainian authorities certainly dispute.
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>> tom in moscow, thank you. tens of thousands of people have gone across a dozen states to cast ballots in the biggest day of voting in the indian election. 121 parliamentary seats are up for grabs in 12 states. the hindu nationalist bjp and candidate modi is seen by krit a ices as muslim. it's watched from neighboring pakistan where most the population is muslim. our correspondent reports. >> this is a region which still lives with a legacy of trauma from the devastating earthquake 2005 which killed many thousands of people. but the capital is back in business.
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life has returned to narrow alley way of the main market. for shopkeepers here, the possibility of being able to trade more with fellow people is important. >> translator: if there's more peace and trade back and forth, goods will be cheaper, and we will be able to develop. nowhere more than here are they asking whether the bjp victory in india led by modi could reduce the chances of peace. >> i am not satisfied. >> views at the campus and university seems to be less about modi and more about the people wanting voices heard determining their future and about the credibility. >> translator: these are state kind of elections which are
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against the wishes. they're not going to have affect on the people. situation remain the same. >> is anybody more optimistic? with such a proposition, the dispute remains deadlocked. these trucks that now head to indian administered areas with limited goods are part of confidence building that has taken place. for more than six decades, cashmere has been divided along a cease fire line beyond the hills. if modi becomes the next prime minister, will it make things worse for people here? will he delay their fears or will underlying pensions remain the same? many here worry it will be the
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latter. >> one of the key states going to the polls today is western india. the bbc joining us from outside the polling station. i guess it's getting late where you are. how has the mood been as people cast their ballots? >> reporter: well you can just about see in the square behind me, last few voters. we have an hour and 45 minutes before the polls close. been good so far. 60% have cast ballots in this polling station alone. we're hearing from other parts of the state it's descent as well. that's something we've seen throughout the elections. a strong turnout which many are taking to believe the voters are sending a strong message, perhaps voting for change. where i am, this is a critical
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state. not only do they send 25 members toft house of parliament, it's a swing state. it falls one party over the other. both party, congress and bjp are trying hard to get the support of the state. >> what has been the key issue for voters? is it fair to say economy or other issues? >> reporter: mostly people speaking not just here about around the country past several days. they have been talking about the economy, rising prices, lack of opportunities, jobs. when you get away from the big cities and head to smaller towns or villages in the country side, this becomes more acute. people tell us there's not enough work around where they live. children and young men and women have to travel long distances to find some kind of work. many people said that's the one
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thing they wanted the government to change. corruption is a big issue. many people say it's something they face on a regular basis. it's been massive issue over the past couple of years. it's surfacing in these elections. >> thank you for updating us. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, they may not look appealing, they are farmed as a tasty alternative to traditional bees. i've made a few. i've had my share of sand kicked in my face. ♪ but i've come through. ♪ and i just go on and on, and on, and on. ♪ you know how it goes. ♪
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this is bbc world news. i'm marie. the latest headlines. president putin says he hopes he will not have to use what he calls his right to send russian troops into ukraine. he denies special forces are already operating there.
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south korea's coast guard said they're investigating whether the captain of the sunken ferry fled the ship when it capsized. 287 passengers are still missing. now if you're a bit squeamish, this story may not be for you. if you're eating, look away. it's about maggots. you may not think them tasty, but researchers think they could be on the market for animals. maggots could be farmed, dried out, ground down and used as animal feed. they believe maggots could be an alternative to fish meal used at moment. it depends on diminishing stocks. it's a kind of job that requires a strong constitution and poor sense of smell. millions of flies are specially bred all in the name of science.
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on the outskirts of york, food and environment research agency, scientists discovered hidden qualities to these normally annoying pests. as part of a three year research project, they're turning maggots produced by flies into high profile food for pigs and chickens. >> flies are normally considered a pest. for the benefit it's huge. >> maggots are dried in machines before being ground to animal feed. it's a process that takes five days. most pig farmers rely on food that takes up to tree months to grow. it's imported and expensive. researchers say flies could save the industry millions of pounds with maggots even converted to
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diesel. in countries like china, maggots are widely used to feed livestock. in britain, animal feed is banned under european regulations. scientists here say it could take several years to establish the importance of flies and maggots they lay. a presidential election is taking place with the incumbent president. why they're expected to win a fourth term in office. he suffered a stroke last year and rarely appears in public but cast a vote in a wheelchair. the coalition is secular opposition party that called for a boycott. we're going now live to speak karin. thank you for joining us. how surprised were you and
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people there to see the president running and also casting ballot despite his health? >> reporter: well, the question wasn't whether the president was going rather how was he going to vote. we got the answer an hour ago when he went to cast vote in wheelchair. i bet these pictures will be spread in algeria and looked at closely. for the supporters, these pictures mean president is on the right back for recovery. some think it's time for the old man to rest and go home. >> apologies for audio quality there. what's the mood in the country?
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have people been voting enthusiastically? >> reporter: well during the campaigns, there wasn't a lot of excitement on the streets. today the question is whether people will go in large numbers to vote. the turnout is the question at that time end of the day. that would be the main element everyone will be looking at, the main indicator about the elections at the end of this day. >>carine, thank you. the trial of the egyptian born radical is due to start in federal court. he faces 11 charges including being involved in the death of four tourists kidnapped in yemen
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in 1998. he faces life in prison if convicted. malaysian transported minister says the deep water search for the missing airliner will intensify after marines are deployed in the indian ocean and made the first successful scan of the seabed. two previous emissions were cut short because of technical difficulties. scientists are testing samples from the oil slick in the area to see if it originated from the aircraft. electronic pulses were last detected more than a week ago. china's most popular micro platform twitter is to start trading on nasdaq later today. >> reporter: many tech companies trade here on nasdaq. it's no surprise that china's equivalent to twitter has chosen this exchange as its home.
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it's doing so at a time investor interest in tech companies is on the decline. there's more general worry investors are losing interest this in ipo's all together which is one reason many will be watching weibo debut closely. it has 130 million active users. compare to twitter, just recently surpassed 240 million users. although about 5% of weibo users generate original content. also putting pressure is the company's latest financial results. it lost $48 million in the first quarter of this year, doubling the losses from the same period last year. investors will look for hints on how other chinese companies may
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fair. the chinese e commerce chinese market produces more than ebay and other companies combined. two other chinese companies have become public trading companies this year. neither have had stellar starts which means many investors will look closely at how weibo does. bbc news, new york. >> now a reminder of our story this hour. rescuers in south korea will continue searching for survivors from the ferry that capsized more than 24 hours ago even if only 1% of those missing are still alive. nearly 500 were on board when the ship went down. 287 are unaccounted for. most were students on a high school trip. the captain was one of the first to leave the ship. in other stories, vladimir
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putin has denied russian forces are operating in ukraine. there have beseveral government buildings taken over. this is bbc news. thank you for watching. so you can grow grass anywhere. looking good, lad! man: thanks, scott. ez seed really works! scott: get scotts ez seed. it's guaranteed. seed your lawn. seed it! anncr: visit scotts.com/goyard for the chance to win a $25,000 backyard makeover.
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hello. you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm tim wilcox. our top stories. president putin admits the first time russian forces were on the ground in crimea before and during the referendum. the denial though that russian soldiers are in eastern ukraine as four party talks on the crisis are held in geneva. the hunt for missing school children as the ferry capsized, the captain is questioned.

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