. hello. i'm geeta guru-murthy with bbc world news. our top stories. a massive bomb blast destroyed a hotel used by government forces. after the abduction of 200 schoolgirls, an attack in nigeria, hundreds have been killed. the fight against insurgents and drug traffickers. ahead of saturday's euro vision, we find out what keeps

him coming back year after year. hello. reports from syria say there's been a huge explosion on the government held area of northern city of aleppo. the state tv says the explosion caused widespread damage. reports suggest it flattened a hotel used by government troops. it's is next to the city's medieval. it's the carlton hotel. this has been published by opposition activists showing smoke rising. rebels apparently planted the explosion in the tunnel they dug underneath the hotel. there's the image we're talking

about. you can see the smoke. that is the first still picture from aleppo. our correspondent is watching from a neighboring city. i don't know if you've stayed in this hotel yourself. tell us what you know. >> well, there's been a couple of images. i'm not sure which you're showing. one shows a tremendous explosion, masonry thrown high into the air over aleppo. it's inside government territory but lies on the edge of the old city. the facts are few and far between. we've heard a couple of interesting things. one is a report this was used by government forces and the army. local people tell us it was in fact used by the ghosts as they're named, used by the government, not acknowledged by them and feared in opposition held areas.

it does seem to have been the rebel islamic front that carried out the attack and planted explosiv explosives. it's well known they tunnelled under the hotel before. we're hearing something counter intuitive. the target may not have been the hotel. this may have been the effort to destroy the tunnels. all tells you how fiercely fought the battles are in aleppo. the front has changed over the past couple of months. we've seen gains by the rebel side. >> i know the complex of the picture is difficult to sum up. can you give us overall direction in the country at the moment? >> the simple question who's winning can't be answered.

you don't have one battle. if you look at rebels abandoned the old city, last enclave they've clung to two years you might think the present side is winning. in aleppo province, rebels are making gains. if there's one will threat that runs through every conversation with activists and rebels, a lot of rebels are very tired after three years of huge sacrifice with many lives lost. this may be the simple important strategic fact which means the president is winning more than he's0

they've been asked to postpone by vladimir putin. we report now from donetsk. >> pro russian militants manning the barricades outside the regional government buildings here in the heart of donetsk which they've occupied for weeks. this is the building we've been told they have set up what they're describing as an election commission. we're also told there's a lot of people hard at work inside this building working around the clock. >> reporter: we were allowed in to see the nerve center of the operation. the prints here have been operating 24 hours a day and turned out 3 million ballot

papers, enough for the entire donetsk region. the man running this operation told me they would be fully ready if the referendum does go ahead on sunday. >> translator: the ballot papers are sent out now to local election commission officers and distributed to polling stations which as usual will be in schools and hospitals. we have everything we need. there's only one reason for the referendum. that's to have self-determination. maybe we want to stay part of ukraine, be independent, or join with russia. >> reporter: i've driven a few kilometers outside the city to come to this village here. i can't actual lly name the village because the person i came to meet is strongly opposed to the referendum planned by the pro russian separatists groups. and because of that, he is received threats.

his campaigns included organizing an opinion poll recently showing most in the region did not want independence. >> translator: in our donetsk and neighboring area, more than 70% they wanted to live in the neighboring ukraine. of course we don't want the referendum organized by the separatists to go ahead. they're terrorists. anyone opposing them will be thrown out of polling stations. >> reporter: now the focus is on pro russian militants here. will they listen to president putin and delay their referendum or push ahead regardless? bbc news in donetsk. now more than three weeks since 20 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their school in north eastern nigeria. the families are waiting for information. the world is mobilizing to bring

them home. they were taken april 14th. extreme group boko haram says it's responsible and threatens to sell the girls on market. now the same town further over here has seen a wave of attacks in the last few days. one member of parliament says more than 300 were killed in the town left as you can see here, this area, left completely unguarded. killings do have hallmarks of boko haram. efforts to help the girls are gathering momentum. international forces are sent to nigeria. an online campaign is getting bigger by the day. the campaigning schoolgirl was shot herself last year. >> when i heard about the nigerian girls being abducted i said my sisters were in prison.

i think we should not remain silent. this is my feeling. if we remain silent this will spread, happen more and more and more. if you want to stop it, then we have to speak. i'm already very sad when i think that so many days has passed and girls are still in hard situation. i think we should take a step and think how to solve this issue. boko haram is extremists. they don't understand islam. islam says it is your duty to get education. they cannot deny this. >> sarah on the african program anti-slavery. thanks for joining us. do you have specific information about these girls at all? >> we don't have specific information about their whereabouts. no one does. what we have is information about local trafficking networks. we know that girls are often

trafficked into forced marriages. we documented girls trafficked over to be fifth wives to business men. >> how much money? >> 200 to 600 euros a time. >> are these girls snatched or given up by families? >> sometimes the sale is faci facilitated by local travelers. we looked at girls of slave descent. they're particularly a vulnerable group. they face social stigma. >> certain families, certain tribes? >> certain families who belong to the social class of slaves. that's not what happened in this instance. what happened here is different. it's on a large per scale. boko haram is tapping into existing networks to make money for themselves.

>> your information they could have taken these girls to make money. >> we know that's what happens already. we know there's an existing market and existing trade. obviously boko haram are trying to get in on the act. >> if networks are known about, might seem stupid question, but why aren't they stopped? >> there's not much of a state presence in that region. borders aren't strong. >> which countries do they go to, these girls? >> there's some information the girls are taken over to neighboring chad. the borders in the countries are weak. there's no recourse to justice. police often don't act when cases are reported by families. it's great now there's international outcry. hopefully that will lead the nigerian government and security forces to act.

>> how much is the issue in all this? >> local religious leaders have justified slavery practices through islam. it's the way it's practiced in that region. in this case it simply would be a way to make money for an armed group. >> they take girls from muslim or christian families? >> yes. the case we documented were all muslims even though in the crime it's forbidden for a muslim to enclave another muslim. >> many thanks for coming in. >> thank you. stay with bbc world news. there's more to come. which countries have the best schools after the education table is released? you are feeling exhilarated with front-wheel drive. you are feeling powerful with a 4-cylinder engine.

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this is bbc world news. the top stories this. i'm geeta guru-murthy. a huge bomb blast has destroyed a hotel in the city of aleppo used by government forces. hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in a series of attacks in northeast nigeria thought to have been carried out by the group that abducted 200 schoolgirls last month. he's huge potential job losses. we have aaron. >> the reshaping of a big british bank is what we're looking at. thanks very much. let me explain. hello there. the british bank barclay is going to cut 19,000 jobs over three years. 7,000 go in the investment banking arm of the so called risky sighed. used to be the casino side. 7,000 going there.

barclays as we know it has been a hit by a string of scandals from the fixing of that interbank lending rate. so lots of problems. the new boss basically just trying to -- mr. jenkins -- trying to get away from the old days of former boss. today blamed for fostering this whole investment side, the casino side of barclays. bob diamond. the announcement means -- let's break it down. going to cut 14,000 jobs from all unit this is year. that's 10% of the bank's total work force with 5,000 going by 2016 taking the total number to 19,000. barclays going to set up a bad bank to sell or run down non core operations. retail banking in spain, portugal, italy and france will

be named. it basically will be given to retail banking operations here in the uk, barclay unit. african businesses. we'll have more on "gmt" and throughout the rest of the day on this reshaping of barclays. japanese gaming giant nintendo says it will not allow gamers to play as gay characters. a fan launched a campaign urging them to allow same sex characters modelled on real people. we're going to talk to an expert. follow me on twitter. i'll tweet you back. got to go. that's it for business. back to you geeta. >> thanks very much. a new weapon on the war on drugs. it's deployed on the british made and its service.

>> reporter: this infantry makes preparations for patrol. this is a british made hovercraft shifted from south hampt hampton, one of several for delivery. i spoke to one of the new pilots and asked how many troops they can carry and what it's like to drive one on jungle rivers. >> translator: the maximum speed is 35 knots. it carries six crew members. it's very exciting driving this because the hull lifts above the service. go incredible speed over grass, shadow banks and shallow water. >> reporter: he took me on the river to see them put it through paces. we joined them for night maneuvers. this is part a training exercise they're hoping will give them the edge in the fight against drug traffickers and insurgents.

this is in the dry season, hovercrafts go where speedboats can't. navy is hoping they can cut off the insurgent supply lines from neighboring ecuador. three months ago, the other pilots had never seen a hovercraft in their lives. >> translator: we are going up the river with people watching us. when we stop on sand bank and deflate, people are astonished because it's something new. they have never seen anything like it. >> reporter: the pilot has a w9 nickname. does he think of it as he or she? >> for me it's my girl. my girl is called catalina. i have to take care of her well because she's my new toy. >> reporter: bbc news. education systems are the best in the world compared to a

survey. south korea, japan, singapore are in the top three places. it says the success of asian countries is because parents, teachers and students take shared responsibility for education. a downward trend for a number of scandinavian countries, finland falls down to fifth. why have the scandinavians fallen? >> the economist intelligence unit pulls together in one process, a poll of education rankings. what you see in scandinavian countries is probably not enough focus on continuously improving the quality of teaching. finland has been good, still good, slipped a bit. people from finland say because they've been coasting enjoying the success rather than

continuously improved. >> the reason for occasion countries to be at the top. singapore, hong kong, japan, why? >> in these countries you see hard work and effort pays off. parents expect children to work hard and do homework. in britain, parents think their children are born smart or not n. asia, they say no, if you work hard, you can succeed. work ethic pays off. they have very good teachers that work at improving their teaching skill. >> why is it east asian and not south asian countries? there's a massive education culture. >> there's an education culture among parents. the provision of education for massive poor indians is very poor indeed. >> we're looking at little

children in south korea getting on a bus after their school day to go to school in the evening. how long are school days? what about the argument the east asian model doesn't allow creativity. it produces a robotic hardworking type of character. >> it's important not to say we're going to make our system to be like korea or finland or anyone else but to learn the lessons. if you believe hard work pays off, you can make more of education. how far, nobody in britain should be trying to replicate issues about korea's education system. children go off four to five hours in the evening working on homework or going to after school. >> what age? >> primary age on. there are real challenges. nobody is advocating that. that's one of the reasons they come out on top. the leaders of those systems in korea and japan are working on creativity. i've talked to the education

ministers. they have to understand they have to move on. in singapore they're doing well. >> my children are school in london with children from around the world. you can see cultural differences. children are hardworking. that's what families do. to say there's one model here or there, we should all be learning? >> we all need to look at evidence, comparisons, including the ones set out today. we have to make decisions about what kind of society and education system we want. we value individuality. these are important as well as hard work. >> yes. doing your children's homework is about the worst thing at the end of the day isn't it? thanks very much indeed for joining us. thank you. now they are the producers of the voice, america's got talent, 180 million people

expected to watch the final of this euro vision saturday. there's one person amongst many that returns time and time again. let's meet him. >> my name is simon bennett. i work in the city. i've been involved in internal audit control the last 28 years. there's a dark side to me, yes. i'm a eurovision fan. last time i went was '98 which was in sweden, athens, moscow, sweden, now this year in copen hagen. i think it's fun. it's a competition but fun. it's sport without the sport. borderline obsession, yes.

time to pack really. got to put the essential equipment in the case. the main thing is flags. finally we arrive in copen hagen. throughout the city, there's a number of stages set up. throughout the day, various acts perform for the public. just creating the great eurovision atmosphere that comes to town in the host city. we're in the euro cafe set up every year by the fan club. every year we meet up with the same people. i've made friendships across europe from eurovision. when it's over we go through

post eurovision depression, ped. the following day we book hotels for the next year. >> thanks for watching. i'm back in a few minutes. did you get my e-mail? [ man ] i did. so, what'd you think of the house? did you see the school rating? oh, you're right. hey, babe, i got to go. bye, daddy. have a good day at school, okay? ♪ [ man ] but what about when my parents visit? okay. just love this one.

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♪ [ male announcer ] the four-door fiat 500l. it's a lot bigger than you think. [ godzilla choking ] check out the whole fiat family at fiatusa.com/godzilla. hello. i'm geeta guru-murthy with bbc world news. our top stories. a massive bomb blast if in aleppo destroyed a hotel used by government forces. pro russian activists in eastern ukraine go ahead with sunday's referendum on independence despite vladimir putin's call to postpone it. the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls could mark the beginning of terrorism in nigeria according to the

presiden president. hello. reports from syria say there's been a huge explosion on the fringes of a government held area of the northern city of aleppo. syrian state tv says the explosion caused widespread damage. reports suggest it flattened a hotel used by government troops called the carlton hotel next to the city's medieval citradel. this shows smoke rising from the old city. explosives were in a tunnel dug underneath the hotel. with me now the regional editorial, sebastion usher. you know aleppo. what might have happened here? >> as you were saying, reports are from activists and the group

carried out the attack the islamic front that carried out the explosion showing the explosion. if this picture is accurate of what happened. this is an area that would have been once full of tourists. this is the most beautiful hotel in aleppo. it shows how bad the situation has been in aleppo over the past two years since the stalemate set in between fighters and government forces. both sides from tried to intense fied attacks trying to break that stalemate. the government has used barrel bombs, which cause terrible carnage. there's been suicide bomb attacks, last week two by the rebel fighters. rebel fighters are mainly as this appears to be radical i la

mists. now it's not the first time we've heard of tunnels underneath this ho tell targeted by the rebels. back in february, the government said it had stopped an attempt to launch a major explosion like this in exactly the same place. >> why would they want to blow up these tunnels? >> they want to show that they're still will there, still a force to be reckoned with. that they have a major propaganda coup in a sense. in two or

were in there. the group perhaps most feared and hated by the rebels. >> in broader terms it's become complicated in terms of which side the west might want to win now. we saw reports several months ago about whether people were going to talk to assad's government from the british government security agency because the threats from the isla mists have caused concern. where are we now? who is getting support from where? >> elwewell groups are still geg support from various sources. what has happened is the west has stepped back to some extent in direct support for fighters on the ground. they're trying still to book up the exiled opposition outside which emerge ed from the the

peaceful oppositions originally. the problem with that of course is they have no real say on the ground. to the west is in a bind. they sided completely with the rebels against the government that when that fractured, the only way out was he wasn't the only bad guy which is the perception in general. it's made it difficult for west to decide which side they're on. even saudi arabia who gave support to rebels has pulled back and brought in strong penalties against their nationals who got go fight in syria. >> many thanks for joining us. now within the last half an hour, pro russian separatist in eastern ukraine decided to go ahead with a referendum on independence this weekend. they've been asked to postpone the vote by vladimir putin. there are widespread fears the ballot could set ukraine on the path to civil war. sarah rans ford is in eastern

ukraine. how surprising is it sarah the separatists are deciding to go ahead with the referendum? >> reporter: i think not really surprising because things have developed so far here. it's been inflamed so far. not surprising because many people here want this vote to go ahead. people organizing it, making the point that president putin doesn't control things here, again perhaps the point that people are stressing, certainly pro russian activists have said all along. this is a local issue here. it's not something they claim as being controlled by russia. in a way, voting can continue with the referendum which is proof of that. yes, there's a lot of strong feelings here. a lot of activists who want the chance to express their anger with kiev, the government they say came to power illegitimate. the government they say doesn't represent them. on the other hand in kiev, the

government making the point clearly this vote is unconstitutional and won't be recognized, won't have legal status. a very difficult moment. amongst pro russian activists, a lot of people saying look, if we don't have this vote, what is i'll this for? the last weeks and months of tensions, what was it for? >> yet, we've seen a quite shift from president putin haven't we? sum up what he said and why we've had this change. >> reporter: well, we have. the big question about what that means and what he was trying to achieve. did president putin call on pro russian groups to postpone the r referendum suspecting they would ignore him? or was it because there's tensions here in eastern

ukraine. we'll never know his motives. the referendum will go ahead. this situation is tense. of course there's fighting around sloviansk and other cities. there are armed men, many groups in control of key buildings in this city. we went to another city in the south of donetsk yesterday. there is now ukrainian military check points on the main roads into that city. armored personnel carriers on the main road in this region. it's a very difficult situation. nobody knows now where this is going. >> also very wet. looks miserable as must be the mood there. thanks very much. barclays says its will cut 19,000 jobs over the next three years following a string of disasters including the scandal. 7,000 go in investment banking.

the bank tries to retreat from more risky areas. barclays will set up a bad bank to sell or run down non call operations. nigeria's president johnson has said the kid thatti inappin school girls could mark the terrorism in nigeria. special lists are being sent to the state to look for the abducted schoolgirls. >> the government promised our sisters. i believe our assist will come almost immediately. the government of the united states of america, the united kingdom and france have also

spokeen with me and expressed commitment to help us resolve this crisis in nigeria. i believe the kidnap of these girls will the beginning of end of terror in nigeria. president goodluck johnson is getting details of other suspected attacks. several hundred were killed when boko haram stormed a town earlier this week. we are more from abuja about the latest attack. >> reporter: we're hearing reports from residents of this town as well as a local politician represented in the area that gunmen arrived in the town monday evening. they arrived in trucks fully armed and came in, opened fire on the public, set buildings and car alike.

hundreds were unlucky and lost their lives. >> do we know exactly where this happened? has anyone been able to speak to anyone involved or witnessed the attacks? >> well this happened in the border town, close to nigeria. it's thought that the man in which this attack was carried out is similar to the way boko haram do carry out their attacks. there's no confirmation whether they were the ones involved. boko haram has been carrying out attacks in this area for a long time. also the news came out very late because this place is remote. it takes usually a long time not just for this news to filter out but reports to get through to the security forces who should be able to counter whatever attack is going on. >> people will be perhaps quite horrified to hear about another

attack even when there's focus on security terms in the aerrea do we know why they're able to carry out attacks at all? >> that's the question many here are asking. this is sustained attacks for the past four, almost five years now. this year we've seen almost daily attacks across north eastern nigeria. this doesn't appear to be a normal group of disgruntled people. they appear to have serious funding. when we look at video, they have brand new vehicles, armored personnel carries, full ammunition on them. they definitely have huge funding coming from somewhere. so far, it's not clear exactly where that is. >> tomi in abuja. the ruling aanc has taken te lead. they're running up close to 60%.

we didn't get the results from saturday. we are at the national results center in pretoria. lovely do see you. what results do you have at the moment? >> reporter: well, i just have about 46% of the national vote counted. the anc seems to be on 63% of the vote. the official opposition, democratic alliance is on 23%. they'll be pleased with that. that's what they were hoping for last time they had them 17%. the real surprise has been the performance of the economic free come come come fighters. that's 4.7%, 15 to 20 seats in the 400 national assembly. the parliament which is substantial presence for them, 70% is the turnout. we have 72% in fact. last time 77%. again, people worry had the

people wouldn't show up by not voting. they did. let's cut through the figures. i have marie from south africa. i gave a run down of figures marie. give us outcome. everyone said the anc speculations are around that. what's the performance? >> anc will gnot get the majority. they'll take eight of nine provinces in the country. >> basically they're going to see a couple percentage points dropped in their vote. so are they going to be quite pleased given the doom and gloom predictions before the elections? >> i think they'll be quite happy with that. although they say the votes they were losing to the eff were

gaining again. the new kid on the block in 2009. it disappeared in this election. a lot of representatives actually crossed -- >> i should remind everybody, coke was in elections in 2009. it was started by disgruntled members of the anc. what about the eff led by julius? are they going to be a substantial force in south african politics? if so in what ways is that going to be apparent? >> in my view, eff forms the nucleus of the labor party. not that that will happen tomorrow or next month or something like that. that's something that will develop over next few years. i think eff will have a simple message. actually have discussed earlier

basically had two groups they were targeted big campaigns. on one side people who are unemployed more urban black people unemployed. on the other side, people who do more manual labor. >> regardless of color, they had appeal there. regardless of how we have it now, 46% of votes counted. is that going to change by the time we get full results? >> i hope not. our prediction 4.7 for eff. i really, really hope this is what election will be like when all results are counted. >> sounds like you've got it spot on? >> i hope so. >> thanks very much indeed. there you have it. only half the votes counted.

the election experts say similar things that the picture is not likely to change radically. the overall idea we're getting now is anc will only see a drop of about a couple percentage points in its support from the last elections in 2009 when it got 66% of the vote. eff, the new kid on the block, creating a lot of interest here. geeta, that's the picture from pretoria at the national results center. >> great to see you. back to you for the results later. thanks very much. staying in south africa. oscar pistorius is back in court on trial for murder. the court didn't sit yesterday because of elections. the defense team has called an expert witness to challenge evidence that reeva steenkamp had eaten shortly before she was killed. naval ships collided with a chinese vessel in the part of the south china sea. vietnam was trying to prevent

china from establishing an oil rig in the area clooirmed by both countries. officials say the ship was blasted with water cannons and rammed by the chinese ship. stay with us here on bbc world news. much more to come. six months after the devastating typhoon, we urn are to meet survivors trying to rebuild their city and their lives. lo? try something new. taste like chicken. (ambulance siren) hate drama? go to cars.com. research, price, find. only cars.com helps you get the right car without all the drama. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom.

. this is bbc world news. i'm geeta guru-murthy. the top stories this hour. a huge explosion in syria of a hotel used by government forces. syria going a head with a referendum ignoring the call by president putin to postpone it.

it's six months since the biggest typhoon ever hit in the philippines. the surge destroyed almost everything killing 6,000 people. our correspondent witnessed the destruction and returned to find out what's happened to the survivors of the typhoon haiyan. >> on the beach south of the city, they've come to remember francisco cruz and his two sons. his widow lost them all when the huge wave smash into their house. today would have been her son's 31st birthday. >> i cannot describe the pain. sometimes i cannot -- i wake up early in the morning. i pray, i pray and pray. i thank god she left my daughter with me.

i cannot stand on my own without them. >> reporter: six months after typhoon haiyan ripped the city apart, i came back to see what happened and try to find some of those that i met. hello? >> hello. >> how are you? >> fine. glad to see you sir. >> reporter: this is what it looked like here. his wife's body was stuck underneath a fallen coconut tree. close by a mass grave was filled with dozens of bodies. today the scene is much more peaceful. he is clearly still struggling. >> i try not to bring up the memory. i just forget. just move forward. you know, if we start to

remember her again, i don't know what will happen. >> reporter: what's really striking coming back after six months is seeing how hard it is for people in a developing country like the philippines to recover after a major disaster like this. unlike britain or america, people here had no insurance. they lost their homes, cars, fishing boats. now they have nothing. they have no means with which to start over again. getting people back to work and earning money is the key. this scheme is run by money donated by people in britain. the 20,000 fishing boats were destroyed by the typhoon. with help, people here are slowly getting back on their feet. on our last day in tacloban, we came across the story almost too painful to tell.

it is the story of the 6-year-old. the waves took her whole family, mother, father, five siblings. he managed to grab her in the waters but in the same time lost his wife and three children. >> translator: sometimes even when i'm drunk i can't sleep. i see my children's faces calling out to me for help. in my nightmare as they're asking why was i not able to save them. i was able to save others, why not them? >> reporter: without her parents, she faces a precarious future. without his wife and children, he says he has no future. bbc news tacloban. now before we go, the

producers of the voice or america's got talent can only dream about 180 million people expected to watch the final of this year's eurovision contest this saturday. for some fans it's become a way of life. we talk to one man and find out why he books a ticket to the finals year after year. >> my name is simon bennett. i work in the city. i have been involved in internal audit control the last 28 years. there's a dark side to me, yes. i'm a eurovision fan. first time i went was '98 in birmingham. sweden, copen hagen, athens, moscow, sweden and this year in

copen hagen. it's fun. it's a competition, but it's fun. it's like sport without the sport. borderline obsession, yes. time to pack really. got to put the essential equipment in the case. the main thing is loads of flags. finally we're a rorriving in co hagen. various acts perform here in the public creating the atmosphere that comes to town in the host city. we're in the euro cafe set up every year by the fan club. every year we meet up with the

same people. i've made friendships across europe from eurovision. when it's over, we go through post eurovision depression, called ped. >> tweet me and let me know if you're a fan or not. @geeta guru-murthybbc. thanks very much for watching today. i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get the right care and guidance-before and after the baby is born. simple is good right now. (anncr vo) innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality.

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