Seized Nigerian girls 'taken abroad'

29 April 2014 Last updated at 14:19 Boko Haram has often targeted educational establishments Some of the schoolgirls abducted by suspected militant Islamists in northern Nigeria are believed to have been taken to neighbouring states, a local leader has told the BBC.

Pogo Bitrus said there had been "sightings" of gunmen crossing with the girls into Cameroon and Chad.

Some of the girls had been forced to marry the militants, he added.

Mr Bitrus said 230 girls were missing since militants attacked the school in Chibok, Borno state, two weeks ago.

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for the night-time raid on the school hostel in Chibok town. It has not yet commented on the allegation.

The girls were seized from their hostel late at night

Mr Bitrus, a Chibok community leader, said 43 of the girls had "regained their freedom" after escaping, while 230 were still in captivity. This is a higher number than previous estimates, however he was adamant it was the correct figure.

'Slavery'

The students were about to sit their final year exam and so are mostly aged between 16 and 18.

"Some of them have been taken across Lake Chad and some have been ferried across the border into parts of Cameroon," he told the BBC.

Mr Bitrus said there were also reports that the insurgents had married some of the girls.

"We learned that one of the 'grooms' brought his 'wife' to a neighbouring town in Cameroon and kept her there," he told the BBC.

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I'm crying now as community leader to alert the world to what's happening so that some pressure would be brought to bare on government to act”

End Quote Pogo Bitrus Chibok community leader "It's a medieval kind of slavery," he added.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau first threatened to treat captured women and girls as slaves in a video released in May 2013.

It fuelled concern at the time that the group is adhering to the ancient Islamic belief that women captured during war are slaves with whom their "masters" can have sex, correspondents say.

Mr Bitrus said everyone in the community felt as though their own daughters had been abducted.

Men were "braving it out", but women were "crying and wailing", he said.

"Whether it is my niece or whoever it doesn't matter. We are all one people," Mr Bitrus told the BBC.

"That's why I'm crying now as community leader to alert the world to what's happening so that some pressure would be brought to bare on government to act and ensure the release of these girls."

The government has said the security forces are searching for the girls, but its critics say it is not doing enough.

Boko Haram has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.

A 60-second guide to Boko Haram

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Ukrainian military vehicles 'seized'

16 April 2014 Last updated at 15:03 The BBC's James Reynolds reports from the centre of Kramatorsk

Ukrainian troops have entered the eastern town of Kramatorsk a day after an operation began to recapture areas seized by anti-government separatists.

But the Ukrainian defence ministry says six armoured personnel carriers were captured by pro-Russian militants.

Other reports suggest the Ukrainian troops may have abandoned their vehicles or changed sides.

Tension is increasing across eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian protesters have seized public buildings.

The crisis escalated this month after pro-Russian rebels occupied buildings in about 10 towns and cities, demanding greater autonomy or referendums on secession.

In the city of Donetsk, which has seen weeks of unrest, pro-Russian gunmen have taken control of the mayor's office.

Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are believed to have massed on Ukraine's borders since Russia took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea last month, following a controversial referendum on self-determination.

Continue reading the main story Olga Ivshina BBC Russian Service, Kramatorsk

People are very nervous. Many have not slept for several nights. When Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers appeared in the town, people quickly surrounded them. Some accused soldiers of "acting against their own people."

"Why did you come to our land?" a man from the crowd asked. "Why are you driving over our fields? We are peaceful people! And we just want our demands to be respected!"

Soldiers were sitting on the APCs with automatic guns, in full combat gear. "I know they can shoot at us, but we are miners, we see death every day," the man said. "So we are not afraid. We will stand here until victory. We want a referendum to be held. We should decide our future for ourselves."

"We are just obeying orders, let us go!" the commander shouted. "We didn't come here to fight. We are just moving around. I will never shoot at my own people!"

As tensions rose, Ukraine's acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval headed for the east of the country to monitor the progress of the "anti-terrorist operation" announced by acting President Olexander Turchynov on Tuesday.

The interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called on Russia to "stop supporting terrorists in Ukraine".

'Not to fight'

After Ukrainian forces recaptured an airfield outside Kramatorsk on Tuesday, armoured vehicles appeared in the centre of the town early on Wednesday.

BBC journalists witnessed civilians, at least some of whom appeared to be local people, challenging soldiers, who were also blocked by a crowd a few kilometres outside the town.

One officer said he had not "come to fight" and would never obey orders to shoot his "own people".

Video later emerged of six armoured personnel carriers, flying Russian flags, entering the nearby town of Sloviansk.

Villagers have confronted Ukrainian soldiers in the villages of Novoselivka and Ivanivka near Kramatorsk

In a statement on its Facebook page, the Ukrainian defence ministry maintained they were taken there by "extremists" and that Russian secret service agents were involved in their seizure in Kramatorsk.

A soldier guarding one of the carriers told Reuters he was a member of Ukraine's 25th airborne brigade from Dnipropetrovsk, a city also in eastern Ukraine.

He said the soldiers had had no food for four days until local people fed them.

"All the soldiers and the officers are here," he said. "We are all boys who won't shoot our own people."

In Donetsk, where activists have been occupying the regional government building since 6 April, gunmen met no resistance as they entered the mayor's office.

They told an AFP correspondent their only demand was for the region to stage a referendum on turning Ukraine into a federation with broader local rights.

Gunmen inside the mayor's office in Donetsk Ukrainian soldiers watching a jet pass near Kramatorsk A column of armour flying a Russian flag near Kramatorsk Women stand near soldiers wearing pro-Russian ribbons in Sloviansk Russia accused

Meanwhile Nato announced it was beefing up its eastern members' defences.

In Brussels, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen promised "more planes in the air, mores ships on the water, more readiness on the land".

He called on Russia to make clear it did not "support the violent actions of well-armed militias or pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine".

Continue reading the main story Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent

Nato's announcement is about reassuring worried allies in the Baltic Republics and central Europe as well as signalling to Moscow that when it comes to the alliance's core business - the defence of its members' territory - Nato is as vigilant as ever.

Air patrols over the Baltic republics are to be stepped up; Nato warships will deploy to the eastern Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea.

And on land staff officers will be despatched to oversee an enhanced programme of exercises and preparedness in the countries most concerned.

Nato will also review and reinforce its defence plans. In the longer term additional deployments may well be made, Nato sources indicating that this is only the first step of several that could be taken if the relationship with Russia sours further.

The Nato alliance includes two ex-Soviet Baltic republics with large ethnic Russian communities, Latvia and Estonia, while other members such as Poland share borders with Russia.

Four-way talks are due to take place on Thursday in Geneva between diplomats from Russia, the EU, the US and Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Western officials have accused Russia of being behind the pro-Russia activism in the region while Moscow denies fomenting the unrest.

Ahead of the annexation of Crimea, masked soldiers believed to be Russian troops appeared at strategic points across the peninsula alongside "self-defence" units, said to have been formed locally.

Speaking in London, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Russia had sent "thinly disguised" armed groups into eastern Ukraine to spearhead the occupation of buildings.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has meanwhile published what it says is a batch of intercepted conversations between the Russian secret services and pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

Russian security service officers are heard to order forces in eastern Ukraine to "shoot to kill" when dealing with Ukrainian troops who do not surrender, according to the transcripts.

Counter-intelligence spokesman Vitaliy Naida told reporters the same Russian agents had been involved in the run-up to Russia's Crimea annexation.

The intercepts could not be independently verified. Moscow maintains the pro-Russian protests in eastern Ukraine are the result of grassroots activism.

The US has said it is "seriously considering" adding to sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea. It described Ukraine's military operation as a "measured" response to a lawless insurgency.

Are you in eastern Ukraine? What is the situation like where you are? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Eastern Ukraine'.

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Was duct tape used to murder Caylee Anthony? Roll of tape seized from Anthony home

By Amy L. Edwards and Anika Myers Palm

Orlando SentinelOrlando Sentinel

Will prosecutors be able to link duct tape as a possible murder weapon to Casey Anthony?

Authorities are clearly taking a close look at duct tape in this case based on details released Tuesday and in the past.

In December, in fact, Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton described how prosecutors think Caylee died, with duct tape over her nose and mouth.

He suggested a child who was nearly 3 years old should have been able to remove the tape — but Caylee could not, meaning she was either drugged or physically restrained, he said.

"If she was physically restrained, her killer would have had to restrain her arms by some means, applying tape while she was conscious," Ashton said in December.

"As the killer looked into her face, maybe her killer even saw her eyes as the tape was applied. ...Could Caylee have understood what was happening to her? Did she try to resist? Could the killer see the fear in her eyes as the tape was applied? These are questions only the jurors will be able to answer in this case."

So far, investigators have seized a roll of Henkel brand duct tape from the Anthony family home.

They found the same brand on a gas can that Casey Anthony once stored in her trunk.

And, tape found wrapped around Caylee's skull also was Henkel brand.

What remains unclear is whether the tape on her skull and the gas can came from the roll seized from the home or a separate roll all together.

That's what investigators are trying to determine.

Based on photos, video clips and documents released Tuesday, they also are looking at duct tape used to post missing Caylee Anthony fliers in the days after the girl's disappearance.

One short video, which was shot by local news media, shows fliers placed on utility poles and in store windows were secured with duct tape.

Liz Brown, a new spokeswoman for the defense would not comment about specific information released Tuesday.

"The photos and documents released Tuesday demonstrate the extent of public access to the area where Caylee Anthony's remains were found," Brown said.

Other evidence released included photographs of a syringe, a Gatorade bottle and a child's car seat, as well as television news footage taken when Anthony's family, including parents George and Cindy Anthony, were still looking for the toddler.

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her daughter.

The footage from WFTV-Channel 9 shows brief clips of Caylee playing and turning the pages of a book; a flier featuring Caylee; some footage of a jailed Casey Anthony on the phone; and Casey's brother, Lee Anthony, speaking with media.

The toddler was reported missing in June 2008. Her remains were found scattered in woods in December 2008, just blocks away from the east Orange County home she shared with her mother and grandparents, George Anthony and Cindy Anthony.

Casey Anthony is accused of killing Caylee. She is being held on no bond in the Orange County Jail, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

The syringe and Gatorade bottle also were part of previously-released evidence.

Records show trace amounts of chloroform — a potentially deadly chemical — on some of the evidence, though it's unclear whether the chemical played a role in the child's death.

Authorities ruled Caylee's death a homicide, but they could not determine how she died.

An earlier released FBI report shows investigators found a plastic Gatorade Cool Blue sports-drink bottle near the child's remains.

A plastic bag labeled "Disposable Syringe Kit" with a syringe was found inside the bottle. A report indicates chloroform, testosterone, ethanol and water were inside the syringe.

Chloroform — a byproduct of the contact between pool-grade chlorine and skin, sweat or urine — is often depicted as a chemical that can render someone unconscious.

Commercially, it is used in refrigeration. But a person can die if too much of it is inhaled.

Among the other photographed items released Tuesday: a doll, what appears to be the liner from Casey Anthony's trunk and duct tape.

Also included are documents from the FBI Laboratory's Chemistry Unit, and several previously released items, including Casey Anthony's employee wage information and Orange County Sheriff's Office reports.

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