BBC news 2011-03-27
BBC News with Marion Marshall
Rebels in eastern Libya have retaken the important town of Ajdabiya from forces loyal to the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi. It's the first town the rebels have recaptured since the campaign to impose a no-fly zone began. One resident of Ajdabiya, Salih Busaba told the BBC he was relieved Colonel Gaddafi's forces had gone.
"Yeah, we are very happy because last 10 days, no electrical, no water and no medicine. The Ajdabiya has, the last 10 days, suffered too much from this situation. So, I'm now so happy that everything will come to us. We want to thank Mr Sarkozy France and also David Cameron to allow and support this community."
Rebel forces say they are pushing further west and are close to retaking the town of Brega. The French defence ministry says its fighter jets destroyed five Libyan warplanes and two helicopters at Misrata, the rebel-held city besieged for several weeks.
Violence has again flared up in Syria a day after at least 20 people were killed in anti-government protests in the southern region of Deraa. With the details, here is our world affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley.
Thousands of Syrians turned out for the funerals and in the small town of Tafas, just north of Deraa, they turned their anger on symbols of the state. A police station and the offices of the ruling Baath Party were set ablaze. In Deraa itself witnesses said young men climbed on the rubble of a statue of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad which was destroyed yesterday. Reports from Deraa today say that security forces use tear gas to disperse a sit-in in one of the city's main squares. There was also trouble in the northern coastal city of Latakia.
In Germany, protesters have staged what they said was the country's biggest-ever demonstration against nuclear power. About 200,000 people took part in four cities. Nuclear energy has become a major political issue in Germany since the crisis in Japan and could influence a big regional election on Sunday. Here's Sam Wilson of our Europe desk.
Protesters said they wanted Germany's nuclear plants switched off for good. They are not convinced by Chancellor Angela Merkel's extra safety checks on German reactors, believing it's a political manoeuvre to influence the critical state election in Baden-Württemberg. Her party's held the southern state for six decades, but could lose it to the Green Party amid a surge of anti-nuclear sentiment, a result that would leave her politically weakened.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has sent extra teams to Japan where the nuclear plant wrecked in the earthquake and tsunami remains unstable. The IAEA said there appeared to be high levels of contamination in the soil and vegetation in the Fukushima prefecture. A Japanese government spokesman again urged the company running the reactor to provide accurate information more promptly after criticism of the company's safety procedures.
World News from the BBC
More than a quarter of a million people have taken part in a march and rally in central London to protest against the deep public spending cuts introduced by Britain's coalition government. The march which was organised by trade unions was the biggest protest in Britain since an anti-war rally eight years ago before the invasion of Iraq.
The Palestinian Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip has agreed with other militant groups to stop the firing of rockets into Israel, providing Israeli forces stop targeting Gaza. The agreement came during talks aimed at restoring calm with Israel after recent confrontations left 10 Palestinians dead. Jon Donnison reports from Gaza.
The past week has seen some of the most serious violence in and around Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead, Israel's major offensive here over two years ago. Now, Hamas says it and militant groups including Islamic Jihad have agreed to stop firing rockets across the border. In a statement issued after a meeting in Gaza City, Hamas said its ceasefire was conditional on Israel stopping its attacks on the strip. In the past, Hamas has not been able to rein in all militant groups here and its authority will be tested by this move.
Tens of thousands of people have taken part in marches across Spain to demand an end to what they call 'permissive abortion legislation'. Laws that came into effect last year eased restrictions on abortion, allowing terminations in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, 22 weeks if there's no threat to the life or health of the mother.
The first woman to stand as a vice presidential candidate for a major political party in the United States, Geraldine Ferraro, has died in Boston. She was 75. Ms Ferraro, a Democratic Party congresswoman, was catapulted to national prominence when she became the running mate to the 1984 presidential nominee, Walter Mondale. Mr Mondale told the BBC she had been a champion for social justice and a pioneer for women's rights.
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