BBC News with Julie Candler.
The French President Fancois Hollande has said a French-led military operation to protect civilians in the Central African Republic will be launched immediately after it was authorized by the UN Security Council. The UN approved an increased military presence from France in the African Union to curb escalating violence. Christian Fraser reports from Paris.
“Well before President Hollande made a speech tonight, French troops had already been in action in the capital Bangui. 600 troops are currently in place, other 600 will join them in the coming days. Mr Hollande said the French role would be different to the one mounted in Mali where French troops hunted down Islamist militants in the desert. This time, they'll be the gendarme, the thin blue line between order and chaos.”
The Central African Republic slid into chaos when rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize in March. More than 100 people have been killed in fierce fighting between Christian supporters of Mr Bozize and Muslim former rebels in the capital Bangui today. More than 50 corpses were seen at a mosque. There've also been violent clashes in the northern town of Bossangoa.
There has been increased activity around the home of the former South African president Nelson Mandela. Family members gathered two days after his eldest daughter Makaziwe said he was continuing to put up a courageous fight from what she called his deathbed. Mr Mandela, who's 95, spent almost three months in hospital after being admitted in June with the recurring lung infection. Mike Wooldridge reports from Johannesburg.
“It appears to have been an unusually large family gathering on this occasion including family elder Bantu Holomisa. A number of government vehicles have been here during the evening, too. Rarely in recent time has Nelson Mandela's home in the quiet suburb of Houghton seen this level of activity. Reason is not clear, but Makaziwe Mandela told South Africa's public broadcaster SABC this week that even though you could see that her father was struggling, he was still displaying a fighting spirit.”
Officials in Yemen say more than 50 people were killed in a coordinated attack on defense ministry buildings in the capital Sanaa. The attack involving a suicide car bomber and a gunman in army uniforms was focused on a hospital inside the ministry compound. The dead include foreign medical staff and a nephew of the Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
“This attack on the ministry of defense compound is the deadliest the capital has seen in years. Heavy gun fire could be heard throughout the day and continued into the night. Security forces have carried out clearing operations around the area of the explosion. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but some analysts are saying it has the hall marks of al-Qaeda. The country is the hub of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and suicide bombings are quite regular here. But an attack of this magnitude at the heart of the capital is a huge blow to a government trying to assert its authority.”
World News from the BBC.
A powerful storm is battering northern Europe, leaving thousands of homes without power, disrupting transport and threatening the biggest storm surge in decades. In Britain, thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in coastal areas. Dozens of flights are cancelled or delayed in Scotland and Netherlands and Germany. Phillip Rothwell from the British Environmental Agency explains why storm surges are particularly dangerous.
“Storm surges are caused by a low pressure system, which lift water up, sucking it up, causing a huge number of water which is now travelling down the North Sea. And as it comes down the North Sea, its funnel, the North Sea narrows as it gets towards the channel and this causes the surge to growing height. This is, often happens what isn't a problem. It happens and it's a problem now because it's coupled with high tides.”
Pope Francis is setting up a panel of experts to combat child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and to help the victims. The announcement followed a meeting between the Pope and 8 cardinals who are advising him on Church governance and reform. The commission will study programs to protect children, screen priests and suggest new initiatives.
Fast food workers in the United States are holding demonstrations and strikes to demand higher salaries. The employees say they cannot survive on a wage of $7.25 an hour for full-time work. Jonny Dymond reports from Washington.
"Outside Washington's National Aerospace Museum, 50 or so protesters and protest organizers gathered demanding change. In Detroit, in New York and in cities across the US, small-scale demonstrations have been held to highlight the plight of those denied what they described as a living wage. Critics pointed to the vast profits earned by corporations that employ so many on low-wages."