BBC News with Jonathan Izard
Russian troops have used armoured vehicles to force their way into a large military airbase near the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Ukrainian servicemen of the Belbek base have been refusing to surrender. The BBC’s Ian Pannell was there.
There’ve been extraordinary scenes at what was Ukraine’s largest airbase here in the Crimea. At about 4:30 local time, two armoured Russian carriers burst through the perimeter wall, smashing it down, and special forces then fanned out brandishing machine guns. There were loud explosions which we believe were distraction grenades. Automatic gunfire was heard and at least one of the troops who was stationed here was believed to be injured. Russian troops are now in control of this base as the Ukrainian troops must decide whether to switch allegiance or to leave for good.
Earlier, Russian troops took control of an airbase at Novofedorovka north of Sevastopol after it was stormed by their supporters who smashed windows and tore down Ukrainian symbols.
Scientists in France have identified the Ebola virus as the source of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in Guinea, which is believed to have killed nearly 60 people. A Guinean official said about 80 cases had been identified mainly in the south of the country. Here’s our Africa editor Mary Harper.
The disease broke out six weeks ago but scientists in Guinea were unable to identify what it was. It’s highly contagious with horrific symptoms. These include high fever, vomiting and bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose and other orifices. There have in recent years been outbreaks of Ebola in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
African Union forces and government troops in Somalia have taken the strategic town of Qoryoley, which has been held by the Islamist group al-Shabab for the past five years. There was heavy fighting which caused both civilian and military casualties. Many civilians have fled. A BBC correspondent in Qoryoley, which is about 90km south-west of the capital Mogadishu, says it’s significant because it was a base for foreign fighters.
Pope Francis has named the first members of a commission of experts to advise him on how to tackle the child sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the Catholic Church. The pope’s spokesman said the protection of children had now been made one of the church’s highest priorities. From Rome, David Willie reports.
Among the experts is Marie Collins from the Irish Republic, who was a child in the 1960s with herself the victim of a paedophile priest. Pope Francis has been criticised for dragging his feet on remedying the damage done to the Catholic Church by clerical abuse and failing to expose alleged extensive cover-ups by bishops protecting some predator priests at the expense of their victims. Today’s announcement is the first tentative step towards establishing better protection for children against priest molesters.
World News from the BBC
Turkey’s finance minister has acknowledged that the ban imposed by the government on Twitter does not reflect well on the country. The minister Mehmet Simsek told the BBC he hoped full access to the social network could be restored, but insisted that Twitter had to obey Turkish court orders to remove links to alleged recordings of the prime minister’s private conversations.
“I’m not saying a complete ban on any social media platform reflects well. It doesn’t reflect well. A full stop. But at the same time I don’t think any global company, whether it’s a media company, whether it’s an industrial company, it shouldn’t see itself above the law.”
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan imposed the ban after Twitter was used to spread allegations of corruption against him.
There’s still no firm sign of the Malaysian airliner that went missing two weeks ago despite an intensified search operation in the southern Indian Ocean. Australian officials say there were no sightings of an object about 22 metres long seen on newly-released Chinese satellite pictures. Our correspondent Jonathan Head is on board one of the search planes.
Well, I’m sitting on board the New Zealand Air Force, P-3, a rare aircraft. The crew is settling down for the long four-hour journey out to the search site, some sitting in front of a bank of large computer screens, which will show what their sophisticated surveillance equipment can detect. And as you watch the vastness of the southern Indian Ocean sleeping beneath the plane, you are struck by the battling question as to why the Malaysian airliner could possibly have ended up in this lonely spot.
Tens of thousands of protesters from all over Spain have converged on the capital Madrid to protest against austerity measures. Carrying banners with the slogan “marching for dignity”, the demonstrators urged the government to tackle unemployment, homelessness and deepening poverty.