BBC News with Marion Marshall
The US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for hastily arranged crisis talks about Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov has set out demands for a neutral and federal Ukraine and said Kiev should come up with the new constitution leading to that goal. Christian Fraser reports from Paris.
If there is relationship between John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov that is still to deliver on the crisis in Ukraine. Perhaps, because there is still a sizable lack of trust on both sides. US officials are not convinced its latest round of diplomacy is anything more than a diversion. Still there must be something in the new Russian proposals that persuaded Mr. Kerry to divert his flight home last night and head instead to Paris. The trouble is he's negotiating from a position of weakness. The threat of more sanctions is not working, there are splits in Europe over what to do next and the apparent impotence of NATO to act all appears to have given Mr. Putin an incentive to press home his advantage.
In France, the governing Socialists have suffered a heavy defeat in the second and decisive round of local elections. The Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault acknowledged that many voters have lost confidence in the government. From the French capital, here's Hugh Schofield.
Across the country, town after town, fell to the right,important cites like Toulouse, long-standing left-wing strongholds Limoges held by the Socialists for more than a century. Nearly everywhere, Socialists voters failed to turn out in large enough numbers. Only in Paris it is was on the safe with the Socialist Anne Hidalgo beating off her right-wing rival. But far-right National Front which did so well in the first round a week ago has captured around 10 towns, the big winners of the night are the mainstream opposition UMP party, the big loser is President Hollande, already the most unpopular French president in modern times.
Nigeria's secrete police said 21 people have been killed in an attempted revolt by detainees at its headquarters in the capital Abuja. It's unclear whether all the dead are prisoners. Our Africa editor Mary Harper reports.
Nigeria's secrete police say the trouble started when a detainee hit a guard with his handcuffs in an attempt to escape. Other guards opened fire, and the army was deployed to the area which is near the presidential Villa. The Nigerian President's spokesman Reuben Abati described the incident as an attempted jail break. He said the situation was under control and the President Goodluck Johnathan was alive and well. Local media say the detainees are suspected members of the Islamist militia Boko Haram.
Officials in the Central African Republic said at least 20 people have been killed by Chadian troops in the capital Bangui. One official said more than 100 people have suffered serious injuries. The troops are reported to have opened fire on residents in Christian dominated northern districts of Bangui.
You are listening to the latest news from the BBC
With about half of the votes counted in Turkey's local elections, the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a strong lead. Earlier results indicate that the Justice and Development party received about 45% of the vote, almost 20% more than the main opposition party, the CHP. Over the past year, Turkey has been convulsed by mass protests against Mr. Erdogan's ten-year rule.
The international search for the missing Malaysian airliner is over for the day without any breakthrough. The Australian authorities said objects so far recovered from the water were discarded fishing equipment. About 30 relatives of Chinese passengers have traveled to Kuala Lumpur to press the authorities for answers. WWC is the father of a missing passenger.
“They have not provided evidence that the plane went down into sea, what we want is evidence, we know there were signals being sent by at least four transmitters, even this they cannot provide us as proof. On what grounds are they saying the plane went down into sea.”
Brazilian security forces backed by armored vehicles have moved into a shanty-town near Rio de Janeiro's International Airport as efforts continue to drive out drugs gangs before this year's football World Cup. The authorities say that the Mare favela district, home to 120,000 people was occupied at dawn within 15 minutes. More than 1,000 troops are expected to arrive within the coming days to secure the favela until after the World Cup.
The Afghan President Harmid Karzai has accused foreign intelligence agencies of being behind a recent series of attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country. In a phone call to the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr. Karzai also said America's allies were blocking efforts by his government to strike a peace deal with the Taliban. Correspondents say Mr. Karzai's comments are a veiled reference to Pakistan and its spy agency, the ISI.