BBC news with Ali Nikhil
Two people have been killed by an explosion at a rally in Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled the country’s pro-Russian president. David Stern reports.
An amateur video shows a perception of a few hundred people marching down one of Kharkiv’s main streets and then the blast. The crowd scatters terrified. A man rives in agony on the ground. Another lies lifeless on the snow. There’ve been other bomb attacks and explosions in Kharkiv in recent weeks, but this was the deadliest so far. Many fear the fighting is now spreading to this strategic city, which is just a half hour's drive from the Russian border.
200 km away on the front line of the conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists, ceasefire monitors say they’re still waiting to be told which routes will be used to withdraw heavy weapons.
The Grand Sheikh of Sunni Islam’s most respected seat of learning has called for a radical overhaul of religious teaching to combat the spread of extremism in Muslim countries. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb who is the Grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar University said a historical misreading of the Karan and the life of the Prophet Muhammad had encouraged intolerant interpretation of Islam.
Witnesses in northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum say a bomb strapped to a young girl has exploded outside a market. At least five people were killed and twenty injured. Will Ross reports from Nigeria.
Eyewitnesses say the young girl who may have been less than 10 years old had explosives strapped to her body. At a checkpoint near a market in Potiskum town the explosives were detonated. Although Boko Haram has not commented on the incident, it has used female suicide bombers a lot over last year. It’s not clear whether such explosions were triggered remotely or whether those wearing devices were brainwashed or even aware of what they were doing. The jihadist group has been trying to seize territory to create an Islamic State in northern Nigeria. Some of the towns and villages it held have been retaken by the military.
The US Secretary of Homeland Security says he’s taking seriously of threat by the Somali Islamist group, Al Shabaab, to attack shopping centers in America, Canada and Britain. Jeh Johnson said there had been an evolution of the threat posed by jihadist groups.
“We are in a new phase in the global terrorist threat right now which involves core Al-Qaeda, but now other groups, the ISIL group being the most prominent example of that, with very effective use of video, publications, social media and the internet that have the ability to reach into communities, to reach into homelands and inspire independent actors to commit acts of violence. We’ve got to be vigilant.”
World news from the BBC.
Syria has described the Turkish operation to relocate her historic Ottoman tomb inside Syrian territory as an act of ‘flagrant aggression’. Six hundred Turkish troops crossed the border to move to safety the remains of Suleyman Shah, the grandfather of the first Ottoman sultan, and rescued the soldiers who had been guarding his tomb.
A Roman Catholic priest from India has been released in Afghanistan after being kidnapped and held as a hostage for 8 months. Father Alexis Prem Kumar of the Jesuit Refugee service had been abducted after visiting a school for returned refugees in western Afghanistan. It’s not publicly known who the kidnappers were.
Last-minute preparations were underway in Los Angeles for the film industry’s biggest annual award ceremony, the Oscars. Workers have erected a movable protective tent over the red carpet after weather forecasters warn that heavy rain could hit the event. This year’s nominees include many Hollywood veterans including Michael Keaton, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore.
The final touches have been put to the red carpet. It’s nearly show time. It’s the combination of hectic awards season, but other stars are lining for Eddie Redmayne.
Stephen Hawking: "I'm a cosmologist."
Jane: "What's that?"
Stephen Hawking: "I study the marriage of space and time."
His portrayal of Stephen Hawking has entered for best actor, co-star Felicity Jones up for best actress.
Alex Zane said there has been criticism of the failure to nominate any non-white actors for the four main acting awards,especially with Selma, the biopic of Martin Luther King being among the nominees in other categories.
Hundreds of Italian football supporters have gathered outside the local stadium to protest about the financial crisis that's plunged the future of their favorite team into doubt. The Italian Football Federation postponed the match between Parma FC and Udinese as Parma couldn't afford to pay stewards or security costs.