1 March 2014 Last updated at 08:40
You might imagine students to be the first Venezuelans at the beach this weekend as Carnaval celebrations kick off leading up to Mardi Gras on March 4.
Ukraine crisis: Crimea leader appeals to Putin for help
The new pro-Moscow leader of Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help to ensure peace.
A Kremlin source said it would "not leave unnoticed" the request from Sergiy Aksyonov.
US President Barack Obama warned Moscow against intervention after mysterious troop movements.
Ukraine's interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Kiev would not "give in to Russian provocation".
He was speaking at the first meeting of his cabinet, installed after the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych.
The spectre of armed conflict in Crimea will be at the top of a long agenda, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports from the region.
French conservative leader denies impoverishing party to enrich his friends
Two of Jean-Francois Copé’s closest aides allegedly raked in millions organising rallies for Sarkozy campaign
Lara Marlowe
Did Jean-Francois Copé, the leader of the conservative UMP party, overcharge then president Nicolas Sarkozy and impoverish the party to enrich his own friends?
That is the accusation levelled by Le Point magazine in its cover story on “The Copé affair”. Mr Copé denies the allegations, says he is the victim of a “plot” to discredit him and has sworn to sue Le Point .
Two of Mr Copé’s closest aides, Bastien Millot and Guy Alvès, founded a private communications agency called “Bygmalion” in 2008. Both men worked for Mr Copé for at least 10 years, at the town hall of Meaux, where he is mayor, and in his cabinet the three times he was a government minister. When Mr Copé became party leader in 2010, he gave Bygmalion the UMP’s communications contract.
Le Point claims that “Events & Cie,” a subsidiary of Bygmalion, was paid at least €8 million to organise campaign rallies for Mr Sarkozy in 2012. The magazine asked professionals to evaluate bills submitted by “Events” to the Sarkozy campaign.
Myanmar orders Doctors without Borders to cease activities
Myanmar's government has ordered Doctors without Borders to halt all of its work in the country. The order came after the humanitarian group treated Rohingya Muslims injured in communal violence.
Doctors without Borders said on Friday that it was "deeply shocked" by the Myanmar government's decision and "extremely concerned about the fate of tens of thousands of patients currently under our care across the country."
"Today for the first time in MSF's history of operations in the country, HIV/AIDS clinics in Rakhine, Shan and Kachin states, as well as Yangon division, were closed and patients were unable to receive the treatment they needed," said the group, also known by its French acronym MSF.
Presidential spokesman Ye Htut accused the group of falsely reporting that it had treated victims near the site of an alleged massacre.
The United Nations has said that 40 Rohingya Muslims were killed in Rakhine state by a mob of Buddhists. Authorities have denied that a massacre took place, saying that one police officer was killed by a Rohingya and there was no other violence. Doctors without Borders, however, reported treating 22 injured Rohingya in the area.
Land grabs rattle Zim farmers
Recent threats of farm invasion in Zimbabwe are making both new and old farmers nervous, and have resulted in disruptions to farming activity.
Fresh anxiety has gripped Zimbabwe's agricultural sector. More than 40 farms have been threatened with invasion since December last year and eight commercial farmers have been forced off their properties since January.
The invasions have resulted in disruptions to farming activity at a crucial time in the summer cropping season.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Japhet Moyo said the land invasions had resulted in 890 farmworkers losing their jobs, contributing to the 9 617 job losses recorded since January 1.
Perhaps what is most concerning for old and new farmers alike is that, 14 years after the invasions began, Zanu-PF and the government are still unwilling to put a date to the end of the land reform programme.
Will carnaval swing protest momentum in favor of Venezuela’s President Maduro?
Amid weeks of protest, Venezuelan President Maduro extended a weekend holiday to last six days in hopes of slowing antigovernment protests.
You might imagine students to be the first Venezuelans at the beach this weekend as Carnaval celebrations kick off leading up to Mardi Gras on March 4.
Instead, many are organizing, blocking roads, and in some instances erecting barricades to create havoc and prevent their antigovernment movement from fizzling into a long weekend at the beach, says our correspondent in the capital. Yet that’s exactly what the government of President Nicolás Maduro seeks, having extended the national holiday to start Thursday (Feb. 27) and last until March 5, which will be the one-year anniversary of the death of former President Hugo Chavez and a likely rally point for pro-government forces.
“Maduro is extending the Carnaval holiday because he wants people to get out of Caracas and to reduce the tension,” says our correspondent, noting that Venezuelans would normally fill the coast for the long weekend. “I think you’ll see a big effort by [the] government to preserve memory of Chavez and reclaim major roadways.”
Sri Lankan family finds mass grave in garden |
At least nine bodies found, as the UN considers censuring the Sri Lankan government over possible war crimes.
Last updated: 01 Mar 2014 05:37
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A Sri Lankan family has stumbled upon the remains of at least nine bodies buried in the garden of their home, police reported, the latest mass grave to be discovered in the country's former war zone.
The family made the grisly find on Friday while clearing out their garden in the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu in the northern district of Mullaittivu, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said on Saturday.
"Remains of nine people had been found so far and the skeletal remains were taken for analysis by the judicial medical officer in the area," Rohana told reporters.
The discovery comes just days after officials raised the number of bodies found in December in an unmarked mass grave in the adjoining district of Mannar to 80.
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