Army 'recaptures Ukraine airport'

27 May 2014 Last updated at 12:25

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The BBC's Mark Lowen witnessed the battle at Donetsk airport, and returned on Tuesday to examine the bloody aftermath

Ukraine's interior ministry says the military is now in full control of the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk after a day of bloody clashes.

At least 30 pro-Russia separatists have been killed, the insurgents say. Kiev said the army suffered no casualties.

Armed separatists had tried to take over the airport early on Monday.

Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko then vowed to tackle "terrorists" in the east "within hours, not months".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday again called on Mr Poroshenko to stop military operations in eastern Ukraine immediately and implement a roadmap for peace negotiated in Geneva on 17 April.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, he said a "real war" was under way in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The regions declared independence after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in the wake of the removal of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych.

President's vow

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement: "The airport is under our full control. The enemy suffered heavy losses. We have none."

He said operations were still continuing, and a BBC team heard sporadic gunfire on Tuesday.

At the scene: Mark Lowen in Donetsk

The Kiev government was absolutely determined that the airport would not fall to the insurgents.

Back in February when pro-Russia separatists launched their incursion in Crimea - which led to Moscow's annexation of the peninsula a month later - the airport was the first key installation they took control of, so Kiev was committed to clamping down on that.

Ukraine's new president gave a speech on Monday saying he would not negotiate with "terrorists" as he put it - and clearly you see the impact of that around Donetsk airport.

A representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic told the BBC that reports of at least 30 dead in Monday's fighting were accurate.

Other reports of the death toll vary.

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Mark Lowen reports from the ground in Donetsk during Monday's fighting at the city's airport

Donetsk mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko said 40 people had been killed in the past day, while another separatist spokesman said 50 fighters had died.

Monday's clashes started after separatist militants stormed the Sergei Prokofiev Donetsk airport in the early hours.

The Ukrainian military responded quickly with air strikes and an assault by heavily armed troops.

The attempt to seize the airport may have been intended to prevent Mr Poroshenko from travelling there after he said his first trip would be to visit the restive east.

Mr Poroshenko, a 48-year-old billionaire and former foreign minister, was on Monday formally declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election with 54% of the vote.

He vowed east Ukraine would not be "turned into Somalia", adding: "The anti-terrorist operation cannot and should not last two or three months. It should and will last hours."

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Petro Poroshenko: "We will fight for the trust of the people" of the east

However, Mr Poroshenko has also said he wants to talk to Russia to end the crisis.

Moscow says it will accept the election results and engage in dialogue with Mr Poroshenko.

But Mr Lavrov said: "The question of a visit to Russia by Poroshenko is not being considered and is not being discussed through diplomatic or any other channels."

The insurgency developed after Mr Yanukovych fled Kiev amid bloody street protests and calls for closer ties with the EU.

At least two civilians were killed in Donetsk city and the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk on Monday.

The body of a woman, reportedly killed by a stray bullet, lay near the railway in station Donetsk

In Sloviansk, the bloodied body of another woman lay near an apartment block. At least one man was also wounded.

Are you in the area? Are you affected by this latest development? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Ukraine' in the heading, and including your contact details.

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EU leaders wrestle with poll fallout

27 May 2014 Last updated at 12:51

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Francois Hollande: "This vote is there and it needs to be confronted"

European leaders are due to meet in Brussels to discuss the fallout of the recent EU elections, amid growing calls for changes to the union.

French President Francois Hollande, whose party was beaten by the far right, wants more focus on the economy.

UK PM David Cameron will try to pull power back from Brussels, after being beaten by the UK Independence Party.

Despite the rise of anti-establishment parties, pro-European parties still won most votes overall.

Vote 2014

Full coverage of results

Tuesday's informal summit is the first opportunity for all 28 leaders to discuss the way forward after the game-changing European Parliament elections.

Many of those there will have faced a tough few days at home.

Francois Hollande has described his domestic results as "painful". The far-right National Front stormed to victory with a preliminary 25% of the vote, pushing Mr Hollande's Socialists into third place.

Mr Hollande - who has always been a champion of the EU - told French TV the union had become "remote and incomprehensible", and that it had overcome the crisis in the eurozone "but at what price? An austerity that has ended up disheartening the people".

Matthew Price, BBC News, Brussels

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How will EU leaders handle the Eurosceptic rise?

Europe has not "voted against the EU". The vast majority of those who bothered to cast a ballot did so for parties that are pro-EU.

Yes, the focus is understandably on France and the UK, with Denmark, Greece, and others also giving Euro-enthusiasts cause for concern. However in many countries mainstream parties dominated - in Germany, Italy, Poland where it was felt a growing Eurosceptic movement could break through, in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

So the results do not constitute a "problem" as such for the leaders of the EU. Many leaders will point this out around the dinner table tonight. Others, however, will stress that a sizeable chunk of voters chose parties that want "Brussels" to change, and that the EU needs to address this issue if it is to maintain popular support and legitimacy in the longer term.

Anti-EU forces overshadow Brussels talks

Mr Hollande said that at Tuesday's meeting he would "reaffirm that the priority is growth, jobs and investment".

But National Front President Marine Le Pen said her party would use its electoral mandate to "defend France" and fight "crazy measures like votes for immigrants".

The BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels says she made a direct challenge, not just to French politicians, but to Brussels too - saying it must listen to the people, and that the French had to protect their nation.

Mr Cameron, whose Conservative party lost seven seats in the European Parliament, said it was clear voters were "deeply disillusioned" with Europe and that the message had been "received and understood".

His party came third. UKIP took 27% of the vote, marking the first time in a century that a party other than the Conservatives or Labour had won a UK election.

But Mr Cameron insisted he would neither bring forward the date of an in/out referendum on UK withdrawal from the EU - scheduled for 2017 - nor seek a pact with UKIP.

In Germany, Angela Merkel - whose conservative Christian Democratic Union won a comfortable 35% of the vote - said it was now up to the established parties to win voters back by focusing on "improving competitiveness, on growth and creating jobs".

'Truly democratic debate'

Despite the unprecedented Eurosceptic gains across the Union, Jose Manuel Barroso, outgoing president of the European Commission, insisted that the pro-EU blocs still had "a very solid and workable majority".

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David Cameron: "People are deeply disillusioned with the European Union"

The centre-right European People's Party appears set to win 213 out of the 751 seats, with 28.36% across the bloc, according to estimated results issued by the European Parliament. That would mean it remains the biggest group - but with more than 60 seats fewer than before.

The Socialist alliance has a projected 190 seats, with 25.3% of the vote, the Liberals 9% and the Greens 7%.

The Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group appeared to have around 38 seats. But the number of non-attached right-wing MEPs is set to rise, boosting the Eurosceptic camp.

Mr Barroso said a "truly democratic debate" was needed to address the concerns of those who did not vote, or "voted in protest".

Turnout across Europe is estimated at 43.1%, the first time it has not fallen since the previous election - but it has only increased by 0.1%.

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The BBC's Jeremy Vine uses graphics to show how EU citizens voted

Result highlights (from European Parliament website):

• Italy Centre-left PM Matteo Renzi (above) scores strong 40%, fending off ex-comic Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment Five Star with 21%, and ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia with 17%
• France National Front take 25% of the vote at 24 seats; Centre-right UMP 21%; President Hollande's Socialists a poor third with 14% - lowest ever EP score

• Britain Eurosceptic UKIP in first place, with 27%, Labour on 25% and the Conservatives on 24%. Junior coalition partner Lib Dems lose 10 seats, retaining only one, Greens take 8%

• Germany Angela Merkel wins another election with 35% for her Christian Union, 27% for the centre-left SPD. Eurosceptic AfD score 7%. Neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) wins its first EU seat

• Greece Far-left Syriza wins 26% of the vote, PM Antonis Samaras' New Democracy on 23%. Far-right Golden Dawn score 9%. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has asked the Greek president to call early national elections
• Sweden Social Democrats take 24%. Feminist Initiative becomes first feminist party to gain an EU seat

The election affects the lives of 500 million citizens.

The parliament's powers have expanded since the last election in 2009, and it is hoping to have a decisive say in who gets the EU's top job, president of the European Commission.

You can follow full coverage with all the latest updates at bbc.co.uk/vote2014.

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Malaysia releases MH370 satellite data

27 May 2014 Last updated at 11:04

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The BBC's Richard Westcott visited Inmarsat's headquarters to find out what the data tells us about MH370's fate

The Malaysian government has released the raw data used to determine that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

The data was first released to relatives of passengers, who have been asking for greater transparency, before copies were also provided to media.

The document released on Tuesday comprises 47 pages of data, plus notes, from British firm Inmarsat.

Flight MH370 went missing on 8 March as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

There were 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on board. No trace of the aircraft has been found, nor any reason for its disappearance.

The satellite data released includes the hourly "handshakes" between the plane and a communications satellite that led investigators to conclude that the plane ended its journey far off Australia.

"Inmarsat and the DCA have been working for the release of the data communication logs and the technical description of the analysis," Malaysia's civil aviation authority said in a statement.

Continue reading the main story

The release document comprises long columns of numbers, including detail on the now famous "handshakes" when Inmarsat's ground network made connections with equipment on board the plane.

The last of these occurred at 00:19:38 UTC. It's a partial handshake, possibly the plane attempting to log back on to the network after a power interruption as the jet ran out of fuel.

The key numbers are the Burst Timing Offset (BTO) and the Burst Frequency Offset (BFO). The former is the time it takes for a signal sent from the ground network to reach the plane, be answered and return. It allows an arc of possible positions for the plane to be calculated.

The latter number describes the drift in the expected frequency of that signal. Combined with other data, it can be used to narrow the possible solutions on the arc.

The data is now open for scrutiny, but it would be a surprise if something new turns up. Independent teams have already assessed it and come to the same conclusion: MH370 lies somewhere far off the coast of western Australia.

BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos says although the data is now open for scrutiny, it would be a surprise if something new turns up.

Independent teams have already assessed it and come to the same conclusion: MH370 lies somewhere far off the coast of western Australia, he says.

American Sarah Bajc, the partner of one of the passengers, told Reuters news agency that she did not think it would take this long for the data to be released.

"When we first asked for the data it was more than two months ago. I never dreamed it would be such an obstacle to overcome," she told Reuters news agency from Beijing.

Meanwhile, a sea-bed search for the missing plane is continuing in waters far west of the Australian city of Perth.

The robotic submarine Bluefin-21, on loan from the US, is still being operated off the Australian vessel Ocean Shield.

The Bluefin-21, which can identify objects by creating a sonar map of the sea floor, restarted its mission last week after experiencing technical problems.

It is expected to leave the search area on Wednesday and return to base on 31 May, said a previous statement from Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which is leading the search.

The Bluefin-21 completed the initial search of the area where acoustic signals thought to be from flight recorders were heard without finding anything concrete.

The Australian government is now preparing for a fresh deep-sea search using commercially-contracted equipment.

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Vietnam boat sinks after collision

27 May 2014 Last updated at 05:55

A Vietnamese fishing boat has sunk after it collided with a Chinese vessel near a controversial oil rig in the South China Sea, amid tensions between the two nations.

Both countries are blaming the other for the incident.

Vietnam's coast guard said the boat was encircled by 40 Chinese vessels before it was rammed, reports said.

But Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said Vietnam's boat collided with its vessel after "engaging in harassment".

The BBC's Martin Patience says that whatever the truth, the sinking is likely to further escalate tensions between the two countries, given that for the past few weeks they have engaged in skirmishes at sea.

The two are locked in an intensifying dispute over South China Sea territory.

Vietnam has protested against China moving its Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig to waters also claimed by Hanoi, at a spot near the disputed Paracel Islands.

Monday's incident happened just 17 nautical miles from the rig, Vietnamese reports said.

Xinhua on Tuesday claimed that Vietnam had "on many occasions dispatched various boats with the sole intention of harassing Chinese-linked companies drilling in that part of the ocean".

It said China had made serious representations to Vietnam to request that it "halt its harassing and destructive activities".

Vietnamese media meanwhile reported that China deployed "a fast attack missile boat and a minesweeper" around the rig on Monday.

'Sovereign right'

China's refusal to move the rig sparked anti-China protests in Vietnam earlier in May, which left at least two people dead and several factories burnt.

Vietnamese legislators are preparing to sue China in an international court over the rig and other attacks on Vietnamese ships, according to local media.

China in recent days has upped its rhetoric on the South China Sea.

On Monday, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry addressed a recent attempt by Vietnam to list its historical claims to the Paracel Islands, saying it was "absurd and laughable".

On the same day, Xinhua published a commentary in English which accused Vietnam of wanting to "disturb and play up the normal drilling of Haiyang Shiyou 981".

Written by Chinese law professor Yang Zewei, the commentary states: "Hanoi should know that such drilling in the said area is China's sovereign right endowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."

"Vietnam should immediately stop any interruptive activities and undertake corresponding consequences and international responsibilities for its provocations.".

Japan has urged calm. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said it was important that "relevant countries abstain from unilateral actions that raise tensions".

Meanwhile, Vietnam is preparing to prosecute "hundreds of suspects" involved in the anti-China protests earlier in May, and has already jailed two participants, according to local media.

China has for decades claimed a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea.

But tensions have flared up in the region recently as China seeks to assert its claims in a more muscular fashion with a beefed-up maritime presence.

Its actions have upset several neighbouring countries, including the Philippines - which is taking China to a United Nations tribunal.

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Pope to meet sex abuse victims

27 May 2014 Last updated at 09:41

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Pope Francis was speaking to reporters on his way back from the Middle East

Pope Francis has announced he will meet a group of sex abuse victims next month after comparing the "ugly crime" to performing "a satanic Mass".

Speaking after his Middle East tour, Pope Francis said he will show zero tolerance for anyone in the Roman Catholic Church who abuses children.

"Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime ... because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord," he said.

The Pope, 77, spoke to reporters for nearly an hour on his flight to Rome.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen, who travelled with the pontiff, said many Catholics will be glad to hear Pope Francis taking a tough stance.

But it remains unclear if the Pope's zero tolerance policy will extend to bishops who are accused of turning a blind eye to abuse by priests in their dioceses.

Pope Francis said he would meet eight victims and Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, who is head of a commission set up by the Vatican to investigate sex crimes committed by priests and to care for victims.

Cardinal O'Malley said last month he will recommend that negligent clerics be held accountable regardless of their rank in the Church - a move that victims' groups have pressed the Vatican on.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Rome

On the plane back to Rome, Pope Francis said that the sexual abuse of children by priests was as bad as performing a satanic Mass. Scandals involving priests abusing children sexually and in other ways have caused enormous damage to Catholicism.

Secular people might say that paedophilia is actually much worse than a satanic rite. But for a pope to compare crimes carried out by Catholic priests to worshipping the devil counts as strong language.

The Pope is saying what many Catholics who have been horrified by repeated child sex abuse scandals want to hear. But he will have to follow his words with actions if he wants to stop scandals doing any more damage to the church.

For his pledge of zero tolerance to mean anything he will, eventually, have to punish the guilty men - and those higher in the Catholic hierarchy who covered up what they did.

Pope's 'zero tolerance' vow on abuse will now need action

The Pope is under pressure to act after the UN recently published a report accusing the Vatican of systematically placing the "preservation of the reputation of the Church over the protection of child victims."

Earlier on Monday, the Pope called for an end to religious intolerance during a mass in Jerusalem at the room where Christians believe Jesus held the Last Supper.

He visited the most important holy sites for Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem's Old City on the final day of his Middle East tour.

The pontiff has been feted by Israel and the Palestinians, and has invited their presidents to the Vatican.

Both Israel's Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have given a positive response.

But Pope Francis sought to play down the importance of his invitation, saying he was not qualified to be a mediator and that proper negotiations were necessary for a peace deal.

"We are coming just to pray, then everyone goes home," he said. "But I think prayer is important: praying together."

Our correspondent says the Pope's visit to the region will have made him more aware of the tangled politics of peacemaking.

Catholic Church abuse scandals

• Germany - A priest, named only as Andreas L, admitted in 2012 to 280 counts of sexual abuse involving three boys over a decade
• United States - Revelations about abuses in the 1990s by two Boston priests, Paul Shanley and John Geoghan, caused public outrage
• Belgium - The bishop of Bruges resigned in April 2010 after admitting that he had sexually abused a boy for years
• Italy - The Catholic Church in Italy admitted in 2010 that about 100 cases of paedophile priests had been reported over 10 years
• Ireland - A report in 2009 found that sexual and psychological abuse was "endemic" in Catholic-run industrial schools for most of the 20th Century

Q&A: Child abuse scandal

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Mining giants sign $20bn Guinea deal

27 May 2014 Last updated at 10:37

Rio Tinto, Chinalco and the International Finance Corporation have signed a deal to develop Guinea's iron ore deposits.

The Simandou project, which has been delayed for years, would be the biggest iron ore and infrastructure project developed in Africa, the firms said.

The $20bn (£12bn) "investment framework" provides legal and financial backing for the project.

The framework will now go the Guinean National Assembly for ratification.

If ratified, the three parties said they would complete a feasibility study, including timeline and costs, within about a year.

President of the Republic of Guinea Alpha Conde said: "With massive infrastructure investment, this project is of critical importance for the people of Guinea.

"It's a nationwide priority that goes beyond the mines and far beyond our generations. With transparent and fair deals, our mining sector has the potential to be a game changer for Guinea."

'World class'

As well as mining the iron ore, the three partners said they were working together to raise the funds to build a 650km railway and a deep-water port to transport the rocks and minerals.

They said the project had the potential to double Guinea's GDP and create 45,000 jobs.

"Today is an important milestone in the development of this world-class iron ore resource for the benefit of all shareholders and the people of Guinea," said Sam Walsh, chief executive of Rio Tinto.

Rio Tinto will take a 46.6% stake in the project, Chinalco 41.3%, Guinea 7.5% and IFC 4.6%.

Rio was first awarded concessions to Simandou almost 10 years ago, but was forced to give up those in the northern part of the range of hills in 2008. These were then given to BSG Resources, a company controlled by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz.

Last month, the BSGR permits were rescinded by the Guinean government, paving the way for the deal between Rio and Chinalco.

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Syria weapons inspectors 'attacked'

27 May 2014 Last updated at 12:39

A convoy of chemical weapons inspectors and UN staff that was travelling to a site of an alleged chlorine gas attack in Syria has come under attack.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said they were all safe and well, and were travelling back to their operating base.

It did not say whether they had been kidnapped in Hama province, as the Syrian government earlier claimed.

OPCW director general, Ahmet Uzumcu, expressed his concern for their safety.

"Our inspectors are in Syria to establish the facts in relation to persistent allegations of chlorine gas attacks," he said in a statement.

"Their safety is our primary concern, and it is imperative that all parties to the conflict grant them safe and secure access."

'Hijacked'

The OPCW inspectors were trying to reach the rebel-held village of Kafr Zaita, where there have been six alleged chlorine attacks in two months.

The first report of the attack on their convoy came from the Syrian foreign ministry, which said six inspectors had been "kidnapped" along with their five Syrian drivers.

The state news agency, Sana, quoted a statement as saying that shortly after leaving their government escort on Tuesday morning in the village Tayyiba Imam, a bomb had exploded beside one of the four UN-marked vehicles in the convoy.

The remaining three vehicles then turned around and headed back to Tayyiba Imam, but two were "hijacked by armed terrorist groups" en route, the statement added.

The government and rebel fighters had agreed to a day-long truce to allow the team to examine the area.

The foreign ministry stressed President Bashar al-Assad's commitment to allowing the UN-OPCW mission to investigate alleged chlorine gas attacks and to providing security in areas under its control.

His opponents sought to "abort the efforts of the mission and commit terrorist crimes against UN and OPCW workers", it claimed.

Last month, the OPCW said it would be sending a mission to investigate the alleged use of chlorine in more than a dozen attacks in rebel-held areas of Hama and Idlib provinces since April.

In every case, barrel bombs were allegedly dropped from helicopters. After they exploded, casualties reportedly began displaying symptoms typical of chlorine poisoning, including sore eyes, irritated skin, breathing difficulties and bloody foaming from the mouth.

Several people have been killed, including children.

Activists said bombs containing chlorine were dropped on Kafr Zaita twice last week. They posted a video of what they said was a gas cloud floating through the village on Thursday. A man can be seen running away from the green-yellow cloud with a woman who is holding a cloth to her mouth.

The opposition has blamed the government, noting that only its forces are believed to have access to helicopters. But officials in Damascus have denied any responsibility and accused al-Qaeda-affiliated rebels.

Chlorine is a common industrial chemical, but its use as a weapon is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Syria signed the treaty last year after the nerve agent sarin was used in an attack on several suburbs of Damascus that killed hundreds of people.

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India presses Pakistan on militants

27 May 2014 Last updated at 12:42

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The BBC's Nitin Srivastava in Delhi says the smiles and handshakes between the pair have been "a shock"

India's new PM Narendra Modi has urged his Pakistani counterpart to crack down on militants and speed up the trial of the 2008 Mumbai attacks suspects.

Mr Modi held bilateral talks with Nawaz Sharif on his first day in office.

The Pakistani leader said they should put the "legacy of mistrust" behind them and work for peace and stability.

Mr Sharif attended Mr Modi's swearing-in on Monday, amid hopes of a thaw in relations between the rivals who have fought three wars since independence.

Mr Modi also "underlined our concerns related to terrorism", Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh said after the talks.

Continue reading the main story

Excitement over Prime Minister Sharif's trip to Delhi is rooted in a history lesson that points in the opposite direction"

End Quote

M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad

---

"It was conveyed that Pakistan must abide by its commitment to prevent its territory and territory under its control from being used for terrorism against India."

The two sides discussed trade and the "PM said the two countries could immediately move towards normalising trade ties that have been held hostage to their political differences", Ms Singh said.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have a deep history of mistrust and the BJP advocates a tough stance on Pakistan.

Mr Modi himself is viewed with suspicion by many in Pakistan because of the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat while he was the state's chief minister.

But in a surprise move, Mr Modi last week invited Mr Sharif to his inauguration and for bilateral talks.

Mr Sharif described it as "a great moment and a great opportunity" and said "this could help in turning a new page in our relations".

Earlier in the day, Mr Modi also held bilateral talks with the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, and Ms Singh said the prime minister thanked him for help in dealing with last week's attack on an Indian diplomatic mission in Afghanistan's Herat province.

In an interview with an Indian TV channel on Monday, Mr Karzai blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group based in Pakistan. India has also blamed the group for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mr Modi also held bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Nepal PM Sushil Koirala and leaders of Maldives, Bhutan, Mauritius and Bangladesh.

Mr Sharif's presence at Monday's historic swearing-in was the first time since India and Pakistan won freedom from Britain in 1947 that a prime minister from one state had attended such a ceremony in the other.

Forty-five MPs, including seven women, from Mr Modi's BJP party and their allies were also sworn in as ministers.

India's new ministers

• Rajnath Singh: Home
• Sushma Swaraj: Foreign affairs
• Arun Jaitley: Finance, Defence, Corporate affairs
• Nitin Gadkari: Road transport and highways, Shipping
• M Venkaiah Naidu: Urban development, Housing and urban poverty alleviation, Parliamentary affairs
• DV Sadananda Gowda: Railways
• Najma Heptullah: Minority affairs
• Smriti Irani: Human resource development
• Dr Harsh Vardhan: Health and family welfare

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S Korea bus station fire kills seven

26 May 2014 Last updated at 05:32

Seven people have been killed and 20 others injured in a fire at a bus terminal in South Korea, officials say.

The fire occurred on Monday morning in Goyang city, northwest of the capital city, Seoul.

Firefighters believe welding works at an underground construction site in the building started the blaze, which was brought under control in 20 minutes.

The incident left two people in critical condition, emergency officials said.

Several people suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to hospital for treatment, said the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul.

Bodies were found at the basement construction site, Yonhap news agency reported.

The incident has come at a time of grief and national mourning as South Korea struggles to recover from a ferry sinking in April that left more than 300 people dead or missing.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has formally apologised to the nation for the disaster, promising to improve safety standards.

Two subway cars also collided in Seoul in early May, injuring dozens of people.

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Thai coup leader endorsed by king

26 May 2014 Last updated at 09:20

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Jonathan Head said General Prayuth would have needed Royal endorsement

Thailand's military leader has received royal endorsement at a ceremony in the capital, Bangkok, after taking power in a coup last week.

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha was formally appointed to run the nation at the army headquarters.

The 86-year-old monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, did not attend the ceremony.

The military seized power in the South East Asian nation last week, saying it planned to return stability to Thailand after months of unrest.

The move followed six months of political deadlock as protesters tried to oust the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. At least 28 people were killed and several hundred injured over the course of the protests.

But the coup - which removed an elected government - has drawn widespread international criticism.

Small anti-coup protests took place in Bangkok over the weekend, despite a military ban on gatherings of more than five people.

Experts have also warned that the coup is unlikely to heal divisions in a nation in which politics have become highly polarised.

'No benefit'

Gen Prayuth, dressed in white military uniform, received the royal endorsement on Monday morning.

"To restore peace and order in the country and for sake of unity, the king appointed Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha as head of the National Council of Peace and Order to run the country," the royal command seen by AFP news agency said.

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The BBC's Damian Grammaticas was caught up in a Bangkok street scuffle

The monarchy is highly respected and royal endorsement is seen as key to legitimising the takeover.

Speaking afterwards, Gen Prayuth said the most important thing was "to keep peace and order in the country''.

Elections would take place as soon as possible, he said, but gave no timeframe. He also said he would have no choice but to use force if protests continued.

The ruling junta is expected to set up a national legislative assembly that will draw up a temporary constitution with a new prime minister.

Since taking power the military has summoned and detained dozens of key political figures, including Ms Yingluck. Journalists and academics are also among those who have been called in.

Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok

No coup in Thailand has succeeded without the blessing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej - there have been 12 during his 64 years on the throne. So this ceremony was very important for General Prayuth - until this morning he had only had an acknowledgement that the king had been informed of his coup.

He is now the official ruler of Thailand - but big questions remain over how he and his generals will run a country whose once fast-growing economy has faltered during seven months of political unrest.

Already there have been small but vocal protests against the coup in Bangkok; there is likely to be stronger opposition in the north and north-east of the country, where support for the ousted government is still high.

The military says it will strictly enforce the ban on demonstrations. Using force against them, though, risks stirring more public anger, but tolerating them might embolden the military's opponents.

Suthep Thaugsuban, who has been leading the protests against the government, has since been released by the military. However, he is still facing charges.

Meanwhile, it was not immediately clear where Ms Yingluck was being held.

Tight controls have also been placed on the media.

The current deadlock dates from 2006, when the military ousted Ms Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, in a coup.

Mr Thaksin and Ms Yingluck have strong support in rural areas, propelling them to successive election victories.

But they are bitterly opposed by many in the middle class and urban elite, who formed the heart of the protest movement that began working to oust Ms Yingluck in November 2013.

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