BBC在线收听下载:乌克兰敖德萨工会大楼发生火灾

BBC news 2014-05-03

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

Ukrainian police say more than 30 people have been killed in a fire that broke out after clashes between pro-Russian militants and government supporters in the southwestern city of Odessa. It's unclear what caused the fire at the trade union's building but reports say both sides have been throwing petrol bombs. From Kiev, here is David Stern.

The fire broke out in Odessa's trade union's building where the pro-Russian protesters head headquarters. Police said many of those who died were killed by smoke inhalation, or when they tried to jump from the building's upper stories. It is so far unknown what caused the fire or whether those who died were from the pro-Russian movement. Pro-Ukrainian protesters said pro-Russian activists attacked them during a demonstration which resulted in the death before the fire. Officials in Kiev and western leaders say Russia is behind the unrest in Ukraine, an accusation Moscow flatly denies.

Russia and western countries have accused each other of hypocrisy at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York. Nick Bryant is the BBC's UN correspondent.

Russia called this emergency meeting at the Security Council to complain about what it called the criminal adventures of the Ukrainian government, and warned of catastrophic consequences if its offensive in the eastern part of the country continues. But Moscow came in for an onslaught of criticism from other nations, which claimed it had sponsored the rebels, and armed them with weapons capable of bringing down 2 Ukrainian helicopters. Russia was urged strongly to abide by the Geneva agreement reached last month to de-escalate the crisis but its ambassador blamed Ukraine for failing to implement it.

Earlier on Friday, President Obama said the actions of the Ukrainian government were a legitimate attempt to restore order.

The United Nations in Afghanistan says at least 350 people have been killed in a landslide in the northeast of the country. Hundreds more are missing after a mountainside collapsed in a village following a torrential rain in Badakhshan province. From Kabul, David Loyn.

Television pictures from the area show really that the bottom of the valley is now just covered in mud where there were houses before. Three hundred houses completely disappeared. The governor of the province tells us that 2,000 people are still missing. Rescue workers say they don't have enough shovels, they don't have the right sort of machinery. It's an area that's very remote, inaccessible in a very poor country, the most remote and inaccessible part of the country and a disaster of really epic proportions in that place is something that is going to be very difficult to cope with.

Health officials in the United States say they've recorded the first case of the respiratory all known as MERS. The disease from the same family of viruses as SARS has claimed more than 100 lives in the Middle East, mainly in Saudi Arabia.

World News from the BBC.

The United Nations says delayed rains and continued instability in Somalia are likely to worsen food security in the country. The UN food agency the FAO said the worst affected areas were the main maize producing southern regions and the northeast. The rainy season has started a month later in some areas and is yet to begin in others.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry says the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has agreed to hold face-to-face peace talks with Riek Machar, the man who's led a rebellion against his rule.

I told President Kiir that the choices that both he and the opposition face are stark and clear.And the unspeakable human costs that we have seen over the course of the last months, and which could even grow if they fail to sit down are unacceptable to the global community.

A State Department official said Mr. Kerry had also spoken to Mr. Machar by telephone urging him to bring an end to the violence. Peace talks could get underway next week though Mr. Machar the former vice president has not yet given a firm commitment to attend.

President Obama says he will ask the Attorney General to carry out a review of this week's botched execution in the state of Oklahoma that left a convict convulsing for 20 minutes before he died of a heart attack. He described the case of Clayton Lockett as deeply troubling. He added there were serious questions about how the death penalty was applied in the US including racial bias.

The US sprinter Tyson Gay has been banned for a year after testing positive for a banned substance. The former world champion tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid last year. He could have been banned for up to 2 years but received a lighter penalty as he cooperated with the US anti-doping agency.

BBC News.