News
Live news stream
Father welcomes Clare's Law rollout
A father from Yorkshire whose daughter was murdered by an ex-boyfriend has welcomed a law allowing access to a partner's background.
Read the full storyNATO chief: Insecurity 'more expensive than defence'
The Ukraine crisis should prompt a rethink about defence cuts, the head of NATO said.
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Crimea stand-off showed insecurity was "much more expensive."
"Recent events in Crimea remind us that there is still a threat in Europe, a potential threat against security and stability," he told BBC Radio 4's Today.
"It is a reminder that European nations should invest sufficiently in our common defence and security.
"Obviously, defence comes at a cost but insecurity is much more expensive.
Advertisement
Team GB grabs first medal in Sochi Paralympics
Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell crowned their first season racing together by winning Great Britain's first Paralympic medal on snow in 20 years in Sochi.
Congratulations @raceyjadeski and @carolineskier on winning silver in the Downhill #GoParalympicsGB http://t.co/jHEpyB8KfF
Here's what silver feels like @raceyjadeski and @carolineskier get @paralympicsgb on the medal table #goparalympicsgb http://t.co/HEyJRZd4h8
Etherington, who celebrates her 23rd birthday on Sunday, is visually impaired and communicates with Powell down the course via radio.
The pair became the first British women ever to win a Paralympic skiing medal, despite the short time they've been racing together.
It was only last April that they first got to know each other, August they first skied competitively together and January this year they first competed as a pair in a downhill.
Ukraine 'will not give up Crimea'
Ukraine's acting foreign minister Andrii Deshchytsia said Kiev is doing all it can to resolve the Crimea crisis peacefully, but stressed the country "will not give up" the region to Russia.
Mr Deshchytsia urged Russia to help ensure international observers can operate in the area.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been unable to enter Crimea.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Ukrainian government was taking orders from extremists and denied Moscow had any direct role in the crisis in Crimea.
No signs of missing airliner despite 'orange speck'
Malaysian navy vessels have found no sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight in the area where it last made contact.
"Our aircraft asset spotted an orange speck in the sea where the last signal came from. We sent a vessel to search the area and it was confirmed that it was nothing," a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency official told Reuters news agency.
Beijing-bound flight MH370, operating a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, last made contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, the airline's top official had said earlier.
World celebrates International Women's Day
People around the world celebrate International Women's Day, staging protests against women's rights abuses.
The UN writes that the day, celebrated on March 8, is an occasion to commemorate achievements in women's rights and to call for further change.
The celebration dates back to the beginning of the 20th Century and has been observed by the United Nations since 1975.
Advertisement
Ukraine border guards 'evicted from outposts'
Ukraine's border guards said some of their men had been evicted from an outpost in eastern Crimea.
The Ukrainians said Russian soldiers seized apartments of some of the guard and forced them and their families out in the middle of the night.
"Aggressive Russian troops stormed and seized a unit of the border service at Shcholkine and ousted the families of the Ukrainian borders guards," the Ukrainian border service said in a statement.
"Russian armed servicemen rushed into the unit overnight. During the attack, they beat a duty officer who tried to resist and seized a weapons storage room."
No immediate sign of wreckage - official
Malaysia's search ships have seen no immediate signs of wreckage in the area where the missing Malaysia Airlines flight made its last contact, a rescue official has said.
Joint search underway for missing airliner
Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore are conducting joint search and rescue operations for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane in waters south of Vietnam's Tho Chu island, China's Xinhua news agency says.
The report said that the information was relayed to China's civil aviation regulator by its Vietnamese counterpart.
The aircraft went missing while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
TV licence avoidance may no longer be a crime
It may no longer be a crime to avoid the TV licence fee, under plans being considered by ministers to ease pressure on courts.
The change in law would mean that non-payment of the £145.50-a-year charge would be dealt with in the civil courts, rather than being viewed as a criminal offence.
Currently, anyone failing to pay the licence fee faces a £1,000 fine and a criminal record, as well as the prospect of jail if fines are not paid.
More than 100 MPs are supporting the change, including both Culture Secretary Maria Miller and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, according to the Telegraph.
