hello. i'm philippa thomas with bbc world news. our top stories. iraq launches a major military operation to recapture saddam hussein's hometown of tikrit from islamic state fighters. the vice president of sierra leone tells us why he's putting himself into quarantine after one of his body guards died from ebola. cold aloof, a loehner. a former bbc fighter tells the bbc about the isis fighter known as jihadi john. and --

♪ the hills are alive ♪ >> on the 50th anniversary of one of the world's most popular musicals, we look back at the making of "the sound of music." hello. the iraqi prime minister has said that government troops are beginning a major offensive in the city of tikrit. the hometown of former iraqi dictator saddam hussein was captured by islamic state last summer and previous attempts to retake it have failed. tikrit is about 150 kilometers north of baghdad. you can see it there. it's a capital of the northern province of salahuddin. as you can see, islamic state militants have control or at least influence over large swaths of northern iraq. so recapturing tikrit would move iraq's government closer to its goal of retaking mosul.

sources also say more than 30,000 troops are advancing on the city. that includes more than 2,000 sunni volunteers as well as kurdish militia. they're backed by jets and helicopters, going in strong after the first shelling of northern and western districts of tikrit on saturday. speaking ahead of the offensive, the iraqi prime minister laid out his strategy. today, we are launching this big and significant operation to liberate our citizens inial salahuddin province. the priority we gave to the armed forces and all the forces taking part alongside them is to preserve the security of our citizens. our priority is to liberate our people from injustice and terrorism of the islamic state. >> well i've been hearing from the bbc's ahmed maher that the

government's battle in tikrit is intended to lay the ground for retaking mosul. >> reporter: government forces backed by an alliance of thousands of volunteers many from the shia community, but also have sunni tribal fighters have been the gearing up for the largest battle which is the battle of mosul in the north. mosul is iraq's second largest city and a stronghold for the so-called islamic state group. but in order to recapture and reclaim mosul and other cities and towns in the north, the government forces have tried to recapture and retake other cities in the central province of salahuddin where the battle of the operation in tikrit is going on so far. so far the information coming from the government says they have advanced greatly in salahuddin to retake tikrit. there are government reports that they are now in a district

called the police academy district, just four or five kilometers to the heart of tikrit. however, we couldn't independently verify these government's reports from an independent source. >> understood ahmed. also, tell us something more about the symbolic importance of tikrit. we know it was saddam hussein's hometown. a strong hold for the bosses. >> reporter: well yes. tikrit is the birthplace of former longtime president, saddam hussein, and it is a stronghold for sunni, very influential sunni tribes. when it comes to the islamic state group, the islamic state group is controlling about 80% of the entire province of salahuddin. so tikrit is very symbolic and very strategic, as well as i've said, for the government forces

and their lives, because capturing tikrit will get them a big boost and gearing up in preparation for the big battle of mosul. just a few days ago, we had news coming from the pentagon and from the government forces that they are preparing up to thousands of troops to retake mosul. so now with all eyes on mosul, but in order to do that in order to dislodge the islamic state militants from mosul, they have to capture tikrit first. >> ahmed maher. the vice president of sierra leone has voluntarily put himself into quarantine after one of his body guards dies from ebola. the battle against the virus continues with an unexpected rise recently in new cases. now, it is nearly a year since the world health organization declared an outbreak in the west african country of new guinea. and over the weeks that

followed, this spread quickly reaching neighboring sierra leone and liberia. and the darker shades of red on our map show you where the numbers killed reached their highest. so far, 9,660 people have died from ebola, this despite efforts to contain it and to develop an effective vaccine. the number of those becoming infected had been falling. at the end of january this year confirmed cases fell to 100 in a week, for the first time last june. despite that note of optimism though, aid agencies are still warning against complacency. our correspondent, clive miry has been to the sierra leone town of freetown as communities try to recover from the crippling outbreak. >> reporter: it's time for a fresh delivery of water to a community that's been locked down. in one of the poorest slums in freetown, around 200 people rely on outside supplies to survive. food has to be brought in too. behind the flimsy barrier, a

woman dieded of ebola two weeks ago. now everyone is in quarantine. this woman says they don't get enough food and every new ebola infection means the quarantine period of 21 days starts again. and that's happened twice. despite the restrictions, one man escaped and it's just been confirmed he's the cause of 31 new infections and the quarantine of a village of 500 people. can i go in? >> of course. >> reporter: other sierra leonians are showing better judgment. mr. vice president, how are you? one of samuel cease bodyguards has just died is now he's quarantined himself at his residence. he's agreed to speak with us at a distance. >> we want to make sure we

inform our people adequately what other things they need to do. >> reporter: so the battle against ebola is fragile and could become even more difficult if sierra leone's borders with its neighbors aren't secure. we traveled on a british military chopper to the frontier with guinea. this is a village quarantined behind a washing line. proposition, 1 population, 100. for two months, there were no infections, then a single case early in february, then four more. the troops enforcing the quarantine take whatever precautions they can. the local chief blames the ebola cases on guinea. >> they go there to do trading, you see? >> reporter: on sierra leone's side the markets are shove. securing this area is key to

prevent the spread of ebola. but it's a porous frontier. and some traders anxious to protect their livelihood will still want to come and go despite quarantine efforts. >> reporter: in the worst-affected countries, transmission rates are down. fewer people are getting ebola. but all it takes is one person to undo the good work. reaching zero transmissions is still the stated aim of everyone. >> well my colleague, clive miry reporting there from sierra leone. you can find out much more about the ebola outbreak on our website. go to bbc.com/ebola. the united nations human rights office has released a new report on the conflict northeastern ukraine. it says fighting there has killed at least 6,000 people in less than a year. that latest death toll comes as the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, and his russian

counterparts sergey lavrov meet in geneva. the conflict in ukraine high on their agenda. in fact it's the first time the two have met since kerry accused moscow of lying about its role in the conflict. just a few moments ago, sergey lavrov said heavy artillery is being withdrawn from the front lines in the east. >> we have seen tangible results today in the achievement of the implementation of the measures agreed in minsk. the cease-fire is being consolidated. heavy weapons are being withdrawn under oece monitoring. those who attempt to disregard this and who call for increasing arms supplies to ukraine bear a heavy responsibility of disrupting the peace settlement. they are driven by concerns of various natures, perhaps, but not the interest of the ukrainian people. >> you know that in ukraine, a fragile cease-fire is in theory, in place, but still the people of mariupol in the southeast are bracing themselves

at the moment for a possible attack by pro-russian separatists. rupert wingfield-hayes has been to one of the city's main high schools. he went to a listen in ukrainian patriotic education. >> reporter: this is the biggest high school in the city soft mariupol. we've come here this morning to witness something very new, which is patriotic education. a little earlier, all the kids in the school lined up here in the hallway to sing the national anthem. they do that now every morning. then they go for an hour's lesson on ukrainian nationalism, ukrainian history, and learning about patriotism. someone who comes from britain, it's very strange, because we don't tend to wave the flag and talk about patriotism, but here it's a very, very important subject, particularly because of what is happening with the rebellion, what's happening with russia. we've seen kids reading poetry making speeches singing nationalist songs.

and what they say when you ask them is, before this conflict began, we didn't have a strong sense of being ukrainian. >> now when there is a war in our part of the country, we are worried so much. >> it's a lot of emotions. and i'm afraid. >> reporter: since the conflict began last year there is this growing sense of nationalism and national pride. and this conflict is in fact driving nationalism, both on the russian pro-russian side, and as've seen this morning, here now on the ukrainian side. ♪ now to business. and aaron, ukraine is top of

your agenda as well. >> it is. another possible gas row. we've been there many times before. thanks. as you've certainly been hearing, although there's a delicate cease-fire between ukrainian forces and russian-backed separatists appears to be holding, a new flashpoint has amerged, and yet it is to do with gas supplies. on friday, ukraine sent a small repayment, a $15 million to russia after moscow had threatened to turn off the taps to its neighbor. talks are set for today between energy ministers of the two countries. however, if a deal cannot be struck, well again, we've heard this right? there could be serious ramifications to the rest of europe. we're going to be across that coming up on "gmt" later in the day. also, the latest turn in the battle between, yes, the giants samsung and apple. samsung hopes its latest offering, yep, right here this phone right here, the sf 6 will help it edge aside. the phone has a three-sided screen and boasts a whole host of new features including an upgraded camera the ability to be charged wirelessly as well.

the big question is will it be enough for a company that's being squeezed at both the premium end and the budget end of the market. our technology correspondent will be reporting from barcelona on samsung and all the other big, i guess, announcements at this year's mobile world congress throughout the rest of the day. the next big thing. that's what every innovative company wants to come up with. but when it comes to food is new and original as important as organic and simple? that's one of the many questions at the global food and technology innovation summit. there is one, believe it or not. we'll be looking at over the next few days whether it's anti-aging chocolate, printing a calorie-controlled diet from a 3-d printer, or growing meat in a lab. mm mm. we'll be taking a look to see what could be on our supermarket shelves over the coming years ahead. 3-d food. tweet me you can tweet me back.

you can get me @bbcaaron. that is with the business for now. those british scientists have come up with a 39-calorie chocolate bar and it's supposed to take 30 years off our age. >> could you bring some into the studio? that will be very handy. do stay with us here on bbc world news. still to come prince william meets president xi jinping and talks about protecting wildlife as part of a royal visit to china. ♪ ♪ ♪ break the ice, with breath freshening cooling crystals. ice breakers. this year, make every amazing, despicable wizarding second of your vacation count by staying where the adventure never ends.

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wildlife protection and the illegal wildlife trade, both subjects very close to the heart of the prince and china as the world's largest importer of smuggled tusked. the highest profile visit of a british dignitary in 30 years. >> welcome to china. >> reporter: the prince and the president, in the great halls the communist leader xi jinping prays the british family great influence globally. told him he's wanted to come to china for many years. fulfilling that dream, prince william saw first these buildings, which had been restored by one of his father's charities. prince charles hasn't seen what's been achieved. the next monarch once referred to chinese officials as appalling old waxworks. royals and china have a checkered past when the queen made history by coming here in

1956, prince phillip also made his mark said if you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed. the baggage free prince in the iconic city he's here focusing on the two country's trade and his linguistics skills. >> william, how's your chinese coming? >> slowly. [ speaking chinese ] that's as far as i come as well. >> reporter: this is the most significant moment so far in prince william's development as a senior royal. in the future, he'll travel abroad on behalf of his government. this is where the emperors once lived. prince williams's presence here is helping to move his country and his family's relationship with china on to new ground. peter hunt bbc news beijing. >> cold aloof, and a loner. that's one picture being

revealed of jihadi john. the account comes from a former member of islamic state who met the man during his early days with the group. in an exclusive interview, he has told the bbc that emwazi wouldn't even mix with the other british jihadis. our correspondent, paul wood reports. >> reporter: a refugee camp syria, 2012. foreign fighters many from britain, base themselves in houses nearby. the man we now know as jihadi john was here too. the britons posted snaps of what they call their five-star jihad, a turkish fighter told us he remembers meeting mohammed emwazi. his words are spoken by an actor. >> he was cold. he didn't talk much. he wouldn't join us in prayer. he would only pray with his friends. the other british brothers would say hi when they saw us on the roads, but he turned his face away. the british fighters were always hanging out together but he

wouldn't join them. >> reporter: he came to syria as mohammed emwazi cold aloof, a loner. if that description is accurate it certainly fits the man he became. how did jihadi john change from being an ordinary fighter to being the islamic state's executioner. >> isis has professional psychologists. they know how to choose from the fighters and how to make them famous. still, there was nothing special about jihadi john. anyone could have become like him. the emirs give the orders and in return you get promoted. many join for luxury guns to drive better jeeps with and to show off. >> reporter: our informant says he left isis after being ordered to murder women and children. i asked him what his former comrades thought of mohammed emwazi? >> some love him. some joined isis after watching and admiring him. they take him as an example. isis play him like a piano, a celebrity, to attract our muslim

brothers in europe. but some think he's showing off. they think he's being used by isis. >> reporter: despite what we've just heard, we can't be certain if the islamic state turned mohammad mohammed emwazi into jihadi john, the brave executioner, or if that side of his personality was always there or just brought out by the war. we have spoken to several reliable sources, who say islamic state places great importance on keeping him safe guarding him in secret. he is, for them a powerful propaganda asset, encouraging other angry young men to come to syria from europe to become just like him. paul wood bbc news, istanbul. in other news police in back la bangladesh said they've arrested a man suspected in the death of the writer avijit roy. his wife was seriously wounded

in that attack. well los angeles police are launched two separate investigations into the shooting of a homeless black man by officers. video footage published online show officers grappling with the victims and voices heard shouting several times, drop the gun, then five shots ring out. police say they won't comment on the killing while the investigations are underway. now, one of the world's best-loved movies "the sound of music" is celebrating its 50th anniversary. the film about maria, the singing nun, who captures the hearts of the von trapp family was premiered in march 1965. bethany bell has been to the austrian town of salsberg where the film was shot to meet those who worked on the film ♪ the hills are alive with the sound of music ♪ >> reporter: 50 years on "the sound of music" still enchants its fans. and it's immortalized salsberg in the austrian alps.

gayle worked on the movie as an assistant director. i met him at the site of the van trapp garden in the film. he told me that the rowing boat scene in which julie andrews and the children fall into the water almost ended in tragedy. >> one of the exciting scenes that was done here is when the boat tipped over. it was arranged that julie andrews that would step out of the boat that was tipping forward, grabbing the child and saving little gretel. unfortunately, julie andrews went overboard backwards and the child in the other direction went down right away. in the film you have an immediate cut, and in the next second there were a lot of people in the water, trying to save the little girl. poor gretel. it was a bad experience for the child. >> gayle's job was to direct the local austrian extras. but there was a problem, because they didn't know the songs.

not even edelweiss. >> i was instructed to tell the crowd to sing that song. and i said i first have to teach them that song. and he was very surprised, i said, it was a national anthem? and i said it was not. >> reporter: gayle says the movie is still a bit kitsch and too american for austrian tastes. >> we thought it would not be a success. of course, you don't want to have worked on a film that's a flop, but we were very doubtful about the outcome. we were wrong. >> reporter: "the sound of music" is still not one of austria's favorite things but after 50 years, people are becoming reconciled to the film, who brings so many tourists here each year.

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hello. i'm philippa thomas with bbc world news. our top stories. iraq launches a major military operation to recapture saddam hussein's hometown of tikrit from islamic state fighters. cold aloof, a loner. a former islamic state fighter tells the bbc about the i.s. executioner known as jihadi john. >> some love him. some joined isis after watching and admiring him. they take him as an example. the vice president of sierra leone tells us why he's put himself into quarantine after one of his bodyguards died from

ebola. and a big cake for a big day. the people of rio mark the 450th birthday of the brazilian city. hello and welcome. the iraqi prime minister has said government troops are beginning a major offensive on the city of tikrit. their hometown of former iraqi dictator, saddam hussein, was captured by islamic state last summer. previous attempts to retake it have failed. tikrit is 150 kilometers north of baghdad. it's the capital of the northern province of salahuddin. as you can see there, islamic state militants have control or at least influence over large swaths of northern iraq. so recapturing tikrit would move iraq's government closer to its

goal of retaking mosul. state sources say around 30,000 troops are advancing on the city and that includes around 2,000 sunni volunteers as well as shia and kurdish militias. they are backed by jets and helicopters going in strong after the first shelling of northern and western districts of tikrit on saturday. speaking ahead of the offensive, the iraqi prime minister laid out his strategy. >> reporter: >> translator: today, we are launching this big operation to liberate our citizens in salahuddin province. the priority we gave to the armed forces and all the forces taking part alongside them is to preserve the security of our citizens. our priority is to liberate our people from the injustice and terrorism of the islamic state. >> with me now is edgar, the editor of bbc arabic tv.

a really big operation, isn't it? >> indeed. >> what do we know about how far they've got? >> well they are fighting according to their generals on three fronts now. and some unconfirmed reports say they are fighting less than nine miles from the center of tikrit. that means they are very close to the center of the town and this is very important. >> tell me more about tikrit. we knew it was a stronghold of the boss man, saddam hussein. >> exactly. tikrit was the capital of the boss, if i may call it like that. all the bosses after the fall of saddam hussein's regime they fled to this area. and they hid in this area. and one of them it is believed that the former vice president was hiding there. we don't know if he's still

there. but it was at the center at the heart of the rebellion against the government. >> so it's fair to say isn't it that some of these may have allied themselves with the i.s.? >> this is what the government believes. because they are the enemy of the government so they have to do like alliances with local forces and with the islamic state. and this is what made tikrit a very easy target for the islamic state to occupy it. but now, if the government manages in retaking tikrit this would be a step forward toward the mosul -- >> and that's really key, isn't it? mosul. when that fell it sent shock waves around the world. >> well this is the capital of

the islamic state inside iraq. if mosul is recaptured by the government forces that means we are very close to say that the islamic state was defeated in iraq. >> edgar jalland, thank you very much for coming into the studio thank you. now, cold aloof, and a loner, that's one picture emerging of mohammed emwazi also known as jihadi john the islamic state militant whose identity was revealed last week. this account comes from a former member of islamic state who met the man during his early days with the group. in an exclusive interview, he told the bbc emwazi wouldn't even mix with the other jihadis from britain. our correspondent, paul wood, reports. >> reporter: a refugee camp syria, 2012. foreign fighters many from britain, based themselves in houses nearby. the man we now know as jihadi john was here too. the britons posted snaps of what

they call their five-star jihad. a turkish fighter told us he remembers meeting mohammed emwazi. his words are spoken by an arkt actor. >> translator: he was cold. he didn't talk much. he wouldn't join us in prayer. he would only pray with his friends. the other british actors would say hi when they saw us on the roads, but he turned his face away. the british fighters were always hanging out together, but he would isn't wouldn't join them. >> reporter: he came to syria as mohammed emwazi. cold aloof, a loner. if that description is accurate it certainly fits the man he became. how did jihadi john change from being an ordinary fighter to being the islamic state's executioner? >> translator: isis have professional psychologists. they know how to choose from the fighters and how to make them famous. still, there was nothing special about jihadi john. anyone could have become like him. they give the orders and in

return you get promoted. many brothers join isis for new weapons, luxury guns to drive better jeeps with and to show off. >> reporter: our informant says he left isis after being ordered to murder women and children. i asked him what his former comrades thought of mohammed emwazi? >> translator: some love him. some joined isis after watching and admiring him. they take him as an example. isis play him like a peenno a celebrity to attract our muslim brothers in europe. but some think he's showing off. they think he's being used by isis. >> reporter: despite what we just heard, we can't be certain if the islamic state turns mohammed emwazi into jihadi john the executioner, or if that side of his personality was always there and just brought out by the war. we have spoken to several reliable sources who say islamic state places great importance on keeping him safe guarding him in secret. he is for them a powerful propaganda asset, encouraging

other angry young men to come to syria from europe to become just like him. paul woods, bbc, istanbul. the vice president of sierra leone has voluntarily placed himself into quarantine after one of his bodyguards died from ebola. the battle against the virus continues with an unexpected rise, recently in new cases. it is nearly a year since the world health organization declared an outbreak in the west african country of guinea. and over the weeks that followed, the disease spread south to the neighboring countries of sierra leone andly beerya. the darker shades of red here show you where the highest number of people have lost their lives. and so far, the total there is 9,660 people who have died from ebola, despite efforts to contain it and to develop an effective vaccine. the numbers of those becoming infected had been falling. at the end of january this year confirmed cases fell to 100 in a week. for first time since june last

year. but despite that note of optimism, aid agencies are still warning against complacency. our correspondent, clive myrie, has been to sierra leone's capital, freetown as communities try to begin to recover from the crippling outbreak. >> reporter: it's time for a fresh delivery of water to a community in lockdown. in one of the poorest slums in freetown, around 200 people rely on outside supplies to survive. food has to be brought in too. behind the flimsy barrier, a woman died of ebola two weeks ago. now everyone is in quarantine. this woman says they don't get enough food and every new ebola infection means the quarantine period of 21 days starts again. and that's happened twice. despite the restrictions one man escaped and it's just been confirmed, he's the cause of 31

new infections and the quarantine of a village of 500 people. >> can i go in? >> of course. >> reporter: other sierra leonians are showing better judgment. >> mr. vice president? how are you? >> reporter: one of samuel sam-sumana's bodyguards has just died killed by the virus, so now the country's deputy leader has quarantined himself at his residence. he agreed to speak with us from a distance. >> i've resolved to the fact of what it takes, the exercise that we have been endeavoring with to make sure that we inform our people adequately what other things that they need to do. >> reporter: so the battle against ebola is fragile and could become even more difficult if sierra leone's borders with its neighbors aren't secure. we traveled on a british military chopper to the frontier with guinea. and this is the village quarantine behind a washing line. population, 100. for two months there were no

infections, then a single case early in february then four more. the troops enforcing the quarantine take whatever precautions they can. >> the local chief blames the ebola cases on guinea. >> only when they open their market places there, people leave there to go there, to go and do trading, you see? >> reporter: on sierra leone's side the markets are shot. secure this area along the border with guinea is key to preventing the spread of ebola, deeper inside sierra leone. but it's a porous frontier and some traders anxious to protect their livelihoods will still want to come and go, despite quarantine efforts. in the worst-affected countries, transmission rates are down. fewer people are getting ebola. but all it takes is one person to undo the good work. reaching zero transmissions is still the stated aim of everyone but is it achievable?

>> clive myrie reporting there from sierra leone. you can find out much more about the ebola outbreak on the bbc's website. you'll find more there about tracing the disease and a page on what you need to know. just go to bbc news online and follow the links. in other news police in bangladesh say they've arrested a man they suspect was involved in the killing of the atheist writer avijit roy. he was hacked to death as he left an event on thursday. his wife was seriously wounded. mr. roy had received numerous death threats from islamist militant groups. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, has arrived in the united states ahead of a controversial speech to congress. he's expected to oppose a near deal being negotiated with iran. president obama has declined to meet him. los angeles police have launched two separate investigations into the shooting of a homeless black man by officers.

video footage published online shows the officers grapling with the victims and voices heard shouting several times, "drop the gun," then five shots ring out. police say they won't comment on the killing while the investigations are continuing. and more snow and ice has hit central parts of the united states. missouri illinois indiana, and kansas experienced a mix of freezing rain and snow that stranded many vehicles. in richmond virginia, state police responded to more than 100 crashes or snowbound vehicles due to this bad weather. and do stay with us here on bbc world news. still to come going underground. we find out about an unusual way to escape the extreme heat of the australia summer. ♪ ♪ ♪ hershey's spreads. bring the delicious taste of hershey's chocolate

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news. i'm philippa thomas. our latest headlines. iraqi forces have launched a major military operation to recapture saddam hussein's hometown of tikrit from islamic state fighters. a former member of islamic state has told the bbc that the man known as jihadi john mohammed emwazi was called aloof and a loner who wouldn't mix with other fighters. the united nations' human rights office has released a new report on the conflict in eastern ukraine. it says fighting there has killed at least 6,000 people in less than a year. the latest death toll comes after the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, and his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov meet in geneva the fighting in ukraine high on their agenda. it's the first time in fact that the two have met since kerry accused moscow of lying about its role in the conflict. mr. kerry has been speaking in the last hour urging the u.n. to examine human rights violations in eastern ukraine. >> and here i urge the council,

look at the facts. do not allow yourselves to be misled. in crimea in the separatist-controlled areas of eastern ukraine, men, women, and children are being killed. they're being tortured. they're being raped and sexually assaulted. detained arbitrarily, abducted for ransom forced into labor, prosecuted and persecuted because of who they are and where they worship. and that is what is happening. and it's up to the hrc to shed light on it. and to help to hold accountable those who violate those human rights. >> well, in kiev the very shaky state of the ukraine economy is under the spotlight today, with parliament discussing financial reforms that could cut benefits and push up energy prices. david stern is in kiev for us. >> reporter: outside ukraine's national bank a small but desperate group gathers. because of the collapse of the

local currency they say they cannot pay their mortgages. they're demanding the government do something, anything to stabilize the economy. otherwise, they fear they could be forced from their homes. >> in 2008 it goes from $1 to $8. and from that time it is very difficult to pay. and now when the dollar costs, for us 30 it is almost impossible. >> reporter: lunchtime in central kiev is usually the busiest time. but this sushi restaurant off the main square part of a nationwide chain, is half empty. people's salaries are in grevna but the prices here are tied to the dollar. because of this, the restaurant's owner says every day is a struggle. >> every day, you have a

challenge. how to get to the price, how to explain to your customers, you're raising prices you have to. so definitely it's not easy. >> ukraine's problems continue to mount. in the past year political turmoil, a war in the east and a free-falling economy. the country's leaders have to act decisively. >> the only way is to fix the situation. to bring real changes. to follow the path that we've already chose, which is the path of tough but necessary reforms. and to make ukraine a pro-european state. >> reporter: politicians know that the budget being discussed today won't be popular. it will raise prices for electricity and gas and reduce benefits, but they also know that if they don't pass these measures the imf won't release the billions of dollars needed

to avoid economic meltdowns. david stern, bbc news, kiev. north korea has fired two missiles as a protest against the huge annual military exercise involving south korea, the u.s., and other western ally. south korean officials said the missiles landed harmlessly in the sea. north korea says seoul and washington should be dealt with by merciless strikes. our correspondent, stephen evans, is following developments from seoul. >> it's an annual ritual in a way, and the rhetoric is part of that ritual. having said all that there have been softer noises coming certainly from seoul, about thawing the freeze in relations between north and south. and clearly, this kind of annual tension doesn't help that matter. it is a very big exercise that south korean troops plus u.s. troops, are undergoing starting pretty well on that.

200,000 people involved initially, an exercise involving control, command, it is a ritual. there is saber rattling probably on both sides. but having said all that it doesn't move anybody any closer towards an easing of the permanent tension on this peninsula. steve evans there. the brazilian city of rio de janeiro has been celebrating its 450th birthday. festivities began with a gun salute at the site where the first portuguese sailors and colonizers were believed to have landed. bill hayden reports. >> reporter: 4 1/2 centuries after their ancestors first landed on a beach somewhere near here, a blast of cannon fire opened a cheerful reenactment of the coming of european rule to brazil. historians might question the

accuracy of this multi-cultural depiction, but the modern inhabitants of rio seem thrilled to be taking part. >> i think that rio is a city with a lot of history, which holds a lot of brazilian identity. it's given much to this country and received a lot from it. it's the essence of brazil. >> the marvelous city is midway between last year's football world cup and next year's olympics, in the middle of what organizers call a cultural marathon celebrating the best that rio can offer. carnival was last week but it seems this party just won't stop. and if you're having a 450th birthday it seems only appropriate to have a cake 450 meters long. bakers rushed to finish it spreading icing along tables making through city center. when it was done there was enough for everyone to have a

generous slice. >> the president had a slightly fancier cake at an award ceremony nearby. she pledged her support to the city's renovation. >> the federal government is committed to the present and future of rio. now we are building the next 450 years. >> reporter: rio still has many problems to overcome, but seems to be facing them with renewed confidence. bale bill hayton bbc news. o australians are used to dealing with heat and last year they recorded their third hottest calendar year since records began. but in one small in the outback, they found an unusual way of coping with these extreme temperatures. as our correspondent reports from coober petey. >> there are few places hotter than coober pety.

temperatures in this outback town regularly exceed 50 degrees. and the extreme heat has led to a unique way of life. >> so welcome. >> thank you. wow. >> reporter: people in coober pedy have gone underground. bernadette roberts lives here. >> what sort of temperatures are you getting here in the height of summer outside? >> 50s, you know. you hear the southern states and eastern states temperatures in about the 40s, and we get the 50s. so that's a nice day. >> yeah. >> but once again, we've got our dugouts that retreat into. >> and i guess for those living aboveground, it's the cost of keeping them cooler. >> electricity. >> you would have to have your air-conditioning 24/7. and that would be extremely expensive.

>> reporter: and coober pedy people are well used to digging. it's a mining town. each one of these piles, there are more than 2 million of them is where people have been mining for opals. all underneath coober pediy, there is this incredible network of tunnels left by more than a century of opal mining. this town was built by miners but what's unique here is that people chose not only to work underground, but to live here too, to escape the blistering heat of the outback. and it's really noticeable, it's a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler down here than it is up aboveground level. perry and annie's home is cut into the rock face. harry, a miner himself, says underground living was a natural way to go. >> i think it started because people were mourning, and when they mourned, they thought, it's a lot cooler in there, can we

live in tlmhere? and a lot of them just lived in the shafts they dug. >> reporter: and for annie, there was no question of living aboveground? >> because you're living in a dugout, it's nice and cool and everything. and if you don't want to go outside, you don't. >> reporter: coober pedyans will emerge in a few months' time. australia has just experienced its hottest year on record. global temperatures could see temperatures rise further, meaning dugout digs could be an idea that catches on. john donnison bbc news in coober pedy in the australian outbreak. >> let's just remind you of our top story, which is developing. the iraqi government says a major offensive is underway to retake tikrit from a militant group calling itself islamic state. the government says around 30,000 troops were advancing on the city. now bbc persian has also been talking to a commander of the iranian revolutionary guard

forces. talk to me about any of our stories on twitter. i'm always there at philippa bbc. thanks very much for being with us. there's a place for vacationers who seek more than just a little time off. the ones who choose to go big or stay home. ♪ come with me now ♪ where every amazing, despicable

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hello, you're watching bbc news. i'm lucy hockings. a major offensive is underway to retake the iraqi city of tikrit from islamic state. 30,000 troops are advancing on the province of salahuddin, backed by troops and helicopters. the prime minister outlined his goals for the campaign. >> our priority is to liberate our people from injustice and terrorism of the islamic state. heavy weapons are being moved away from the conflict in eastern ukraine, but the country has