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 s

time philippa thomas with bbc world news. our top stories. skipping across the continent, powered only by the sun. the first such attempt to fly a plane around the world begins in abu dhabi. >>> the governing body of world cycling is accused of giving lance armstrong preferential treatment in its handling of doping cases. >>> wartime history, angela merkel tells japan as she visits 70 years after the end of the second world war. >>> and find out how a toddler survived for 14 hours after the car she was in crashed into an icy river in utah. >>> hello. a swiss plane has taken off from abu dhabi on the first-ever attempt to fly around the world using only the energy of the sun. the solar impulse ii could take five months to complete the 12 stages of the flight crisscrossing continents while spreading the word about clean technology. it's a pretty impressive project with some even more impressive figures. let's show you a two. two pilots will take it in turns to fly the single-seater plane on the 35,000 kilometer journey. the solar impulse ii has

i'm philippa thomas with bbc world news. our top stories, skipping across the continent, powered only by the sun. the first such attempt to fly a plane around the world begins in abu dhabi. >>> the world body of cycling is accused of giving lance armstrong preferential treatment. >>> and india's tv network shuts down for an hour as part of protests against the government banning a documentary on the rape and murder of a young woman. ♪ >>> and the teenager sisters from pakistan who have become an internet sensation, singing justin bieber hits. >>> hello. a swiss plane has taken off from abu dhabi on the first-ever attempt to fly around the world using only the energy of the sun. the solar impulse ii could take five months to complete the 12 stages of the flight. it will be crisscrossing continents while spreading the word about clean technology. now, this is a pretty impressive project with some even more impressive figures. let's show you. two pilots will take turns to fly the single-seater plane on this 35,000 kilometer jou