BBC news with Julie Candler.
The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has made an emotional plea for support in his country's fight against pro-Russian rebels, brandishing what he said was a passport of captured Russian soldiers. Mr. Poroshenko told world leaders at a conference in Munich that Ukraine needed hope to confront Russian aggression.
I take with me, the passport, and military ID of Russian soldiers, Russian officers who will come to us. This is the best evidence for their aggression and for the presences of Russian troops, killing my soldiers and killing Ukrainian civilians dozens, hundreds, thousands.
Earlier, the American vice president John Biden said US was committed to helping Ukraine defending itself with the latest peace initiative failed. But chancellor Merkel of Germany warn against army Ukraine. Ukraine says its forces have come under intensified shelling from pro-separatists across the conflict zone. Defense officials in Kiev say the rebels have amassed more tanks, armed personnel carrying multiple rocket launchers to renew their attacks on 2 key government held towns, the railway hub Debaltseve and coast city of Mariupol which controls access to the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula. A BBC correspondent to rebel-held Donetsk says the streets are largely deserted with many residents sheltering in basements.
Thousands of Yemenis have been protesting in several cities in the central of the country against the political takeover by Houthi rebels. They denounced the Houthi's declaration on Friday of a new power frameworking Yemen as a coup and demanded they withdraw their fighters from major cities. Houthi Gunmen fired into the air to disperse protesters in the capital Sanaa. Earlier, a bomb exploded outside the president palace which rebels now control.
The United Arab Emirates says it is sending a squad of F-16 aircraft to Jordan to support the Kingdom's forces in an intense programme of airstrikes against IS militants as part of the US led coalition. From Dubai here's Mark Lobel.
Pressure has been mounting on the UAE to response claims made by Americans officials that safety concerns had led to a pulling-out of coalition airstrikes against IS 2 months ago. The alleged pullout was said to have taken place after Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh was captured in Syria in December after his jet crashed during a bombing mission. The recent confirmation of the Jordanian flight lieutenant's death burnt alive in a cage by his captors, has, however, prompted Jordan and its allies to intensify its efforts. The announcement is intended to dispel rumors of split in moderate Sunni Arabs support for airstrikes. This parts of Syria and Iraq now under the control of the Sunni extremists IS.
World news from the BBC.
The Brazilian government says there has been a 50% increase in the number of cases of dengue fever this year. Health officials say the rise is due to the country's prolonged drought in the heavily populated southern states. They said people were storing water inadequately in open containers allowing masquitoes to breed.
The governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz has said the high levels of violence have nothing to do with the cancellation of a popular international literary festival in the capital Xalapa. On Friday, organizers of the UK Hay festival who promote literary meets in cities around the world decided to pull out this year's gathering in Xalapa and host an online conference instead.
Security has been tightened in a number of Nigerian cities ahead of an announcement by the electoral commission on whether to postpone next Saturday's general election. Security officials have said they won't be able to guarantee public safety if the poll goes ahead as planned because of the threat posed by Boko Haram Islamists. G, an opposition presidential candidate accused the governing party of interference.
Our supporters will lose confidence in the process because definitely they would believe that the shift is a result of the pressure that come from the party. That is a scare of the defeat. And so if the party has its way to shift the poll to the end of March, then the party will have its way in manipulating the result.”
The South African author Andre Brink who was a prominent critic of apartheid has died aged 79. Andre Brink was a white south African who wrote in Afrikaans and English. Some of his novels were banned for challenging the apartheid system. In his later work he was deeply critic of the African national congress after the south Africa became a democracy. His most famous books include A Dry White Season and Looking On Darkness.