BBC News:2014年索契冬季奥运会开幕
President Vladimir Putin has declared the 2014 Winter Olympics open at a spectacularceremony in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Series of Russian sporting greats carried the Olympic torch to its final destination where theflame was lit by the former ice hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak and the former figureskater Irina Rodnina about an hour of fireworks followed.
Earlier, the audience was led through a colorfulcelebration of Russia's history and contributions to theworld. Over the next 16 days, nearly 3,000 athletes willcompete in 98 different events of the Games. ThePresident of the Olympic Committee Thomas Bachwished the athletes' work.
From this moment on, you are not only the best, youare Olympic athletes. You will inspire us with youroutstanding sports performances. You have come here for sport. You have come here withyour Olympic dream. The International Olympic Committee wants your Olympic dream to cometrue.
Thomas Bach.
A Ukrainian man has been detained at the Istanbul airport after he tried to hijack a Turkishplane and divert it to Sochi. The plane was on its way from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov toIstanbul when the man, apparently under the influence of alcohol claimed for there was a bombon board.
Turkish Cypriots say they have agreed to renew talks with their Greek Cypriot counterpartsaimed at re-uniting the divided island. The Turkish Cypriot leadership said the negotiations wereexpected to resume next week. Cyprus has been divided since 1974.
More than 80 vulnerable people have been evacuated from rebel held areas in the besiegedSyrian city of Homs. Under a ceasefire deal with the government, several hundred womenchildren and elderly people are expected to be escorted out of the area. Jim Muir has thisreport.
Looking weary and worn, the mainly elderly men and women who are first to leave theembattled old quarter of Homs were kept well away from the press. All together, there were 3bus loads of evacuees. The total number for the day was well below the 200 that was initiallyexpected. Day 2 of this operation will see the focus shift in the other direction, getting releasesupplies into the rebel held quarter. Relief officials see that as the real challenge, givengovernment reluctance to see aid going to enemy areas.
Jim Muir.
World News from the BBC.
There have been protests in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and in other towns of the countryamid spreading unrest over running unemployment and economic hardship. Protesters inSarajevo set fire to the government building and smoke was also seen coming from thepresidency building. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the demonstrators.Guy de Launey reports from Belgrade.
Frustration has been simmering for a long time and now it's finally boiled over. More thananything else, this seems to be an reaction to years of inertia and incompetence. They arefurious about the state of Bosnia's economy. The prosperous future they hope for after theconflict of the 90s never arrived. And it seems like nobody is listening.
A construction worker has been killed in Brazil in an accident at a stadium being built for thefootball World Cup which begins in June. The man was hit on the head while dismantling a craneoutside the stadium in the northern city of Manaus. He is the third construction worker to dieat the venue.
The president of Kazakhstan has offered to rename his country to Kazak Eli or Land of theKazakhs. He said that Kazakhstan was often associated with other poorer states in the regionbecause their names share the same ending. Steve Rosenberg has this report.
This week, President Nursultan Nazarbayev stated what we all know really that the wordKazakhstan ends in 'stan', just like so many other countries in the region, from Tajikistan toTurkmenistan and Afghanistan. But not Mongolia, the president added, rather enviously, thatnation doesn't have the suffix stan, and yet foreigners, he said, are so interested in Mongolia.So to stand out from all the stans, the president is proposing a name-change.
Steve Rosenberg reporting.
And those are the latest stories from BBC News.
