BBC News with David Austin.

President Vladimir Putin has declared the 2014 Winter Olympics open at a spectacular ceremony in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Series of Russian sporting greats carried the Olympic torch to its final destination where the flame was lit by the former ice hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak and the former figure skater Irina Rodnina about an hour of fireworks followed. Earlier, the audience was led through a colorful celebration of Russia's history and contributions to the world. Over the next 16 days, nearly 3,000 athletes will compete in 98 different events of the Games. The President of the Olympic Committee Thomas Bach wished the athletes' work.

From this moment on, you are not only the best, you are Olympic athletes. You will inspire us with your outstanding sports performances. You have come us for sport. You have come here with your Olympic dream. The International Olympic Committee wants your Olympic dream to come true.

Thomas Bach.

A Ukrainian man has been detained at the Istanbul airport after he tried to hijack a Turkish plane and divert it to Sochi. The plane was on its way from the Ukrainian city of Kharkov to Istanbul when the man, apparently under the influence of alcohol claimed for there was a bomb on board.

Turkish Cypriots say they have agreed to renew talks with their Greek Cypriot counterparts aimed at re-uniting the divided island. The Turkish Cypriot leadership said the negotiations were expected to resume next week. Cyprus has been divided since 1974.

More than 80 vulnerable people have been evacuated from rebel held areas in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Under a ceasefire deal with the government, several hundred women children and elderly people are expected to be escorted out of the area. Jim Muir has this report.

Looking weary and worn, the mainly elderly men and women who are first to leave the embattled old quarter of Homs were kept well away from the press. All together, there were 3 bus loads of evacuees. The total number for the day was well below the 200 that was initially expected. Day 2 of this operation will see the focus shift in the other direction, getting release supplies into the rebel held quarter. Relief officials see that as the real challenge, given government 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 country amid spreading unrest over running unemployment and economic hardship. Protesters in Sarajevo set fire to the government building and smoke was also seen coming from the presidency 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 than anything else, this seems to be an reaction to years of inertia and incompetence. They are furious about the state of Bosnia's economy. The prosperous future they hope for after the conflict 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 the football World Cup which begins in June. The man was hit on the head while dismantling a crane outside the stadium in the northern city of Manaus. He is the third construction worker to die at the venue.

The president of Kazakhstan has offered to rename his country to Kazak Eli or Land of the Kazakhs. He said that Kazakhstan was often associated with other poorer states in the region because their names share the same ending. Steve Rosenberg has this report.

This week, President Nursultan Nazarbayev stated what we all know really that the word Kazakhstan ends in 'stan', just like so many other countries in the region, from Tajikistan to Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. But not Mongolia, the president added, rather enviously, that nation 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.