BBC News with Julie Candler

The new interim President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov has said that Ukraine wants to return to the path of closer integration with European Union. The former speaker of parliament was appointed interim president a day after parliament voted to remove Viktor Yanukovych from office in the face of mass protests. David Stern reports from Kiev on Mr. Turchynov's television address.

Mr. Turchynov said that Ukraine was ready for a relationship based on a new equal and good-neighborly footing with Russia, but also wanted it took into account his country's European choice. He also said Euro-Ukraine's path of European integration would be confirmed in the country's early presidential election set from May 25. Russian officials have called the Ukrainian opposition's assumption of power illegal and said it would delay a $2bn loan to the country. On Sunday, Susan Rice, the US National Security adviser, said it would be a grave mistake if Russia would send troops into Ukraine to defend its interest.

President Putin of Russia and the German Chancellor Angela Mergel have discussed the situation in Ukraine. Protests against the ousted President Yanukovych began in November after he abandoned a partnership deal with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. From Berlin Steve Evans reports.

Chancellor Merkel spoke to President Putin on the phone. And her spokesman said afterwards, that the two had agreed that what they called the territorial integrity of Ukraine should be maintained. The spokesman in Berlin said that the two leaders wanted an effective government for the whole country in place quickly. Germany's trying to act a broker in the conflicts, to try to assuage Russian fears that it wouldn't be threatened if Ukraine moves closer to the European Union.

Human rights groups in Syria say that Abu Kahled al-Suri a senior rebel commander linked to al-Qaeda has been killed in a suicide attack. Here's Jim Muir.

According to rebel and activists sources, Abu Kahled al-Suri was among several people who died when a suicide bomber, possibly two penetrated its headquarters in Aleppo, and detonated a deadly explosion. He was a leader and cofounder of one of the biggest and most effective Islamist rebel groups Ahara al-Sham. But he was also believed to be the main representative in Syria of the global al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri who took over after Osama Bin Laden was killed. Abu Kahled al-Suri, whose real name is believed to be Muhammad Bahaiah, was a veteran al-Qaeda operative who's reported to have fought the Americans in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and to have worked closely with Osama Bin Laden.

Prosecutors in Egypt have accused the ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi of leaking state secrets to Iran's Revolution Guards. The charge was made during the second hearing of his trial for espionage. His supporters say the accusations are politically motivated.

World News from the BBC.

The American Secretary of States John Kerry has condemned recent attacks in Nigeria by the Islamist group Boko Haram. In a statement, Mr. Kerry said such violence was horrific, wrong and had no place in the world. He pledged American support for the Nigerian authorities against the group which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.

The Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has condemned attacks on opposition protesters over the weekend, which have left three people dead, two of them children. She described the killings as terrorist acts with no regard for human life. A four-year-old boy was one of those who died when a grenade exploded outside a shopping centre in Bangkok.

The Winter Olympics have ended in the Russian resort of Sochi with a glittering closing ceremony. The costliest Olympics ever ended with the spectacular display of fireworks. Russian came top of the medal table with 13 golds. Richard Colven was there to watch.

Sixteen days of sporting glory for Russia have drawn to a close in spectacular style. Despite the national shame of losing in the quarter-final stage of the ice hockey, 13 golds and 30 medals in total meant Russia finished the top of the medal table. At the closing ceremony for the Game, the host nation basked and reflected glory of its athletes when the final medals were awarded to the three Russian skiers who dominated the men's 50km cross-country event, emblems of the country's winter sports resurgence. The President of International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach has hailed Sochi as a special experience.

The oldest known survival of the Nazi holocaust Alice Herz-Sommer has died in London. She was 110. Originally from Prague, Mrs. Herz-Sommer who was Jewish, spent two years in a Nazi concentration camp. Recently, a film was made about her life which is being nominated for best short documentary at next month's Academy Awards.

BBC News.