BBC News with Julie Candler.

Police in the Turkish city of Ankara and Istanbul have fired tear gas and water canon at thousands of demonstrators protesting over a deadly mine explosion in which more than 270 people have died. The demonstrators called for the government to resign over what is the country's worst mining disaster. There were also scuffles in the town of Soma close to the coal mine during a visit there by the prime minister. Gerry reports.

The mood is very grim and the anxious waiters has left this place to frustration and anger as we saw in Soma today, the prime minister made a visit here and he was protested by the angry crowd asking for the resignation of the government.

Soldiers in northeastern Nigeria deployed to deal with Islamist militants are reported to have shot at their own army commander major general Ahu Mohammed. Eye-witnesses told the BBC that the soldiers fired at his convoy at a tented barracks in the city of Dubri. M. Limon in Abuja has more.

They were trying to express their own dissatisfaction in the way they are being handled. They specifically gave an example of the killings of some of their colleagues overnight because there are police arrested an area which is suspected to be infiltrated with Boko Haram members. They wanted to spend the night without travelling but then I think the senior military officers insisted that they should come back to the barracks in the night. And they complain that they do not have night vision goggles to see. They were ambushed on the way as some of them were killed, so the soldiers today at the barracks were expressing their dissatisfaction the way thing are being handled in the barracks.

Reports from northeastern Nigeria say local people have killed dozens of suspected Boko haram militants in a series of ambushes. The clashes occurred on Tuesday in a district called Kala Balage in Borno State. An eyewitness told the BBC the president who'd formed the vigilante group repelled an attack by hundreds of militants. He said he saw 50 dead bodies in one village and over one hundred in another. He believed all of those killed were militants.

Political and civic leaders from across Ukraine have held a first round of internationally-brokered national unity talks to try to ease the crisis in the country. Pro-Russian activists are battling for control of parts of eastern Ukraine when not invited. David Stern is in Kiev.

The talks called a round table were times heated. Some leaders called on officials to listen to the concerns of citizens in the east who are suspicious of the newly installed government in Kiev. But there was a general consensus among participants that Ukraine must remain united. However some people questioned how effective the talks could be without the Pro-Russian militant participation. After a referendum on Sunday, the separatists have declared two eastern regions independent.

World News from the BBC

The United State military says it is temporarily positioned nearly 200 marines in the Italian island of Sicily in case of further unrest in North Africa. A Pentagon spokesman said the contingency measure was to prepare for potential security threats but declined to give further details. Last October a similar number was stationed in Italy following the capture of a senior Al-Qaeda figure in Libya.

A baby in the American city of Minneapolis has survived an 11-storey fall from a high-rise apartment. Doctor says it's a miracle. As Barbara reports.

The accident happened when the father of little Rusaday has stepped out of the room and his sister opened the balcony door. The infant apparently slipped through the balcony reelings and fell 11 stories. He's in hospital with a punctured lung, concussion and multiple fractures. Doctors say his condition is critical but stable and are calling his survival a miracle. One surgeon said a fall from any height more than 7 stories would usually kill an adult but Luses's flexible young skeleton and the fact that he landed on a soft pile of wood chips saved his life.

The Cannes film festival has opened in the south of France with 18 films competing for the prestigious main prize the Palme d'Or. The Cannes is widely deemed as the world's most important film festival, but this year's opening film, a biography of Princess Grace of Monaco, has received very bad reviews. From Cannes Wincint reports.

The organizers of the Cannes film festival like their opening film to bring controversy. The biopic Grace of Monaco stars Nicole Kidman has already been criticized by the royal family of Monaco on questions both of taste and accuracy. But just an hour along the coast from Monaco the film world premiere will bring glamour to the Cannes red carpet this evening. After that attention will rapidly turn to the films competing for the main prize the Palme d'Or.

BBC News.