:00:23. > :00:25.Good evening. The crisis over Ukraine has intensified dramatically
:00:26. > :00:28.today. This afternoon, the Russian Parliament approved the use of its
:00:29. > :00:33.troops in Ukraine, following a request by President Putin. They're
:00:34. > :00:38.already in the semi-autonomous region of Crimea. Ukraine's acting
:00:39. > :00:42.president accused Russia of trying to provoke it into military
:00:43. > :00:45.conflict. The seriousness of the situation has prompted an emergency
:00:46. > :00:49.meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. This report from our
:00:50. > :00:53.correspondent Daniel Sandford, who's in Crimea.
:00:54. > :00:58.As Moscow approved the use of military force in Ukraine, Russian
:00:59. > :01:01.armour was already on the ground. There's been a slow takeover of
:01:02. > :01:06.strategic sites in the Crimean Peninsula, something Ukraine has
:01:07. > :01:09.been unable to respond to. These Russian troops are blockading
:01:10. > :01:15.the Ukrainian coastguard base at the end of the world famous Balaklava
:01:16. > :01:18.Bay. There were Russian soldiers at the
:01:19. > :01:21.local parliament in Simferopol, too, and at the Cabinet of Ministers, the
:01:22. > :01:24.seat of the Crimean regional government which has been taken over
:01:25. > :01:30.by a pro-Russian politician who started the day by asking Moscow to
:01:31. > :01:34.help. TRANSLATION: With full understanding
:01:35. > :01:37.of my responsibility for the lives and security of our citizens, I call
:01:38. > :01:39.on the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to
:01:40. > :01:47.provide assistance in securing peace on the territory of the autonomous
:01:48. > :01:50.republic of Crimea. As if working to a script, President
:01:51. > :01:53.Putin asked his upper house of parliament to authorise Russian
:01:54. > :02:01.troops to be used in normalising the situation in Ukraine.
:02:02. > :02:04.The Senate passed the request unanimously, despite warnings from
:02:05. > :02:08.America that there would be consequences. The official
:02:09. > :02:14.justification was the extraordinary situation in Ukraine and the threat
:02:15. > :02:17.to lives of Russian citizens. These riot police, sacked by the
:02:18. > :02:19.Ukrainian government but today laying flowers at the police
:02:20. > :02:23.headquarters in Crimea, show how little control Kiev has here now.
:02:24. > :02:27.Their leader said he was still loyal to the ousted president, Viktor
:02:28. > :02:32.Yanukovych. TRANSLATION: The people elected
:02:33. > :02:34.Yanukovych, the elections were legitimate. Any other speculation is
:02:35. > :02:41.unnecessary. The Crimean capital, Simferopol,
:02:42. > :02:46.still officially part of Ukraine, was awash with Russian patriotic
:02:47. > :02:51.fervour. There were times some of it seemed staged. President Putin's
:02:52. > :02:55.spokesman said tonight that he had not yet decided to send troops to
:02:56. > :03:02.Ukraine, but thousands of them are already here.
:03:03. > :03:07.Well, Daniel is live in Sevastopol, and in a moment we'll talk to Nick
:03:08. > :03:12.Bryant at the UN in New York. Daniel, this has become a major,
:03:13. > :03:17.major crisis now, hasn't it to me yes, it is a very grave crisis
:03:18. > :03:21.indeed. There is still a chance this is just a show of force by Russia,
:03:22. > :03:25.rather than anything worse. You have to remember that Ukraine has been
:03:26. > :03:29.subject of a tug of war between Russia and the European Union for
:03:30. > :03:33.several years, and now we are faced with the prospect of large numbers
:03:34. > :03:37.of more Russian troops arriving here in Ukraine or even in mainland
:03:38. > :03:42.eastern Ukraine. The Westwood then I do have to do nothing or respond
:03:43. > :03:49.strongly, and neither of those is an attractive proposition. -- the West
:03:50. > :03:53.would then either. Vitali Klitschko tonight called for a national
:03:54. > :03:55.mobilisation in Ukraine. Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke to the
:03:56. > :04:01.Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and said he had urged him to
:04:02. > :04:05.calm what he called this dangerous situation. Straight to Nick Bryant
:04:06. > :04:11.in New York, the Security Council meeting within the hour, what are
:04:12. > :04:14.you expecting? The Ukraine has called this meeting, the second time
:04:15. > :04:18.the Security Council has met within the space of 24 hours, but you get
:04:19. > :04:24.the sense that the Security Council is going through the motions. Not a
:04:25. > :04:26.meaningful will happen in New York, because Russia would block anything
:04:27. > :04:30.meaningful happening in New York. If, for instance, the Western powers
:04:31. > :04:34.came up with a statement condemning what has happened in Crimea, Russia
:04:35. > :04:42.would wield its veto to block it from emerging. One idea that didn't
:04:43. > :04:44.merge yesterday from the Western powers at the United Nations
:04:45. > :04:50.Security Council was for a UN envoy to travel from Kiev to Crimea to try
:04:51. > :04:55.to mediate the crisis. Well, today that UN envoy decided it was simply
:04:56. > :05:00.impossible to travel to Crimea. He flew instead to Geneva. I think that
:05:01. > :05:03.is indicative, at the moment the international community is largely
:05:04. > :05:07.on the sidelines, watching what is unfolding in Crimea and watching the
:05:08. > :05:13.Kremlin for Vladimir Putin's next move.
:05:14. > :05:15.The former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, who was released
:05:16. > :05:20.without charge nine years ago, has been remanded in custody charged
:05:21. > :05:25.with Syria-related terror offences. 45-year-old Begg, who's from
:05:26. > :05:27.Birmingham, denies the allegations. He's accused of providing terrorist
:05:28. > :05:39.training and funding terrorism overseas.
:05:40. > :05:42.China's official news agency says at least 27 people have been killed and
:05:43. > :05:46.109 injured after a group of men attacked people with knives at a
:05:47. > :05:49.train station in the south west of the country. The attack happened in
:05:50. > :05:54.Kunming in Yunnan province. So far there are no details about a
:05:55. > :05:56.possible motive for the attack. Plans to reform Labour's historic
:05:57. > :05:59.links with trade unions have been approved by an overwhelming
:06:00. > :06:03.majority, at a special conference of party members. Ed Miliband proposed
:06:04. > :06:06.a system of one man, one vote in leadership elections and an end to
:06:07. > :06:11.the automatic affiliation of union members. The Labour leader praised
:06:12. > :06:21.the party for having the courage to change. Our political correspondent
:06:22. > :06:25.Iain Watson reports. Labour MPs meeting in 1906. The
:06:26. > :06:28.party had only just been set up by the trade unions at the start of the
:06:29. > :06:32.last century to give them a voice in Parliament, and over the years some
:06:33. > :06:36.leaders felt the boys had become too powerful. But it was not until 1993
:06:37. > :06:43.that John Smith narrowly succeeded in abolishing the union block vote.
:06:44. > :06:48.The changes I propose today are vital. Today Ed Miliband said he was
:06:49. > :06:51.finishing the job, claiming he was responsible for the biggest reforms
:06:52. > :06:57.to the party links with the trade unions in its history. Today I ask
:06:58. > :07:01.you to agree the biggest changes to our party since 1918. In future,
:07:02. > :07:05.individual trade unionists will have to give explicit consent before any
:07:06. > :07:09.of their money is handed over to Labour, and supporters, rather than
:07:10. > :07:14.just members, will have the right to select the next leader. You are not
:07:15. > :07:18.just voting to open our doors and reach new people, you are voting for
:07:19. > :07:25.the biggest transfer of power to our members and supporters in the
:07:26. > :07:29.history of the Labour Party. Ed Miliband says this is an historic
:07:30. > :07:34.day for Labour, a new type of politics, but his critics inside as
:07:35. > :07:36.well as outside the party argue that his reforms aren't anything like as
:07:37. > :07:43.radical as he would have you believe. As the Conservatives point
:07:44. > :07:47.out, the unions will still control 50% of the vote at Labour
:07:48. > :07:51.conference. There will be no cap on union donations. And many of the
:07:52. > :07:55.reforms will be phased in over five years. Some union leaders argue that
:07:56. > :07:59.too much time has been spent already arguing about party structures,
:08:00. > :08:05.rather than arguing for the concerns of ordinary trade unionists. We want
:08:06. > :08:10.Labour to be standing up with our people, getting them registered to
:08:11. > :08:14.votes, let alone both Labour. This has been a diversion. At the end of
:08:15. > :08:20.it, none of our traditional is will change, none of our rule book will
:08:21. > :08:24.change. But Ed Miliband doesn't see his reforms as a diversion. Instead,
:08:25. > :08:27.he sees them as an invitation to some people to get involved in
:08:28. > :08:33.politics for the very first time. Iain Watson, BBC News, east London.
:08:34. > :08:37.The New York City coroner says Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman
:08:38. > :08:41.died from a combination of heroin, cocaine and other drugs. He was
:08:42. > :08:44.found in his apartment last month. The coroner ruled his death was
:08:45. > :08:52.accidental. Tests found heroin in samples from at least 50 packets at
:08:53. > :08:55.his Manhattan home. Councils in England are warning that
:08:56. > :08:58.the elderly and disabled could lose vital bus services because of cuts
:08:59. > :09:00.in Government funding. The Local Government Association says support
:09:01. > :09:04.for the free off-peak bus service entitlement has been reduced by over
:09:05. > :09:07.a third since 2010. But the Department for Transport says it
:09:08. > :09:15.provides extra funding to bus operators to help meet the cost.
:09:16. > :09:18.Finally football, Chelsea have opened up a four-point gap at the
:09:19. > :09:21.top of the Premier League with a comfortable 3-1 win at near
:09:22. > :09:25.neighbours and bottom of the table Fulham. But the talking point of the
:09:26. > :09:28.day could yet be the sending off of Newcastle manager Alan Pardew in an
:09:29. > :09:31.incident involving the Hull midfield player David Meyler. It had no
:09:32. > :09:34.bearing on the game though with Newcastle winning 4-1. Afterwards,
:09:35. > :09:40.Pardew said the incident had taken the gloss off his team's victory.
:09:41. > :09:44.There's more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel, we are back
:09:45. > :09:46.with the late news 10:10. Now on