:00:07. > :00:10.A British helicopter crashes in Afghanistan - killing all five on
:00:11. > :00:12.board. It came down during what officials say was a military
:00:13. > :00:20.exercise - denying claims the Taliban shot it down.
:00:21. > :00:23.New controversy for Nigel Farage - a UKIP candidate says the comedian
:00:24. > :00:27.Lenny Henry should emigrate to what he called "a black country".
:00:28. > :00:30.Russia faces new economic sanctions over Ukraine as it's accused of
:00:31. > :00:41.further fuelling tension in the east of the country.
:00:42. > :00:43.And a rapturous reception for Ryan Giggs at Old Trafford for his first
:00:44. > :01:06.game in charge of Manchester United. Good evening. A British military
:01:07. > :01:09.helicopter has crashed in Afghanistan, killing all five
:01:10. > :01:14.service personnel on board. The cause of the crash is not yet clear.
:01:15. > :01:16.The Ministry of Defence says there's no indication the aircraft was
:01:17. > :01:19.brought down by enemy action after the Taliban claimed they shot it
:01:20. > :01:24.down. The helicopter crashed in Kandahar in the south of the
:01:25. > :01:27.country. It's the worst helicopter crash since the war began and comes
:01:28. > :01:31.just months before all UK forces are due to leave Afghanistan. Our
:01:32. > :01:40.correspondent, David Loyn, is in Kabul.
:01:41. > :01:43.It does seem to be particularly harsh, this number of people dying,
:01:44. > :01:48.so close to the end of the war, right in the tail end of the Afghan
:01:49. > :01:51.conflict, only months to go before British troops withdraw completely
:01:52. > :01:55.from the south of Afghanistan, most of the troops at the moment are
:01:56. > :01:59.packing equipment to go home, but of course operations do continue and
:02:00. > :02:03.that means that helicopters are involved because they are needed in
:02:04. > :02:15.the hostile environment of the south.
:02:16. > :02:18.Lynx helicopters have been used throughout Britain's intervention in
:02:19. > :02:21.Afghanistan and have a very good safety record. This is the first
:02:22. > :02:24.fatal British helicopter crash since the war began in 2001. Investigators
:02:25. > :02:27.have not yet revealed how the crash happened. They say it was not due to
:02:28. > :02:33.enemy fire, but the Taliban quickly claimed that they had shot it down.
:02:34. > :02:52.The crash site is surrounded by steep hillsides. Recovery of the
:02:53. > :02:56.wreckage is a priority. A statement from the international force ISAF
:02:57. > :02:57.said that: "ISAF is still in the process of reviewing the
:02:58. > :03:00.circumstances to determine more facts. Our thoughts and prayers go
:03:01. > :03:03.out to the family and friends affected by this tragic event."
:03:04. > :03:06.Far smaller than the Merlin and Chinook helicopters that carry
:03:07. > :03:09.troops into battle, Lynxes have been the workhorse of the war. They can
:03:10. > :03:12.be lightly armed, but more often carry supplies or ferry senior
:03:13. > :03:14.personnel across areas where road travel is too dangerous. And they
:03:15. > :03:17.work at their limits. It might well be it was an act of God, it might
:03:18. > :03:19.well be that somehow mechanical failure happened and nothing could
:03:20. > :03:24.have predicted it. Every journey has to be assessed on its merits. Is it
:03:25. > :03:33.necessary and are the standards still being maintained to the last
:03:34. > :03:39.minute that were in Afghanistan? The largest loss of life was the
:03:40. > :03:43.crash of a Nimrod reconnaissance plane which killed 14 in 2006. This
:03:44. > :03:47.is a reminder that although combat operations are winding down, there
:03:48. > :03:51.are thousands of British troops still on active service in
:03:52. > :03:56.Afghanistan. David Loyn, BBC News, Kabul.
:03:57. > :04:00.With me now is our defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt. It is
:04:01. > :04:05.a huge blow for British forces? It is a shattering blow for the next of
:04:06. > :04:10.kin who are currently being told by the MoD that their loved ones have
:04:11. > :04:13.died. This brings to 453 the number of British service personnel killed
:04:14. > :04:20.in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001. Unusually, the MoD
:04:21. > :04:24.because it has become public knowledge, have given a number for
:04:25. > :04:30.concerned families to call. That should be up on your screen here
:04:31. > :04:34.now. There is some speculation what kind of mission this was. Some
:04:35. > :04:38.believe it could have been a Special Forces mission of some kind, but no
:04:39. > :04:42.comment on that from the MoD. These questions we heard raised in that
:04:43. > :04:48.report as to why when troops are so close to leaving Afghanistan. Will
:04:49. > :04:51.it impact on operations now? I think it will have impacts on the friends
:04:52. > :04:57.and colleagues of those who died out there. It will be felt heavily by
:04:58. > :05:00.those who work with them and others. Investigations will be ongoing, they
:05:01. > :05:03.will be looking at what happened and the wreckage to find out what
:05:04. > :05:08.happened and how this tragedy occurred and so making sure as well
:05:09. > :05:11.that it doesn't happen again before the end of combat operations which
:05:12. > :05:15.should end by the close of this year. Thank you.
:05:16. > :05:19.There's fresh controversy for UKIP tonight after one of its candidates
:05:20. > :05:25.said the comedian Lenny Henry should emigrate to "a black country" and
:05:26. > :05:28.compared Islam to the Third Reich. William Henwood, who's standing in
:05:29. > :05:31.local elections in North London, told the BBC he didn't think his
:05:32. > :05:34.messages on social media were offensive. The party says any breach
:05:35. > :05:40.of its rules will be investigated. Our political correspondent Ross
:05:41. > :05:45.Hawkins has more. There we go... This was UKIP's
:05:46. > :05:49.leader launching his election campaign earlier this week, having
:05:50. > :05:54.promised to weed out candidates who might distract from his party's
:05:55. > :05:58.message. And these are some of the messages on Twitter from one UKIP
:05:59. > :06:05.local election candidate, William Henwood, from Enfield in North
:06:06. > :06:15.London. He wrote: "Islam reminds me of the Third Reich." He said,
:06:16. > :06:20."Muslims like us to fawn to them." After Lenny Henry said there should
:06:21. > :06:24.be more black and ethnic people in the creative industries, William
:06:25. > :06:31.Henwood said, "Lenny Henry should emigrate to a Black Country. He does
:06:32. > :06:38.not have to live with whites." I tried to talk to William Henwood
:06:39. > :06:41.face to face. To no avail. The UKIP candidate here didn't want to talk
:06:42. > :06:45.to us on camera, but when I spoke to him on the phone, he said he stood
:06:46. > :06:49.by his tweets and didn't see that they were offensive. He told me if
:06:50. > :06:55.black people come to this country and don't like mixing with white
:06:56. > :07:01.people, then why are they here? Earlier in the week, UKIP suspended
:07:02. > :07:05.one of the stars of its party election broadcast. It is getting
:07:06. > :07:11.hard to provide for my family... After it emerged that he had
:07:12. > :07:15.described Islam as a pathetic, satanic religion. Given the
:07:16. > :07:19.criticism we faced last year, we have put measures in place and
:07:20. > :07:23.mistakes happen. Reacting to today's story, the party said UKIP is a
:07:24. > :07:27.non-racist, non-sectarian party whose members are expected to uphold
:07:28. > :07:32.these values. Any breach of our rules will be duly investigated and
:07:33. > :07:37.action will be taken. They say political opponents who
:07:38. > :07:40.fear his popularity are trawling through social media and running
:07:41. > :07:50.smear campaigns and the other parties have embarrassments of their
:07:51. > :07:53.own. Ross Hawkins, BBC News. The leaders of the G7 group of
:07:54. > :07:56.industrialised countries have said they will impose further sanctions
:07:57. > :07:59.on Russia over its role in the crisis in Ukraine. In a phone call
:08:00. > :08:02.to his Russian counterpart this afternoon, the US Secretary of
:08:03. > :08:04.State, John Kerry, expressed concern over Russia's actions, calling them
:08:05. > :08:07."provocative". This, as negotiators try to secure the release of a team
:08:08. > :08:09.of military observers detained by armed pro-Russian groups in
:08:10. > :08:11.Sloviansk. From there, Steve Rosenberg reports.
:08:12. > :08:13.For the pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, Sloviansk remains
:08:14. > :08:16.their stronghold. They have taken full control here and they have
:08:17. > :08:18.taken hostages. These ID cards and name-tags allegedly belong to a
:08:19. > :08:24.group of European military observers. They were taken hostage
:08:25. > :08:25.yesterday near Sloviansk. It was Russian television that was allowed
:08:26. > :08:33.to film this. The self-proclaimed "people's mayor"
:08:34. > :08:39.of Sloviansk, Viacheslav Ponomariov, said he believed the military
:08:40. > :08:43.observers were spies. Ukrainian security forces are trying to seal
:08:44. > :08:48.off Sloviansk. They call it an anti-terrorist operation. They fear
:08:49. > :08:53.the hostages will be used as human shields.
:08:54. > :09:01.Meanwhile, Kiev have accused Moscow of escalating tension. We urge
:09:02. > :09:04.Russia to pull back its security forces, not to provoke and not to
:09:05. > :09:12.support Russian terrorists that are located and deployed in eastern and
:09:13. > :09:19.southern Ukraine. We urge Russia to leave us alone.
:09:20. > :09:21.Today, the G7 group of economic powers that includes Britain and
:09:22. > :09:24.America described these military exercises in southern Russia as
:09:25. > :09:33.threatening and agreed new sanctions against Moscow. But near Sloviansk,
:09:34. > :09:38.in the town of Krematorsk they support Moscow. We found pro-Russia
:09:39. > :09:45.groups in control here and heavily-armed. They call it people
:09:46. > :09:48.power. The people here say they are no
:09:49. > :09:51.terrorists, they want their part of Ukraine to become independent. And
:09:52. > :09:54.if Kiev's counter-terrorist operation reaches their town, they
:09:55. > :10:00.say, they will be counting on Russia to protect them.
:10:01. > :10:04.From wedding bells straight to the barricades. Despite all the
:10:05. > :10:10.violence, and a threat of war, some people here are still hoping for a
:10:11. > :10:21.better future. Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, in eastern Ukraine.
:10:22. > :10:23.A teenager from Bristol has died in Colombia after taking part in a
:10:24. > :10:26.traditional tribal ritual. Henry Miller, who's 19, was enjoying a gap
:10:27. > :10:29.year before starting university in September. He is thought to have
:10:30. > :10:35.reacted badly to drinking a herbal infusion said to cause
:10:36. > :10:39.hallucinations. The last letter known to have been
:10:40. > :10:45.written on the Titanic has been sold at auction for ?190,000. It's the
:10:46. > :10:49.highest recorded price for a letter of its kind. The note was written by
:10:50. > :10:52.one of the survivors, Esther Hart, who was on board the ship with her
:10:53. > :10:59.husband and daughter. Daniel Boettcher reports.
:11:00. > :11:12.The letter reads, "On board the RMS Titanic." It is dated Sunday
:11:13. > :11:17.afternoon, Sunday 14th April. Esther Hart appears uneasy on board writing
:11:18. > :11:21.to her mother, "No land in sight and the ship rolling from side to side."
:11:22. > :11:26.They weren't meant to be on the Titanic. Hours after the letter was
:11:27. > :11:30.written, the Titanic sank. The letter was found in the coat pocket
:11:31. > :11:34.of Esther Hart's husband. He was one of more than 1,500 people to lose
:11:35. > :11:37.their lives on the Titanic, but before the ship sank, he had given
:11:38. > :11:44.his coat to his wife to keep her warm on the lifeboats. Today, the
:11:45. > :11:51.letter went under the hammer, sold to an overseas phone bidder. At
:11:52. > :11:57.?101,000, am I all done? For the last time... I am! With fees that
:11:58. > :12:01.bid is almost ?120,000, a record for a Titanic letter. It is telling us
:12:02. > :12:11.through the words of someone who was there on April 14th, 1912, on a
:12:12. > :12:20.piece of Titanic stationery what they were feeling that day. I wasn't
:12:21. > :12:26.certain what a shipwreck meant in effect, or how long it would be. I
:12:27. > :12:32.was too terrified to do anything but shriek for my father.
:12:33. > :12:36.It was Eva, just seven then, who signed off the letter that was sold
:12:37. > :12:43.today, a few words - heaps of loves and kisses to all, Eva.
:12:44. > :12:47.With all the sport, here's Lizzie Greenwood Hughes at the BBC Sport
:12:48. > :12:50.Centre. Thanks very much. Good evening.
:12:51. > :12:53.There were six matches in the Barclay's Premier League this
:12:54. > :12:57.afternoon. All the goals will be on Match of the Day after the news. But
:12:58. > :13:01.if you DO want to hear the results now, then keep watching. Ryan Giggs'
:13:02. > :13:07.first game in charge at Manchester United ended with a 4-0 victory over
:13:08. > :13:13.Norwich. David Ornstein reports. It was the day optimism returned. A
:13:14. > :13:16.wretched season by Manchester United standards culminated in the sacking
:13:17. > :13:20.of David Moyes on Tuesday. Up stepped the club's most decorated
:13:21. > :13:24.player to transform the mood. Ryan Giggs said it was his proudest
:13:25. > :13:31.moment to take charge of the club where he's spent his entire career.
:13:32. > :13:35.It couldn't have gone much better. Wayne Rooney scoring either side of
:13:36. > :13:43.half-time and Juan Mata getting two of his own to make it 4-0 against
:13:44. > :13:48.Norwich. Giggs knows he has still a lot to learn. The football side of
:13:49. > :13:52.it is no problem, but it is everything that comes with it. I
:13:53. > :13:59.have had to get used to it. It's been enjoyable. David Moyes brought
:14:00. > :14:03.us down to a new level. It is a positive move bringing somebody in
:14:04. > :14:07.that's obviously been a player at the club for many years. Ryan Giggs
:14:08. > :14:10.might be the choice of many fans to become the next permanent manager of
:14:11. > :14:14.Manchester United, but the club are understood to want a more
:14:15. > :14:18.experienced candidate, with the Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal the
:14:19. > :14:23.favourite. The speculation over that will continue, but flanked by his
:14:24. > :14:28.former team-mates, this day at least belonged to Ryan Giggs.
:14:29. > :14:32.Elsewhere, Fulham gave away a 2-0 lead to draw with Hull. They're now
:14:33. > :14:35.third from bottom. There were wins for Southampton, Tottenham and
:14:36. > :14:38.Swansea but Aston Villa are now just four points off the relegation zone
:14:39. > :14:45.- below West Brom who beat West Ham today.
:14:46. > :14:48.There were three matches in the Scottish Premiership. Aberdeen drew
:14:49. > :14:50.with St Jonhstone. Dundee United kept alive their hopes of European
:14:51. > :14:52.football with a big win over Motherwell. And Kilmarnock slipped
:14:53. > :14:58.into the relegation play-off position with defeat to Ross County.
:14:59. > :15:00.Saracens are through to their first ever European Cup final after
:15:01. > :15:04.beating Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup semi-final today. The
:15:05. > :15:10.Premiership leaders cruised past last year's finalists winning 46-6
:15:11. > :15:13.at Twickenham. England wing Chris Ashton breaking the record for the
:15:14. > :15:16.most tries scored in a European Cup season.
:15:17. > :15:19.Leeds Rhinos have beaten St Helens to reach the quarter-finals of Rugby
:15:20. > :15:23.League's Tetley's Challenge Cup. Zak Hardaker scored two first half tries
:15:24. > :15:28.in a game that lived-up to its billing as the pick of the 5th round
:15:29. > :15:31.ties. 32-12 the final score at Headingley.
:15:32. > :15:36.AP McCoy has been crowned Champion Jump jockey for the 19th consecutive
:15:37. > :15:40.season. The Northern Irishman - who turns 40 this year - won a hurdle
:15:41. > :15:48.race at Sandown today - to take the title with over 200 winners. McCoy
:15:49. > :15:51.has won more than 4,000 races in his career and has broken almost every
:15:52. > :15:57.major bone in his body. And that's the sport. Back to you, Kate.
:15:58. > :16:00.The main news: Five British service personnel have been killed in a
:16:01. > :16:05.helicopter crash in Afghanistan. More details on that and all of
:16:06. > :16:07.today's stories on the BBC News Channel. That is all from me and the
:16:08. > :16:18.team here. Good night to you. Bye-bye.
:16:19. > :16:24.Good evening. It looks like we will see April showers aplenty across the
:16:25. > :16:30.British isles in the next few days. At the moment, we are parked up
:16:31. > :16:31.directly under an area of low