08/04/2014 BBC World News

This is BBC World News. We have been bringing you special coverage on the

BBC of the Oscar Pistorius trial. The court is adjourning for a

five-minute break. We have been hearing in the last few minutes from

Oscar Pistorius about the day, the run-up to the of Reeva Steenkamp,

describing an evening at home with his girlfriend, having dinner, how

they were then in the bedroom. It was the day before Valentine's Day

and he described a valentines gift he had bought for her and one which

she had bought for him. She actually opened -- he actually opened at last

year, after the shooting. Getting very emotional at the end. We have

been hearing the defence lawyer questioning Oscar Pistorius. It

started a couple of hours ago, in fact, with Oscar Pistorius reading

out a number of Whatsapp read messages that the couple had sent

each other. Relationship details coming out. A lot of loving messages

between the two them, also interesting messages from Reeva

Steenkamp, where she said, I am scared of you at times. She was

clearly worried about the jealousy and possessiveness of Oscar

Pistorius. Detailing a number of conversations they have had. In one

text message, she had to ask for permission to wear a leopard rent

dress. The pair had been dating for about three months when Reeva

Steenkamp was shot. -- leopard print dress. The defence lawyer clearly

tried to establish that this was a loving relationship, although

clearly one where there was some tension. Oscar Pistorius described

how they have both come out of quite difficult relationships. We will

come back to that trial at Pretoria, the Oscar Pistorius trial, it will

resume in the next few minutes. We will return to South Africa for that

court case as soon as we can. We are going to bring you a quick

look at some of the other news today on BBC World. Russia has warned

Ukraine to stop military preparations in the south and east

of the country, saying they could start a civil war. Ukrainian

authorities have arrested dozens of people in Kharkiv after pro-Russian

asked -- activists declared independence. There has been a wave

of demonstrations, with protesters seizing buildings in Kharkiv,

Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine said that Russia would be making an

historic mistake of it intervened. This was the scene in Kharkiv, where

the Ukrainian authorities say they have since retaken a building and

arrested 70 people. The acting President said that they would be

treated as terrorists and criminals. Russia has warned Ukraine to stop

military activity. Steve Rosenberg has been monitoring events for us

today. In Donetsk, talks have been going on

through the night between pro-Russian activists that had

seized the governor 's building here, and the authorities. There are

reports that some agreement has been reached, that there would be no

attempt to reclaim the building by force. That is as long as the

activists barricaded inside agreed to give up any weapons they have.

Meanwhile, the war of words between East and West over Ukraine

continues. A spokesman for the White House in Washington warned Russia

against overtly or covertly moving into eastern Ukraine and claimed

there was strong evidence to suggest that some of the pro-Russian

activists here in eastern Ukraine had been paid and were not local.

Russia disputes that and rejects accusations that it is orchestrating

instability here in eastern Ukraine and fanning the flames of seven test

sentiment. It has accused the West of the responsible for the

instability. The West forced Ukraine, according to Moscow, to

choose between East and West. Well, the latest developments in

Ukraine are causing trouble in Parliament. Deputies in Ukraine's

Parliament ended up in a brawl today, as disagreement broke out

when deputies from the far right were accused of playing into

Russia's hands by adopting extreme tactics. The disagreement turned

into quite a brawl. Teams searching for the missing

Malaysian plane say they have not picked up any more signals which

could taken from the black box playing locator. Two septal signals

were located over the weekend, but they are waiting for more contact

before deploying an underwater search craft.

As we are now looking for the locator beacon underwater, we still

maintain the surface search for any debris that might be out there. We

continue to be optimistic. The longer this goes, the harder it

gets. We have eliminated a lot of the area and we are continuing to

search the area every day. British television presenter and model

Peaches Geldof has died suddenly at the age of 25.

Police say her death is being treated as unexplained. She was the

daughter of a singer and founder of Bob Geldof. Her mother died of a

heroin overdose. This report contains flash photography.

Born into fame, no stranger to tragedy. Peaches Geldof, a daughter,

sister, wife and mother, now dead at just 25. A private ambulance leaving

her home on Monday evening. Police had been called their earlier in the

day. Her death, they say, was not suspicious, but it was sudden and

unexplained. Her father, Bob Geldof, issued a statement. In it, he said,

she was the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and most bonkers

of all of us. Writing 'was' destroys me afresh. What a beautiful child.

How is it possible we will not see her again? Born in 1989, Peaches

Geldof was the second daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She said

her early childhood was idyllic. But then came her parents' divorce and

her mother's death from a heroin overdose when she was just 11. In

later life, she forged a media career, married twice. She had two

sons. The teenage wild child, becoming a champion of motherhood.

Her husband, Tom, said, my beloved white Peaches was adored by myself

and her two sons. -- wife. Her last message, a photo on social

media. The caption said, me and my mum.

We are just going to go straight back to the trial of Oscar

Pistorius. The court has resumed in Pretoria.

For court purposes, we have the exact length and so on. It is

measured. It will be relevant for the second part of the evidence as

well. Also for the second part, we will

ask if he can remain in the present clothing. That is for the

demonstrations. We stopped at the point where you

said you fell asleep. Can you take it from there? What time was it more

or less when he fell asleep? It was about just after 9pm. Around

10pm. Can I ask you to raise your voice a bit? It was between 9pm and

10pm. Can you go from there? Did you wake up again later on? I woke up in

the early hours of 14th of February. It was extremely warm in my room. I

sat up in bed. I noticed that the fans were still

running and that the door was still open. Although the lights had been

switched off. Reeva was still awake. She was not sleeping. She rolled

over to me and said, can't you sleep? I said, no, I can't. I've got

out of my side of the bed. I walked around the bed. I was holding onto

the foot of the bed with my left hand. I've got to wear the fans

were. I took the small fan, the floor fan. I'd put it inside the

room the fans were still running. The

fans were still running at the time. I then proceeded to close the

sliding doors and locks them. I then drew the curtains. And the blinds? I

do not remember. I just grabbed and closed. I'd probably close them both

but I remember closing the curtains. I came into the room at this point.

The only bit of light that was in the room was a little light on the

amplifier weathered TV cabinet was. There was a blue light. -- where the

television cabinet was. There was a pair of blue jeans on the floor. I

picked them up. I was going to place them over the amplifier, over the

light. It was at this point I heard a

window open in the bathroom. It sounded like the Windows sliding

open. I could hear the window hit the frame, as if it had slipped to a

point where it could not slide any more. It is a wooden frame window?

They are all wooden frames. That is the window referred to in the

evidence of the photographer. That is correct.

What did you think at the time, Mr Pistorius? That is the moment when

everything changed will stop I thought there was a burglar who was

gaining entry into my home. I was on the side of the room where you first

have to cross the passage that leads to the bathroom. I think, initially,

I just froze. I heard this noise and interpreted it as being someone

climbing into the bathroom. There is a passageway but there is no door.

There is a toilet door but there is no barrier between me and the

bathroom. It is one room. I thought that if somebody were at the window,

the entrance to the passage, three or four metres, they could be there

any moment. The first thing that ran through my mind was I needed to arm

myself. I needed to protect Reeva and I. I needed to get my gun.

I was looking down the passage, scared that the person was going to

come out. I rushed as quick as I could. I could not see anyone in the

room. I ran my hand up in front of me, at times touching the floor. I

went along side my bed. I grabbed my firearm from underneath the bed. It

had a canvas holster on it. I took it off the holster. At that point, I

wanted to put myself to get back to where the passage was an put myself

between the person that had gained access to my house and Reeva. Before

the passage wall, I can remember slowing down. I was scared that this

person, during the time I had left the amp, they could possibly have

been in the closet passage. I slowed down and I had my firearm extended

in front of me. Just as I left my bed, I whispered Ford Reeva to get

down and phoned the police. Where I entered the passage where

the closet is to the bathroom, it was at that point that I was just

overcome with fear and I started screaming and shouting for deep

burglar or the intruders to get out of my house. I shouted for Reeva to

get on the floor and phoned the police. I screamed at the people to

get out. I slowly made my way down the

passage. I was constantly aware of the threat that these people or

persons could come at me at any time. I did not have my legs on.

Just before I got to the wall, where the tiles starts in the bathroom, I

was worried to shout. I was worried they would know where I was and I

could get shot. Just before I got to the passage of

the bathroom, I heard a door slam. That could only have been the toilet

door. I could not see into the bathroom at this point but I could

hear the door slam. If I may stop you... I want to speak

about the passage.