BBC News with Jerry Smit
Two senior members of Islamist group al-Shabab are reported to have been killed by a drone strike in southern Somalia, one of them is said to be al-Shabab's leading expert on suicide missions. Our East Africa correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse reports.
Local residents told the BBC a missile strike a car as it was travelling near Jilib on the road from Mogadishu to Kismaayo, they spoke of two bodies been brought to the town which is controlled by al-Shabab. A senior official in the Kenyan military confirmed that the strike had taken place but could not say who was behind the attack. The Kenyan army caught Kismaayo a year ago and continues to battle al-Shabab militants nearby. Early this month, US Navy SEALs mounted X raid in the nearby town, they failed to capture or kill their target, who is reported to be a senior al-Shabab operator connected to a number of alleged terror plot in Kenya.
The United States government has defended its intelligence gathering program in Europe but had acknowledged that they may have to change methods. The White House Spokesman Jay Carney said surveillance help keep Americans and their allies safe. He admitted that recent disclosures have caused diplomatic tension, but said the intelligence was not used to promote the economic interests of the US.
If we're going to keep our citizens and our allies safe, we have to continue to stay ahead of these changes, and that's what our intelligence community has been doing extraordinarily well. At the same time, with new capabilities we recognize that there need to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the government may act to stop newspapers publishing further leaks from the fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. Mr. Cameron was speaking in parliament. Our British political correspondent Rob Watson has more.
This is the toughest line yet from the Prime Minister, David Cameron urged the Guardian and other newspapers to use what he called common sense and good judgements but warned that if not, the government might have to step in.
I don't want to have to use injunctions or D notices or the other tougher measures. I think it's much better to appeal to the newspapers' sense of social responsibility. But if they don't demonstrate some social responsibility, it would be very difficult for government to stand back and not to act.
D notices are issued to newspaper editors and broadcasters requesting them not to publish or air stories on specific subjects for reasons of national security. Rob Watson.
A search has been called off for more than 30 migrants missing in the desert in northern Niger. The group is thought to have died thirst after a vehicle carrying them to Algeria broke down. The bodies of five people - a woman and four girls - were found earlier this month. Tens of thousands of African migrants cross the Sahara Desert every year on their way to Europe via North Africa.
World News from the BBC
A man in Chile has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a gay man who was attacked in a park in the capital Santiago. Three others were jailed for between 7 and 15 years. Gideon Long reports.
The murder of Daniel Zamudio horrified Chile and prompted legislators to pass within weeks an anti-discrimination law that languished in parliament for the previous seven years. Mr. Zamudio was beaten in unconscious in a park. His assailants carved swastikas into his skin, burned him with cigarettes and smash one of his legs with a rock. According to graphic court testimony released early this month, they then urinated on his body. Mr. Zamudio who was 24 died in hospital three weeks later.
The international Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is visiting Damascus for the first time in almost a year in an attempt to aim support for a peace conference due to be held in Geneva next month. United Nations sources told the BBC that Mr. Brahimi will meet President Bashar al-Assad during his three-day trip. Lyse Doucet reports.
Lakhdar Brahimi has not been to Damascus since last December. Disappointed by President Assad's political proposals and by the disarray in opposition ranks, the UN envoy has focused his efforts to get in Moscow and Washington to narrow their differences. Now, a Geneva II conference as he planned the first formal talks between the war in sides. Mr. Brahimi has set meetings in capital across the region and has returned to Damascus suggests he believes there is now something to talk about, but there are reports the conference will be postponed again.
Brazil has announced plans to manufacture a low-cost measles and rubella vaccine for export to developing countries. Brazil's top medical research facility will receive a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce around 30 million doses of the vaccine a year until 2017. The serum is expected to be the Cheapest available in the market.