BBC News with Julie Candler.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will have to drop his unity pact with Hamas, if he wants US-backed peace negotiations to continue. In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Netanyahu said he would never negotiate with the Palestinian government that was backed by Hamas which he called a terrorist organization. Yolande Knell reports.
“After a five-hour-long meeting, Israel Security Cabinet said it had unanimously decided not to negotiate with the Palestinian government backed by Hamas. It also threatened further financial sanctions against the Palestinians. Israel, like the United States and the European Union, considers Hamas to be a terrorist group. The US State Department, which helped to broker Israel-Palestinian peace talks, has said it's still making efforts to bring the two sides back together.”
Russian forces based on the border with Ukraine have been ordered to carry out military drills. The defence ministry said it was responding to Ukrainian government assertions that it had attacked checkpoints set up by pro-Russian militants in the east of the country. Steve Rosenberg reports.
“In Moscow, Vladimir Putin warned that if Kiev used the army against its own people that would be a crime against the people and would have serious consequences. Within an hour, Russia had announced fresh military exercises near the Ukrainian border, provoking an angry response from Kiev. In a televised address, Ukraine's Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov accused Russia of defending terrorism and of moving from verbal threats to a show of force.”
A prominent television presenter in Pakistan, who was shot and injured last week, has blamed the country's intelligence agencies for the attack. In a statement issued from his hospital bed in Karachi, Hamid Mir said that he felt most vulnerable from Pakistan's military intelligence agency the ISI. Kim Ghattas reports.
“Amir Mir read a statement on behalf of his brother and said Hamid had received countless threats from state actors and militant groups like the Taliban, but that he felt most threatened by the intelligence agencies like the ISI. And he blamed them for failing to keep Hamid safe. Amir Mir had made the same allegations the day of the shooting on Geo TV, the news channel appeared to distance itself from the accusations later on. But this latest statement was given prime-time prominence on Geo TV, and would have intensified the standoff between the news channel and the military.”
The government of South Sudan has withdrawn its case against four senior officials accused of plotting a coup last December, which sparked rebellion in which thousands of people have been killed. The suspects, who were accused of treason went on, trial in March. Seven others also arrested last year were released in January.
World News from the BBC
The Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the Internet as a project. In remarks at a media forum in St. Petersburg, he said the worldwide web was originally developed by the American spy agency. He said recent revelations about the extent of US Internet surveillance from the whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that they were involved in what he called an information confrontation.
The authorities in Mexico say they rescued 44 Guatemalan migrants from captivity and arrested six alleged human traffickers. They were found at a house near the Guatemalan border and are being held by the authorities until they can be returned home.
The Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands is suing all nine nuclear arm states for what it says as their flagrant violation of international law. It accuses them of failing to pursue the disarmament negotiations stipulated under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. All nine have been pursued through the International Court of Justice as Anna Holligan reports.
“The United States used the Marshall Islands to test hydrogen and atomic bombs. One of them generated an intense fireball, and widespread radioactive contamination. Now an anti-nuclear group is supporting the Islands in using that history to try to force other states to stick to a promise to discuss giving up their nuclear weapons. The other countries listed in the lawsuit include Russia, Britain, China and France, all members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty plus Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea.”
A mysterious British graffiti artist Banksy has condemned an exhibition of his work in London, saying it'd been organized without his consent or involvement. The exhibition called Stealing Banksy features pictures salvaged from the walls where he painted them, which were later be sold at auction. Banksy said it was disgusting that people were allowed to display art on walls without getting permission.