BBC News with Sue Montgomery
The Nigerian Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, says it will sell more than 200 school girls who it kidnapped three weeks ago. The girls were taken from a school in the northeast of the country. Tomi Oladipo reports from Abuja.
In a video released today, the leader of an Islamist extremist group Boko Haram standing in front of an armed car says: I abducted your girls, Abubakar Shekau adds, I will sell the woman in the market, by Allah. For the relatives of the abducted girls, the video confirms their worst fears. their grief and heartbreak has moved the world in the three weeks since they went missing. Weeks in which seeming government inaction has led to anger and demonstrations. Nigeria's President has been accused of not doing enough to rescue the girls.
State Department officials in Washington say the Syrian Opposition Coalition has been given approval to open a formal diplomatic mission. Until now, the Syrian opposition had only an informal liaison office in the United States. Barbara Plett Usher is in Washington.
The US decision doesn't not grant the coalition recognition as Syria's government, nor allow it to take over the Syrian embassy. Rather, officials here described the move as another step towards formalizing America's relationship with the moderate opposition. This will facilitate banking and security services as well as help opposition promote its image in the US and it's outreach to the Syrian diaspora. The State Department also announced an extra $27m in aid. So far, the US has provided non-lethal assistance, although there is a debate in the administration about moving to more military support.
The monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights says clashes are continuing between rival Islamist rebel groups in the northern city of Deir ez-Zor. The group says more than 40 members of the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been killed. The fighting has been continued, despite a call for a ceasefire from an al-Qaeda leader.
Four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and an attack helicopter shot down in heavy fighting between government forces and pro-Russian militants in the eastern city of Sloviansk. It's reported that the rebels who've occupied government buildings in several towns and cities across the region have retreated into Sloviansk city center. Richard Galpin is in the region's main city Donetsk.
This fighting took place, effectively in the outskirts of the city. The government troops may have moved but a little bit, further towards the center, but they are not there yet and obviously that's critical, because the rebels remaining in control they have hundreds if not one or two thousand fighters there, according to estimates I've seen, and may control all remain government buildings there. So, we still don't know what the strategy of the Ukrainian military is, but if they go toward the center. It would be a very big and bloody battle.
World News from the BBC
The BBC understands that the prosecution authorities in Northern Ireland don't believe that there is enough evidence to charge the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams with any offense. Mr. Adams was released on Sunday after four-day of questioning by police in connection with the abduction and murder of a woman in 1972. He denies any involvement in the case. A file is to be sent to Northern Ireland's prosecution service later this week.
Bloggers in Russia with a daily readership of more than 3,000 will have to register with a Russian government's media watchdog under a new law signed by President Vladimir Putin. The legislation, which takes effect in August obliges social networks and blogging websites to store data by the users of activity for six months and make information available to the authorities been requested, failure to comply with the new legislation could lead to fines of several thousand dollars.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has said he's hopeful the talks with the Pakistani Taliban, which began in March will bring peace to his country. In a rare interview, Mr. Sharif told the BBC that he may take another two to three rounds of negotiations before progress was made, but that he would persevere with his strategy.
Pakistan has lost thousands of lives in its fight against terror and our economy has suffered very badly at the hands of terrorism. So, if we can avoid any further bloodshed, if we can make this process somehow successful, I think it can be, perhaps the best option for Pakistan.
The Venezuelan government has been criticized by human rights watch for the alleged illegal detention and abuse of opposition protesters. The government is accused of using excessive force and in some cases torture, including threats of rape and execution. The rights group says at least 41 people have died since the protests began in early February.