BBC news with Sue Montgomery.
Syrian activists say more than 76,000 people were killed in the country last year, making it the deadliest 12-month since the conflict began in 2011. The Syrian observatory for human rights, a UK based monitoring group said about a quarter of the dead were civilians. Our middle east editor Ellan Johnston reports.
The Syrian observatory for human rights draws on sources all across the country that is worth to build up a picture of the damage been done by this conflict. Out of an overall figure of some 76,000 dead, more than 20,000 were soildiers or pro-government militia men. The forces opposing the government lost more than 30,000 fighters. And all the time, civilians were been caught up in carnage, they accounted for about a quarter of Syria's dead last year.
The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has been sworn in for a second term, promising to keep start the economy and tackle corruption. In her inaugural address, Mrs. Rousseff said her government would invest in new goals including better education, health services and security. Julia Carneiro reports from Rio de Janeiro.
The start of inaugural event in Brasilia took place under a scorching sun. President Rousseff waved to supporters from the top of the presidential rose roise and then took the oath of office in congress. In the first speech of her second term, she said this was a new step and historical changes that the workers' party is bringing to Brazil. The Rousseff faces big challenges in her second term with low growth rate, inflation on the rise, and a major corruption scandle that has hit Brazil's oil giant Petrobras.
Reports from the Gambia say dozens of people have been detained following Tuesday's suspected coup attempt against the country's leader Yahya Jammeh. The French news agency AFP said both military personnel and civilians have been arrested. Troops loyal to preisdent Jammeh are reported to being conducting house to house searches for opponents. Earlier, preisdent Jammeh accused dissidents backed by unnamed foreign powers of being behind Tuesday's attack in the capital Banjul.
The Gambia armed forces are very loyal men, as far as we are concerned that any single participation of the armed forces and I said not find an attack. So, the colonial calling military coup is obviously an attack by terrorist group not by some foreign unnamed power. But of course we know we have dissidents like this.
The Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan has condemned a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria which is blamed on Boko Haram militants. He said Boko Haram had unleashed pain and agony on the country, but they would not get away with such attrocities.
World news from the BBC.
The first funeral for a victim of the AirAsia plane disaster has taken place in Indonesia. Hayati Lutfiah Hamid was one of 9 people whose bodies have been so far been pulled from the sea following the crash. The aircraft crashed into the Java sea as it flew from Surabaya to Singapore, with 162 people on board. The search for bodies and wreckage has continued despite bad weather which is expected to continue for the next few days.
The leading French economist Thomas Piketty has turned down his country's highest award. His book Capital in the 21st Ccentury, became an unlikely best seller in 2014. Hius Corfuit does more.
Thomas Piketty's book calls a concession last year especially in the English-speaking world. Based on usually this was a left wing economist on the Frenchman tabooed who top the New York Times bestseller list explaining why the gulf between rich and poor get wider. In France, he's one time supporter of president Hollande who now attacks government policies. And that presumably explains why he now lead the very rare move of turning down the rank of might in the Legion D'Honneur. In the brief state, he said that rather than dishing out honour the government would do better to focus on getting back economic growth.
The US has expressed deep concern about the detention of the leader of Bahrain's main Shia opposition group. In a statement, the state department said the arrest of Sheikh Ali Salman could inflame tentions in the Sunni government Gulf Kindom.
Armature treasure hunters have uncovered one of the biggest hoards of ancient coins ever found in Britain. A group using metal detectors found more than 5,000 perfectly preserved coins, burying the heads of Anglo Saxon kings, buried in a left bucket of field. If the coins are legally declared treasure, the individuals who found them could share a windfall of up to a million and a half dollars.