BBC News with Neil Nunes.
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, says he has ordered the country's Navy and maritime authorities to try to find and rescue migrants stranded at sea. It comes a day after Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to provide temporary shelter to such migrants, who include Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Here is Danny Aeberhard.
Only days ago, Malaysia was preventing boatloads of migrants from landing on its shores. But in the face of pressure from the United Nations and the international community, it seems to have completed a policy u-turn. Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a tweet that Malaysia has to prevent the loss of life. Thousands of migrants are believed to be at sea, many enduring desperate conditions. Some have been abandoned by their crews amid a crackdown on people smuggling. Meanwhile, efforts to find a long-term solution to the crisis are continuing. Later on Thursday, the Malaysian Foreign Minister is to visit Myanmar for talks.
Islamic State militants have captured the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra from pro-government forces. There are fears that the militants will destroy Palmyra's two-thousand-year-old ruins, as Jim Muir reports.
The collapse of government forces of Palmyra was a sudden with army and local militia fighters abandoning the town after Islamic State militants forced their way into its northern quarters. The state media said the forces have pulled out after assuring the evacuation of most of the town's inhabitants. Many of the priceless moveable artefacts have already been removed to safety elsewhere. But there are fears that the temples and columns of the site itself may be demolished by IS as it's done to sites in Iraq. International appeals and concern are only likely to make that more probable, since IS, which sees ancient monuments as idolatry, delights in outraging world opinion.
The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, says Qatar must do more to improve conditions for migrant workers as it prepares to host the 2022 Football World Cup. Amnesty said the government had made little progress on promises made a year go. x reports.
Last year, the government said it would change the system, under which workers have to seek permission from their employers to leave the country or change jobs. Today, Amnesty, which has been in regular contact with the Qatari government and workers, says little progress has been made. But Qatar's Labour Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah bin Salih Al-Khulaifi, insists the Gulf state is using its hosting of the World Cup as a catalyst for change. Dr. Abdullah says he's ninety percent sure changes in employment law will be made by the end of this year.
The owner of an auction house in Florida has been sentenced to three years in jail for helping to smuggle rhino horns, elephant ivory and coral from the U.S. to China. Christopher Hayes was caught in a sting operation.
BBC News.
The Pentagon has, for the first time, released surveillance footage of an island that China is building in a disputed part of the South China Sea. The video, along with audio recordings of the Chinese Navy warning the plane to leave the area, was broadcast by CNN, which was on board a U.S. surveillance flight on Wednesday. Beijing lays claims on large parts of the South China Sea and has been building the artificial islands for several years. Neighbouring countries contest the claim.
A cleanup operation is underway on beaches and seas near the sea city of St. Barbara in California, after an oil spill caused by eruption pipeline. The oil company involved has estimated that two and a half thousand barrels had leaked, of which a fifth, it said, had gone into the ocean.
Scientists in Britain say a study of the effects of paracetamol in mice suggests that women who use the painkiller extensively during pregnancy might damage the reproductive health of the unborn sons. Britain's health body says pregnant women should take the drug only if necessary and for the shortest possible time. Smith reports.
Paracetamol can be important in pregnancy, for example, helping to treat fevers that would otherwise cause harm. But researchers at the University of Edinburgh say women using it when not entirely necessary should think again. Their experiment tried to mimic human pregnancies implanting human fetal tissue into mice. When taken for a week, the drug disrupted the production of testosterone. This hormone is critical to the development of male reproductive systems.
The German police raid on a suspected art trafficking gang's warehouse has turned up valuable Nazi era sculptures not seen for a quarter of a century. The find includes two monumental horse sculptures by Josef Thorak, which once stood outside Adolf Hitler's Chancery in Berlin.