General News

A huge wildfire has forced the evacuation of about 60,000 people from Fort McMurray - the entire population of the Canadian city.

The blaze has destroyed a number of homes, dropping ash on the streets of the city in the province of Alberta.

Fleeing residents have caused gridlock on the main road leading from the city, 380km (235 miles) north of Edmonton.

The evacuation from Fort McMurray - which lies in an oil sands region - is the biggest in Alberta's history.

"If you just walk outside, you feel it (ash) falling on you. You see it floating in the air. I can take a broom and brush it off my deck," resident Mark Durocher was quoted as saying by the Globe and Mail.

Roads were packed as people fled the wildfire in their cars

Homes in at least two neighbourhood have been gutted, and the fire has now spread to Highway 63 - the main road into Fort McMurray from the south.

Firefighters are continuing to tackle the blaze, but the local authorities have called for reinforcements, including a water-dumping helicopter.

So far there have been no reports of any injuries.

Source: bbc.com

Groups of parents are keeping their children off school for the day in a protest about primary tests in England.

More than 40,000 parents have signed a petition calling for a boycott of primary school tests, which are due to be taken later this month.

Parents supporting the Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign have complained of a damaging culture of over-testing.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan says taking pupils out of school "even for a day is harmful to their education".

It remains uncertain how many primary school children are being kept off school, but a social media campaign has been urging parents to take children on educational activities for the day.

The campaign organisers say children are "over-tested, over-worked and in a school system that places more importance on test results and league tables than children's happiness and joy of learning".

They have raised concerns about the impact of primary tests, so-called Sats tests, taken by seven-year-olds and 11-year-olds, which are being made more difficult.

They have challenged what they claim is a "dull, dry curriculum" based around tests.

Parents have claimed that the tests are causing stress for primary pupils

In an open letter to the education secretary, campaigners have warned of schools becoming "exam factories" and that testing causes stress and can make young children feel like "failures".

Fiona Robertson, a parent and primary teacher who is keeping her children out of school on Tuesday, says that such tests can "turn children off" school.

She says that a narrow emphasis on testing and completing targets was taking away children's creativity.

"They're not producing really imaginative pieces. They're too scared to," she said.

'It's too hard'

Dawn Slater is keeping her six-year-old twins George and Josie away from lessons at Cheam Fields Primary School, Surrey on Tuesday. She said they had been stressed since returning to school this term.

Her son had been having tantrums and her daughter suffered nightmares.

"She's been saying things like 'I can't do it, it's too hard', in her sleep," she said.

"When I do the literacy test, it's hard," said Josie. "When we have the story, when we're we're stuck on a word, we can't read it. So the story won't make sense."

Instead, the family are going to Nonsuch Park to "find birds, trees and insects", Josie added.

'Basket case'

But Education Minister Nick Gibb said tests improved standards.

He said: "Schools should not be putting pressure on young people when taking these assessments. I've been to many schools where the children don't even know they're taking the tests, they don't have an effect on the children themselves because they have no consequences for the children.

"They [the tests] are to hold schools to account, to make sure that every school in the country is equipping children with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed."

And parent's and teachers' claims were dismissed by Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education.

He said that any short-term stress was worth it if in the longer term it meant that children finished school with better results.

Mr McGovern said that tests in England's schools needed to be tougher to catch up with international competitors.

"We're three years behind the Chinese at the age of 15. We are a bit of a basket case internationally.

"We've got to do something, we've got to act early, and a health check at seven is a good idea."

Ministers have already had problems with the administration of primary school tests this year.

The baseline tests, which were intended to be a benchmark for measuring progress, were found to have unreliable results and have been postponed.

Tests for seven-year-olds in spelling, punctuation and grammar also had to be called off when it was found that test questions had mistakenly been published on a Department for Education website.

Labour's shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said she did not "condone children being taken out of school".

But she accused the government of "creating chaos and confusion in primary assessment".

Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "I think the gap between the profession and the government has never been wider than it is at the moment."

He warned of "an enormous number of mistakes, delays and confusions around testing".

But Ms Morgan has argued that raising standards will improve creativity and not restrict it and keeping children home, "even for a day, is harmful to their education".

Source: bbc.com

China has launched an investigation into search giant Baidu after the death of a student who tried an experimental cancer therapy he found online.

Wei Zexi, who died last month from a rare form of cancer, had sought the treatment from a hospital that came top of the list on his Baidu web search.

Baidu has come under fire for allegedly selling listings to bidders without adequately checking their claims.

In a statement Baidu said it was investigating the matter.

The company told the BBC: "We deeply regret the death of Wei Zexi and our condolences go out to his family.

"Baidu strives to provide a safe and trustworthy search experience for our users, and have launched an immediate investigation of the matter."

Baidu owns search engine and social media services, and is often compared to Google. Shares slumped in the US on news of an investigation by China's internet regulator, with Baidu's Nasdaq-listed shares falling 7.92%.

According to state news agency Xinhua, Wei was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2014.

He and his family said he found out about a controversial treatment at the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps through an advertisement on Baidu.

But the treatment was unsuccessful and the 21-year-old student died on 12 April.

Before his death, Wei publically accused Baidu of promoting false medical information and the hospital of misleading advertising.

Baidu has said on its Weibo account that it had filed a request for the hospital to be investigated. The hospital has yet to comment and efforts to contact hospital officials have been unsuccessful.

In addition to the Cyberspace Administration of China, several other government agencies including the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission are looking into the matter.

The outcry over the case follows a similar scandal in January involving ethical practices regarding healthcare advertising.

The story has also reignited public concern over Baidu's advertising ethics, following an earlier scandal where it admitted it allowed healthcare companies to moderate online health forums.

On popular microblogging network Sina Weibo, the hashtag #Wei Zexi Baidu Advertising Incident# has been trending for days as netizens have called for a boycott of Baidu.

Source: bbc.com

The European Commission will give conditional approval for Turks to travel without visas to Europe's passport-free Schengen area, sources have told the BBC.

The move is part of a deal in which Turkey is taking back migrants who have crossed over the Aegean Sea to Greece.

But Turkey must still meet EU criteria, and the deal must be approved by the European Parliament and member states.

The EU fears that without a visa deal, Turkey will not control migration.

What is the Schengen agreement?

Turks look to EU to scrap visas

The large influx of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe from Turkey, and from North Africa, has caused a political crisis among EU states.

A formal announcement from the European Commission is due on Wednesday.

Analysis by Katya Adler, BBC Europe Editor

If the European Commission (the EU's executive body) does make the recommendation this Wednesday that Turks be granted visa-free travel in Europe's Schengen area, as whispers from well-placed EU sources suggest, then it will be doing so holding its nose and its breath.

The freedom of speech; the right to a fair trial; and revising terrorism legislation to better protect minority rights - these are just some of the criteria demanded by the EU of countries before it lifts visa requirements, even for short-term travel.

It is hard to see how Turkey could be described as meeting these conditions. The government in Ankara increasingly cracks down on its critics in a manner more autocratic than democratic.

But these are desperate times for the EU. The European Commission and most EU governments are under huge public pressure to ease the migrant crisis.

My sources say the commission will therefore keep to the agreed script. But they insist this is no blank cheque. Turkey will get the green light over visas this week to keep it sweet. But it will also be informed of the outstanding criteria it still needs to meet.

Read more from Katya

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants who have arrived illegally in Greece since 20 March are to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.

For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is to take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request.

Under the agreement, Turkey must meet 72 conditions by 4 May to earn access to the EU's Schengen area by the end of June, subject to full EU approval. Diplomats have suggested that fewer than 10 still need to be met.

Human rights groups question the deal's legality and argue that Turkey is not a safe place to return people to.

Last month, however, European Council President Donald Tusk said the deal had begun to produce results.

He praised the Turkish government as "the best example in the world on how to treat refugees", despite criticism by rights groups of the agreement.

At the same time, Turkish PM Ahmed Davutoglu said his country had fulfilled its part of the agreement and that the issue of the visa waiver for the EU's Schengen area was "vital" for Turkey.

Source: bbc.com

Colombia's top court has legalised same-sex marriage, making the country the fourth in Latin America to do so.

Gay couples were already allowed to form civil partnerships, but Thursday's ruling extends them the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples.

Earlier this month the constitutional court dismissed a judge's petition against equal marriage rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have previously legalised same-sex marriage.

Argentina was the first Latin American country to take the step in July 2010.

In Mexico, gay marriage is legal in the capital and in certain states.

Source: bbc.com

Russia says it was right to confront a US Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea on Friday.

The Pentagon said a Russian jet fighter acted in an "unsafe and unprofessional manner", and performed a barrel roll over its plane.

Russia said that the American jet had turned off its transponder signal, which helps others identify it.

It is the second incident in the Baltic this month in which the US has accused Russian planes of flying aggressively.

"All flights of Russian planes are conducted in accordance with international regulations on the use of airspace," a statement by the Russian defence ministry said. "The US Air Force has two solutions: either not to fly near our borders or to turn the transponder on for identification."

US jets "regularly" try to approach Russia's borders with transponders switched off, the statement said. Over the past 18 months, Russia has been repeatedly accused of the same practice over the Baltic and near UK waters.

It is not clear how close to Russia's waters Friday's incident occurred.

On Friday, Pentagon spokesman Daniel Hernandez said there had been "repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns".

"The US aircraft was operating in international airspace and at no time crossed into Russian territory," he said.

"This unsafe and unprofessional air intercept has the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all air crews involved."

Such actions could "unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries," he said.

Mr Hernandez said the Su-27's "erratic and aggressive manoeuvres" also threatened the safety of the US aircrew, coming within 7.6m (25ft) of the fuselage of the American plane before conducting its barrel roll.

Military encounters between Russia and the US and its allies have escalated significantly over the past two years, ever since Russia's annexation of Crimea and the breakdown of relations between East and West.

Two Russian planes flew close to a US guided missile destroyer almost a dozen times in the Baltic on 13 April.

The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue in Washington reported after the destroyer incident that Russia's actions were regarded by defence analysts as a flexing of muscle, a reminder that Russia has military might and cannot be pushed around.

Source: bbc.com

The mosquito-borne Zika virus may be even more dangerous than previously thought, scientists in Brazil say.

They told the BBC that Zika could be behind more damaging neurological conditions, affecting the babies of up to a fifth of infected pregnant women.

Rates of increase in Zika infection in some parts of Brazil have slowed, thanks to better information about preventing the disease.

But the search for a vaccine is still in the early stages.

And Zika continues to spread across the region.

What you need to know: How dangerous is Zika?

2.2 billion in 'at risk' Zika areas

Travel advice: Countries affected and what you should do

Most doctors and medical researchers now agree that there is a link between the Zika virus and microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads because of restricted brain development.

While it is estimated that 1% of women who have had Zika during pregnancy will have a child with microcephaly, leading doctors in Brazil have told the BBC that as many as 20% of Zika-affected pregnancies will result in a range of other forms of brain damage to the baby in the womb.

A separate study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, said that "29% of scans showed abnormalities in babies in the womb, including growth restrictions, in women infected with Zika".

Zika: What are the symptoms?

Deaths are rare and only one in five people infected is thought to develop symptoms.

These include:

• mild fever
• conjunctivitis (red, sore eyes)
• headache
• joint pain
• a rash

A rare nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre syndrome, that can cause temporary paralysis has been linked to the infection.

There is no vaccine or drug treatment so patients are advised to rest and drink plenty of fluids.

But the biggest concern is the impact it could have on babies developing in the womb.

Source: bbc.com

Japan's space agency had said it will abandon efforts to restore or retrieve the ASTRO-H satellite.

Also called Hitomi, the satellite was launched in 17 February to observe X-rays coming from black holes.

Contact was lost with $273m satellite on 26 March sparking a scramble by Japanese scientists to find out what had happened.

The next time a similar satellite will be launched is in 2028 by the European Space Agency.

Hitomi was a joint effort between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA and other groups.

The rocket carrying the ASTRO-H satellite lifted off from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan

"We concluded that the satellite is in a state in which its functions are not expected to recover," Saku Tsuneta, director general of JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, told a press conference on Thursday.

"JAXA will cease the efforts to restore ASTRO-H and will focus on the investigation of anomaly causes," the space agency said in a statement.

It added that it was likely two solar arrays had broken off their bases.

Until now, there was hope that the satellite could be recovered after JAXA said it had received three signals from Hitomi. It said on Thursday that it now thinks those signals were not sent by the spacecraft.

Source: bbc.com

African leaders are to meet in Kenya to discuss how to save the continent's elephants from extinction.

The inaugural summit of the so-called Giants Club will be led by the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

As well as heads of state, the conservation group will bring together business leaders and scientists.

Experts say Africa's elephant population has fallen by 90% over the past century and warn that the animal could be extinct within decades.

Among those expected to attend the summit are Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and President Ali Bongo from the west African nation of Gabon.

After the summit, Kenya will set fire to nearly its entire confiscated stock of ivory, 105 tonnes, equivalent to the tusks of more than 6,700 elephants.

The ivory has been piled into a dozen giant pyres, which will be lit by dignitaries at the summit.

The mass burning on Saturday will be seven times the size of any stockpile destruction so far, and represents about 5% of global ivory stores.

Some 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn will also be burned.

The street value of the ivory destroyed is estimated at more than $100 million (£70m), and the rhino horn at $80 million (£55m).

"We don't believe there is any intrinsic value in ivory, and therefore we're going to burn all our stockpiles and demonstrate to the world that ivory is only valuable on elephants," said Kitili Mbathi, director general of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Africa is home to between 450,000 to 500,000 elephants, but more than 30,000 are killed every year for their tusks.

There are up to 500,000 elephants in Africa....

... but there are only three northern white rhino left in the world

Source: bbc.com

North Korea has sentenced a US man to 10 years of hard labour for spying.

Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old naturalised US citizen born in South Korea, was arrested last October.

Kim had made an apparent confession in Pyongyang last month in front of reporters, saying he was paid by South Korean intelligence officers.

The US has previously accused North Korea of using its citizens as pawns in a diplomatic game. Pyongyang denies the accusations.

In March, US student Otto Frederick Warmbier was jailed for 15 years for stealing a propaganda sign and "crimes against the state".

• North Korea missile tests: UN 'preparing response'

North Korea has previously said Kim had a USB stick containing military and nuclear secrets on him when he was arrested in the special economic zone of Rason.

Kim, who used to live in Virginia, had said he was introduced to South Korean spies by US intelligence officers.

Forced public confessions by foreign prisoners are common in North Korea.

Kim's imprisonment comes amid a period of high tensions. North Korea has recently conducted a series of missile tests following its fourth nuclear test in January, both of which break UN sanctions.

Pyongyang attempted to launch two mid-range ballistic missiles on Thursday which crashed shortly after their launches, prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

It is believed it will attempt a fifth nuclear test soon.

The recent burst in activity is thought to be a ramp-up to a rare party congress due to be held on 6 May, where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to consolidate power.

Foreigners detained in North Korea

Other recent cases include:

• Otto Frederick Warmbier, a US student who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in March 2016 for trying to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel and "crimes against the state".
• Hyeon Soo Lim, a Canadian Christian pastor of South Korean origin, was sentenced to a life term of hard labour in December, also for "crimes against the state".
• Sandra Suh, an American aid worker, was arrested then expelled in April 2015, accused of gathering and producing anti-North propaganda.
• Matthew Todd Miller was sentenced to six years' hard labour in September 2014 for what North Korean state media described as "hostile acts", but was released in November the same year.
• Kenneth Bae was arrested in November 2012 and accused of using his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government. Sentenced to 15 years' hard labour in May 2013 but was released along with Mr Miller.
• Jeffrey Fowle, held for five months and charged with "anti-state" crimes, was released in October 2014.
• Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, held in October 2013 on charges of "hostile acts", was released in December the same year.

Source: bbc.com

A federal judge has sentenced Dennis Hastert to 15 months in prison, calling the former House Speaker "a serial child molester" who tried to cover up his abuse with hush money.

Using a wheelchair, Hastert, 74, told the court he was "deeply ashamed" that he "mistreated" students while he worked as a school coach in the 1970s.

One of the victims said the abuse left him "devastated" and "betrayed".

Hastert served as an Illinois congressman from 1987 to 2007.

He was the longest serving Republican House Speaker in US history. As House Speaker, Hastert was second in the line of succession to the presidency.

Many of his former Republican colleagues had appealed to the judge for leniency.

Hastert (top right) was second in the line of succession to the presidency

In October, he pleaded guilty to violating banking reporting laws after he tried to pay someone $3.5 million to keep quiet about his past sexual abuse.

Prosecutors allege Hastert abused five boys while he was working in Yorkville, a suburb of Chicago, between 1965 and 1981.

However, Hastert could not be charged with the sexual abuse of his victims because of the amount of time that has passed since the crimes.

His defence lawyers had sought to avoid a prison sentence, saying Hastert is in poor health and had already paid a high price in disgrace.

After his guilty plea, Hastert's portrait was removed from the House of Representatives in the US Congress.

Judge Thomas Durkin said on Wednesday that Hastert must also undergo sex offender treatment, serve two years of probation after his release and pay $250,000 to a fund for victims.

Source: bbc.com

A suicide bomber has struck in the western Turkish city of Bursa, injuring at least seven people, officials say.

The attack took place near the city's 14th Century Grand Mosque, a symbol of the city, reports said.

The governor of Bursa said the attacker was a suspected female suicide bomber.

Turkey has been hit by a wave of suicide bombings blamed on both Islamist and Kurdish militants. Earlier reports said one person had been killed in the blast.

However, Reuters news agency later quoted Turkey's health minister as saying 13 people had been wounded, none seriously, while the Bursa governor's office said seven people had been hurt.

On Tuesday the US warned of "credible indications" of terrorist threats at tourist areas in the country.

Recent attacks in Turkey

• 31 March: attack on a bus stop in mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir killed seven
• 19 March: a suicide bomber killed three Israelis and one Iranian in a shopping area in Istanbul
• 13 March: 35 people killed by Kurdish militants in Ankara
• February: 28 killed in military convoy in Ankara
• January: 12 German tourists died in a suspected IS suicide bombing in Istanbul; seven killed in a suicide attack on a police HQ in Diyarbakir
• October 2015: More than 100 people are killed in a double suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara

Source: bbc.com

A two-year-old boy has accidentally shot and killed his mother in the US city of Milwaukee after finding a gun in the back of their car.

The woman, Patrice Price, had been driving a car owned by her security guard boyfriend who had left his gun in the car, her father Andre said.

Milwaukee police said she was shot once in the back while driving on a local highway on Tuesday morning.

Also in the car were Price's mother and her other son aged one.

Mr Price said she also had an older daughter, and described Patrice as "hardworking".

"Now I don't have her no more. My chest has been hurting," Mr Price told Milwaukee station WISN.

"I have a knot in my chest. They won't even let me see my daughter. I wanted to hold my daughter for one last time."

Last month, a four-year-old boy in Florida shot his mother, Jamie Gilt, in similar circumstances.

A gun had slid from underneath the front seat of the car to the back and he unbuckled himself to get it. Ms Gilt survived the shooting.

Source: bbc.com

Police in the Cape Verde islands off northwest Africa say they have found the bodies of 11 people, including eight soldiers, at a military barracks.

The authorities say they believe a disgruntled missing soldier was behind the killings.

A government statement said the deaths were not an attempted coup or connected to the drugs trade.

The victims included eight soldiers and three civilians, two of them Spanish nationals.

The Spaniards were working on repairs at a hilltop communications hub protected by soldiers at the barracks.

A police officer found the bodies at about midday local time (01:00 GMT) at the Monte Tchota barracks north of the capital Praia on the biggest island, Santiago, Cape Verde Television said.

It said police later found an abandoned car containing eight Kalashnikovs and ammunition.

The former Portuguese colony, an archipelago about 600km (370 miles) of the coast of Senegal with a population of 500,000 people, has been praised by international organisations for its commitment to democracy and development.

However, it has also been targeted by international drug rings as a destination for smuggling cocaine.

Last week police seized 280kg of cocaine from a yacht and officials have linked two recent attacks on public figures to the drugs trade.

A new government took office last Friday following an election in March and has promised a zero tolerance approach to crime. Cape Verde has been targeted by international drug smuggling rings.

Up to $800m (£550m) in cash held by so-called Islamic State (IS) has been destroyed in air strikes, a US military official says.

Maj Gen Peter Gersten, who is based in Baghdad, said the US had repeatedly targeted stores of the group's funds.

The blow to the group's financing has contributed to a 90% jump in defections and a drop in new arrivals, he said.

In 2014, the US Treasury called IS "the best-funded terrorist organisation" it had encountered.

How is Islamic State funded?

Islamic State's struggle to stay rich

In a briefing to reporters, Maj Gen Gersten, the deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the US-led operation against IS, said under 20 air strikes targeting the group's stores of money had been conducted.

He did not specify how the US knew how much money had been destroyed.

In one case, he said, an estimated $150m was destroyed at a house in Mosul, Iraq.

Forces fighting IS received intelligence indicating in which room of the house money was stored. The room was then bombed from the air, Maj Gen Gersten said.

While it was difficult to know precisely how much money had been destroyed in total, estimates put the figure at between $500m and $800m, he said.

Islamic State's exact wealth is not known, but, after seizing oil fields and setting taxes, it approved a budget of $2bn and predicted a $250m surplus last year.

Since then, however, the group has lost territory, and its oilfields have been targeted in air strikes by the US-led coalition.

'Posing as women'

US intelligence indicated the group's cash troubles had led it to start selling vehicles to make money, Gen Gersten said. In January, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that IS announced it was to cut fighters' salaries in half "because of the exceptional circumstances that the Islamic State is passing through".

"We're seeing a fracture in their morale, we're seeing their inability to pay, we're seeing the inability to fight, we're watching them try to leave Daesh in every single way," Gen Gersten added, using an Arabic term for IS.

Some defectors had been captured posing as women or as refugees in Iraq, he said.

The number of those arriving to fight for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria had fallen to about 200 a month, Gen Gersten said, down from a peak of between 1,500 and 2,000 per month a year ago.

In February, the White House said it believed there were some 25,000 people fighting for IS, down from close to 31,500 last year.

Turkey has come under repeated pressure by the United States to tighten its border with Syria and prevent people crossing into IS-held territory.

On Tuesday, the US confirmed it would place rocket launchers in Turkey close to the border of territory held by the group.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Haberturk newspaper the system would be deployed near the Syrian town of Manbij, through where IS brings in new supplies and fighters.

Source: bbc.com

Bangladesh police say a top gay rights activist and editor at the country's only LGBT magazine is one of two people who have been hacked to death.

The US ambassador to Bangladesh condemned the killing of Xulhaz Mannan, who also worked at the US embassy.

Another person was also injured when the attackers entered a Dhaka flat.

Since February last year suspected militants have killed several secular or atheist writers and members of religious minority groups.

The two men were murdered two days after a university teacher was hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants.

So-called Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility - but the Bangladeshi government insists there is no IS presence in the country.

Lurching from secularism to sectarian terror?

Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?

"I am devastated by the brutal murder of Xulhaz Mannan and another young Bangladeshi," said US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat.

"We abhor this senseless act of violence and urge the government of Bangladesh in the strongest terms to apprehend the criminals behind these murders," she added.

BBC Bengali Service editor Sabir Mustafa said staff at Roopbaan, a magazine and activist group for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community that had not been condemned by the government and received some support from foreign embassies, had been careful to protect their identities but had not believed their lives were at risk.

Suspected extremists in Bangladesh are gaining a sense of security that they can carry out killings with impunity, he says.

A British photographer who knew Mr Mannan and the other victim, known as "Tonoy" and named in Bangladeshi media as Tanay Mojumdar, said they and other friends had set up Roopbaan with the aim of spreading tolerance.

Homosexuality is technically illegal in Bangladesh and remains a highly sensitive issue in society.

Both men were openly gay and believed that if more gay Bangladeshis came out then the country would have to accept them, the photographer said.

They were also were behind the annual "Rainbow Rally", held on Bengali New Year, 14 April, since 2014. This year's rally was banned by police as part of widespread security measures.

"Both were extremely gentle, non-violent and aware that being openly gay and active in their work was a personal danger," the photographer said.

Their killings were likely to spread fear among Bangladesh's gay community, he said.

"Until a year ago the only threat to coming out was shame of the family and having to start a new life elsewhere in Bangladesh. Now it's one of danger," he said.

Long line of killings

Meanwhile Bangladesh's best known blogger said he had received a death threat on Sunday.

Imran Sarker, who led major protests by secular activists in 2013 against Islamist leaders, said he had received a phone call warning that he would be killed "very soon".

Earlier this month, a Bangladeshi law student who had expressed secular views online died when he was hacked with machetes and then shot in Dhaka.

Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were also killed with machetes.

The four bloggers had all appeared on a list of 84 "atheist bloggers" drawn up by Islamic groups in 2013 and widely circulated.

There have also been attacks on members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus.

Two foreigners - an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer - have also been killed.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is officially secular but critics say the government has failed to properly address the attacks.

Source: bbc.com

A Canadian man held captive by Islamist militants for months in the Philippines has been killed.

John Ridsdel, 68, was taken from a tourist resort along with three others by the Abu Sayyaf group in September last year.

Confirming the death, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it "an act of coldblooded murder".

On Monday a severed head was found on a remote Philippine island, hours after an Abu Sayyaf ransom deadline expired.

The Philippine army has not confirmed if it belonged to one of the captives.

• Islamic State threat in Southeast Asia

Mr Ridsdel was kidnapped from a marina near the city of Davao along with another Canadian, Robert Hall; a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad; and a Philippine woman, Mr Hall's girlfriend, Marites Flor.

They were taken 500km (300 miles) to the island of Jolo. Abu Sayyaf released a video of the group in November, demanding $80m (£55m) for their release.

Mr Ridsdel later warned that he was due to be killed if no ransom was paid.

Several hours after the deadline, a severed head was found in a street on Jolo. The Philippine authorities said it belonged to a foreign man but it has not yet been formally identified.

Former mining executive

"It's hard," a friend of Mr Ridsdel, Bob Rae, told CBC News. "It's just very hard. I've been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it's been very painful."

A former mining executive, Mr Ridsdel is described by Canadian media as semi-retired.

He also worked as a journalist.

Offering his condolences, Mr Trudeau gave few details, saying he would not compromise the safety of the other captives.

Abu Sayyaf was set up in the 1990s with funding from al-Qaeda, and is fighting for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

One of its commanders recently pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State. The group is also holding several other foreigners.

Eighteen Philippine soldiers were killed in clashes with the militants on Basilan island near Jolo island earlier this month.

Source: bbc.com

A former Army corporal accused of raping a colleague with another soldier said he thought it was a joke when his co-accused and the alleged victim suggested a threesome.

Jeremy Jones and Thomas Fulton, both 28, deny raping Cpl Anne-Marie Ellement, from Bournemouth, in 2009.

The men say the sex with Ms Ellement, who died in 2011, was consensual.

Mr Jones said the three were "giggling and laughing" during the encounter in the early hours of 20 November 2009.

Ms Ellement was later found outside her accommodation at the barracks in Sennelager, Germany, wearing only a cardigan, crying and with muddy feet.

Thomas Fulton (left) and Jeremy Jones both deny rape

Mr Jones told the court he could not remember whether it was fellow corporals Mr Fulton or Ms Ellement who first discussed having a threesome.

"I thought they were joking but they made it quite clear it was not a joke," Mr Jones said.

"She was fully aware of what was going on and she made the decision, and the three of us were all excited to go back to the room."

After the encounter, Mr Jones said he asked Ms Ellement to return his blue hooded jumper, which she was wearing, and she put on her brown cardigan.

He suggested to Mr Fulton that they go into Sennelager, which appeared to upset Ms Ellement, who left.

Anne-Marie Ellement joined the Army at the age of 25 and had insisted she would not have consented to sex with either of the men

Previously, Mr Fulton told the court that Ms Ellement had left the room wearing his trousers and, when he tracked her down to a nearby car park to get them back, an argument ensued before she pulled them off and threw them at him.

The men were initially arrested on suspicion of rape but the case was dismissed. They were later charged with rape in 2015.

A panel of civil servants and senior military officers at the hearing in Wiltshire was not initially told the circumstances of Ms Ellement's death in 2011. They later heard in evidence that she had taken her own life.

Mr Jones, formerly of Close Protection Unit Royal Military Police Operations Wing, and Mr Fulton, formerly of 174 Provost Company 3 Royal Military Police, each deny two charges of rape.

The trial continues.

Source: bbc.com

The suicide rate in the US has surged to its highest level in almost three decades, according to a new report.

The increase is particularly pronounced among middle-age white people who now account for a third of all US suicides.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report did not offer an explanation for the steep rise.

However, other experts have pointed to increased abuse of prescription opiates and the financial downturn that began in 2008 as likely factors.

The report did not break down the suicides by education level or income, but previous studies found rising suicide rates among white people without university degrees.

"This is part of the larger emerging pattern of evidence of the links between poverty, hopelessness and health," Robert D Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, told the New York Times.

CDC reported on Friday that suicides have increased in the US to a rate of 13 per 100,000 people, the highest since 1986.

Meanwhile, homicides and deaths from ailments like cancer and heart disease have declined.

In the past, suicides have been most common among white people, but the recent increases have been sharp.

The overall suicide rate rose by 24% from 1999 to 2014, according to the CDC. However, the rate increased 43% among white men ages 45 to 64 and 63% for women in the same age-range.

In 2014, more than 14,000 middle-aged white people killed themselves.

That figure is double the combined suicides total for all blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

The suicide rate only declined for only two groups: black men and all people over 75.

Source: bbc.com

At least eight people have been killed in "execution-style killings" in four places near each other in rural Ohio.

It is believed the victims - seven adults and one teenager - are from the same family, the state's attorney general said in a statement.

They were all shot to death in the head and any suspects are still at large, police said.

More than a dozen officials from multiple agencies were sent to crime scenes in Piketon, south of Columbus.

A pastor at the scene said the violence may have been the result of a "domestic situation".

All of the victims are members of a family called Rhoden, said Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader.

Three young children survived the shootings. The boy who was killed 16 years old.

"There is a strong possibility that any individual involved in this is armed and incredibly dangerous," Mr Reader said.

Police have not determined a motive or identified the dead, and have not determined whether the killer is among the deceased.

Aerial view of one of the locations being investigated in Pike County, Ohio

There are 'multiple crime scenes' in Piketon, Ohio

All of the victims were found in homes along Union Hill Road in Pike County. The Pike County Sheriff said there are four active crime scenes spanning about 30 miles (48km).

Sheriff Charles Reader said he would "suspect the family was being targeted".

Ohio Attorney General Mike Mike DeWine said it is possible some of the victims were shot overnight because they were found in their beds.

"One mom was apparently killed in her bed with [the four-day-old child] right there," said Mr DeWine. "It's hard to believe."

Authorities do not believe any of the deaths were suicides and are urging residents of the county to come forward with any information they might have.

Local schools Peebles Elementary and Peebles High School were earlier on "lockout" - no-one went in or out - due to the ongoing situation in Piketon, a spokesperson for Adams County Ohio Valley Schools said.

The FBI in Cincinnati tweeted that they are "closely monitoring the situation".

Ohio Governor John Kasich and Republican presidential candidate tweeted that the situation is "tragic beyond comprehension".

Source: bbc.com