General News

Venezuela is introducing power cuts of four hours a day from next week to deal with a worsening energy crisis.

The cuts will last for 40 days as the country struggles under a severe drought limiting hydroelectric output.

It is the latest setback to Venezuela's economy which has been hit by a sharp fall in the price of its main export, oil.

The country's main brewer, Polar, also says it will stop production because it has no dollars to buy grain abroad.

The company, which produces 80% of the country's beer, says 10,000 workers will be affected by the stoppage.

Announcing the restrictions on Thursday, Energy Minister Luis Motta Dominguez said the hours of suspension would be published on a daily basis in newspapers and on ministerial websites. He added that the cuts would not happen between 20:00 and midday.

Venezuela's energy crisis has been deepening all this year, in February, shopping malls were told to reduce their opening hours and generate their own energy.

Polar is Venezuela's best-known brand of beer.

President Nicolas Maduro has accused the country's business elite of colluding with the US to wreck the economy.

He has accused the President of Polar, Lorenzo Mendoza, of being allied to the opposition which now dominates the Venezuelan parliament against him.

Many businessmen and opposition politicians blame the energy crisis and shortages of basic goods on government economic mismanagement.

They say tough currency controls introduced in 2003 by the late president, Hugo Chavez have only made this worse.

Venezuela's economy is in dire straits, suffering from spiralling inflation, shortages of some basic goods and dwindling revenue from oil.

The country's almost exclusive relies on oil, the price of which has fallen sharply.

Source: bbc.com

US president Barack Obama has arrived in the UK for a three-day visit.

During his stay the president is expected to give his views on the UK's forthcoming EU referendum, and advise voters to remain in the union.

He and First Lady Michelle Obama are due to have lunch with the Queen at Windsor on Friday, and dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Mr Obama will also speak at a news conference with Prime Minister David Cameron.

His UK stay is part of a tour which also includes a visit to Germany and Saudi Arabia - from where he has just left after having discussions with King Salman on issues including Iran, Syria, Yemen and the fight against so-called Islamic State militants.

'Hypocrisy'

In the UK, debate has circulated over the president's views on the forthcoming EU referendum, due to take place on 23 June.

Mr Obama's national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in the US before the trip: "As the president has said, we support a strong United Kingdom in the European Union."

But last week Boris Johnson accused Mr Obama of "hypocrisy" over his support for such an outcome.

The London mayor said everything about the history of the US suggested they would never share sovereignty.

"I don't know what he is going to say but, if that is the American argument then it is nakedly hypocritical. The Americans would never dream of it," he told the BBC.

During his visit the US leader will also dine with the Queen in Kensington Palace.

Mr Obama arrived at Stansted Airport and was greeted by the the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, John Petre, and the US Ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun.

The Obamas previously met the Queen, Prince Philip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their state visit in 2011.

Source: bbc.com

One of the longest cross-border drugs-smuggling tunnels between Mexico and the US has been found by authorities in San Diego, American officials say.

They say the 800m (874 yards) tunnel was used to transport an "unprecedented cache" of cocaine and marijuana.

It was the 13th sophisticated secret tunnel found along California's border with Mexico since 2006.

But a local official described it as "ingenious" and unlike anything seen before.

Three have been found on the same short street in San Diego that runs parallel to a border fence with Mexico.

In the latest incident about 1,016kg (2,242lb) of cocaine and 6,350kg of marijuana suspected of being transported through the tunnel was seized, officials say.

The entrance to the tunnel on the American side was hidden under a big bin

"This is the largest cocaine seizure ever associated with a tunnel," Southern California District Attorney Laura Duffy said, and is the second "super tunnel" to be discovered in recent weeks,

In March, authorities uncovered a 380m tunnel that ran from a restaurant in Mexico to a house in California.

The latest tunnel ran at a depth of 14m (46ft) from the bottom of an elevator shaft built into a house in Tijuana to a hole in the ground on the American side enclosed within a fenced-in lot set up as a pallet business.

The hole was hidden under a trailer-sized rubbish bin that smugglers used to move the drugs from the lot, federal officials said.

"They put the drugs in the dumpster and then hauled the dumpster to another location to unload it," Ms Duffy said.

Federal agents followed a truck that took the bin to a central San Diego location about 40km (25 miles) north of the border and witnessed the cargo being loaded onto a box truck, which drove away.

San Diego County sheriff's deputies then stopped the truck and seized the drugs, arresting three men in the process.

Ms Duffy said that federal agents searching the pallet lot and the tunnel recovered additional supplies of marijuana and arrested three more suspects.

The tunnel used in the operation was sophisticated, The Los Angeles Times reported, and had a ventilation system and lighting. On the Tijuana side, the tunnel was connected to an elevator that ascended into the house.

"I think it fair to say that few would suspect that traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana in this very unassuming way, in full view of the world around them," the paper quoted Ms Duffy as saying.

"It's a rabbit hole,'' she said of the latest tunnel to be found.

"Just the whole way that it comes up right out into the open is a bit ingenious. It's something completely different than what we've seen before."

Source: bbc.com

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has won part of a human rights case against the Norwegian state.

The court upheld his claim that some of his treatment amounted to "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

After the judgement, Breivik's lawyer, Oystein Storrvik, called for his solitary confinement to be repealed.

Breivik, a right-wing extremist, killed 69 people at a summer camp for young centre-left political activists on the island of Utoeya in July 2011.

Earlier that day, he set off a car bomb in the capital, Oslo, killing eight people.

Kept alone

In her ruling, judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic said the right not to be subjected to inhuman treatment represented "a fundamental value in a democratic society" and also applied to "terrorists and killers".

Breivik had challenged the government over his solitary confinement, which saw him kept alone in his cell for 22 to 23 hours a day, denied contact with other inmates and only communicating with prison staff through a thick glass barrier.

How bad is solitary confinement?

How cushy are Norway's prisons?

His prison regime deviated so markedly from that enforced upon any other prisoner in Norway, regardless of the severity of their crimes, that it had to be considered an extra punishment, the judge said.

However, article three of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) required that prisoners be detained in conditions that did not exceed the unavoidable level of suffering inherent in detention, given the practical requirements of the particular case, she said.

The prison authorities had also not done enough to counteract the damage he had suffered from being in isolation, she said.

A typical cell in Skien prison looks like this

Judge Sekulic also noted that Breivik had been woken up every half hour at night over a long period of time and on some occasions subjected to strip searches with female officers present, which he found particularly difficult.

"Taken together with the other stringent restrictions which he was subject, this was regarded as degrading treatment in the Convention sense," said the judge, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK reported.

'Facilitate a community'

State lawyer Marius Emberland said the government was surprised by the verdict but had not decided whether to appeal.

If neither side appeals within four weeks, the prison is obliged to make Breivik's regime more lenient in line with the judge's remarks, NRK reported.

The prison must work to bring in other prisoners and "facilitate a community", the judge said.

However, the judge ruled that strict controls on Breivik's correspondence were justified and his right to a private and family life under article eight of the ECHR had not been violated.

The court also ordered the Norwegian state to pay Breivik's legal costs of 330,000 kroner ($40,000; £28,000).

Eskil Pedersen, a survivor of the shootings on Utoeya island, said he was "surprised, and then angry and upset" by the ruling.

"It was like being punched in the gut that the perpetrator won such a public victory," he told NRK.

Another survivor, Bjorn Ihler, tweeted that the judgement in Breivik's favour showed Norway had a "working court system, respecting human rights even under extreme conditions".

Lisbeth Kristine Roeyneland, who runs a support group for the victims' families, told NRK she was surprised and "a little disappointed", but also relieved that the ruling prevented him making contact with other extremists.

Breivik gave the Nazi salute when he appeared in court

Source: bbc.com

The Canadian government will introduce legislation next year that would make the sale of marijuana legal, its health minister has said.

If enacted, the move would make Canada one of the largest Western countries to allow widespread use of the drug.

Health Minister Jane Philpott pledged on Wednesday to keep marijuana "out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals".

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed for legalisation during his campaign.

The announcement coincided with 20 April - an unofficial holiday among cannabis advocates. Hundreds of marijuana users demonstrated outside Parliament in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Medical use of marijuana is already legal in Canada. Some have argued that legal marijuana would reduce stress on Canada's criminal justice system.

"We will work with law enforcement partners to encourage appropriate and proportionate criminal justice measures," Ms Philpott said. "We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem."

The Canadian Parliament is expected to take up the legislation in the spring of 2017

However, Gerard Deltell, a legislator from Canada's opposition Conservatives, opposes the change, saying it would harm Canadians' health.

"That's one of the worst things you can do to Canadian youth - to open the door to marijuana," he told Reuters news agency.

Mr Trudeau has named Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, as the government's point person on legalisation.

"We control who it's sold to, when it's sold and how it's used," Mr Blair said likening marijuana to how alcohol is regulated. "And organised crime doesn't have the opportunity to profit from it."

He stressed that marijuana would remain illegal in Canada while legislation is being discussed.

Ms Philpott said the exact details of the legislation are still being worked out.

In the US, voters in four states plus the District of Columbia have already legalised the recreational use of the drug in ballot initiatives.

In other parts of the US, however, the drug remains illegal.

Source: bbc.com

A large explosion at an oil facility in the south-east Mexican state of Veracruz has killed at least three people and injured 136 more.

The blast hit a facility owned by Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, in the port city of Coatzacoalcos.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated and schools closed. Footage showed a large fire and vast plumes of smoke.

The cause of the blast is unclear. Several explosions have been reported at Pemex facilities in recent years.

In pictures: Mexico explosion

The latest incident occurred at around 15:15 local time (20:15 GMT), Pemex said in a statement. Veracruz state Governor Javier Duarte told a radio station the blast was felt 10km (six miles) away.

The fire was under control by early evening, Pemex said. Residents were told to stay indoors because of the possible toxic nature of the smoke from the blast, but Pemex said the smoke dissipated quickly, lessening any possible toxic effects.

Of the 136 people injured, 88 remain in hospital, 13 of whom are in a serious condition, Pemex said.

Video posted on social media purporting to show a local hospital showed scenes of chaos and patients suffering heavy blood loss.

Pemex said the part of the factory hit by the explosion was managed by a sister company, Mexichem.

Associated Press reported that the plant produces vinyl chloride, a dangerous chemical used to make PVC pipes and packaging materials.

Export of oil from the plant, one of the largest terminals for oil distribution in Mexico, would not be affected, the company added.

In September 2012, an explosion then a fire at a gas plant in the northern state of Tamaulipas killed 33 people.

Pemex's own headquarters in Mexico City was hit by a large gas blast in January 2013, killing 37 people.

A number of fires also struck the company's rigs in the Gulf of Mexico last year, and a worker was killed in another fire at the Veracruz plant in February this year.

Source: bbc.com

More than two billion people live in parts of the world where the Zika virus can spread, detailed maps published in the journal eLife show.

The Zika virus, which is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, triggered a global health emergency this year.

Last week the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the virus causes severe birth defects.

The latest research showed mapping Zika was more complex than simply defining where the mosquito can survive.

One of the researchers, Dr Oliver Brady from the University of Oxford, told the BBC: "These are the first maps to come out that really use the data we have for Zika - earlier maps were based on Zika being like dengue or chikungunya.

"We are the first to add the very precise geographic and environmental conditions data we have on Zika."

By learning where Zika could thrive the researchers could then predict where else may be affected. The researchers confirmed that large areas of South America, the focus of the current outbreak, are susceptible.

In total, 2.2 billion people live in areas defined as being "at risk".

The infection is suspected of leading to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

The at-risk zones in South America include long stretches of coastline as well as cities along the Amazon river and its tributaries snaking through the continent.

And in the US, Florida and Texas could sustain the infection when temperatures rise in summer.

Dr Brady added: "Mosquitoes are just one condition needed for Zika to spread but there's a whole range of other ones.

"It needs to be warm enough for Zika to replicate inside the mosquito and for there to be a large enough [human] population to transmit it."

Both Africa and Asia have large areas that could be susceptible to the virus, the researchers said.

However, the study cannot answer why large numbers of cases have not already been reported.

One possible explanation is that both continents have already had large numbers of cases and the populations there have become largely immune to the virus.

An alternative is that cases could be being misdiagnosed as other infections such as dengue fever or malaria.

Europe seems likely to be unaffected, but that could change as more evidence emerges on which mosquitoes the viruses can spread in.

Source: bbc.com

The US state of Utah has become the first to declare pornography a public health risk in a move its governor says is to "protect our families and our young people".

The bill does not ban pornography in the mainly Mormon state.

However, it calls for greater "efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction".

One group representing the adult entertainment industry attacked what it called "an old-fashioned morals bill".

Pornography, the bill says, "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment" and "is contributing to the hypersexualisation of teens, and even prepubescent children, in our society".

Further steps must be taken to change "education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level" against what it calls an epidemic, but it does not suggest how changes should be implemented.

The bill was signed by Republican Governor Gary Herbert, who said the volume of pornography in society was "staggering".

One 2009 study by Harvard Business School said that Utah was the state with the highest percentage of online porn subscribers in the US.

Some studies have, however, indicated that porn may not be addictive.

'Avoid stigmatism'

The bill was supported by the anti-porn campaign group Fight the New Drug. Reports have pointed out the group's founders are all members of the conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church.

Close to 63% of the state's residents are Mormon, but Fight the New Drug's leaders have denied working on behalf of the Mormon Church.

The Free Speech Coalition, a porn industry association, called for more dialogue.

"We should live in a society where sexuality is spoken about openly, and discussed in nuanced and educated ways, and not stigmatised," said Mike Stabile, a spokesman for the group.

"We all should work together to prevent non-adults from accessing adult material."

Source: bbc.com

A police helicopter was used to retrieve the lost wallet of the Alabama governor, at a reported cost to taxpayers of $4,000 (£2,800).

In late 2014, Robert Bentley left Tuscaloosa for his beach home five hours' drive away, but left his wallet.

He then asked his security to deliver it, a trip completed via state police helicopter, according to flight logs.

Mr Bentley, who is facing calls to resign over a sex scandal, said he never asked for a helicopter.

"I requested they deliver my wallet, I didn't know how they were going to do it," the governor told AL.com. "I did not request that a helicopter was used.

"You have to have your wallet for security reasons. I'm the governor. And I had to have money. I had to buy something to eat. You have to have identification."

AL.com said using the state helicopter to retrieve his wallet cost Alabama taxpayers about $4,000 (£2,800).

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency chiefs have differing stories about the helicopter incident.

One said he had permission to use the helicopter from the governor's former bodyguard.

Another said he was never told about the wallet and did not approve use of the helicopter.

On Tuesday, state lawmakers made initial steps to impeach Mr Bentley over an alleged sex scandal with an aide.

State representative Ed Henry told NBC News Mr Bentley "betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama" and that "if he truly loves the people of the state, he will step down".

Source: bbc.com

A more powerful earthquake has rocked the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto in the middle of the night, a day after an earlier tremor killed nine people.

The magnitude-7.3 quake hit at a depth of 10km (six miles) at 01:25 on Saturday (15:25 GMT on Friday) in Kyushu region. At least three people died and hundreds were injured.

A village has been evacuated after a dam collapsed, it says.

A tsunami warning was issued, and lifted some 50 minutes later.

Japan is regularly hit by earthquakes but stringent building codes mean that they rarely cause significant damage.

This new earthquake in Kyushu was much bigger and hit a wider area than the one that struck Kumamoto on Thursday night, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo.

In one town near the coast, the city hall has been so badly damaged there are fears it could collapse. A hospital has been evacuated because it is no longer safe.

Roads have buckled and some power supplies are now disrupted

Thousands of people have fled on to the streets and into parks - where they are huddled under blankets looking dazed and afraid, our correspondent says.

But there are numerous reports of people trapped inside buildings, including at least 60 inside an old people's home.

Public broadcaster NHK says the dam collapsed in the Nishihara village.

Television pictures showed thousands of people filling streets and parks, looking dazed across the region.

NHK had warned of sea waves of up to 1m (3ft).

Japan's nuclear authority said the Sendai nuclear plant was not damaged.

The quake was originally assessed as magnitude 7.1 but revised upwards to 7.3 later.

Gavin Hayes, a research geophysicist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Colorado, told the BBC that the latest earthquake would hamper the earlier rescue operation that was already under way.

He said more damage could be expected as the earthquake had been shallower and the fault-line had been much longer.

"The ground surface would have moved in the region of 4-5m (yards). So, you are talking very intense shaking over quite a large area. And that's why we'll probably see a significant impact from this event."

The Associated Press news agency said guests at the Ark Hotel near the Kumamoto Castle, which was damaged, woke up and gathered in the lobby for safety.

Kumamoto Castle is said to have suffered more damage in the new tremor

Thursday's magnitude-6.2 quake caused shaking at some places as intense as the huge earthquake that hit the country in 2011, Japan's seismology office said.

That quake sparked a huge tsunami and nuclear meltdown at a power plant in Fukushima.

Most of those who died in Thursday's quake were in the town of Mashiki where an apartment building collapsed and many houses were damaged.

More than 1,000 people were injured.

Some 40,000 people had initially fled their homes, with many of those closest to the epicentre spending the night outside, as more than 130 aftershocks had hit the area.

Analysis: Jonathan Amos, BBC science correspondent

Japan is one of the most seismically active areas on Earth, accounting for about 20% of global quakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater. Seismometers are recording some kind of event every five minutes, on average.

It is through bitter experience that Japan has learnt the strategies to mitigate damage, injury and death. Not only does it implement some the best building construction practices but it has also established an early warning network.

This system relies on the lightning analysis of the developing quake, establishing its location and strength. Alerts are then broadcast that can give people more distant from the epicentre vital seconds' notice.

Just 10 seconds is more than sufficient to drop and get under a sturdy table or open the doors of a fire station.

The prospect of buildings already damaged in Thursday's quake toppling over in this latest tremor will be a concern.

Source: bbc.com

A woman from Ohio has been charged with streaming the rape of a teenage girl via Twitter's live video app Periscope.

The offence is alleged to have occurred two months ago and was brought to the authorities' attention by someone who said they had seen the broadcast.

The accused's lawyer says that she "categorically" denies the charges.

An expert said the case highlighted the impossibility of controlling content on live-streaming services, which are gaining in popularity.

According to the indictment, the sexual assault took place in the city of Columbus on 27 February.

Marina Lonina is also accused of taking a photo of the 17-year-old in a state of undress the previous night.

Lonina's boyfriend, Raymond Gates, has been accused of carrying out the assault. It is not yet known how he intends to plead.

The two face charges of rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor.

Inaccurate systems

Twitter declined to comment. Periscope's guidelines say that graphic content is banned.

But this is not the first time the app has been linked to an alleged offence.

Earlier this month, it was reported that police in London had intervened after a fight between two rival gangs had been arranged via the app.

Other incidents include:

• A woman who streamed herself as she drove home while intoxicated
• A murderer who broadcast footage of himself from a US jail for several days before officers confiscated his phone
• Teenagers who were arrested after streaming footage of themselves robbing a van in Utah

The app has hosted more than 100 million broadcasts since it launched last year, the vast majority of which are innocuous.

But the issue of live-streamed crime could become more common as the activity becomes more mainstream.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced it was adding a tab to its app to help users find live-streamed videos.

The social network had already altered the algorithm of its news feeds to prioritise such feeds.

"The volume of content being created and uploaded every day is far too great to be regulated manually and automatic systems are simply too inaccurate to be practical," commented Dr Joss Wright from the Oxford Internet Institute.

"There is almost no practical way to prevent content like this being uploaded and shared if people want to do it and any system to do so would also have serious implications for freedom of expression and the publication of legitimate but controversial content.

"The internet has undoubtedly made this case worse for the alleged victim. But as with other real-world crimes, prevention is not always possible."

Source: bbc.com

At least nine people have died and more than 250 are injured after a powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, toppling buildings and cutting power supplies.

Officials say more people could be trapped under collapsed buildings.

Thousands fled their homes and many people spent the night in the open in the town of Mashiki, near Kumamoto city on the island of Kyushu.

Troops have been sent to the scene but rescue operations are being disrupted by aftershocks, officials said.

In pictures: Mashiki evacuees huddled in the streets

No tsunami warning was issued after the magnitude 6.4 quake struck at 21:26 on Thursday (12:26 GMT) east of Kumamoto.

Nuclear reactors on the island are not reported to have been affected.

The two Sendai nuclear reactors on Kyushu were operating as normal while the three Genkai nuclear reactors still in operation were already closed for routine inspection.

The quake struck at a depth of 10km (six miles) and was followed by aftershocks measuring 5.7 about 40 minutes later and 6.4 just after midnight local time.

But Japan's seismology office recorded the shaking at some places to be as intense as the huge magnitude nine earthquake that hit the country in 2011.

That triggered a tsunami in a double disaster that left more than 18,000 people dead or missing and led to meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

"The shaking was so violent I couldn't stand still," Hironobu Kosaki, a local police official, told the Associated Press news agency.

Initial reports said two people had died but the toll rose to nine as rescue teams worked through the night.

Yasuhiro Soshino, of the Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital, told BBC World News on Friday morning that they had received 254 injured people including 15 severe cases.

"Red Cross medical teams in other areas are also gathering at our Red Cross hospital," he said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at least 19 houses had collapsed and officials were still assessing the extent of the damage.

About 16,000 homes were left without electricity and 38,000 without gas, reports say.

At least two deaths occurred in Mashiki, where the shaking was most severe. The town lies 15km (nine miles) east of Kumamoto.

One victim died after being pulled from the rubble and another was killed in a fire, Kumamoto prefecture disaster management official Takayuki Matsushita was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Mashiki residents said houses and walls had collapsed and the water supply had been cut off.

An official in the nearby city of Uki said houses there had also collapsed as well as part of the city hall's ceiling.

The BBC's Japan Correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes says the quake took place at a time when most people were at home.

Some train services were suspended as a precautionary measure.

Japan is regularly struck by earthquakes but stringent building codes mean that damage usually does not occur.

Source: bbc.com

A video released by the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram appears to prove that some of the schoolgirls kidnapped two years ago from the town of Chibok are still alive.

The video, sent to the Nigerian government, shows 15 girls in black robes identifying themselves as pupils abducted from the secondary school.

Some of those filmed have been identified by their parents.

It is the first footage of the girls to be seen since May 2014.

The kidnapping of the 276 girls triggered the global social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls, involving US first lady Michelle Obama and a host of celebrities.

But despite their efforts, most of the girls are still missing.

• Where are the girls?
• Inside the girls' school
• Could the UK have done more?

Meanwhile, hundreds of parents are due to hold a march in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to demand the government does more to find their daughters.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Abuja says they blame the previous government for doing nothing when the abduction took place and now the current administration for failing to devote enough resources to the search.

Boko Haram militants attacked the government boarding school in Borno state on 14 April 2014, seizing the girls who had gone there to take exams.

Shortly afterwards they released a video of them and demanded a prisoner exchange.

Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls had converted to Islam and he threatened to force them into marriage with his fighters or sell them into slavery.

As the months passed, about 57 students managed to escape but at least 219 are still missing.

The latest video, apparently filmed on Christmas Day 2015, shows the girls pleading with the Nigerian government to co-operate with militants on their release.

They said they were being treated well but wanted to be with their families.

Two mothers, Rifkatu Ayuba and Mary Ishaya, said they recognised their daughters in the video while a third mother, Yana Galang, identified five of the missing girls, Reuters reported.

They were shown the video at a screening organised by local officials in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.

"They were definitely our daughters... all we want is for the government to bring back our girls," said Mrs Galang.

Amnesty International says about 2,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014. Many are used as sex slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers.

Although the militants are still launching attacks, the Nigerian army has made progress in its fight against them over the past year, our correspondent adds.

It has retaken towns and villages controlled by Boko Haram and has also freed hundreds of women and children held captive.

• Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, hundreds abducted, including at least 200 schoolgirls
• Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"
• Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
• Regional force has retaken most territory last year

'Boko Haram took my children'

Town divided by Boko Haram legacy

On patrol against Boko Haram

Who are Boko Haram?

Source: bbc.com

Two Russian planes flew close to a US guided missile destroyer almost a dozen times, American officials have said.

The Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes, in international waters in the Baltic Sea, had no visible weaponry and the ship took no action.

One official called the events on Monday and Tuesday "one of the most aggressive acts in recent memory".

The commander of the missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, described the flights as a "simulated attack".

The passes were "unsafe, potentially provocative" and "could have caused an accident," officials said in a release.

At one point the jets were so close, about 30ft (9m), that they created wakes in the water around the ship.

The actions may have violated a 1970s agreement meant to prevent dangerous incidents at sea, but it is not clear whether the US is going to protest.

A Russian helicopter taking pictures also passed by the ship seven times.

The Donald Cook was conducting deck landing drills with an Allied military helicopter when the jets made their passes, according to a statement from the United States European Command.

Flight operations were suspended until the jets left the area.

The next day, a Russian KA-27 helicopter did circles at low altitude around the ship, followed by more jet passes.

The aircraft did not respond to safety warnings in English or Russian.

The jets were so close they created wakes in the water near the ship

These close encounters of a military kind between the US and its allies and Russia have escalated significantly over the past two years, ever since Russia's annexation of Crimea and the substantial break down of relations between East and West.

They take various forms. They can be violations of national airspace; narrowly avoided mid-air collisions, close encounters at sea and simulated attack runs.

The incidents have taken place over a wide area - in and around the Baltic states; in the Baltic sea; the Black Sea and even close to Stockholm, when the Swedish authorities believed a Russian submarine had violated its territorial waters in 2014.

They are regarded by defence analysts as a flexing of muscle - a reminder that Russia has military might and cannot be pushed around.

But the frequency of such situations means many fear that a full on confrontation - be-it deliberate or accidental - is just a matter of time between the world's two great military powers.

"We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight manoeuvres," the statement read. "These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death."

US officials are reviewing the incident.

A similar incident occurred last June, when Russian warplanes made close passes over a US destroyer in the Black Sea.

Russian media had reported at the time that the USS Ross was acting "aggressively" but the Department of Defense refuted that.

Source: bbc.com

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects, including microcephaly.

Hundreds of babies were born in Brazil last year with microcephaly, a syndrome where children are born with unusually small heads.

The defects coincided with a spike in Zika infections, leading experts to suspect the mosquito-borne virus.

Research has now affirmed those experts' suspicions, the CDC said.

"This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak. It is now clear that the virus causes microcephaly," said Dr Tom Frieden, the head of the CDC.

Microcephaly: Why it is not the end of the world

What you need to know Key questions answered about the virus and its spread

Travel advice Countries affected and what you should do

The mosquito behind spread of virus What we know about the insect

Abortion dilemma Laws and practices in Catholic Latin America

On Monday, US health officials warned the Zika outbreak could have more of an effect on the United States and called for additional funding to combat the virus.

"Everything we know about this virus seems to be scarier than we initially thought," said Dr Anne Schuchat of the CDC.

Zika virus was first diagnosed in 1947 in Uganda, but symptoms have typically been mild, including rash, joint pain and fever.

The current outbreak started in 2015 in Brazil and the symptoms have been much more severe. Nearly 200 babies have died as result of the virus.

Researchers are interesting learning why some cases of the virus result in birth defects while others do not.

Some women who were infected with Zika while pregnant gave birth to apparently healthy children.

The Zika virus can be transmitted via mosquito

There have been 346 confirmed cases of Zika in the continental United States, according to the CDC, all associated with travel.

CDC officials said the findings do not change the agency's earlier guidance to pregnant women.

The CDC has discouraged pregnant women from travelling to places where the Zika virus is spreading, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dr Frieden said intensive research was under way to find out much more about the mosquito-borne virus and to develop a vaccine for it, although he warned that that could still be years away.

This is the first time that mosquito bites have caused birth defects, Dr Frieden said. The virus can be transmitted by sexual contact as well.

Source: bbc.com

A pilot allowed an elderly couple to get off a plane moments before take-off so they could visit their dying grandson in hospital.

They had boarded the Abu Dhabi-bound aircraft at Manchester Airport when they received a text message about their relative's condition.

The flight, which had been taxiing towards the runway, returned to the gate so the couple could rush to their grandson's bedside.

He died later on the same night.

The couple's travel agent Becky Stephenson said the 30 March incident was "very unusual".

"I've been in the travel business for 25 years and never heard of this happening," she said.

Airline praised

Ms Stephenson, who is based in Bradford, praised the Etihad Airways pilot and said she had not heard of an airline going "above and beyond with their customer service" in such a way.

"I'm just really grateful that my customers could get back to see him," she said:

"My customers were so grateful that staff were very helpful and they were taken care of."

"The flight still went ahead after the couple got off," Ms Stephenson added.

"Etihad have said they can use the ticket again on a different date.

"But my customers are not thinking of when they're flying back out again."

Source: bbc.com

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has said he wants to make changes to a controversial new state law condemned by business groups, activists and celebrities as anti-gay.

The law invalidated several local anti-discrimination measures that protected gay and transgender people.

It also requires people to use public toilets that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificates.

The state's anti-discrimination rules should be strengthened, McCrory said.

However he said the restrictions on access to public toilets should remain.

Major companies such as Bank of America and Apple have criticised the law and others vowed to curtail their businesses in the state because of it.

The fallout included:

• Pay Pal dropped plans to open an operations centre in the state that would have employed about 400 people
• Deutsche Bank stopped plans to add 250 jobs to the state
• Rock singer Bruce Springsteen cancelled a concert in Greensboro
• A TV production for the streaming service Hulu relocated to Canada
• Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau said five groups have cancelled conventions with 16 others considering

Mr McCrory acknowledged receiving a large amount of "feedback" about the law over the past few weeks.

"Based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality," he said.

Under Mr McCrory's suggested changes, gay, lesbian and transgender people would be able to sue in state court over discrimination. That change would require the approval of the legislature.

Using an executive order, Mr McCrory will expand the equal employment policy for state employees to include sexual orientation and gender.

He also affirmed that private businesses are able to set their own policies regarding public toilets.

Gay rights activists said Mr McCrory's actions to did not go far enough and called for a full repeal of the law.

The state American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is challenging the law in court, said the governor was making "a poor effort to save face".

North Carolina is one of a number of states in the southern US that have recently considered or enacted legislation that many deem anti-gay.

Last June, a US Supreme Court ruling made gay marriage legal nationwide. In response, conservatives have sought to enact protections for religious people who believe marriage should only be between a man and woman.

Last year, Indiana made changes to a "religious freedom" law after business groups and others threatened to boycott the state. The updated law included language that prohibited discrimination of any kind.

This week, Mississippi passed a religious freedom law. That measure, however, specifically allows people to refuse service to gay people on religious grounds.

Georgia's Governor Nathan Deal vetoed a similar bill in March after pressure from prominent firms including Coca-Cola and the Walt Disney Co.

Source: bbc.com

A suburb in Leeds is the first place in the UK where it is permitted for women to sell sex between specified hours. The "managed approach" was introduced to try to control the trade. The Victoria Derbyshire programme spent a night there to find out how it is working.

Chelsea, whose name has been changed, 29, has been a sex worker for five years. She's addicted to crack cocaine and earns roughly £150 a night - which she spends on drugs and gifts for her children. They do not live with her and she would hate for them to know what she does.

In the evenings she puts on her make-up and gets the bus to Holbeck, a mainly industrial area to the south-east of Leeds city centre.

During the day it is bustling, but on a cold March night it is quiet with lots of small, dark areas for sex workers to operate.

Chelsea knows her work is dangerous. "You don't know what type of man you're getting next. They may look all right but they could be nasty. You take a gamble with yourself. It's life or death," she says.

It is not actually illegal to sell sex in the UK, but it is illegal to solicit - offering sex in a public place.

But in this specified network of roads, street prostitutes can sell their services from 19.00 to 07.00 BST, without being stopped by police.

Traditionally, workers operated across the whole of Holbeck - this scheme has moved them from residential streets to places where businesses operate in the day but not at night.

The 'managed area' in Holbeck

What are the rules of the managed area?

• Working on streets outside the agreed area or times will not be tolerated

• Litter including condoms/wrapping/syringes should not be left

• People should respect business and other properties

• Crime, public disorder and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated

• No drug use is allowed

Source: Safer Leeds Partnership

Chelsea points out a cul-de-sac where men pull up if they want business and the railway bridge that marks the end of the managed area. She says most of the people driving past are punters as they stare at her as she walks down the main road.

"I charge a lot. I tell them if they pay for steak they get steak, if they pay for mince they get mince," she says.

Around 40 women work here regularly - a mixture of migrant and British sex workers - who must be over 18.

Chelsea says street work has "changed a lot" since the area was introduced last October after a year-long pilot. Police check their welfare instead of arresting them.

"I used to get a lot of cautions. It's better like this. We are all in agreement. They're giving you a time, you have to stick to it. If you go over you've only got yourself to blame," she says.

But this approach is more than just a physical zone. The police, council and charities also support the sex workers and try to keep them safe.

Emily, a caseworker from the charity Basis, visits regularly to check if there is anything the women are concerned about and offers hot drinks and condoms.

"If we have a managed area, we know where people are. It's policed properly with marked vehicles and a liaison officer. There's extra street cleaning. It's a whole approach," she explains.

Woman killed

Chelsea was attacked two years ago on a nearby back street - badly beaten and raped while she was pregnant.

"What I suffered was bad, I was close to dying at one point. He was a vicious man. He's serving a 10-year prison sentence," she says.

But a woman has been killed since the zone was established. In December, Daria Pionko, 21, from Poland, was found injured and later died in hospital.

A 24-year-old man has been charged with her murder.

Emily admits it is not completely safe, but says it is safer, with the key being an improved relationship with the police.

The percentage of crime victims willing to report their incidents has increased from 26% to 51%, according to National Ugly Mugs - a sex worker support organisation which runs database sharing information on potentially dangerous clients.

"What happened as a result of the managed area - the trust now between girls and police - girls coming forward, punters coming forward," she said.

Safer Leeds - the police and council partnership - says the previous approach of police enforcement had not worked, so the zone was an attempt to reduce a long-standing nuisance. It says it has led to fewer complaints in residential areas and a significant increase in women accessing support services.

'Offensive debris'

But some people want it to close and it is under review this month.

Greg Adams, owner of an office supplies company, says while he cannot disagree with a scheme that supports the vulnerable, he feels the problem has been forced on to the businesses.

"It's just every time you drive to the end of the road you see street prostitutes plying for trade - it's very obvious - they eye you up.

"It's not that offensive, but what is offensive is the debris from nefarious activities. Used condoms, drugs paraphernalia. In the first month, two items of soiled undergarments on the street, in my yard used condoms. It's all shocking," he says.

At the end of her night's work we meet Chelsea again - she has earned £150 from three men in an hour: "Doesn't take me long to make money. Sexy girl like me. Who can resist?" she says.

The next morning it is clear it has been a busy night, they leave behind litter - beer cans, condom wrappers - you can see why people coming back to work are not happy.

It is a difficult balance - women like Chelsea would still be on these streets with or without the permission of the authorities. But the impact some feel the managed approach has had on this area's reputation may force its closure.

Source: bbc.com

An indigenous community in northern Canada has declared a state of emergency after 11 people attempted to take their own lives in one day.

The Attawapiskat First Nation in Ontario saw 28 suicide attempts in March and more than 100 since last September, Canadian media said, with one person reported to have died.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the news "heartbreaking".

Canada's 1.4 million indigenous people have high levels of poverty.

Their life expectancy is also below the Canadian average.

Bruce Shisheesh, the chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation community, said 11 people attempted to take their own lives on Saturday, prompting him to declare a state of emergency.

He tweeted that the regional Weeneebayko Health Authority was flying in a crisis team, mental health nurses and social workers, and that he was waiting for Ontario's minister of health to deliver more emergency workers to the area.

The First Nations government was sending a crisis response unit to the community following the declaration on Saturday, Canadian media said.

Attawapiskat First Nation

• isolated First Nation tribe in Kenora District, northern Ontario, Canada
• population around 2,000 on the reserve
• former chief Theresa Spence had a hunger strike in 2013 to protest over the Canadian government not providing enough money, education and health care for the tribe
• had a state of emergency in 2011, the third in three years, due to low temperatures and insufficient housing
• in 2013 accused Stephen Harper's Conservative government of being right-wing and racist

The Health Canada federal agency said in a statement it had sent two mental health counsellors as part of that unit.

Charlie Angus, the local MP, said: "This is a systemic crisis affecting the communities."

"There's just not been a serious response from any level of government until now," he said.

"We'll continue to work to improve living conditions for all Indigenous peoples," Prime Minister Trudeau said.

Another Canadian aboriginal community in the western province of Manitoba appealed for federal aid last month, citing six suicides in two months and 140 suicide attempts in two weeks.

Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are among the top causes of death for First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, according to studies from Health Canada.

National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde called for a national strategy to combat indigenous suicide last month.

"Immediate support to communities is essential & a #FirstNations driven national strategy on mental health," he tweeted on Monday.

Source: bbc.com

A US Navy officer has been charged with espionage, accused of passing military secrets to China and Taiwan, according to US military officials.

The Associated Press news agency named him as Lt Cdr Edward Lin, a US citizen who was born in Taiwan.

He is being held in Navy brig in Virginia awaiting a court-martial.

Officials believe he passed information to a Chinese girlfriend, the New York Times reported. Lt Cdr Lin is also charged with lying about his travels.

United States Naval Institute (USNI) News first reported the charges against Lt Cdr Lin. The website said that Lin worked as a signals intelligence specialist on the Navy's EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance planes.

He joined the Navy as an enlisted sailor in 1999 and became a US citizen in 2008.

"I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land," Lt Cdr Lin said when he became citizen. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland."

Source: bbc.com