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BBC news 2012-04-10

BBC News with Nick Kelly

In one of the deadliest days since the start of anti-government protests in Syria, activists say at least 100 people have been killed by security forces. The surge in violence came on the eve of the deadline for troops to withdraw from Syrian towns and cities under an international peace plan. The violence also spilled across Syria's borders with Turkey and Lebanon. Abdul Omar, a member of the opposition Syrian Network for Human Rights, says the Syrian authorities are trying to regain control ahead of the deadline.

"Its mostly affected is the north of the country. We're talking about the province of Idlib as well as the northern area of rural Aleppo. We have seen helicopter gunships being deployed. Yesterday we saw for the first time fighter jets flying over Aleppo, the city - not to attack - but I believe this was more of an intimidation campaign. But helicopters mounted with machine guns and rockets have been attacking the north of the country quite heavily."

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has issued a statement deploring the cross-border violence. Mr Ban called on the Syrian government to immediately cease all military actions against civilians and honour the agreement brokered by the international envoy Kofi Annan. Turkey has said the latest attacks mean Tuesday's deadline for Syrian troop withdrawal from population centres has become unworkable. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting China, which has urged the Syrian government and the opposition to honour the peace deal.

At least 11 people have been killed by a bomb blast in the central Somali town of Baidoa. Here's our Africa editor Mary Harper.

The governor of Bay region, Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, told the BBC the bomb was planted in a small basket and hidden in a busy market in the centre of town. Most of the dead and injured were women and children. Mr Gesey blamed the Islamist militia al-Shabab for the attack. Ethiopian troops in February seized Baidoa from al-Shabab, depriving them of one of their most strategic strongholds. A few days ago, about 100 African Union peacekeepers were deployed to Baidoa - the first time they've moved out of the capital Mogadishu.

Facebook is paying $1bn in cash and shares for a photo-sharing software company. Its acquisition of Instagram is the biggest ever by the social networking firm. Instagram's web application allows its estimated 30 million users to add visual effects to pictures taken on smartphones. Caroline Hepker reports from New York.

The web application lets you take a photograph with your mobile device, then add a filter, like sepia 1970s tones, and upload it to different social media websites. According to a posting by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram will not simply be folded into Facebook but remain independent. The deal comes as Facebook addresses growing competition from Twitter even as it prepares a highly anticipated stock market launch.

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Reports from Peru say suspected members of the once powerful Shining Path rebel group are holding hostage seven workers from a natural gas project. Local media say the rebels were demanding the release of their leader known as Artemio. James Read reports.

More than two decades have passed since the Maoist rebels of the Shining Path posed any serious threat to Peru. But funded by cocaine trafficking, their remnants are still capable of causing trouble. The hostages were seized in a remote jungle region close to one of their last stronghold. They were working on a gas project that's central to Peru's now booming economy. The kidnappers are said to be demanding the release of Comrade Artemio - their last senior leader who was captured in February. President Ollanta Humala, who fought the rebels as a young soldier, has promised to crush them once and for all.

President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil has stressed the growing importance of relations with the United States after meeting President Obama at the White House. Ms Rousseff said there was potential to deepen cooperation, particularly in Brazil's booming oil and gas industry, and in science and technology. She expressed concern about expansionist monetary policies in developed countries, saying they were impairing growth in emerging economies.

The military in Yemen says at least 33 people, including nine soldiers, have been killed in a suspected al-Qaeda attack on an army barracks. At least 18 al-Qaeda fighters were among those killed in the clashes in the city of Lawdar in Abyan province in southern Yemen.

And a court in India has found 23 people guilty of killing Muslims in the state of Gujarat during religious riots 10 years ago. Those convicted were part of a mob that set fire to a house where 23 Muslims, mainly women and children, had taken shelter. All of them died. Religious violence broke out in Gujarat after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set alight by a mob. In all, more than 1,000 people were killed in the violence.

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