BBC在线收听下载:乌克兰政府军与亲俄军队发生激战

BBC news 2014-05-06

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram says it will sell more than 200 school girls who were kidnapped 3 weeks ago. The girls were taken from a school in the northeast of the country, Tomi Oladipo reports from Abuja.

In a video released today, the leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, standing in front of an armored car, says I abducted your girls. Abubakar Shekau adds I will sell the women in the market by Allah. For the relatives of the abducted girls, the video confirms their worst fears. Their grief and heartbreak has moved the world in the 3 weeks since they went missing, weeks in which seeming government inaction has led to anger and demonstrations. Nigeria's president has been accused of not doing enough to rescue the girls.

State Department officials in Washington say the Syrian opposition coalition has been given approval to open a formal diplomatic mission. Until now the Syrian opposition had only an informal liaison office in the United States. Barbara Plett Usher is in Washington.

The US decision does not grant the coalition recognition as Syria's government, nor allow it to take over the Syrian embassy. Rather, officials here described the move as another step towards formalizing America's relationship with the moderate opposition. This will facilitate banking and security services as well as help the opposition promote its image in the US and its outreach to the Syrian diaspora. The State Department also announced an extra 27 million dollars in aid. So far, the US has provided non-lethal assistance, although there is a debate in the administration about moving to more military support.

The monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says clashes are continuing between rival Islamist rebel groups in the northern city of Deir ez-Zor. The group says more than 40 members of the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant have been killed. The fighting has continued despite a call for a ceasefire from an al-Qaeda leader.

Four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and an attack helicopter shot down in heavy fighting between government forces and pro-Russian militants in the eastern city of Sloviansk. It's reported that the rebels who have occupied government buildings in several towns and cities across the region have retreated into Sloviansk city center. Richard Galpin is in the region's main city Donetsk.

This fighting took place effectively in the outskirts of the city. The government troops may have moved a little bit further towards the center, but they are not there yet, and obviously that's critical, because the rebels remain in control. They have hundreds, if not 1 or 2 thousand fighters there according to estimates I have seen, and they control all the main government buildings there. So we still don't know what the strategy of the Ukrainian military is. But if they do go into towards the center, it will be a very big and bloody battle.

World News from the BBC.

The BBC understands that the prosecution authorities in Northern Ireland do not believe that there is enough evidence to charge the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams with any offence. Mr. Adams was released on Sunday after 4 days of questioning by police in connection with the abduction and murder of a woman in 1972. He denies any involvement in the case. A file is to be sent to Northern Ireland's prosecution service later this week.

Bloggers in Russia with a daily readership of more than 3,000 will have to register with the Russian government's media watchdog under a new law signed by President Vladimir Putin. The legislation which takes effect in August obliges social networks and blogging websites to store data by their users' activity for 6 months and make information available to the authorities when requested. Failures to comply with the new legislation could lead to fines of several thousand dollars.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has said he's hopeful the talks with the Pakistani Taliban which began in March will bring peace to his country. In a rare interview, Mr. Sharif told the BBC, that it may take another 2 to 3 rounds of negotiations before progress was made, but that he will persevere with this strategy.

Pakistan has lost thousands of lives in its fights against terror, and economy has suffered very badly at the hands of terrorism. So if we can avoid any further bloodshed, if can we can make this process somehow successful. I think it will be perhaps the best option for Pakistan.

The Venezuelan government has been criticized by human rights watch for their alleged illegal detention and abuse of opposition protesters. The government is accused of using excessive force and in some cases, torture, including threats of rape and execution. The rights group says at least 41 people have died since protests began in early February.

BBC News.