The Macedonian President has accused a group of gunmen involved in deadly clashes with police of planning to carry out terror attacks to destabilize the country. In a televised address, President Gjorge Ivanov said police had thwarted the extremists, when they confronted them in the northern town of Kumanovo at the weekend. The Macedonian authorities identified several of their leaders as ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.More than 20 people including 8 police were killed in the violence. The spokesman for the Macedonian Interior Ministry Ivo Kotevski said the battle had been intense.
(Through an interpreter)The authorities met with fierce resistance from the terrorists, who used automatic weapons, grenades and sniper fire. We responded to the attack with uttermost care and in a manner that was most appropriate to the situation.
Amnesty International says migrants in Libya face horrific abuse, driving them to risk their lives to try to reach Europe. A new report based on dozens of interviews documents accounts of abduction and rape. Paul Adams reports.
Libya is full of cruelty. That quote from an unnamed Nigerian migrant is the title of Amnesty International's report. And the document makes grim reading with its stories of the abduction, torture and rape of migrants in Libya. It documents systematic exploitation and abuse by employers, some of whom treat migrants as slaves and in detention centers where conditions are often appalling. With no legal avenues to escape or seek safety, says Amnesty, migrants are forced to place their lives in the hands of smugglers who callously extort, abuse and attack them.
A judge in Egypt has ordered the detention of a policeman who's gone on trial for killing an unarmed female activist during a demonstration in January. The 24-year old officer who's facing a manslaughter charge had initially freed on bail. The footage shows the masked policeman followed the woman's direction before apparently exchanging his weapon for a teargas launcher. Youssef Taha reports.
Video footage of a man in orange jumper carrying the dying Shaimaa al-Sabbagh have gripped Egypt for months. His futile attempts to stop any vehicle to take her to hospital and the police's preventing an ambulance from reaching her have made many Egyptians ashamed and angry. She was taking part in a peaceful protest in central Cairo, not far from Tahrir Square, the scene of the popular uprising against long-time President Hosni Mubarak 3 years earlier. After months of denying that the police use live ammunition, the authorities have relented to public pressure and put the officer suspected of shooting her on trial.
Aid agencies in Yemen have called for an immediate cease fire in the northern province of Sa'ada, the Houthi rebel heartland that's been subjected to intensified bombing by the Saudi-led coalition. The Saudis have told all civilians to leave the region.
World News from the BBC.
The Polish President Bronisaw Komorowski is due to face a conservative challenger in the run-off in the presidential election in 2 weeks' time, after exit polls indicated that he unexpectedly lost the first round of voting. From Warsaw here's Adam Easton.
The exit poll is a big surprise. Poland's President Bronisaw Komorowski is one of the country's most trusted politicians, surveys say. And just weeks ago, they're sure he's heading for a knockout victory in the first round with more than 50% of the vote. Now we'll have to face a second round in two weeks' time. Possibly, he's runner-up. He's been called by younger, but till recently relatively unknown challenger Andrzej Duda who's led the dynamic campaign compared to the president.
The South African government has warned that rhinoceros poaching is reaching record levels. The country's environment minister said nearly 400 have been killed so far this year. The animals are killed for their horns, often used in traditional medicine in Asia. XXX reports.
South Africa has the world's largest rhino population, giving it a vital role in conservation efforts. The government denies it's losing the battle against the poachers, who steal rhino horns for sale in Asia where it's used in traditional medicine. But the figures tell a worrying story. A decade ago, poachers killed 13 rhinos in South Africa. This year they are on course to take 100 times as many. Most are killed in the vast Kruger National Park, bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique. And while protection efforts have been stepped up, the poachers are becoming ever more sophisticated and ruthless.
The British tennis player Andy Murray has claimed his first master series title on a clay court, winning the Madrid Open. He defeated Spain's top player Rafael Nadal on his home soil, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal's defeat means he slips to the 7th in the world rankings, the first time he's been outside the top 5 in a decade.
BBC News.