BBC News with Fiona MacDonald
Western leaders have condemned the killing of one of the world's most celebrated war correspondents, the American Marie Colvin, in the Syrian city of Homs. A French photo journalist Remi Ochlik was also killed. They died when a house they were reporting from was shelled by Syrian government forces. From Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, Jim Muir reports.
The bombardment of Baba Amr resumed in the early morning with rockets and artillery shells smashing into the already devastated quarter where several hundred rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army are believed to be holding out. Among the many victims were the veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and the French photo journalist Remi Ochlik. They died when shells racked a makeshift press centre. Marie Colvin's trenchant and compassionate reporting and now her death along with Remi Ochlik have focused international attention even more on the plight of thousands of civilians trapped in Baba Amr.
Activists in Syria say many more people died in Homs on Wednesday as a result of government shelling. Among them was the activist Rami al-Sayed, who's been an important provider to the outside world of video footage.
Ethiopian troops backed by forces of the Somali interim government have taken control of the central city of Baidoa from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The city fell without a battle when the Islamists withdrew. They say they will instead wage a guerrilla campaign.
The judge in the six-month trial of the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has set the date of 2 June to issue his verdict and any sentence. Mr Mubarak has been accused of responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of protesters in last year's uprising. Jon Leyne reports from Cairo.
Outside the court, demonstrators called for the death penalty for Hosni Mubarak. But they were well outnumbered by the riot police. The last day of the trial was a pale shadow of the dramatic opening since last August when the former president was wheeled into court on a stretcher . Since then, remarkably little has emerged to shed light on what happened during the 18 days of revolution last year.
Divers working on the wreck of the cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, have found eight more bodies inside, including the only child listed missing. The ship ran aground last month off the coast of Italy. Alan Johnston reports from Rome.
Rough seas have hampered efforts by rescue workers to bring all the dead ashore and identify them. But the authorities say that among those found were the remains of a woman and a child. This is thought to be the body of a little girl called Dayana Arlotti, who was five years old. She was the only child listed as missing after the disaster. Altogether 25 bodies have now been found on the wreck. Another seven people are still unaccounted for .
World News from the BBC
A train crash in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires has killed at least 49 people. Hundreds more were injured when the crowded commuter train smashed into the buffers as it came into one of the city's busiest stations. Argentina's transport minister said the train's brakes appeared to have failed.
The Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said that the new European bailout deal currently being discussed in parliament is of historic significance. He said success would bind Greece to the euro and shield it from default. Mr Venizelos said that in making the deal, worth more than $170bn, Greece's European partners were making a political commitment to support it for as long as it takes return to the financial markets.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron has given the English football authorities two months to come up with an action plan to combat all forms of discrimination. The news came after Mr Cameron met officials, former players and campaigners to discuss two recent racist incidents involving high-profile players - Luis Suarez of Liverpool and the former England captain John Terry of Chelsea. Former Liverpool club and England international John Barnes went to the meeting and told the BBC what had been discussed.
"Legislation needs to be passed. We have to be much more stringent and having zero tolerance at obvious overt racism at football stadiums -on and off the field. So, yeah, it was more about the stakeholders of Premier League, the PFA, everybody coming together, and then hoping the next coming month for them to be legislature pass to make it not ambiguous in any way whatsoever as to what is allowed and what's not allowed."
Cherie Blair, the wife of the former British prime minister, is suing Rupert Murdoch's News International group for hacking into her mobile phone voice mails. News International has already paid out millions of dollars in damages to dozens of celebrities, politicians and others whose messages it intercepted.