BBC News with Marion Marshall.
Russian investigators are treating a murder of the opposition activist, Boris Nemtsov, as a contract killing. A court in Moscow said that one man, Zaur Dadayev, had
admitted involvement in the shooting near the Kremlin last month. He is one of five suspects from the mainly-Muslim North Caucasus. Investigators have suggested Mr.
Nemtsov might have been targeted for supporting those who satirised the Prophet Mohammed. But one of Mr. Nemtsov's allies, Ilya Yashin, dismissed the suggestion.
I do not believe in this version. I believe in political version. I believe in the version that Nemtsov was killed because it was an act of terror to scare the
society.
The President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has said he personally knew Mr. Dadayev. He described him as a committed Muslim and a real patriot of Russia.
Forces from Chad and Niger have launched a joint ground and air offensive in northeastern Nigeria against the Islamist group, Boko Haram. The move opens up a new front
against the jihadists. With more, here's Mike Wooldridge.
A resident in the town in southern Niger, from which the new offensive was launched, said he saw troops heading towards a nearby Nigerian border early in the morning,
followed by sounds of heavy gunfire. A local radio station reported that more than 200 vehicles moved towards the bordering convoy, including tanks, ambulances and
water tankers. This would appear to be the first significant incursion into Nigeria from its northern neighbour. But Chad has already sent its troops deep into areas
of Nigeria where Boko Haram has mounted attacks of many times. I'm with Nigeria's own forces stepping up their offensive in recent weeks, too. Boko Haram has already
been pushed out of a number of towns.
The Nigerian government has said the pledge of allegiance by Boko Haram to the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria shows that the militants are under pressure. A
government's spokesman told the BBC that Boko Haram had suffered very high casualties and a degrading of its capacity as a result of the attacks by Nigerian and
regional armed forces.
A U.N. peacekeeper and two civilians have been killed in an attack on a military base in northern Mali. At least 30 rockets were fired at the barracks in the desert
town of Kidal.
President Obama has said the United States will walk away from nuclear talks with Iran if no acceptable agreement is reached. Speaking on an American Television, Mr.
Obama said Iran has negotiated seriously, and progress has been made in narrowing the gaps, but those gaps still remained.
If we cannot verify that they are not going to obtain the nuclear weapon and there is a breakout period, so that even if they cheated, we will be able to have enough
time to taken action. If we don't have that kind of deal, then we're not going to take it.
In a controversial speech to Congress on Tuesday, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that a nuclear deal with Teheran will pave the way for an
Iranian bomb.
BBC News.
An 18-month-old baby in the United States has been rescued from a car 14 hours after it crashed and overturned in a river. The child is said to be in a critical but
stable condition in hospital. More from Alastair Leithead.
It was around half past ten at night when Lynn Groesbeck and her baby were heading home from her parents' house in Utah, when the car crashed off the road and
overturned in the icy Spanish Fork River. 14 hours later, the vehicle was found by a man fishing in the river. The 25-year-old mother died in the crash, but her 18-
month-old baby was still alive, strapped into a car seat and suspended above the water which was flowing through the car. The river was so cold. Three police officers
and four firemen who rescued the child had to be treated for hypothermia.
Security officials in northern Afghanistan say a siege is over at a jail in Jauzjan Province and the authorities are now back in control. Police say the incident began
when inmates attacked an inspection team. One prisoner and two police officers were killed, including the Deputy Security Chief of a neighbouring province. Another
policeman has been seriously burned. The inmates include both criminals and Taliban militants.
The Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, is being treated from malaria and fatigue after he collapsed on stage while speaking at a public ceremony. Mr. Lungu was taken to a
military hospital and said later that tests had shown traces of malaria, but there was no need for concern. Mr. Lungu came into power in January after the previous
President died in office.
The Vatican has said it has received a ransom demand for a letter signed by the Renaissance artist, Michelangelo, which disappeared from the archives nearly 20 years
ago. A Vatican's spokesman said they are being offered the return of the document for a undisclosed amount of money, but refused to pay, because the letter had been
stolen.