BBC news with Jonathan Izard
The United Nations security council has appealed for urgent humanitarian access to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in the Syrian capital Damascus. An estimated 1,8000 people are understood be trapped there after Islamist State militants entered the camp last week, clashing with Palestinians trying to defend it. The president of the Security council Dina Kawar said members had condemned in the strongest terms the grave crimes being committed in Yarmouk by the Islamist State group and the al-Nusra Front. She said all parties must ensure the safety of all civilians in the camp.
“The members called for the protection of civilians in the camp, for assuring humanitarian access to the area including by providing life-saving assistance and ensure safe passage and evacuation of the civilians.”
Reports from northwestern Syria said that around 300 Kurdish men abducted by an Islamist rebel group have been released. Syrian Kurdish officials said the men were seized when the buses they were traveling in were stopped while en route to the city of Aleppo. It is believed they were detained by a group called the Army of Islam which was demanding the release of 3 of its members who were in Kurdish hands.
Fighting has continued in the Yemeni city of Aden where Houthis rebels are now in control of most of the strategic roads, however, they are facing resistance from local residents. Water and food supplies are running low, and the International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to organize an airlift of relieve supplies. The organization spokesperson in the capital of Sanaa is Marie Claire Feghali.
“We have indeed received the permission from the coalition on Sunday Yemen authorities to send in planes carrying 48 tons of medical supplies. These planes have not arrived yet, we have hoped that we will be able to get them to the country, to Sanaa as soon as tomorrow or day the after.”
The jury in the trial of the man accused of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 will begin its deliberations on Tuesday, having heard the closing statements from the lawyers on Monday. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pledged not guilty to all 30 charges, if he is found guilty, Mr. Tsarnaev, a Chechen American, could face the death penalty, Nick Bryant reports.
“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said he aims to terrorize his country the prosecution claimed and to punish America for what it was doing to Muslim people. The jury was shown video of Dzhokhar placing a pressure cooker bomb close to the finishing line, and next to a row of small children. Throughout,he seemed entirely untroubled by the carnage he was about to unleash. Tsarnaev 's defense team has admitted his role in the bombings, calling them the senseless acts, but claimed he was under the influence of his elder brother Tamerlan who was killed in a shootout with the police.”
The U.S. says details yet to be worked out for guiding how quickly sanctions on Iran will be lifted if a final agreement on Tehran's nuclear program is reached. A White House spokesman has said that an immediate ending of the sanction regime would not be wise.
World news from the BBC.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been urged to investigate the discovery of more than 400 bodies in unmarked graves in the capital Kinshasa. The lobby group Human Rights Watch said it was necessary to establish whether dozens of protestors killed during anti-government demonstrations in January were among those hastily interred cemetery in Maluku.
The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko says Russian-backed rebels operating in the east of the country have freed 16 soldiers they were holding captive. David Stern reports from the capital Kiev.
“President Poroshenko made the announcement on his facebook page, saying the 16 soldiers would be taken to the town of Kramatorsk, in government controlled territory. A spokesperson for the insurgence Evan Cupyo confirmed the release, which he said was a goodwill gesture. He also said that the rebels were holding no more Ukraine soldiers. However, a Ukraine government official denied this report, though he declined to say how many forces were still in rebel captivity. Nearly 200 pro-Kiev militants prisoners were exchanged in February.
Social media restrictions are being lifted in Turkey, as sites removed contentious images showing a prosecutor being held hostage by left-wing militants last week. The prosecutor died during the operation aimed at ending the siege. The authorities ordered the ban early on Monday, but was soon lifted on Facebook, and a latest report say access to Twitter has also been restored.
The Turkish football federation has suspended all matches in the country's top league for one week starting on Tuesday after the Fenerbahce's team bus was shot at while returning from a match in eastern Turkey over the weekend. Cup games were also be suspended for a week. Fenerbahce who was second in the Turkish super league, said they would not take part in any future fixtures until those responsible for the shooting were identified. Only the driver of the team bus was injured, a prosecutor has opened an investigation for attempted murder and damage the property.