BBC News with Jerry Smit.
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.
The authorities met with fierce resistance from the terrorists, who used automatic weapons, grenades and sniper fire. We responded to the attack with the utmost care and in a manner which 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 centres, where conditions are often appalling. With no legal avenues to escape and 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 been freed on bail. The footage shows a masked policeman firing in the woman's direction, before apparently exchanging his weapon for a teargas launcher. Yosef Tahha reports.
Video footage of a man in orange jumper carrying the dying Shaimaa 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 a month of denying that the police used 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 ceasefire in the northern province of Saada, the Houthis heartland that's been subject 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, Bronislaw Komorowske, is due to face a Conservative challenger in the runoff of the presidential election in two 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, Bronislaw Komorowske, is one of the country's most trusted politicians, as they say. And just weeks ago, they showed he was heading for a knockout victory in the first round with more than fifty percent of the vote. Now, he'll have to face a second round in two weeks of time, possibly as runner-up. He's been caught by younger, but until recently, relatively unknown challenger, Andrzej Duda, who's led a 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. Grant Ferrett 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 poachers who steal rhino horn 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 record to take nearly 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, Raffael Nadal, on his home soil, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal's defeat means he's slipped to 7th in the world rankings, the first time he's been outside the top five in a decade.