BBC World Service

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The most comprehensive report yet looking at the worldwide loss of biodiversity is expected to warn that a million species face extinction.

The UN-backed report, due to be published shortly in Paris, draws on thousands of pieces of evidence to reveal the scale of declining wildlife and habitat loss.

Six hundred conservation experts have signed an open letter calling on world leaders to act decisively to halt damage to the natural world, stop climate change and ensure food security.

To do this, it says, humans must radically change the way we live, including how we use power, grow food and manage our waste.

Read more: Nature's emergency in five charts

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Boeing has admitted that it knew about a problem with its 737 Max jets a year before the aircraft was involved in two fatal accidents, but took no action.

The firm said it had inadvertently made an alarm feature optional instead of standard, but insisted that this did not jeopardise flight safety.

All 737 Max planes were grounded in March after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed, killing 157 people.

Five months earlier, 189 people were killed in a Lion Air crash in Indonesia.

The worldwide fleet of 737 Max planes totalled 387 aircraft , externalat the time of the grounding.

The feature at issue is known as the Angle of Attack (AOA) Disagree alert and was designed to let pilots know when two different sensors were reporting conflicting data.

The planemaker said it had intended to provide the feature as standard, but did not realise until deliveries had begun that it was only available if airlines purchased an optional indicator.

It said it had intended to deal with the problem in a later software update.

Read the full story on the BBC website.

Children are among more than 2,000 African migrants rounded up and detained in a football stadium in Yemen, an official for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has told the BBC Newsday programme.

Olivia Headon, IOM spokesperson in Yemen, said the migrants, predominately from Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, were being held in Aden, Abyan and Laj in southern Yemen.

Ms Headon said the migrants were on their way to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries and were apprehended at military checkpoints and brought to football stadiums and a military camp.

She said the migrants were willing to do "anything and any job they find".

"Even those who aren't children but are still a really young group, they're like 18,19, 20, and they're all extremely vulnerable to abuse along this route, potential trafficking and abuse once they get to their final destination, in terms of what type of labour they will be doing and what type of pay they will get," said the IOM official.

She said in the Gulf and Middle East and North Africa region, women often end up as house maids, cleaners, gardeners, but it remains unclear what kind of jobs children aged between 10 and 12 were "expecting to do".

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in March 2015, when the rebel Houthi group seized control of much of the west of the country.

The war has killed tens of thousands and put Yemen on the brink of famine.

Ms Headon said Yemen had now set stricter rules for irregular migrants and that they could be repatriated to their countries of origin on a voluntary basis.

Listen to the Newsday interview:

South African 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya has tweeted that her phone number has been "hacked".

She warned that people in control of the number were using it to "ask for money":

Semenya has been at the centre of media attention after she lost a landmark appeal against new rules by athletics' governing body (IAAF), allowing it to restrict testosterone levels in female runners fro certain events.

The 28-year-old said in response to the ruling that the IAAF "have always targeted me specifically".

Now she - and other athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) - must either take medication in order to compete in track events from 400m to the mile, or change to another distance.

The South African athlete brushed off the controversy by winning last week's 800m at the Doha Diamond League.

"No human can stop me from running," she said after the race.

Read more: Who is Caster Semenya

Eliud Kipchoge will attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge later this year.

The Kenyan, 34, holds the world record of two hours one minute 39 seconds but this attempt would not be an official record as he will be assisted by in-out pacemakers.

He clocked 2:00.25 in a similar unofficial event in Italy in 2017.

The location and date for the challenge is yet to be confirmed, but it will take place in September or October.

"I always say that no human is limited," said Kipchoge, who won the London Marathon for the fourth time on 28 April.

"I know that it is possible for me to break this barrier."

He added: "Running the fastest-ever marathon time of 2:00:25 was the proudest moment of my career.

"To get another chance to break the magical two-hour mark is incredibly exciting."

Read the full BBC Sport story here

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South Africa is for high levels of crime. All the main parties agree it is a problem.

The governing African National Congress (ANC) - in power since 1994 - is frank about the situation.

Its manifesto - published ahead of the general election on 8 May - says that drugs, violence and gang activity "are wreaking havoc in many communities".

"Gender-based violence has reached crisis proportions," it also states.

In its manifesto for the last election in 2014, the ANC had promised: "We will work to further reduce levels of crime, specifically contact crime like murder, rape and grievous bodily harm."

So has any progress been made since then?

Find out by reading this BBC Reality Check article

Artist Yassin Mohammed spent almost four years in Egyptian jails after taking part in political protests.

As a way of coping with prison life, he developed his painting and drawing skills inside, documenting what he saw.

Now released, he is an internationally exhibited professional painter whose sketches and paintings offer a rare glimpse inside Egypt’s prisons.

Colleagues and friends have been paying tribute to BBC World Service producer Maura Cullen, who has died in London at the age of 56.

No-one could mistake the lilt of her voice - and her wit and laughter filled the BBC Africa office in New Broadcasting House and before that at Bush House.

For nearly 30 years she worked on African service programmes - some of which are no longer on the schedule, like Network Africa and Postmark Africa.

Image source, Ben Dotsei Malor

More recently she would often edit Focus on Africa, an evening news and current affairs programme - and she always worked on the end-of-year Focus on Africa quiz with Veronique Edwards, bringing her humour to an annual favourite.

Born in Ireland, Maura was unflappable - a great attribute when working on live radio, especially in the days when the timings for programmes had to done without the aid of computers.

She never lost her cool and was a firm favourite with all the team:

These are just some of the tributes that have been flooding in:

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC Arabic

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National TV in Algeria has broadcast footage of the brother of ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Said, entering a military court along with two former intelligence chiefs in a move designed to impress anti-government protesters.

The former president, who had been in power for 20 years, resigned last month amid demonstrations that began when he announced his attention to run for another term in office.

The demonstrators have since said they want the departure of everyone in the Bouteflika’s circle – and the army chief of staff, Gen Ahmed Gaid Salah, the de facto man in charge, wants to send a message that he is keeping to his promise to meet their demands.

Several high-profile people have already appeared in court, but that has not appeased the anger of protesters, who want a radical change of the system in the North African country.

Adlene Mohammedi, an expert in Arab politics based in Paris, described the latest arrests as a crude move ahead of Ramadan, the religious fasting month when Muslims do not eat or drink between dawn and sunset. It is also a period when practising Muslims reflect on their faith and are meant to curb negative thoughts and emotions.

In a series of tweets (in French), external, he said that Gen Gaid Salah was trying to “anaesthetise the protesters” by targeting those who have already lost their authority - allowing others in the establishment to maintain their hold on power.

Resignations the protesters really want to see are those of interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and the Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui.

The name of Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi, a former foreign minister, is now being promoted on social media by protesters who believe he could be the right person to lead the transition and organise elections – which are due to take place a month after Ramadan ends.

Read: How Algeria's army sacrificed a president to remain in power

James Copnall
BBC's former Sudan correspondent

Image source, AFP

Over the last few days many people have been trying to work out whether Ramadan will affect the dynamics at the sit-in outside the military headquarters in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

Negotiators for the civilian protesters had been keen on agreeing a deal with the military council before Ramadan began.

The generals no doubt hoped that attendance at the sit-in would dwindle during the holy month, with some people spending time with family or not willing to face a long day under the scorching Sudanese sun without food and water.

The protesters' power comes from their presence outside the military HQ.

However, it is clear the protesters are determined to stay until the military hand over power, whatever the circumstances.

The protest organisers have made huge efforts to bring in tents for a little respite from the heat, and provide food and drink for people to break their fast.

In fact some protesters told me they are expecting larger crowds than usual during Ramadan, particularly in the evening after the day’s fast is finished.

Gallery: The art fuelling the revolution

Image source, Getty Images

Muslims in many parts of the world have started the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

In Kenya, Chief Kadhi (Judge) Ahmed Muhdhar announced the start of Ramadan on Sunday evening, saying the moon had been sighted in the market town of Hola in Tana River County.

“Ramadan is a month of peace and we all need to practice it for the betterment of our country,” he said.

However, in some countries - like Morocco - Ramadan would start on Monday evening.

Morocco's ministry of religious affairs said the moon had not been sighted in the country on Sunday evening.

Ramadan is regarded as the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, when Muslims say extra prayers at night and fast from dawn to sunset if they are in good health.

The body of a tour guide has been found in a national park in Benin, while two French tourists who were with him are still missing, the government has said.

The group disappeared in Pendjari National Park on Wednesday.

The park is on the border with Burkina Faso where Islamist militants have been increasingly active in recent months.

The three were last seen driving a rented Ford SUV in the park, which is some 550km (335 miles) north of Benin's capital, Porto Novo.

Read: What is Benin is like?

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, has returned home after a 10-day private visit to the UK, confounding critics who claimed he had gone for medical reasons and would stay longer, presidential spokesman Femi Adenisa has said.

“Some reckless online media, irresponsible political opposition, and other bilious groups and individuals, had gone on overdrive since the President left the country on April 25, insinuating that he was going for hospitalisation, and would not return after 10 days as stated," Mr Adenisa said in a statement.

“Now that the President has returned, can these apostles of evil imaginings swallow their words?" he added.

Nigeria's privately owned Vanguard newspaper, external said Mr Buhari declined to answer questions about the large number of kidnappings that has hit the country, but said: "I noticed Mohammed Adamu, acting inspector-general of police, has lost weight, though it is a sign that he is working hard”.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja has warned that Nigeria's leaders are making the country uninhabitable, causing young people to migrate illegally to Europe.

Cardinal John Onaiyekan said that if he were the president he would resign.

He criticised officials for focusing only on their own lives - building mansions and travelling the world.

The 75-year-old cleric said he felt ashamed when he saw trafficked Nigerian women soliciting on the streets of Rome and other Italian cities.

Cardinal Onaiyekan was speaking to the media ahead of a church gathering to address migration, taking place in the Nigerian capital on Tuesday.

Read: Who is leaving Africa's largest economy?

Image source, Reuters

Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar has issued a message urging his forces to step up their offensive against the capital, Tripoli, hours after the United Nations called for a ceasefire.

The UN appealed for a humanitarian truce to coincide with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Monday.

But Gen Haftar called on his supporters to increase the determination and strength of their assault.

Since he launched the attack on southern Tripoli a month ago, tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes.

On Saturday, Islamic State group militants said they were behind an attack on a training camp for the forces of Gen Haftar.

Hospital officials said nine people were killed in the attack in Libya's southern city of Sabha.

Read: Why is Libya lawless?

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