Syrian rebel forces have pushed militants of the Islamic state group out of astrategic town innorthern Syria after days of heavy fighting. The town of al-Rai in Aleppo province has been astronghold for IS as it sits on a border crossing linking Turkey to Syria.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles in San Francisco say Uber Technologies has agreed to pay 10 milliondollars as part of a 25-million-dollar settlement to end a civil lawsuit against it in California.The app-based taxi services faced accusations of misleading customers about its checks ondrivers. Dave Lee reports from San Francisco. If you want to drive a traditional taxi inCalifornia, you need to provide a fingerprint to check for prior convictions. But to drive anUber, that's not necessary as the company uses a different system to vet its drivers. So whenUber advertised itself as the safest drive on the road, authorities cried foul. Prosecutors saidUber missed 25 people with prior convictions including several sex offenders and a convictedmurderer. Uber has agreed to change how it advertised its safety procedures, but the BBCunderstands it will not be adding finger printing to its vetting process.
The World Bank has launched an action plan to spend 50% more on projects to help developingcountries cope with climate change, details from Mark Pivac. There is a growing consensus thatpoorer countries would be more vulnerable to climate change than richer ones. So theWashington based Work Bank is raising special spending to 3.5 billion dollars by 2020 and ithopes to encourage even more from the private sector. Part of the plan envisages boostingenough renewable energy to power 150 million homes. It also proposes an investment in what itcalls climate smart agriculture for 40 countries and more spending on green transport. Topbank officials said the plans are a bold response to last December's landmark global climateconference in Paris. World news from the BBC.
The former head of the Italian defense group Finmeccanica Giuseppe Orsi has been sentencedto 4.5 years in prison for false accounting and corruption. The case resulted from aninvestigation into the sale of 12 helicopters to India. Mr. Orsi's lawyer said he would appeal.
The Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has threatened to slash the term of the oppositionled national assembly if it continues to try to topple him. He said he would seek aconstitutional amendment to reduce the term of the legislator from five years to 60 days.President Maduro also said he would lead a revolution if the oligarchy, as he put it, won powerthrough unconventional means.
A South African court has ruled that Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has norights to the late president's rural home. It's unclear whether she will appeal. Milton Nkosireports from Johannesburg. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had argued that under customary law,the house in Qunu village where the former president spent much of his time until his death in2013 belonged to her. The government opposed her bid to inherit the home. Mr. Mandeladivorced Mrs.Madikizela-Mandela in 1996 after 38 years of marriage. He left her out of his will.They were regarded as South Africa's first couple until their marriage collapsed six years afterhis release from 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid.
A court in Guatemala has convicted and sentenced five men to prison for the murder in 2011 ofthe Argentinian musician Facundo Cabral who was hugely popular across Latin America.Prosecutors said Facundo Cabral was the unintended victim of an attack on a Nicaraguannightclub owner Henry Farinas whose car he was in when it was riddled with bullets. Mr. Farinassurvived. That's the latest BBC world news.
