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Syrian children used as human shields, says UN report

The Syrian government is accused of using heavy weapons in residential areas

Children in Syria have accused troops of using them as human shields, a UN report has revealed.

Some children said they had been forced to ride on tanks to stop attacks by opposition fighters, the report said.

The UN's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict said children were being tortured in detention and slaughtered in massacres.

Radhika Coomaraswamy told the BBC that her team had returned from Syria with "horrific" reports.

She said she had never seen a similar situation where children were not spared - and even targeted - in a conflict.

"Many former soldiers spoke about shooting into civilian areas, seeing children, young children being killed, and maimed," she said.

"We also had testimonies and saw children who had been tortured, and who carried the torture marks with them. We also heard of children being used - this was recounted to us by some children - of being put on tanks and being used as human shields so that the tanks would not be fired upon."

However, she also criticised the opposition Free Syrian Army for endangering children.

"For the first time we heard of children being recruited by the Free Syrian Army mainly in medical and service orientated jobs but still on the front line," she said.

'Shocked'

Ms Coomaraswamy said the suffering inflicted on children in Syria was unusual even for combat situations.

"We are really quite shocked. Killing and maiming of children in cross-fire is something we come across in many conflicts but this torture of children in detention, children as young as 10, is something quite extraordinary, which we don't really see in other places."

She said that in recent massacres children under the age of 10 had been summarily killed, adding: "Those kinds of things we don't see elsewhere."

The UN's annual report on children and armed conflict cited one attack on the village of Ayn l'Arouz in Idlib province on 9 March 2012.

It quoted a witness saying how several young children were forcibly taken from their homes and "used by soldiers and militia members as human shields, placing them in front of the windows of buses carrying military personnel into the raid on the village".

UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned government attacks in the city of Homs

Other children described being beaten, blindfolded, subjected to stress positions, whipped with heavy electrical cables, scarred by cigarette burns and in one case subjected to electrical shock during interrogations, the report said.

A team of UN military observers is currently inside Syria as part of a six-point peace plan brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Despite all international diplomatic efforts, bloodshed is continuing on a daily basis. Activists say the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is deliberately targeting civilian populations, while the government blames the violence on "armed gangs".

The US has expressed fears that the Syrian government "may be organising another massacre" in the town of Haffa in Latakia province, where UN military observers have been denied access.

Earlier this month, activists said Syrian government forces killed 108 people in the region of Houla, in Homs province, and 78 people in the village of Qubair, in Hama province.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon joined Kofi Annan in demanding that UN observers be admitted to the area.

Witnesses reported tanks parked along the edge of the town and said there was a lack of medical facilities to treat the wounded.

Mr Ban also released a statement condemning "intensive military operations" by government forces in the city of Homs as well as firing from helicopters on other towns. He said the actions had caused heavy civilian casualties.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 100 people were killed in violence across Syria on Monday. The figures cannot be verified.

Apple ditches Google Maps software in latest iOS

The new software, which has been shown to developers, will be available in the autumn

Apple has unveiled its latest mobile operating system, iOS6, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The operating system, which runs on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, will no longer include Google Maps software.

Apple will instead run its own mapping app, which has a high-quality 3D mode, on the platform.

Google announced its own 3D mapping software last week on its competing mobile platform, Android.

Both companies have used fleets of planes to capture the imagery, drawing concerns from some privacy campaigners.

Apple's updated iOS software is being released in beta on Tuesday, and will be available for general consumers by the autumn, chief executive Tim Cook said.

It will be a free update for owners of either an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS - as well as users of the latest iPad, the iPad 2 and fourth generation iPod touch.

'Biggest cheer'

Additional features include "eyes free", a feature on which Apple said it had worked with car manufacturers to integrate a "Siri button" to activate the iPhone's voice-operated assistant.

For the first time on Apple's devices, video calls will be able to be made over a cellular connection, rather than relying on wi-fi.

The switch to its own mapping platform will provide Apple with even more opportunities to monetise its users, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner, who attended the event in San Francisco.

Google last week revealed its own mapping software, which also has 3D capabilities

"Maps got the biggest cheer [from the audience]," she said.

"The opportunity that controlling maps gives to Apple for learning more about what their users are doing, keeping that information, and then being able to leverage that for advertising purposes is huge."

Ms Milanesi said the announcements appeared to be warmly received by the developers in attendance.

"iOS6 is a continued evolution," she told the BBC.

"I think the whole operating system is getting more clever. It's learning from what consumers are doing and improving the experience."

Macbook revamp

The company also announced revamped models in its Macbook Pro and Macbook Air ranges.

Its new Macbook Pro is 0.71 inches thick, with a high-resolution Retina display. It utilises Intel's Ivy Bridge processor.

Its slimline Macbook Air range has also been upgraded with enhanced graphics and processing capabilities.

Both will offer a free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system which is set for release in July.

Among its features is enhanced synchronisation between desktop, laptop and mobile, thanks to iCloud, the company's cloud-based storage service.

Once again, predictions that Apple was set to announce a long-rumoured television failed to materialise.

Father of Toulouse killer Mohamed Merah sues for murde

Mohamed Merah's gun attacks shocked France

The father of Mohamed Merah, the Islamist gunman killed by French police after shooting seven people, has formally sued over his son's "murder".

A lawyer for Mohamed Benalel Merah, who lives in Algeria, said the suit was against those "who gave the orders at the top of the police".

The gunman was shot dead at his flat in Toulouse after a 32-hour siege.

He had confessed to killing seven people, including Jewish children, in a rampage which shocked France.

Mohamed Benalel Merah said soon after his son's death on 22 March he intended to sue the French government.

'Questions'

On Monday, French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, who is assisting Algerian lawyer Zahia Mokhtari, filed the suit in Paris.

"This is a suit against unnamed persons for murder with aggravating circumstances concerning those who gave the orders at the top of the police," said Ms Coutant-Peyre.

In all, Merah, 23, shot dead three soldiers, three children and a teacher, filming his attacks.

He was dubbed the "scooter killer" because of the stolen vehicle he used in the three separate shootings in Toulouse and the nearby town of Montauban.

Ms Coutant-Peyre was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "You've got 300 to 400 heavily armed people and a guy shut up all alone in his apartment. That alone is enough to raise questions."

The father's suggestion in March that the French authorities had deliberately chosen to kill his son rather than capture him caused indignation in Paris.

"If I were the father of such a monster, I would shut my mouth in shame," said Alain Juppe, who was then French foreign minister.

Nigeria gang in deadly 'revenge' attack on village

A gang of around 80 armed robbers are thought to have attacked the two villages

A gang of armed robbers has killed 27 people in remote villages in northern Nigeria, witnesses and police say.

An eyewitness told the BBC that about 80 people on motorbikes had attacked the villages of Dan-Gulbi and Guru in Zamfara state.

Some victims had their throat cut, according to reports.

The attack is believed to be in revenge for the killing of a suspected group of armed robbers by villagers and vigilante groups last year.

A policeman was said to be among the dead, who were primarily from the village of Dan-Gulbi.

Villagers had been preparing for a local market day when the killers struck, the Associated Press news agency reports.

'Door to door'

According to a police officer who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, at least 19 people died in Dan-Gulbi and four were killed in Guru.

Attacks were also reported in the villages of Diya and Sabo Kasuwa.

"They went door to door shooting villagers and in some cases slitting their throats with knives," a police source told AFP news agency.

Talatu Mai Tasshi, a woman who escaped the violence, was quoted by AP as saying she had hidden in empty sacks as the gunmen stalked other people preparing to sell their goods.

Islamist group Boko Haram has previously been responsible for a number of attacks in northern Nigeria, but there has been no suggestion that that it was connected to these murders.

Nigeria has one of the highest crime rates in Africa and is notorious for gun-related violence, including kidnapping and robbery

US exempts seven states from sanctions over Iran oil

The US hopes that hitting Iran's oil revenue will force Tehran to change its nuclear programme

The US has exempted seven countries from economic sanctions in return for cutting imports of Iranian oil.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said waivers were granted to India, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Turkey.

Under a US law signed in December, countries have until 28 June to greatly reduce oil imports from Iran or be cut off from the US financial system.

The aim is to pile pressure on Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programme.

Washington and its allies believe Tehran is secretly trying to make nuclear weapons, a claim strongly denied by the Iranians.

Mrs Clinton said the latest exemptions proved that sanctions were working.

"By reducing Iran's oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran's leaders: Until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to face increasing isolation and pressure," she said in a statement.

Pressure on China

In March the US granted exceptions to Japan and 10 EU countries for cutting their imports of Iranian petroleum.

Correspondents say the latest move puts pressure on China, which is Iran's biggest oil customer, to also cut its imports.

US officials have said that Washington remains in talks with Beijing over the issue, AFP news agency reports.

The US says Iranian oil exports have fallen from about 2.5 million barrels a day last year to between 1.2 and 1.8 million barrels a day.

Last week, the UN's nuclear watchdog said talks in Vienna aimed at getting greater access to Iran's nuclear sites had ended without progress.

Further talks between Iran and six powers - Britain, the US, China, Russia, France and Germany - are due to be held in Moscow next week.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful means.

US puts supply route talks with Pakistan on hold

The talks had been aimed at re-opening routes which oil tankers used to supply Nato troops

The US has temporarily pulled out of talks with Pakistan over re-opening vital supply routes to the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan.

"The decision was reached to bring the team home for a short period of time," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

Pakistan said the talks had not broken down - they were "still on".

Islamabad shut a Nato supply route in November after a Nato air strike near the Afghan-Pakistani border which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Part of the US team left Islamabad over the weekend, and the rest will return to the US shortly, Mr Little said.

Mr Little told reporters the team were prepared to return at short notice.

Washington has stopped short of an official apology for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan's demand for $5,000 for each truck has also been a sticking point.

The closure of the route left thousands of tankers bound for Afghanistan stranded in Pakistan.

Strained friendship

Pakistani foreign office spokesman Mumazam Khan told the BBC Urdu Service the talks were still on and it was "wrong to say that they have been broken down".

Mumazam Khan said that some members of the US team were involved in the technical aspects of the negotiations and they have been called back after they had given their input.

He said that the negotiation were going on at various levels and at some level these were still on.

Nato has been forced to switch to alternative supply routes to Afghanistan through Central Asia, the Caucasus and Russia.

Last week Nato signed deals with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to use their territory for evacuating vehicles and military equipment from Afghanistan ahead of the drawdown of operations there.

Nato has signalled its intention to complete its mission in Afghanistan before the end of 2014.

The US is hoping the use of these routes will force Islamabad to agree to a deal.

However, the alternative routes known as the "northern distribution network" cost even more and Pakistani officials are convinced the US will eventually agree to Pakistan's terms, the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington reports.

The talks started seven weeks ago but have taken place against the background of increased tensions between the two countries in recent months.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta warned last week that the US was "reaching the limits of our patience" with Pakistan.

US officials accuse Pakistan of providing safe havens for militants active in Afghanistan, which Islamabad denies.

Relations were also strained by the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil in May last year, which many Pakistanis viewed as a violation of sovereignty.