Whats New?

12 Years a Slave wins three Oscars including best picture, while Gravity picks up seven including best director.
BBC News – US & Canada

A neighbour of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius tells his murder trial she was awoken by a woman’s “terrible screams” followed by cries and shots.
BBC News – Africa

New figures show nearly half a million UK households are still in negative equity – meaning their homes are worth less than their mortgages.
BBC News – Business

Reports from northern Syria say the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is pulling back following an ultimatum from the Nusra Front.
BBC News – Middle East

A UN official breaks ranks with the world body, and calls for compensation for Haitian victims of a cholera outbreak many blame on peacekeepers.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Kiev puts its army on full alert after Russia approves the deployment of troops in Ukraine, amid growing alarm from international leaders.
BBC News – Europe

Historic changes to the Labour Party’s links with the unions are approved at a special conference of members by an overwhelming majority.
BBC News – UK

US President Obama warns Moscow there will be “costs” for any military intervention in Ukraine, amid reports of Russian forces on the move in Crimea.
BBC News – US & Canada

Two explosions targeting a busy market area in northeast Nigeria are feared to have left as many as 10 dead, reports say.
BBC News – Africa

Energy regulator Ofgem has told the “big six” suppliers to hand back more than £400m of credit in customers’ closed accounts.
BBC News – Business

A worldwide human rights report by the US singles out Syria’s civil war as a tragedy that “stands apart in its scope and human cost”.
BBC News – Middle East

Security forces in Venezuela use tear gas to break up a student demonstration that ended in clashes in the capital, Caracas.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Ukraine’s ex-President Viktor Yanukovych pledges to “fight for my country” in his first public appearance since being ousted a week ago.
BBC News – Europe

Triple killer Joanne Dennehy is handed a whole-life sentence by a judge, who said she was “cruel, calculating and manipulative”.
BBC News – UK

The US economy grew at a rate of 2.4% from October to December, down from a first estimate of 3.2%, as consumer spending proved weaker than first estimated.
BBC News – US & Canada

The World Bank postpones a $ 90m (£54m) loan to Uganda after President Yoweri Museveni signed a tough and controversial new anti-gay law.
BBC News – Africa

The Royal Bank of Scotland, part-owned by the UK government, has posted an operating loss for the sixth successive year.
BBC News – Business

Syrian government forces ambush and kill a large number of Islamist rebels in the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, reports say.
BBC News – Middle East

Venezuela’s President Maduro says more than 50 deaths can be blamed on two weeks of protests, as the opposition says it will boycott talks.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean