Whats New?

Almost 500 people have been killed in clashes between Syrian rebels and the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist State in Iraq and the Levant, activists say.
BBC News – Middle East

Colombia suspends the loading of coal by US-based mining company Drummond after it failed to abide by stricter rules aimed at preventing pollution.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

A Metropolitan Police officer admits misconduct in public office over the “plebgate” affair and will offer to resign from the force.
BBC News – UK

About 300,000 people in the US state of West Virginia are warned not to drink tap water after a chemical spill into a river near the state capital.
BBC News – US & Canada

Central African Republic’s interim President Michel Djotodia resigns at a summit aimed at stopping months of religious violence in the country.
BBC News – Africa

Tesco and Morrisons both report a fall in like-for-like UK sales over the Christmas period, sending shares in both companies lower.
BBC News – Business

Russia blocks a UN Security Council statement condemning the Syrian government’s use of air strikes against civilians in the city of Aleppo.
BBC News – Middle East

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro meets governors and mayors to co-ordinate action against violence, following the murder of ex-beauty queen Monica Spear.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Russian security forces launch an anti-terrorist operation just 300km from Sochi, venue for February’s Winter Olympics, after the discovery of five bodies in several cars.
BBC News – Europe

Mark Duggan’s aunt Carole says the family will fight the lawful killing decision “through the courts” and says there should be “no more violence”.
BBC News – UK

The deep freeze that has left people in North America shivering for days, shattering century-old temperature records, is set to loosen its icy grip.
BBC News – US & Canada

Central African Republic interim leader Michel Djotodia is expected to face pressure to step down when he attends a regional summit in Chad.
BBC News – Africa

JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $ 1.7bn to victims of the Bernard Madoff fraud.
BBC News – Business

The first consignment of chemical weapons materials leaves Syria on a Danish ship, as part of a UN-backed deal to destroy Syria’s chemical arms.
BBC News – Middle East

Actress Monica Spear, who won Miss Venezuela in 2004, has been killed along with her British husband during a roadside robbery in Venezuela.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

Turkey dismisses 350 police officers and the top judiciary body says it will investigate officials overseeing an inquiry into government corruption.
BBC News – Europe

Four people are believed to have been killed in a US air force helicopter crash in north Norfolk, on the east coast of England.
BBC News – UK

A brutal blast of arctic air settles in eastern North America, bringing dangerously low temperatures not seen in two decades.
BBC News – US & Canada

At least 26 people have been killed in an eight-hour battle between government and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second city Lubumbashi, police say.
BBC News – Africa