World News from the BBC
An army colonel in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for ordering his troops to commit mass rape. Here's our Africa correspondent Andrew Harding.
Colonel Kibibi Mutware's troops attacked the village of Fizi on New Year's Day following a dispute with a local shop owner. The government soldiers raped more than 60 women. For years, this kind of violence has been almost a
norm
in eastern Congo, a vast region, where rival armies and militias prey with impunity on civilians. But this time, a mobile court paid for by foreign donors was sent to the area.
Not only were the colonel and his deputies put on trial, but crucially 49 women agreed to give evidence.
It's the first time a commanding officer has been convicted of rape, a
precedent
that many hope will
deter
future crimes and strengthen the rule of law.
The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has described today's Russia as an "imitation democracy". He criticised President Medvedev and the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for saying they would decide between them which one should run for the presidency next year. Here's Rayhan Demytrie.
Mikhail Gorbachev told journalists in Moscow that he did not like the way Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev approached the issue of the next year's presidential elections. "It is not Putin's business to decide who will lead the country. It should