BBC News with Jonathan Izard

The US Senate has confirmed Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary Betsy DeVos by the narrowest possible margin. Vice president Mike Pence had to cast the tie-breaking vote after the chamber was split 50-50. It’s the first time a vice president has intervened to confirm a cabinet appointment.

The US Homeland Security Secretary has acknowledged that President Trump’s travel ban on citizens from seven mainly Muslim states was hastily implemented. The ban has been temporarily lifted as a result of legal challenges. And Mr. Kelly said he didn’t expect more countries to be added to it.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says a new Israeli law legalizing Jewish settlements is an attack against his people. The law legalizes thousands of existing homes and outposts on private Palestinian land in the West Bank. Israel says the law will protect Israeli homes.

Tweeter has announced three new measures which it says will reduce abuse on the social media platform. It says it will, among other things,prevent people from opening new accounts if they’ve been suspended for abusing or harassing others. Tweeter says further changes to help protect freedom of speech will be ruled out soon.

Officials in Afghanistan said at least 20 people have died ina suicide bombing in the capital Kabul. The blast was close to an entrance tothe Supreme Court building.

Syrian activists say at least 26 people have been killed in airstrikes on the rebel held northern city of Idlib. The raids said to be the heaviest for months wounded dozens of other people and leveled several buildings.

President Putin has signed into law a controversial bill that decriminalizes some forms of domestic violence in Russia. Campaigners said the bill gives a green light to abusive husbands and fathers and will discourage victims from reporting incidents to the police.

And University of Lagos in Nigeria’s commercial capital has ordered students not to wear tight fitting clothes. Correspondents say many Nigerians want to be seen as conservative, but the younger generation often flouts traditional values. That's the latest BBC World Service News.