BBC News with Julie Candler.

As Britain filed for divorce from the European Union, European leaders have rejected the British Prime Minister, Teresa May's plan for parallel talks on withdrawing and forming a new relationship. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the E.U. must first work out how to extricate Britain from commitments built up during 44 years of membership.

The British Prime Minister, Teresa May, has told the BBC Britain can hold on to its trade benefits with the European Union even after it has left. Speaking shortly after Britain formally notify the E.U. it was leaving, she said she wanted an agreement that allowed Britain to trade freely with the European single market.

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has said U.N. peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are aiding a corrupt government that preys on its citizens. Nikki Haley said as a matter of decency and common sense, this should end.

A millionaire architect from Colombia, 38-year-old Rafael Uribe Noguera, has been sentenced to almost 52 years in prison for the kidnap, rape and murder of an indigenous girl. The judge said Yuliana Samboni had been vulnerable simply because she was female and from a poor background.

Two former aides to Chris Christie, the Republican Governor of New Jersey, have been sent to prison for their role in a political revenge plot that led to massive traffic jams and delayed emergency services on one of the country's busiest bridges. They did so after a local mayor decided not to endorse Mr. Christie's reelection bid. Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly were given two years and 18 months respectively.

A court in the United Arab Emirates has reportedly sentenced a prominent academic to ten years in prison over social media tweets criticizing the authorities. The rights group, Amnesty International, said Nasser Bin Ghaith's tweets were related to his belief. He hadn't been given a fair trial in an earlier case.

BBC News.