BBC news with Jonathan Izard.

There has been an explosion on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja,at a bus station which was targeted in a deadly bomb attack last month. Early reports say a number of people have been killed. Mkemi Fejike is in the Nigerian capital. “I got a call from a man that I've spoken to who lives in a house just overlooking the bus park where the explosion happened. He said he heard the explosion, he went out and he said he counted about 20 bodies. It's literally a stone's throw from where the last bomb went off on Monday the14th or 15th of April. And he says that there's a lot of traffic there, there's a lot of chaos, the national emergency management authority has started, try and ferry bodies away from there and casualties away from there to the hospital in Abuja proper.”



Syrian activists say a government aircraft has dropped a barrel bomb on a market in the rebel-held district of Allepo, killing more than 30 people. Here's our Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher. “Activists in Allepo say it was a busy market in the Hhalak district in the north of Syria's second city that was hit by a barrel bomb. They've posted videos and photos online which they say show the aftermath of the attack. The images show residents running through a devastated street lined with rebel holding the dead and wounded in their arms. On Wednesday, activists say another government airstrike hit a school in Allepo, killing several children. Both government forces and rebel fighters seem to have launched new offensives in Allepo to try to break the long-standing stalemate there.”

Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov has issued a decree re-introducing military conscription. He said the measure was in response to the worsening situation in the east and south where the rise of armed pro-Russian units threatened Ukraine's territorial integrity. The announcement was made as pro-Russian activists seized the regional prosecutor's office in Donetsk. The BBC's Steve Rosenburg is there. “Today, pro-Russia activists battled with riot police in Donetsk outside the prosecutor's office. They attacked police lines with rocks and sticks, trying to seize another key building. What's happening here this afternoon shows that central government is losing control in eastern Ukraine. The protesters came here, they demanded to see the prosecutor and the violence broke out almost immediately. Minutes later, the police had been dispersed, many of the officers were running away.”

The Cuban government has protested against being included once more in an annual list published by the American State Department of alleged states sponsors of terror. The Cuban foreign ministry demanded to be taken off the list which has just featured on for over thirty years.

The authorities in Colombia are trying to rescue up to 30 people trapped underground after a gold mine collapsed in the southwest of the country. At least three miners were killed in the incident. It's not clear exactly how many people are buried under the rubble.

BBC news. Northern Ireland's deputy leader Martin McGuinness has described the arrest of his Sinn Fein colleague Jerry Adams as the dark side of policing in the province. He said it was a deliberate attempt to influence elections due to be held shortly. The British Prime Minister David Cameron denied that Mr. Adams’ arrest was politically motivated. “We have an independent judicial system both here in England and also we do have one in Northern Ireland and there's been absolutely no political interference in this issue. We have independent policing authorities, independent prosecuting authorities. Those are vital parts of the free country and the free society we enjoy today.” Jerry Adams was detained over the killing of Jean McConville who was abducted by the IRA in front of her children more than 40 years ago. He has denied any involvement.

The US secretary of state John Kerry has warned of a risk of genocide in South Sudan if the country's civil conflict does not end soon. “There are very disturbing leading indicators of the kind of ethnic tribal targeted nationalistic killings taking place. That raised serious questions. And were they to continue in the way that they have been going could really present a very serious challenge to the international community with respect to the question of genocide.” Mr. Kerry urged east African countries to send more peace keepers to South Sudan as soon as possible.

Tunisia’s interim parliament has taken one of the last steps towards the country becoming a full democracy by approving a new electoral law to govern legislative and presidential elections due to be held by the end of this year. It comes three years after the country's uprising.

And experts in Italy have warned that one of the world's most famous statues Michelangelo's David is in danger of collapsing because the figure has weak ankles. The researchers believe that the 5 meters statue of the naked boy warrior is vulnerable because of his forward leaning pose and the poor quality of the marble used.

BBC news.