Hello, I'm Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.

President Obama has nominated a moderate judge Merrick Garland to the vacancy to the US Supreme Court, setting up a showdown with Republicans. The appointment has to be ratified by the senate but its Republican majority has vowed to block any court nominee from Mr Obama. Barbara Plett-Usher has more from Washington.

President Obama chose justice Garland as the best option for a consensus candidate somebody who is a liberal but not a hard-down-the-line liberal, more of a centrist candidate in many ways. Somebody who has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past and who has a reputation for decency and fair-mindedness.

The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has defended the appointment of her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as chief of staff. Ms Rousseff said the former leader was a skillful political negotiator who would help kick off an economic recovery. Hours after the announcement, protectors gathered outside the presidential palace in Brasília. Julia Carneiro has just sent this report.

Lula is being investigated by police and the move to bring him into government is seen by many as an attempt to shield him from charges. His new role grants him special privileges and he cannot be prosecuted by regular courts, only by the Supreme Court. Protests against his appointment have broke in at least four Brazilian cities including the capital Brasília where around 2000 people gathered outside the presidential palace. The anger spread to the lower house where MPs held a chaotic session loudly chanting resignation, calling president Dilma Rousseff to leave her post.

President Obama has ordered new sanctions against North Korea following its recent nuclear and missile tests. Earlier, the White House has accused North Korea of using American citizens as political pawns. After Pyongyang sentenced the US student Otto Warmbier to 15 years of hard labour for crimes against the state, the White House spokesman Josh Earnest called for the student's immediate release.

The allegations for which this individual was arrested and imprisoned would not give rise to arrest or imprisonment in the United States or in just about any country in the world. Now despite official claims that US citizens arrested in North Korea are not used for political purposes, it is increasingly clear that the North Korean government seeks to use these US citizens as pawns to pursue a political agenda.

Local authorities in Somalia and Kenyan forces who're deployed in the country say they've killed 30 suspected members of the militant group al-Shabab in two separate battles. The authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland say 11 Islamists were killed and the Kenyan army said its forces killed 19 militants in southern Somalia.

World news from the BBC.

Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's breakaway province of Donetsk has begun issuing passports in an effort to show their independence from the government in Kiev. The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko said the passports were an important step on the path towards state-building and could be used to travel to neighboring Russia. Moscow has not officially recognized the territory which now uses the Russian rouble as its official currency.

Police in France say they've arrested four suspected Islamist militants as part of a wider investigation into a possible plot against French targets. Computer equipment has also been seized. The Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the authorities have received information that one of those arrested might commit violent attacks but also urged caution.

We have information about one person that suggested he could undertake violent attacks in France. This man could have been in contact of people in Syria and members of IS.

The US central bank, the Federal Reserve has kept its interest rate unchanged because of fears for the health of global economy. The tight rate remains 0.25 precent to 0.5 percent after being raised for the first time in nearly a decade in December. The Federal Reserve had previously indicated that it was planning for a small interest rate raise this year totaling one precent but that's now being scaled back.

White House officials say president Obama will make a historical address to the Cuban people when he visits the island next week. The official said that in this speech Tuesday, the last day of his trip, Mr Obama will talk about the complicated history between the two countries. He will be the first sitting US president to visit Cuba for almost 90 years.

BBC news.