BBC News with Marion Marshall.

E.U. leaders have voted by 27 - 1 to reelect Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, despite strenuous efforts by his home country, Poland, to thwart his bid. Mr. Tusk expressed gratitude on social media, and said he'd do his best to improve the European Union. Poland's right-wing government, which fiercely opposed Mr. Tusk, said his reappointment did not bode well for the E.U.

The American-led coalition against Islamic State group says several hundred additional U.S. forces have been deployed in Syria to strengthen the planned offensive against the IS stronghold of Raqqa. A spokesman said an extra 400 or so personnel had been sent in recent days, comprising a marines artillery unit and army rangers.

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has made recommended measures aimed at fighting sexual abuse committed by U.N. peacekeepers. Mr. Guterres says payments made to countries which deploy U.N. peacekeepers should be withheld if allegations are not properly investigated.

The new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has said he does not agree that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. Mr. Pruitt said more analysis was needed. His remarks contradict scientific data published in January by NASA, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Somali government has announced it will print new bank notes for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. After Somalia descended into violence and anarchy in 1991, warlords printed their own money. And most of the country's bank notes were known to be fake.

Wildlife campaigners have welcomed the recent arrest of notorious wildlife traffickers in West Africa as a big step against the illegal trade in baby Chimpanzees. A BBC News investigation in Ivory Coast led the police to break up a smuggling network there and in neighboring Guinea.

BBC News.