5 March 2014 Last updated at 09:10
Ukraine crisis: US and Russia to hold key talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due to hold crucial talks to try to ease tensions over the Ukraine crisis.
The US accuses Moscow of deploying troops in Ukraine's Crimea region, describing it as an "act of aggression" - a claim denied by the Kremlin.
Despite the sharp differences, both sides have hinted they would prefer to start a dialogue.
Moscow remains in de facto control of Ukraine's southern autonomous region.
The tense stand-off continued overnight in Crimea, but there were no reports of any violence.
However, the regional government building in the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk has been evacuated and the area cordoned off amid unconfirmed reports of a bomb scare.China targets 7.5% growth and declares war on pollution
Leadership at National People’s Congress signals reform after years of booming but socially costly development
China has signalled its commitment to overhauling an unsustainable economy, promising to prioritise reforms, declare war on pollution and maintain its 7.5% growth target.
Premier Li Keqiang also vowed to “break mental shackles and vested interests” in pursuit of economic reforms as he delivered the annual government work report.
Li was speaking at the opening of the annual session of China’s largely rubberstamp parliament. The almost 3,000 delegates at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People observed a minute’s silence for victims of Saturday’s terrorist attack in Kunming as the meeting began.
Poland's fear of 'the Russian Bear'
Poland, which borders Russia and Ukraine, played an active role in the deal that ended the violent conflict in Ukraine. But this time, Poland's shot at successfully mediating between its neighbors is slim, experts say.
Poland's increasing anxiety over the situation in neighboring Ukraine became evident as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that the world "stands on the brink of a conflict" that would affect states everywhere. The consequences could be dire, and a matter of survival for his country, the Prime Minister told reporters on Sunday in Warsaw.
Poland, which borders the Russian exclave Kaliningrad in the north and shares more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) of border with Ukraine in the southeast, is arguably the EU member state most vulnerable to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Poland and Ukraine share more than a border, though; they also look back at similar experiences in the past. Both states were used as pawns in international politics, and both were always positioned between Russia and the West. The two countries' borders have been repeatedly redrawn. Entire ethnic groups were expelled from each of the two nations.
Nigerian army losing grip on northeast as Islamists rampage
ABUJA
Nigeria's military is losing control of swathes of the largely Muslim northeast to radical Islamist insurgents who are killing civilians almost daily, and the run-up to elections next year risks aggravating the violence further.
Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed thousands since it launched an uprising in 2009 in a bid to carve out an Islamic state in the West African country of 170 million people, divided roughly equally between Christians and Muslims.
More than 150 civilians have died in Boko Haram attacks in the last four days, adding to the 300 killed last month, according to Reuters figures and security sources, one of the worst periods in the northeast since the sect intensified its insurgency three years ago.
In former Taliban fiefdom, Pakistan's first female council tackles abuses
The first judicial council for women was started in Pakistan's Swat Valley last year. Its founder has now been invited to join a traditional, male-only grand jirga.
Sitting in a circle, covered in head-to-toe chadors, women from all age groups gather in a small room here. Some are teenagers, others are in their late fifties, but all of them have one in thing in common – abuse at home.
Five years ago, Swat Valley was under the Pakistani Taliban's repressive rule. The militants no longer control the area, but women still face horrific incidents of abuse, from acid attacks to honor killings, all perpetrated by men. But a group of women is pushing back and achieving results.
Tabassum Adnan, a full-time mother of two, launched Pakistan’s first women-only jirga last year. Last month she became the first woman to be invited to participate in the grand male jirga of Swat – one of the oldest council of elders in the locality and one that had originally dismissed her efforts as a joke.
8 of the world's great coffee cities
March 5, 2014 -- Updated 0423 GMT (1223 HKT)
Fifteenth-century Arabs were the first to cultivate coffee and a Frenchman was behind the 1843 debut of the world's first commercial espresso machine.
There have been a few leaps forward since then.
"People are more and more interested in where the beans come from, and how they're harvested and roasted," says New Zealand barista champion Nick Clark of Wellington's Flight Coffee.
"There are so many variables involved in producing a great cup of coffee these days, and the industry has had to evolve to meet growing consumer expectations."
The world's best coffee cities are those where the coffee isn't just good -- it's great.
London
Aussies and Kiwis opened the city's first espresso-focused coffee shops (such as Flat White and Kaffeine) a decade ago and they've been popping up across the city ever since.
"London still has a long way to go with café service, but in the past five years there's been so much growth, which is a great thing to be part of," says Estelle Bright, head bartender at London's Caravan.
Local order: Flat white or cappuccino.
"London is still in the grip of the flat white craze, but cappuccinos are similarly popular," says Bright.
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