Police 'Death Squad' BOPE Called in to Calm Brazilian Slums

Members of the elite BOPE police unit patrol the favela of Parque Alegria in Rio De Janeiro.

With only three months to go before Brazil hosts the World Cup this summer, the police have called on the notorious BOPE elite patrol unit to wrest control of Rio's slums from the drug lords.

On Thursday, community policeman Leidson Acácio Alves Silva, 27, was shot in the head while patrolling a favela shanty town in Rio de Janeiro.

He is the fourth officer to be killed in the line of duty since February in supposedly pacified favelas. Before that, only eight had been killed since the launch of the police campaign to clamp down on slum crime in 2008.

Since last month, armed criminals have stepped up attacks on the bases of the UPPs police units, turning previously calm favelas into battle grounds.

On Friday, Rio De Janeiro state security officials announced they were to deploy the notorious BOPE elite unit, which specialises in urban warfare, to pacify the Alemão and Vila Cruzeiro favelas.

With its knife-through-skull logo, the BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais) has been accused of scores of extra-judicial executions and a shoot first, ask questions later policy. Some experts fear its presence may further undermine trust in the police in the favelas.

A UPP officer stationed in the Vila Cruzeiro slum, where Silva was killed, told the Wall Street Journal that local units lived in fear: "Every night you'll hear gunshots. It is like being in the middle of the jungle, waiting to die," he said.

Officers claim that the hostility of locals and the warren-like streets, where gunmen can strike and disappear into friendly houses, have made their task tough.

Last year, two dozen UPP officers were charged with kidnapping and torturing Amarildo Dias de Souza, a bricklayer in Rocinha, seriously shaking locals' faith in the force. Many believe that police are behind scores of "disappearances", which have increased as the murder rate falls.

Silva's murder came only days after Rio state authorities announced the success of a UPP operation to establish a base in the Vila Kennedy favela.

Rio state officials claim that once security is established, better state services like health, education and sanitation can be introduced, helping to build trust.

Murder rates in Rio are at their lowest rates for years, with the murder rate standing at 23 per 100,000, which is half the level of 2003, but well above the 10 per 100,000 considered epidemic by the World Health Organisation.

North Korea Fires 10 Missiles Into Sea of Japan

North Korean missiles fired into the Sea of Japan

North Korea has fired short-range missiles off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, according to Yonhap news agency.

The missiles flew for 45 miles before landing in the sea. "We estimate the rockets travelled about 70km in the open waters," said a government official in South Korea.

These aggressive actions have drawn criticism from South Korea and the West, but North Korea has defended its recent short-range launches, according to CNN.

The missile launches are a continuation of North Korea's drills which it calls a preparation for an attack, and a test of its own weapons systems. They followed South Korea's announcement that Pyongyang fired four short-range Scud missiles with a range of more than 125 miles (200km) into North Korea's eastern waters last Thursday.

"It is justifiable self-defence behaviour for us to conduct these military exercises in order to preserve peace in the region and to protect the safety of our people and our country," said a North Korean government source.

North Korea is not banned from short-range missile launches under UN sanctions.

However, tensions are high after North Korea fired a rocket on Tuesday 6 March without giving any navigational warning, which they explained as "rocket launch training".

The rocket in question was one of seven fired by North Korea into the sea off its east coast, according to South Korean authorities.

In early 2013, North Korea conducted its third nuclear weapons test, having successfully launched a long-range rocket in 2012 that critics say was aimed at proving technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Both of these are banned under UN sanctions.

Watch the video of North Korean missile launches

Venezuela's President Maduro Warns Obama Not to Assassinate Him

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro at a press conference in Caracas on Thursday.

Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro has urged US President Barack Obama to ignore American factions which, he claims, want to assassinate him, and join a commission to discuss "peace and sovereignty".

Maduro claims that the US is attempting to destabilise his government, and is behind mass protests that have left 28 dead so far.

He has proposed the formation of a high level commission mediated by the Union of South American Nations, and attended by US representatives, to discuss "peace and respect to the sovereignty" of Venezuela.

The speech came after thousands of pro-government supporters marched through the centre of the capital, Caracas, to thank the police and security for controlling the unrest.

At the rally, military leaders gave speeches alongside Maduro, praising the "civic-military partnership'.

Maduro announced that he wanted the head of the Venezuelan national Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, to meet with a high-ranking member of the US administration.

"President Obama: give peace, and respect, a chance and let's set the foundation for a new type of relations between the US, Venezuela and if possible, Latin America and the Caribbean," he told the crowd.

He warned Obama of the consequences of assassination, which he claimed was being plotted by "extremists" in the US.

"It would be the worst mistake in your life to authorise the assassination of President Nicolas Maduro and fill [Venezuela] with violence," he said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state TV and radio. He described himself as a "humble president and bus driver" who, like Obama, also had "African grandparents".

Maduro warned protesters to leave their base in Caracas' Altamira Square, or face eviction by police and security forces.

The opposition has criticised the pro-government protests and vowed to continue until the government has been changed. they claim years of incompetence and corruption has resulted in food shortages, rampant inflation and police brutality.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has accused the Venezuelan government of "waging a terror campaign against its own people". Venezuela's foreign minister Elias Jaua responded on Friday by calling Kerry a "murderer".

The US Congress is considering economic sanctions against Venezuela, which has large oil reserves.

Washington accuses Maduro of attempting to distract people from Venezuela's internal divisions and economic woes with anti-imperialist rhetoric.

Over 100 Killed in Central Nigeria Gun Attack

A family pack what is left of their belongings following an attack on the Nigerian village of Kawuri.Reuters

More than 100 people have been killed in a series of gun attacks on villages in central Nigeria.

Raids by dozens of Fulani herdsmen on villages including Ugwar Sankwi, Ungwan Gata and Chenshyi in Kaduna state left scores dead and many fleeing on foot.

Residents were still burying victims of the first attack on Marabar Kindo village, when the attackers returned on motorbikes on Thursday and gunned down several villagers and set fire to thatched huts.

Two policemen who were responding to calls for help are also reportedly among the dead.

Maigora village resident Kabiru Ismail said he had helped bury more than 40 people and counted 103 dead bodies in three villages. He also said five vehicles had been burned.

David Anyip, vice-chairman of the Kaura local government authority, told Reuters: "Fulani gunmen came across from neighbouring Plateau state and just opened fire on the villagers at around 11pm. We are still picking bodies out of the bush but so far there are more than 100 killed."

Hundreds of people have died in the past year in Nigeria's volatile "middle belt", where largely Muslim Fulani cattle-herders frequently clash with settled Christian communities and Muslim Hausa farmers. The semi-nomadic Fulani accuse farmers of taking over vital grazing lands and water resources.

Human Rights Watch released a report in December which revealed that sectarian clashes have claimed 3,000 lives since 2010, with the government doing little to stem the violence and prosecute known perpetrators.

The report said entire villages have been "ethnically cleansed" of Fulani Muslims, and warned that the insurgency could intensify as extremists attribute reprisal attacks to the "lack of justice for attacks on Muslims" in Plateau and Kaduna states.

On Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the Nigerian government to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses, including those perpetrated by security forces, as well as the Islamist terrorist organisation Boko Haram.