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Nicolas Maduro, Eduardo Saman #conspiracy bbc.com

In 2003, then-President Hugo Chavez introduced price controls for some 40 food and hygiene products to guarantee the poor had access to staple goods.

But lately, in the midst of a cash crisis, price controls seem to have become a headache.

For the first time in years, shortages and inflation have replaced security as the biggest worry for Venezuelans, according to a recent poll by Caracas-based Datanalisis.

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President Nicolas Maduro says shortages are caused by US-backed, far-right groups who smuggle and hoard products in an economic war to destabilise his socialist government.

"Venezuela currently has the necessary goods to feed the people, but there is a problem with distribution," says Eduardo Saman, a former commerce minister in the government of the late Hugo Chavez.

"And distribution is in the hands of companies who operate as a cartel and seek to affect the government," he tells the BBC.

Alexei Mozgovoi #fundie bbc.com

One of the top rebel commanders in eastern Ukraine, Alexei Mozgovoi, has been killed in an attack on his car, Russian and Ukrainian media report.

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Last November Mozgovoi was seen at the head of a summary court system.

He is heard issuing a warning to residents: "Too many women go to restaurants. What kind of example do they show to their children? From now on, we will arrest all women we find in restaurants and cafes."

Nantwich Education Partnership #fundie bbc.com

Head teachers in Cheshire have warned parents they will report them to the authorities if they allow their children to play computer games rated for over-18s.

The letter was sent by the Nantwich Education Partnership group to parents from 16 schools in the county.

The heads claim games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty contain unsuitable levels of violence.

They warn parents they could be reported for neglect in some cases.

The heads state that playing such games or accessing certain social media sites can increase early sexualised behaviour in youngsters and leave them vulnerable to grooming for sexual exploitation.

Abdurasul Juraboev, Abror Habibov, Akhror Saidakhmetov #fundie bbc.com

The FBI has arrested three foreign nationals living in Brooklyn who agents say sought to join the Islamic State.

Two of the men had threatened to kill police officers and FBI agents in the US if they were unable to travel to Syria, the FBI said.

The men came to the authorities' attention after they posted to Uzbek-language websites in recent months.

In one post, they pledged to kill US President Barack Obama, the FBI said.

Abdurasul Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, both of Uzbekistan; and Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan, were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.

Nicolas Maduro #conspiracy bbc.com

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says the owners of an unnamed chain of shops have been arrested for artificially creating long queues.

Mr Maduro said the owners had reduced the number of employees working on cash tills in order to create queues and "annoy the Venezuelan people".

He has accused Venezuela's business elite of boycotting his government.

The opposition blames the socialist policies of the past 16 years for the worsening economic crisis.

"Yesterday we detected that a famous chain of stores was conspiring, irritating the people," said Mr Maduro.

"We came, we normalized sales, we summoned the owners, we arrested them and they're prisoners for having provoked the people," he said.

Nonhuman Rights Project #fundie bbc.com

A chimpanzee is not entitled to the same rights as people and does not have be freed from captivity by its owner, a US court has ruled.

The appeals court in New York state said caged chimpanzee Tommy could not be recognised as a "legal person" as it "cannot bear any legal duties".

The Nonhuman Rights Project had argued that chimps who had such similar characteristics to the humans deserved basic rights, including freedom.

The rights group said it would appeal.

Faraz Naveed #fundie bbc.com

A Pakistani policeman has been arrested after allegedly killing a man with an axe because he suspected him of committing blasphemy.

Police say Faraz Naveed struck the victim, Tufail Naqvi, on the neck and head after the latter was arrested during a street fight on Wednesday.

The victim is reported to have had a history of mental instability.
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Mohammad Amir, head of Gujrat city's Civil Lines police station, told BBC Urdu that Mr Naveed had been arrested for the killing.

He added that Mr Naqvi, a Shia Muslim, "was not of a sound mind and would hurl abuses at any one". There was some evidence, Mr Amir said, that he had spent time in a mental asylum.

Unnamed Sudanese judge #fundie bbc.com

"We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death," the judge told the woman, AFP reports.

Amnesty International condemned the sentence, handed down by a judge in Khartoum, as "appalling and abhorrent".

Local media report the sentence would not be carried out for two years after she has given birth.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population, which is governed by Islamic law. It rules that apostasy - the abandonment of one's religious faith - is a crime.

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The judge also sentenced the woman to 100 lashes after convicting her of adultery - because her marriage to a Christian man was not valid under Islamic law.

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Amnesty International said the woman, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag, was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother's religion, because her father, a Muslim, was reportedly absent during her childhood.

In court, the judge addressed her by her Muslim name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.

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There were small groups of protesters outside the court - both her supporters and those who back the punishment.

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Abubakar Shekau #fundie bbc.com

Abubakar Shekau, militant leader of Boko Haram in a video about young girls he abducted:

In a video, he states that the girls should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married

"God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions," he said.