A French family who were held captive in Nigeria for two months after being kidnapped from Cameroon have been released.

Gunmen claiming to be from Nigerian militant group Boko Haram earlier released videos threatening to kill the family if authorities did not release fellow militants held in Nigeria and Cameroon.

French president Francois Hollande denied that a ransom was paid.

The Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, has formed a committee to consider an amnesty for Boko Haram, that will be inaugurated next Wednesday.

The committee will consist of 25 members including military figures, academics and politicians, has been given 60 days to look at dialogue and disarmament, as well as supporting the victims. The committee will be chaired by the President's Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that lawsuits regarding human rights abuses committed abroad cannot be heard by courts in the US.

12 Nigerians had filed a case against Shell over human rights violations in Nigeria during a crackdown on protestors in the early nineties, accusing the corporation of complicity in murder committed by the government.

However Chief Justice Roberts said that the Alien Tort Statute, a law passed in 1789, is not applicable in this Shell because it was not intended to be applied outside the US.

The European Union will lift all embargoes place on Burma, except for on weapons, in light of the "remarkable process of reform" the country has seen, reported Reuters on Thursday.

A document seen by the news agency reportedly states that the European Union is set "to lift all sanctions with the exception of the embargo on arms", adding,

"The EU is willing to open a new chapter in its relations with Myanmar, building a lasting partnership".

Dozens of people were killed in a suicide attack on a Baghdad cafe on Thursday, just days before scheduled provincial elections.

The bomb on Thursday night killed at least 26 pople at a cafe reportedly packed with mainly young people.

More than 50 people were also reported injured.

See the Guardian for full report.

Ahead of the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, Amnesty International have released a statement condemning the Bahraini government’s use of sporting event to cover up human rights abuses.

Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement,

“The authorities are trying to use the Grand Prix as a platform to show progress, with claims that the human rights situation has improved, whilst stepping up repression in order to ensure nothing disturbs their public image."

“Instead of responding to the uprising of February 2011, the last two years have seen continued killings, arbitrary arrests and alleged torture in Bahrain."

“We are seeing nothing but crackdowns and token gestures to clean up the country’s image.  Families wait for justice for their killed relatives, opposition leaders languish in jail, and children are detained and tried under the anti-terrorism law."

The US has ordered troops to Jordan for possible humanitarian or 'stability' operations in Syria as well as chemical weapons control.

Although about 150 troops were sent to Jordan last year to help train Jordanian and Syrian opposition forces, the dispatch of a headquarters unit may indicate a potential expansion of the US's military role in the region.

Kosovo and Serbia failed to agree on a plan after 14 hours of talks between the respective prime ministers, making talks on Serbia joining the EU in June unlikely.

The EU's Catherine Ashton said that the differences of both sides were "narrow and very shallow", and added:

At least two people have died and over 100 left injured after the Boston Marathon was hit by two explosions on Monday afternoon.

Dramatic footage showed the explosions near the finishing line and blood-covered casualties could be seen being taken away from the scene of the blasts.

Another device was reportedly detonated by police in the same area.

Rwanda slammed the “wagging finger” of the West, as it blocked a United Nations Security Council statement from mentioning the International Criminal Court, at a council meeting on preventing conflict in Africa.

Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, told the council,

"Rather than delivering justice and preventing impunity, the practice is that the International Criminal Court has shown itself subject to political manipulation,"