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The Gambia and Tanzania have banned child marriage, with tough penalties for those who breach the rulings. Gambia's President Yayha Jammeh announced that anyone marrying a girl below 18 would be jailed for up to 20 years. In Tanzania, the high court imposed a landmark ruling outlawing marriage under the age of 18 for boys and girls. Some 30% of underage girls are married in The Gambia, while in Tanzania the rate is 37%. Africa Live: More on this and other news stories Before the Tanzania ruling, girls as young as 14 could marry with parental consent, while it was 18 for boys. The BBC's Tulanana Bohela in Dar es Salaam says this is a bi

Islamic State The US is to send 560 more military personnel to Iraq to help in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS), Defence Secretary Ash Carter has said. It will bring to about 4,650 the number of US personnel in Iraq, most of them serving in training and advisory roles. The extra troops, including engineers and logistics experts, would help local forces planning to retake the IS stronghold of Mosul, Mr Carter said. He made the announcement on a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Troops from the new deployment will be stationed at Qayara airbase, which was recaptured from IS militants by Iraqi government forces on Saturday. The facility is about 65km (40 miles) south of Mosul, IS's last urban bastion in Iraq. "These additional US forces will bring unique capabilities to the campaign and provide critical enabler support to Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight," Mr Carter said. IS seized control of Mosul in June 2014 aft

An Israeli rights group is suing Facebook for $1bn on behalf of families of victims of Palestinian attacks. The Shurat Hadin group says Facebook violates the US Anti-Terrorism Act by allowing militant groups such as Hamas a platform for spreading violence. Hamas called the lawsuit an Israeli attempt to blackmail Facebook. The victims cited in the case are all American, including Taylor Force, 28, who was stabbed to death while visiting Israel in March. The others are dual Israeli-US nationals who died in attacks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank between 2014 and 2016. The suit, filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, argues the platform "knowingly provided material support and resources to Hamas... facilitat(ing) this terrorist group's ability to communicate, recr

In the wake of the month-long war with Israel in July 2006, Lebanon's Hezbollah rebuilt itself to become one of the most powerful militant groups in the Middle East. Over the past 10 years, it has expanded its domestic influence but also become entangled in Syria's civil war. Here are ways it has changed in some key areas. Political Hezbollah transformed from a party with limited power to a potent political heavyweight. It led a series of protests in late 2006 to demand greater decision-making power in cabinet. In 2008, Hezbollah-led militants initiated clashes in Beirut after the government threatened to shut down its private telecommunications network, eventually acquiring veto power in cabinet. The party dismissed the legitimacy of an international tribunal investigating the 2005 killing of former Prime

Micah Xavier Johnson, accused of shooting dead five US police officers in Dallas before himself being killed by police, was a US army veteran who had served in Afghanistan. The 25-year-old was a private who did a nine-month tour of duty from November 2013 after serving in the Army Reserve for six years, the US military said. Six months into his tour of Afghanistan a female soldier accused him of sexual harassment and Johnson was later sent home, a military lawyer who represented him said. Johnson acted alone in the Dallas attack and had no known criminal history or ties to terrorist groups, authorities said. He lived with his mother in the quiet Dallas suburb of Mesquite. The BBC's Laura Bicker in Mesquite says the area is characterised by nice houses and well-kept gardens and neighbours say they are shocked that someone from there could kill police officers. His sister wrote of her shock on Face

The mother of the gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas was "disappointed" by his experience in the US military, she told TheBlaze.com. "The military was not what Micah thought it would be," Delphine Johnson said . "He was very disappointed." She said her son was "gung-ho" about joining the military and wanted to be a police officer at one point. Johnson opened fire at a protest being held over the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police. The demonstrations, echoed nationwide, followed the police killings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. Bomb-making material, rifles and a combat journal were found at the home of Johnson, who was himself killed. He went from being an extrovert to a "hermit" after his military service, his mother said. "I don't know what to say to anybody to make anything better. I didn't see it coming," James Johnson, his father, t