"Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace."

Japanese sanctions on North Korea will be extended for two more years, due to a lack of progress during talks on Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang.

North Korea says it has returned everyone who was still alive but Japan disputed this.

Last year, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe eased sanctions, including remittance and travel bans, amid hope of progress during talks.

Japanese civilians were kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in language and culture.

Muhammadu Buhari will be Nigeria’s new president, winning the election by 2.1mn votes over incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, according to Reuters.

President Jonathan is reported to have called and congratulated Mr Buhari for his election victory.

Nigeria's opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) declared the victory for former military ruler Mr Buhari and said hailed the historic democratic transfer of power.

"The people of Nigeria have taken over," an ecstatic APC spokesman Lai Mohammed told Reuters.

"This is the first time in Nigeria that a sitting government will be voted out of power using purely democratic means."

In a ceremony today negotiators for the government of Myanmar and 16 ethnic rebel groups signed a ceasefire accord aimed at ending over sixty years of armed conflict. The agreement now has to be taken by negotiators to respective leaders of the rebel groups for final approval.

The Union Peace Working Committee (government’s negotiating team) and Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (representing the 16 ethnic armed groups) have agreed on the text of this Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) after over a year of negotiations involving seven rounds of talks.

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein who was in attendance at the ceremony today said that signing the agreement “opens the door for political dialogue and also further peace talks.”

“Civilians freed from the brutality of Daesh [IS] should not have to then fear their liberators. One form of violence cannot replace another.”

An air strike on a camp for people displaced by fighting in Yemen has killed at least 40 people on Monday, Reuters reports.

The attack near Haradh, which seemed to have been targeted at a nearby Houthi rebel base, was blamed on the rebels by Yemen’s foreign minister, Riyadh Yassin.

However Yemen's state news agency Saba, which is currently under the control of the Houthis, said the camp was hit by Saudi planes.

Saudi Arabia launched air strikes against Houthi rebels last week, after rebels increased the territory they held.

The capital Sanaa, held by the rebels since December, was hit by the Saudi air force throughout the day. Houthi fighters meanwhile are getting closer to the southern port city of Aden, the last major stronghold of the supporters of President Hadi.

The US and the UK have expressed concern about political interference in Nigeria’s elections as presidential challenger Muhammadu Buhari recorded huge victories in key northern states.

Mr Buhari, a northern Muslim is going up against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, who is a Christian from the south of the country.

The challenger won 1.9 million votes in Kano against 216,000 for Jonathan and recorded victories in other northern states, however it is too early to forecast a result, in one of the most closely contested elections in years.