Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 13 May 2014

New evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs loaded with chlorine gas on three towns in northern Syria in April, a new Human Rights Watch report says. The attacks used chlorine, an industrial chemical, as a weapon - an illegal act. Targeting civilians with the chemical, as Syria has, is a plain violation of international law. UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, announced his resignation. Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an ambush that took place near the town of Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, an area that recently declared itself independent from Ukraine. Nigeria is ready to enter into talks with Boko Haram to release the kidnapped schoolgirls, a Nigerian cabinet member said. Yesterday, Boko Haram released a video allegedly showing the schoolgirls. French freelance photo journalist Camille Lepage, 26, was killed in Central African Republic. Two Central African journalists were killed this month in the country's capital, Bangui.