World News Update, what you need to know

An Egyptian court says it ordered a retrial of Al Jazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste, due to a lack of evidence showing their alleged links to the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

ELSEWHERE:

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she is taking the right approach by making representations on behalf of death row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from home.

GENEVA - Banking giant HSBC is facing damaging claims that its Swiss division helped wealthy customers - including Australia's Kerry Packer - dodge millions of dollars in taxes after a "SwissLeaks" cache of secret files emerged online.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has refused to rule out sending arms to Ukraine, but has indicated he is willing to see if German-led efforts to broker a ceasefire succeed before making his choice.

YAOUND, Cameroon - Suspected members of Boko Haram have kidnapped 20 people from a bus in northern Cameroon, then executed 12 of them, a security source and resident says.

BAGHDAD - A top US envoy says Iraqi troops will launch a major ground offensive against the Islamic State group in the coming weeks, as a suicide bomber killed 14 people in Baghdad.