BBC News with Sue Montgomery
Documents seized from Osama bin Laden's hideout a year ago appear to show that the head of al-Qaeda had become frustrated with regional jihadist groups. The documents also show that bin Laden wanted to target President Obama's plane. Here's our security correspondent Gordon Corera.
It is impossible to know how representative these documents are. But as well as showing the desire to kill the president, they provide a series of unique snapshots of the concerns of top al-Qaeda officials from 2006 to 2011. If there is one unifying theme, it is frustration - frustration for Osama bin Laden at the actions of groups which had affiliated themselves to al-Qaeda but whose actions could not be controlled, for instance, the way in which al-Qaeda in Iraq killed Muslims undermining support.
The Chinese dissident at the centre of a diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Washington has made an unexpected live appeal to the US Congress. Speaking over a telephone line from Beijing, Chen Guangcheng said he wanted to come to the United States to rest. From Washington, Jonny Dymond.
Over a mobile phone from his hospital in Beijing into a congressional hearing in Washington, Chen Guangcheng made his plea for freedom to travel, for a period of rest in the US - rest, he said, he had not had for 10 years. He said he wanted to meet the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to thank her. He said he was worried about the safety of his family and spoke of the security measures that had been put in place to keep an eye on them and control them. His greatest concern, he said, was for the safety of his mother and brothers.
Sudan says it's fully committed to ending hostilities with its neighbour South Sudan as demanded by the United Nations, but it warned it would defend itself against aggression . On Wednesday, the UN Security Council gave the countries until Friday to stop the escalating violence between them or face sanctions. From Khartoum, James Copnall.
Both Sudan and South Sudan have now committed to the African Union's road map . The document includes a provision for cessation of hostilities, and talks between the two countries should get underway in the next few days. However, both sides have accused the other of new attacks, and both say they will defend themselves from any aggression. The UN Security Council's threat of sanctions coupled with the AU's road map seems to have brought the two countries back to the negotiating table, but the tension between them is still very high.
Competition regulators in Mexico have revoked a fine of nearly $1bn imposed on the country's main mobile phone company. America Movil, which is owned by the world's richest man Carlos Slim, was accused of monopolistic practices. Mexico's competition commission said it had dropped the fine in return for concessions including reduced charges for connections from rival networks.
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Polls have just closed in England, Scotland and Wales, where people have been voting in local elections. There have also been contests for the post of mayor in three cities, including London. The BBC's political correspondent says the results across the country will be seen as a popularity test for Britain's coalition government at a time when it was doing badly in opinion polls.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is coming under increasing pressure to resign over his handling of a child sex abuse inquiry. Cardinal Sean Brady says he won't resign over allegations that when he was a young clergyman he knew about a number of children who'd been abused by a paedophile priest but did not tell their parents. The Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament that anyone who didn't act against cases of abuse at the time should step down.
"I've always believed in the separation of Church and state. I think it is the job of government and of the state to enact our laws and to ensure that those laws apply to everybody whether they belong to a church or not. But it is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority."
Two British men who have been completely blind for many years have had some of their vision restored by pioneering surgery. Electronic chips were fitted behind the men's retinas , allowing them to see light and the outline of some shapes. The electronic chips contain photosensitive pixels which send signals to the optic nerve and then the brain. One of the men said he'd dreamed in colour for the first time in 30 years.
The coach of Fiorentina, the Serie A Italian football team, has been sacked for assaulting one of his own players. Delio Rossi punched the midfielder Adem Ljajic in a row over a substitution. Rossi became enraged when Ljajic sarcastically applauded the coach's decision to replace him.
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