BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
Reports from Cairo say Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to extend the ceasefire in Gaza for another five days. A Hamas official has confirmed the new truce but there is no word yet from Israel. Kevin Connolly reports from Gaza.
The 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and the militant factions of Gaza was on the point of running out when news came with a breakthrough in talks that had been on the point of breakdown. Right up towards the last moment the Cairo talks appeared dooms to failure. As the clock ticked down towards the deadline, Israel said three rockets were fired at its territory from Gaza; Hamas, though, said it was not responsible for the attack implying that smaller militant groups had broken ranks. And Israel did not appear to respond.
The United States has said it's considering options including safe corridors and airlifts to help thousands of Yazidis stranded on the mountain top in northern Iraq. Reporting from Washington, Barbara Plett Usher.
A White House spokesman Ben Rhodes said Mr. Obama was waiting for recommendations from a military assessment team just deployed to northern Iraq. He said options included an airlift or a safe corridor to get the stranded refugees safely out of the mountain. He didn't rule out the possibility of using US forces for such a mission, but he stressed that the President remained determined not to put troops into a combat role. Mr. Rhodes noted that Britain had indicated it was ready to work with the Americans on a Yazidi rescue effort, and said Washington was discussing offers of humanitarian support from Australia, France and Canada.
Islamic State militants are reported to seize two towns and several villages from Syrian opposition fighters in the northern province of Aleppo. Opposition activists said that at last 40 fighters were killed. The capture of the towns of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh represents a significant westward expansion for Islamic State and could threaten Syrian rebels supply lines into the city of Aleppo.
A Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos has been killed in a plane crash the port city of Santos. President Dilma Rousseff has declared three days of national moaning. Wyre Davies has more details.
Suspending her re-election campaign for three days, Dilma Rousseff said the whole of Brazil was in moaning over the death of Eduardo Campos. She also described the married father of five as a great Brazilian. Mr. Campos was killed when the private jet carrying him and members of his campaign staff crashed in heavy weather in the southern city of Santos. Six other people on board the plane are also thought to have died. Although President Rousseff and Eduardo Campos were political rivals, they were ideologically and personally close.
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Efforts are continuing to stem the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa. In Nigeria, a third death from this disease has been announced. From Lagos, Will Ross.
In Nigeria, the government has called for people to cooperate with the medical experts amid reports that a nurse has skipped quarantine. The Information Minister said the nurse was expected to have contracted Ebola but headed to her home in the east of the country, potentially endangering many lives. Meanwhile, a small quantity of an experimental drug has arrived in Liberia to treat two infected doctors. In Sierra Leone, a second senior doctor has died form Ebola. As fears grow over the potential spread of the virus, the World Health Organization has now classified Kenya as a high-risk country.
A court in Pakistan has warned that the country's two prominent opposition figures that they should not engage in any unconstitutional activity during their planned protest marches in the capital Islamabad on Thursday. The court ordered the cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and a prominent cleric to maintain the sanctity of Pakistan's Independence Day as the planned march has fallen on that day.
The Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving and resisting arrest. He entered a plea deal to avoid more serious charges including driving under the influence of banned substances. Joanna Jolly reports.
Justin Bieber was not present at the Miami hearing where prosecutors gave details of the deal he'd struck to avoid charges of driving under the influence. The 20-year-old agreed to attend a 12-hour Anger Management Course to pay fines and to donate $50,000 to charity. Bieber was arrested in January after what police described as an illegal street race between him and another singer. A blood test showed the presence of marijuana and an anti-anxiety drug.