BBC news with Nick Kelly
Saudi Arabia's new king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has moved decisively to signal that there will be continuity in the way of nation confronts major challenges at home and abroad. He also took steps to secure the long term future of his dynasty. Alan Johnston reports.
In a televised address, King Salman messaged to his people, to the oil market and to friends and enemies abroad was very clear, there will be no break with policies of his predecessor--King Abdullah. The new monarch try to project a sense of new continuity far into the future. He elevated prince Mohammad bin Nayef, namely he is the deputy crown prince. It's the first time a member of the royal family's younger, third generation has been given such a senior position in a line of succession. King Salman's predecessor King Abdullah has been buried in a traditional ceremony in the capital Riyadh.
The Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras has held his final campaign rally ahead of Sunday's general election. Opinion poll shows he is clearly behind Alexis Tsipras of the left-wing Syriza party. Mark Lowen is in Athens.
He has a mountain to climb if he's to catch up with the left-wing Syriza. But Antonis Samaras gave a combative final speech tonight. He tolds supporters he worked day and night to keep the country standing and Greece was once again reliable. Since right leader warned that Syriza could force the country from the Europe by its policies serving what he called the drag ?. Voters look at to punish Mr. Samaras for the austerity he's pushed through in government. He has slashed the deficits and balanced the books, but he also deepen the pain of his exhausted nation.
Liberia, the country once worst hit by the Ebola epidemic says it now has just 5 confirmed cases of the disease. It's the latest sign that the Ebola epidemic that has killed 9,000 people in western Africa is in retreat. James Read reports.
Just a few months ago, Ebola was raging unchecked with hospitals overwhelmed and bodies lying uncollected in the streets. Now, both Liberia and Sierra Leone say victory against the disease that is in sight. While in Guinea, the number of confirmed cases has dropped to 20. That's thanks to a huge international aid effort combining with stringent quarantine measures and determined public education campign. But the WHO has warned against complacency. It says Ebola may be circulated in the areas healthworkers are complete unaware of, and the situtaion remains dangerous.
A Nigerian women who escaped from Boko Haram militants saught to capture the town of Baga says the jihadists have taken women held captives and at night raping them. She also described seen the bodies of hundreds of civilians killed by the insurgents decomposing in the streets.
This is the world news from the BBC.
United States has continued to have links with security authorities in Yemen despite the severe politiacl crisis unfolding there. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned on Friday amidst extreme tension involving Shia Muslim fighters known as the Houthis. But White House spokesman said the US still have what he called a strong counter-terrorism partnership with the Yemeni national security network.
The top US diplomat for Latin America affairs Roberta Jacobson has met some of Cuba's leading dissidents on the final day of his visit to Havana. The meeting follows 2 days of talks with Cuban authorities to discuss measures to restore diplomatic and commercial links sealed in 1961. Here's Will Grant.
The leader of the US delegation Roberta Jacobson described the discussion as coordinated and respectful and said each delegaton understood the importance of the tasks they are facing. Specifically, they voiced differences over their understanding of human rights with the US saying they pressed the Cuban government over freedom of expression something the Cubans rejected. The Assistant secretary Jacobson said that the US did intended to continue to speak out about human rights both publically directly now with the Cuban government.
The Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said any hopes of a deal on its nuclear programme would vanish if the US congress voted to impose new sanctions on his country. Mr. Zarif warned that the interim agreement reached in 2012 would be unraveled if new measures were introduced. In Washington, a White House spokesman said the chances of reaching a permanent deal were only 50-50.
And Customs officials in Bugaria have seized 2 million live baby eels which were hidden in the luggage of 2 Chinese men arriving from Spain. Seen as some of the delicacy, baby eels can fetch more than a thousand dollars a kilo in Asia and were critically endangered.