BBC news with Johnathan Izard.
President Obama has criticized the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for modelling his policies on the Russian president Vladimir Putin and showering praise on him. Mr. Obama said this was unprecedented in American politics. Mr. Trump has promised closer relations with the Russian leader if he wins the White House.
As the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul continues, the US military says Islamic state militants there are using civilians as human shields. The pentagon spokesman said the group was holding people in the city against their will. Russia has halted its airstrikes on rebel held neighborhoods of Aleppo 48 hours ahead of the planned pause. The defense minister said Russian and Syrian forces were stopping their bombing to allow preparations for any civilians and fighters to leave the besieged areas on Thursday.
At least 16 people have been killed in interethnic clashes in the southeast of Democratic Republic of Congo in a row over a disputed caterpillar tax. Several days of violence began when a group of Batwa, also known as pygmies, refused to pay a tax for selling caterpillars, a stable food.
The President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza has signed into law a bill which will see the country withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The ICC's prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of human rights abuses there. The authorities had accused the ICC of being a tool in the hands of western countries.
Belgian police say they have arrested a man wielding a knife who’ve taken 15 people hostage to supermarket in a city of Forren near Brussels. None of the hostages was injured. There has no indication that the incident was terror related. It’s believed to have been an attempted robbery.
The American Rock Roll singer Chuck Berry has announced he is to release a new studio album for writer of the 50s and 60s classics such as "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Johnny B. Goode". He made the announcement on his 90th birthday.