11 September 2014 Last updated at 07:57
Oscar Pistorius trial: Judge delivering verdict
The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has begun delivering her verdict on the athlete, a process that may take hours.
The Olympic double-amputee sprinter faces 25 years in jail if found guilty of premeditated murder.
He denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year, saying he thought there was an intruder.
The judge could also find him guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for which he would face a long jail term.
Mr Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, including two counts of shooting a firearm in public and the illegal possession of ammunition.
Ukraine sees peace hopes as Russia vows Nato ‘response’
Russia tests new missile as Ukraine says most of its troops have left the country
Daniel McLaughlin
Moscow has withdrawn most of its troops from Ukraine, the country’s president Petro Poroshenko has said, as Russia threatened military and economic retaliation against perceived aggression from the West.
The Kremlin denies sending soldiers and armour to assist separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, but the European Union and United States were poised to impose new sanctions on Russia before Kiev and the militants agreed a ceasefire last Friday.
The measures were formerly approved by EU states on Monday, but put on hold “for a few days” to see if the ceasefire held. In an apparent warning to the bloc, Russia has allegedly reduced gas supplies to Poland, a key ally of Kiev that has been funnelling fuel back into Ukraine to boost stocks before winter.
Israel investigates own forces over Gaza war
Israel has launched criminal probes over several incidents involving its forces in the most recent Gaza war. But Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has criticized the investigations for lacking independence.
The Israeli military has launched five criminal investigations into incidents involving its soldiers during last summer's Gaza war, as Palestinians threaten to take evidence of alleged war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Two of the five cases sparked widespread international condemnation, including from Israel's closest ally, the United States. On July 16, Israel forces fired on a beach in Gaza City, killing four children who were playing there. Just over a week later, a UN school in the northern city of Beit Hanun was shelled by the Israelis, killing at least 15 people.
Israel has also launched a probe into the shooting death of a Palestinian woman after she had coordinated her exit from a combat zone with Israeli forces. The beating of a detainee and the theft of money from a Palestinian home are also being probed.
Ebola 'overwhelming' West Africa health services
Health workers on Wednesday reported being overwhelmed by new Ebola cases at the epicentre of an outbreak described as an existential threat to hardest-hit Liberia.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which raised the death toll to nearly 2 300, has predicted an “exponential increase” in infection across West Africa, and warned that Liberia in particular will face thousands of new cases in the coming weeks.
“We are overwhelmed. The patients keep coming in [huge] numbers. Yesterday we received up to 30 patients,” Sophie Jane, a spokesperson for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), told Agence France-Presse at the aid agency’s Ebola unit in Monrovia.
China shows off new missile test on primetime television
2 hours ago
China has unveiled its latest military hardware on primetime television, an advanced air defence system that reports said has a "high success rate" destroying incoming missiles and aircraft.
The HongQi-10 (Reg Flag 10) surface-to-air missile was shown in the evening news bulletin Wednesday being fired from ships and land-based mobile launchers, and exploding in the sky on impact with its target.
It will protect warships against rockets over a limited area, and will be used alongside an "area defence system" which covers a larger area but has a slower response time, the state-run Global Times newspaper said Thursday.
Middle East
Sep 11, '14
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Politics and the long war in Iraq
By Brian M Downing
By Brian M Downing
The four armed groups warring in Iraq - Islamic State (IS), the Kurdish peshmerga, the Iraqi army, and Sunni tribal levies - have strengths and weaknesses. They also have varying levels of foreign support and capacities for cooperation. IS troops have a marked qualitative edge but are badly outnumbered and have no reliable allies inside Iraq.
IS stands little chance of holding on to the swathes of Iraq it has recently conquered, and in coming months it will be forced to retreat from northern Iraq, if not from much of the country. The Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi'ites are capable of effectively countering IS's offensive but political bargaining with the new Baghdad government will come first. The negotiations and fighting will
determine Iraq's future as a unified state, a federation, or a fragmented state.
IS stands little chance of holding on to the swathes of Iraq it has recently conquered, and in coming months it will be forced to retreat from northern Iraq, if not from much of the country. The Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi'ites are capable of effectively countering IS's offensive but political bargaining with the new Baghdad government will come first. The negotiations and fighting will
determine Iraq's future as a unified state, a federation, or a fragmented state.
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