Militants 'seize Israeli soldier'

1 August 2014 Last updated at 13:04

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Martin Patience in Gaza: ''There is surprise that it has crumbled after just four-and-a-half hours''

Israeli forces are searching for a soldier believed captured, as a Gaza truce with Hamas collapsed just hours after it began.

The Israeli military said the soldier went missing during an attack on forces trying to destroy a tunnel from Gaza built by militants into Israel.

Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaching the 72-hour ceasefire.

Palestinian sources said at least 35 people were killed by Israeli shelling in the southern town of Rafah.

In 2006 Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was held for five years until November 2011. He was released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the latest capture.

Some 1,460 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the latest conflict and 63 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

The ceasefire had been brokered by the US and UN to give civilians a reprieve from the violence, and had been seen as an unforeseen breakthrough after days of diplomatic deadlock.

Also on Friday, Palestinian and Israeli delegations arrived in Cairo, Egypt, with the hope of negotiating a longer-term cessation of hostilities, but Egyptian officials said the talks had now been postponed.

Analysis: Martin Patience, BBC News, Gaza

The clashes in Rafah came just four hours into what was meant be a 72-hour ceasefire, reinforcing just how difficult it is to get truces to last beyond a very short time. Both sides will have expected such violations.

While it held, much of Gaza was relatively quiet compared to the violence in recent weeks. The streets were slowly returning back to life as shops began to reopen. People had been taking the opportunity to stock up on much-needed supplies.

A steady stream of cars headed towards evacuated neighbourhoods close to the Israeli border. People here want to see if their houses are still standing and to try to salvage what's left of their belongings.

The BBC's Bethany Bell, in Jerusalem, says there had been enormous international pressure for a 72-hour lull to allow people in Gaza to bury their dead and restock with food.

During the morning life appeared to be returning to some kind of normality in Gaza, with many Palestinians heading towards heavily shelled areas to see if their homes were still intact.

But the Gaza health ministry reported that at least 35 Palestinians were killed and up to 100 injured in an Israeli attack near the southern town of Rafah after the ceasefire began.

A senior Israeli official said Hamas had breached the ceasefire and Israel's response would be "crushing".

Earlier, Israeli foreign affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor told the BBC that Israeli forces had retaliated after being attacked in what seemed like a planned move by Hamas.

"There was a full-scale attack on an Israeli unit and this unit had to respond," he said.

"After it responded, Hamas started firing rockets on Israeli territory again and therefore the fighting resumed all along the line.

But Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoun said: "The Israelis are the ones who breached the ceasefire, and the Palestinian resistance acted in a way that ensures its right of self-defence."

Another Hamas official said the announcement of the soldier's capture was "a justification for Israel retreating from the truth and a cover-up for massacres".

Palestinian media reported that Hamas had called for a "day of anger" across the West Bank.

Ceasefires timeline

• Saturday, 26 July: 12-hour humanitarian truce observed by both sides from 05:00 GMT (08:00 local time) till 17:00 GMT
• Israeli cabinet agrees four-hour extension until 21:00 GMT while it considers UN request for 24-hour extension, but continues operation against "terrorist" tunnels
• Hamas rejects extension to 21:00 GMT because it wants "complete" stop to fighting and end to Gaza blockade
• Israel announces extension of ceasefire for 24 hours till 21:00 GMT on Sunday
• Sunday, 27 July: Israel resumes operation in response to "incessant rocket fire" from Gaza. Hamas declares 24-hour truce, but continues rocket fire, and Israel rejects ceasefire
• Friday 1st August: Israel and Hamas agree 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire from 05:00 GMT, but Israel resumes operations within hours accusing Hamas of violations

Gaza-Israel conflict: What is the fighting about?

Gaza crisis: Toll of operations in Gaza

Are you in Gaza or Israel? Have you been affected by the violence? You can send us your views and experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Gaza Israel". If you are willing to feature in an interview, please ensure you include your contact details and a photograph of yourself to help us illustrate the story.

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Sudan 'apostasy' woman arrives in US

1 August 2014 Last updated at 02:51

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Meriam Ibrahim was greeted by supporters in New Hampshire

A Sudanese woman who fled to Italy after being spared a death sentence for renouncing Islam has arrived in the US.

Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag arrived in New Hampshire on Thursday evening with her American husband and her children.

Welcoming her on a brief stopover in Philadelphia, the city's mayor, Michael Nutter, described her as a "world freedom fighter".

There was global condemnation when she was sentenced to hang for apostasy by a Sudanese court earlier this year.

Mrs Ibrahim's father is Muslim so according to Sudan's version of Islamic law she is also Muslim and cannot convert.

She maintains she was never Muslim having been raised by her Christian mother.

Mrs Ibrahim flew from Rome to Philadelphia with her husband and two children, en route to Manchester, New Hampshire, where her husband has relatives and the family hope to settle.

While in Philadelphia, Mr Nutter said people would remember her just like "others who stood up so we could be free".

He compared her to Rosa Parks, who became a symbol of the civil rights movement in the US when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Alabama.

And he presented Mrs Ibrahim with a small replica of the Liberty Bell, a symbol of American independence.

Her next stop was Manchester, and there were about 40 relatives and supporters at the airport to greet her, some of them chanting "Long Live America", says the BBC's Gringo Wotshela, who was at the scene.

He said her husband said a few words, in which he thanked the US government for its strong stance, the New Hampshire senators who worked hard to arrange her asylum and the people of Sudan for their support.

Mrs Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, also a Christian, is from South Sudan and has US nationality.

Their daughter Maya was born in prison in May, shortly after Mrs Ibrahim was sentenced to hang for renouncing one's faith.

Under intense international pressure, her conviction was quashed and she was freed in June although she was initially stopped from leaving the country and the family took refuge at the US embassy in Khartoum.

When in Rome, she met the Pope, who "thanked her for her witness to faith", according to a Vatican spokesman.

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Mrs Ibrahim and her family meet Pope Francis at his Vatican residence

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Xinjiang imam murder 'suspects shot'

1 August 2014 Last updated at 05:47

Police have shot dead two suspects in the killing of the imam of China's largest mosque and captured another, state media say.

Jume Tahir was the imam in Kashgar, in China's restive Xinjiang region.

He was found dead after morning prayers at the Id Kah mosque on Wednesday.

Police said the suspects, located shortly afterwards, "resisted arrest with knives and axes". They were "influenced by religious extremism", Xinhua news agency said.

Xinjiang, in China's far west, is home to the Muslim Uighur minority.

Tensions have rumbled for years between Uighurs and Beijing over large-scale Han Chinese migration and tight Chinese control.

In recent months, however, there has been a marked increase in Xinjiang-linked violence, including a market attack in the regional capital Urumqi that left more than 30 people dead.

Beijing blames these attacks on extremists inspired by overseas terror groups. Uighur activists say heavy-handed restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms are fuelling local resentment.

News of the imam's death emerged early on Thursday via foreign media but was only confirmed late in the day by official sources.

Xinhua said the suspects planned to "do something big" to increase their influence.

Mr Tahir, a Uighur, was a vocal and public supporter of Chinese policies in the region, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.

He was appointed imam of the 600-year-old mosque by the ruling Communist Party.

Some say he was deeply unpopular among Uighurs who disliked the fact that he praised Communist Party policies while preaching in his mosque.

His killing came two days after dozens of people were reportedly killed or injured in clashes with police in Yarkant county, in the same prefecture.

Independently confirming reports from Xinjiang is difficult because access is restricted and information flow is tightly controlled.

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Multiple Taiwan gas blasts kill 25

1 August 2014 Last updated at 08:29

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''Drivers wait at the junction, then the road explodes'' - Bill Hayton reports

A series of gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed 25 people and injured 267 others, officials say.

The blasts rocked the city's Cianjhen district, scattering cars and blowing deep trenches in roads.

The exact cause of the gas leaks is not clear, but reports say the blasts were caused by ruptured pipelines.

Images of the scene showed major fires, upturned vehicles, bodies covered in debris and streets split in two.

The explosions happened late on Thursday night, with witnesses reporting huge fireballs soaring into the air. Taiwan's premier said there were at least five blasts.

"The local fire department received calls of gas leaks late Thursday and then there was a series of blasts around midnight affecting an area of two to three sq km [one sq mile]," the National Fire Agency said in a statement.

"I saw lots of cars and motorcycles with engines all over on the road, and doctors checking if bodies were dead or alive," eyewitness Chen Guan-yuan, who was at the scene shortly after the blast, told the BBC.

"Because the explosion range is so far so it's really difficult to handle this situation immediately," Mr Chen said, adding that the blasts "caused a long-range hole, like a huge cave".

Four firefighters who were investigating reports of a gas leak were said to be among the dead.

People in the area were evacuated to schools as teams battled the blazes. By Friday morning most fires were reported to have been extinguished.

Firefighters were still trying to see if people were trapped under the rubble, the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei reported.

The exact cause of the blasts had not yet been identified but several petrochemical companies had pipelines running along the sewage system in the district, our correspondent added.

"The cause of the gas leak is still not clear at this moment. We suspect the leaked gas could be propylene," said Economic Affairs Minister Chang Chia-chu.

Cindy Sui, BBC News, Kaohsiung

The area where the explosions happened is just a short distance from the Kaohsiung City Hall, the popular Guanghua Night Market, the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store and at least one major hotel.

Eyewitnesses and local residents reported smelling a strong gas odour about three hours before the explosions occurred. Many of them were worried and went outside.

One person wrote online that he called Kaohsiung City's hotline for residents but was told that firefighters had arrived on the scene and to go back home.

As he expressed anger to the hotline operator, he saw a large explosion. Manhole covers were blown three stories high. Many people lay injured on the street.

Another resident who lived nearby said that he thought it was an earthquake at first and then he heard something like a bomb. The electricity was cut off. He immediately woke up his wife and children and they quickly left their home.

One witness told AFP news agency he saw "fire soaring up to possibly 20 storeys high after a blast".

Another told Taiwan's Central News Agency that the "explosions were like thunder and the road in front of my shop ripped open".

"It felt like an earthquake," the witness said.

People had been ordered to stay home from school and work in Kaohsiung's Cianjhen and Lingya districts on Friday, local media reported.

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Cindy Sui reports: ''The strength of the blast was so powerful that it tore up this entire street for about one kilometre''

Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu wrote on her Facebook page (in Chinese): "Rescue efforts are still underway."

She urged everyone to "follow the instructions of rescue teams at the scene, and avoid standing around and watching".

"The local government has already requested [gas suppliers] CPC and Hsin Kao Gas cut off the gas supply," she added, urging residents to stay calm.

The local government has set up an emergency response centre.

Are you in Kaohsiung? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Kaohsiung".

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Hopes 'bleak' for landslide missing

1 August 2014 Last updated at 08:45

Hopes of finding any more survivors from a landslide that buried a village in western India on Wednesday are fading, as the number of bodies found reaches 60, officials said.

Bad weather is hampering rescue workers who are digging through mud in Malin village near Pune in Maharashtra state.

The landslide hit the village early in the day while people were sleeping.

Eight people were rescued in the first few hours, but no survivors have been found in the past 40 hours.

A large part of a hill collapsed on Malin. Its population of 150 to 200 tribal people were covered with tonnes of loose earth, mud and rocks.

"Miracles do happen, we will keep looking, but under current conditions it is very, very bleak," AFP news agency quoted Alok Avasthy, regional commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at the scene, as saying.

By Friday, rescue workers had reached the main inhabited area and were continuing digging, the Associated Press quoted district official DD Kale as saying.

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India landslide: Mother and baby saved

Wailing relatives, mourning the loss of entire families, were at the scene, hoping and praying for some positive news. Survivors could be seen rummaging through the debris, trying to salvage their possessions.

The eight survivors are being treated in the local government hospital in Manchar town, some 60km from Malin, the BBC's Zubair Ahmed reports from Manchar.

Among them are 25-year-old Pramila Lembe and her three-month-old baby, who were rescued eight hours after the landslide.

Ms Lembe had woken up to breast-feed the baby when the landslide happened.

"I heard a loud thunder-like noise. I tried to run but the wall collapsed," she told our correspondent.

"I kept calling out for help while protecting my baby boy in my lap. Finally, rescue workers heard me and they pulled me out," she added.

The disaster in Malin only came to light when a bus passed by and the driver saw that the village had disappeared under masses of mud and earth, officials said.

Rescue operations were disrupted several times on Wednesday and Thursday after "very heavy rainfall" in the area.

Landslides are common in some parts of India during the monsoon, which runs from June to September.

More than 500 people died and several thousand people were listed as missing after floods and landslides hit the northern state of Uttarakhand in June last year.

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Summit to launch urgent Ebola plan

1 August 2014 Last updated at 10:13

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The response plan could prevent future Ebola outbreaks, says Professor Tom Solomon from the Institute of Infection and Global Health

The head of the World Health Organization and leaders of West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are to announce a new $100m (£59m; 75m euro) response plan.

They are meeting in Guinea to launch the initiative to tackle a virus which has claimed 729 lives.

Sierra Leone has declared an emergency after 233 people died there.

Ebola spreads by contact with infected blood, bodily fluids, organs - or contaminated environments.

Initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure.

Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected, with patients having a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

'A new level'

WHO Director General Margaret Chan is meeting West African presidents in the Guinean capital Conakry.

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Ebola explained in 60 seconds

"The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination," she said in a statement released on the WHO website on Thursday.

"The countries have identified what they need, and WHO is reaching out to the international community to drive the response plan forward."

Key elements of the WHO's new plan are:

• Stopping transmission in the affected countries through "scaling up effective, evidence-based outbreak control measures"

• Preventing the spread of Ebola to "the neighbouring at-risk countries through strengthening epidemic preparedness and response measures"

The response builds upon a previous plan that called for several hundred more personnel to be deployed to the region.

The WHO says that the scale of the ongoing outbreak is "unprecedented", with about 1,323 confirmed and suspected cases reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since March 2014.

The plan is also expected to highlight the dangers faced by health workers on the front lines of the outbreak, and to call for improving ways to protect them from infection.

'US victim flown to Atlanta'

Recently an unnamed US aid worker became infected with the Ebola virus, and was flown for treatment at a high-security ward at Emory University Hospital.

A spokeswoman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said she was not aware of any Ebola patient ever being treated in the US before.

But in a statement the Atlanta hospital said it had an isolation unit which is specially equipped to deal with this kind of infection.

Meanwhile an American doctor with Ebola in Liberia has taken a "slight turn for the worse", the Samaritan's Purse aid agency said on Thursday.

Kent Brantly and another American worker, Nancy Writebol, "are in a stable but grave condition", the agency said in a statement.

The statement said that Dr Brantly had been offered experimental serum - using blood from a child whose life he saved - but he had insisted that Ms Writebol should receive it instead.

Health workers, doctors and nurses are a scarce resource in all three countries, and hundreds of international aid workers and more than a hundred WHO staff have already been deployed to support regional response efforts.

WHO says that improving prevention, detecting and reporting suspected cases, referring people infected with the disease for medical care, as well as psychosocial support, are of paramount importance in battling the illness.

Ebola since 1976

The US is sending 50 extra specialists to affected areas.

In other developments:

• President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia - one of the worst hit countries - told the BBC the Ebola outbreak was catastrophic, and more help was needed to contain its spread
• Seychelles have cancelled Saturday's 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone because of fears over the Ebola virus
• Nigeria has ordered the temperature screening of passengers arriving from places at risk from Ebola while simultaneously suspending pan-African airline Asky for bringing the first Ebola case to Lagos

In London, the ActionAid charity said that the battle against Ebola was being hampered because of the spiralling price of hand sanitizers.

A spokesman said that the cost of some hygiene products had gone up sevenfold, making them too expensive for many people in the region.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma announced earlier that the epicentres of the outbreak in the east would be quarantined and he asked the security forces to enforce the measures.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Fatality rate can reach 90%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host

Are you in West Africa? Do you have family or friends there who are affected by the outbreak? You can send your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Ebola Outbreak'.

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MH17 crash investigators get to work

1 August 2014 Last updated at 13:15

A team of 70 Dutch and Australian forensic experts has finally got to work at the site of the flight MH17 crash in east Ukraine.

They arrived in a convoy with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors and began setting up a base in a farm.

Australia believes that around 80 bodies remain at the site.

Fighting still rages in the region, with 10 Ukrainian soldiers killed in a rebel ambush on Thursday.

Continue reading the main story

The stench of death is still there"

End Quote Michael Bociurkiw OSCE spokesman at crash site

The fighting had previously prevented the investigators reaching the area where the Malaysia Airlines jet came down on 17 July with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew.

But after Ukraine's military declared a unilateral one-day suspension of operations against the rebels in Donetsk region on Thursday, an exploratory visit was made, followed up by the full deployment on Friday.

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Tom Burridge in Kiev: "Taking control of Donetsk from rebels will be a difficult task"

It is now unclear whether Ukraine's army or separatist forces control the site, as fighting continues nearby, the BBC's Tom, Burridge reports from Kharkiv.

On Thursday a rebel delegation held talks with officials from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE in Minsk, capital of Belarus. The talks are to resume next week, the OSCE said in a statement.

'Stench of death'

The investigators travelled in 16 vehicles to the crash site, outside the village of Grabove, AP news agency reports.

By midday, they had begun setting up base at a chicken farm while artillery fire could be heard periodically somewhere in the distance, AP says.

In a tweet, the OSCE said the investigators had been bolstered by "new assets", an apparent reference to two vans marked with red crosses.

Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, head of the investigation at the crash scene, said on the Dutch justice ministry's website: "If human remains are found during the search, they will be recovered instantly."

It is believed that remains and debris were scattered over a 35 sq km (13.5 sq mile) of countryside, to the east of the rebel-held city of Donetsk.

Regional OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw, who visited the site previously, said that despite reports of tampering with evidence, it looked much the same as when his team had last seen it, nearly a week ago.

"Everything is still more or less the way we saw it," he told Boston's NPR news station by phone.

"In some ways it is remarkable in the sense that, two weeks into this, there are many parts that haven't been touched," he said, speaking on Thursday.

"The stench of death is still there," he added. "It is very hot today."

Most of the bodies were recovered earlier by local search teams and were flown to the Netherlands, where most of the victims came from.

More than 1,500 people are believed to have been killed in the conflict which erupted in east Ukraine in April, after separatists declared independence from the new government in Kiev.

Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in March, has been accused of arming the rebels and has been targeted by US and EU sanctions.

'Overwhelming enemy forces'

The rebels say they destroyed more than 30 vehicles in the ambush while unverified video shows bodies around a burning vehicle.

Vladyslav Seleznyov, spokesman for Ukraine's "anti-terrorist operation", said a unit of paratroopers had been ambushed on Thursday while moving to a new position.

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The BBC's Jonathan Beale: "It's mostly the poor, the helpless and the old that have been left behind"

Paratroopers had fought back and inflicted "significant losses" on their attackers, he said.

Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky confirmed that 10 soldiers had been killed while a further four bodies had yet to be identified.

A Ukrainian TV station, Channel 112, said the attack had happened during the night and 20 paratroopers had been killed.

Meanwhile, the Donetsk rebels' news agency said on Twitter that an "enemy" column had been "repulsed" and three soldiers from Ukraine's 25th Air Mobile Brigade had been taken prisoner.

Graphic amateur video published on YouTube, and dated 31 July, shows a burning military vehicle with charred and mangled bodies scattered nearby. The dead soldiers are said to be from the 25th Brigade.

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Uganda court annuls anti-gay law

1 August 2014 Last updated at 13:07

Uganda's Constitutional Court has annulled tough anti-gay legislation signed into law in February.

It ruled that the bill was passed by MPs in December without the requisite quorum and was therefore illegal.

Homosexual acts were already illegal, but the new law allowed for life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality" and banned the "promotion of homosexuality".

Several donors have cut aid to Uganda since the law was adopted.

'Null and void'

Continue reading the main story

The retrogressive anti-homosexuality act of Uganda has been struck down... it's now dead as a door nail"

End Quote Andrew Mwenda Journalist and one of the challengers

Uganda is a deeply conservative society where many people oppose gay rights and the sentence for homosexual acts has always been life imprisonment.

Earlier drafts of the anti-homosexuality act made it a crime not to report gay people - which would have made it impossible to live as openly gay - but this clause was removed.

However the legislation that was passed in parliament was "null and void", the presiding judge at the Constitutional Court said, as not enough lawmakers had been present to vote on the bill.

The law, which was signed by President Yoweri Museveni in February, toughened up existing laws.

Lesbians were covered for the first time and those found living in a same-sex marriage could have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The challenge to the law was brought by 10 petitioners, including academics, journalists, both ruling and opposition MPs, human rights activists and rights groups.

"The retrogressive anti-homosexuality act of Uganda has been struck down by the constitutional court - it's now dead as a door nail," the AFP news agency quotes prominent journalist Andrew Mwenda, one of the petitioners, as saying.

Kosiya Kasibayo, a lawyer for the state, said a decision had not been made on whether to appeal against the ruling in the Supreme Court, the Associate Press news agency reports.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the capital, Kampala, says supporters of the anti-gay laws have been angered by the ruling of the five judges.

They wonder whether their decision has anything to do with the president's visit to Washington next week for the US-Africa Summit, she says.

In June, the US imposed sanctions on the East African nation, including travel restrictions on Ugandan officials involved in serious human rights abuses.

The White House also cut funds to a number of programmes it is running with the Ugandan authorities.

Several European nations - including Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden - had earlier cut aid.

But the Ugandan authorities have defended the law in the past, saying President Museveni wanted "to demonstrate Uganda's independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation".

Pastor Martin Ssempa, a vocal backer of the anti-homosexuality legislation, told the BBC his supporters would be asking parliament to investigate the impartiality of the judiciary.

Uganda's anti-homosexuality act:

• Life imprisonment for gay sex, including oral sex
• Life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality", including sex with a minor or while HIV-positive
• Life imprisonment for living in a same-sex marriage
• Seven years for "attempting to commit homosexuality"
• Between five and seven years in jail or a $40,700 (£24,500) fine or both for the promotion of homosexuality
• Businesses or non-governmental organisations found guilty of the promotion of homosexuality would have their certificates of registration cancelled and directors could face seven years in jail.

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Argentina defaults for second time

31 July 2014 Last updated at 08:01

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Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said the government would ''respect the parameters of the law''

Argentina has defaulted on its debt - for the second time in 13 years - after last-minute talks in New York with a group of bond-holders ended in failure.

So-called "vulture fund" investors were demanding a full pay-out of $1.3bn (£766m) on bonds they hold.

Argentina has said it cannot afford to do so, and has accused them of using its debt problems to make a big profit.

A US judge had set a deadline of 04:00 GMT on Thursday for a deal. The crisis stems from Argentina's 2001 default.

Late on Wednesday evening, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said the investors had rejected the government's latest offer.

"Unfortunately, no agreement was reached and the Republic of Argentina will imminently be in default," Daniel Pollack, the court-appointed mediator in the case, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Continue reading the main story

When Argentina's Economy Minister flew to New York on Tuesday for the talks, people took that as a positive sign that the two sides were now talking.

But Axel Kicillof's lengthy address on Wednesday evening dashed those hopes - Argentina was not going to agree to anything that would compromise the country.

At the heart of this is a feeling that Argentina has been treated badly by the international financial system. Mr Kicillof made the point that the vultures always win and the people lose.

Just before the announcement was made there was a small rally in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo, people handing out leaflets saying that the country wouldn't negotiate.

No doubt those people will be happy with the stand that Argentina has taken, but a default will make life harder. The country is already in recession and inflation is high.

Most people think the issue is too complicated - what they do know is that they want to just get on with their lives, whether the vultures are circling or not.

The latest default is expected to exacerbate problems in Argentina's recession-hit economy, analysts say.

However, the effect will not compare with the consequences of the country's economic meltdown in 2001-02, when savers' accounts were frozen to stop a run on the banks and violent street protests led to dozens of deaths.

"The full consequences of default are not predictable, but they certainly are not positive," Mr Pollack said.

Speaking at a news conference in New York, Mr Kicillof said Argentina would not do anything illegal.

Bond reaction

The investors, also known as "hold-outs", are US hedge funds that bought debt cheaply after Argentina's economic crisis.

They never agreed to the restructuring accepted by the majority of bond-holders.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has described as vultures the minority bond-holders - including Aurelius Capital Management and NML Capital.

She accuses them of taking advantage of Argentina's debt problems to make large profits.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded the country to "default" earlier on Wednesday, although the price of the bonds did not react.

S&P noted that it could revise the rating if Argentina were to find some way to make the payments.

The hedge funds are demanding Argentina make interest payments on debt which it defaulted on in 2001, even though it was bought at less than face value.

The US courts have blocked payments to other bondholders who agreed a separate deal with Argentina, until agreement with the "hold-outs" is reached.

Mr Kicillof said he planned to return to Argentina after the news conference, saying the country would do what is needed to deal with what he called an unfair situation.

He reiterated that Argentina could not pay the hedge funds without triggering a clause that would force it to renegotiate with bondholders who accepted new debt agreements.

Are you in Argentina? Are you concerned about the implications of Argentina defaulting? Send us your comments and experiences. You can email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Argentina defaults'.

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S Leone declares Ebola emergency

31 July 2014 Last updated at 11:20

Sierra Leone's president has declared a public health emergency to curb the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Ernest Bai Koroma said the epicentres of the outbreak in the east would be quarantined and asked the security forces to enforce the measures.

The UN says more than 670 people in West Africa have died of Ebola since February - 224 of them in Sierra Leone.

This includes Dr Sheik Umar Khan who led Sierra Leone's fight against the virus. His funeral is on Thursday.

Airport screening

As part of the new measures to contain the viral haemorrhagic fever, travellers at airports will have to wash their hands with disinfectant and have their temperatures checked, President Koroma said in a statement.

His measures follow tough anti-Ebola policies introduced this week in neighbouring Liberia, where schools have been closed and some communities are to be quarantined.

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Ebola explained in 60 seconds

Both President Koroma and his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have cancelled visits to Washington for the US-Africa summit next week because of the crisis.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia and Kenya are to begin screening all passengers arriving from West Africa.

In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines said ground and on-board staff would have also been sensitised on how to handle suspected cases of the virus.

However, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday that it was not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures after consulting the World Health Organization, according to Reuters.

Any risks would be low in the rare event of an Ebola sufferer travelling by air, it adds.

Earlier this week, two airlines - Asky, a regional carrier, and Nigeria's Arik Air - suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone Ebola doctor: "National hero"

Sheik Umar Khan, 39, was a leading doctor specialising in viral haemorrhagic fever who died after contracting Ebola while treating patients. When it was announced that he had been infected, the health minister called him a "national hero" for his tireless work.

"He'd become a real figurehead for the Ebola response so there's a sense of deep sadness in what's a very small community here in Freetown," his colleague Dr Oliver Johnson said.

"When the news first broke that he was sick, I think it added to fears amongst the many doctors and nurses about treating Ebola patients. People thought, if even Dr Khan can get sick, then any of us can get sick."

Profile: Dr Sheik Umar Khan

The outbreak - the world's deadliest to date - was first reported in Guinea in February. It then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and a person who travelled from Liberia to Nigeria died of the virus shortly after arriving in Lagos last week.

Initial flu-like symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, and spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids.

Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected, but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Fatality rate can reach 90%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host

Profile: Dr Sheik Umar Khan

Are you in West Africa? Do you have family or friends there who are affected by the outbreak? You can send your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Ebola Outbreak'.

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