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Hello, I'm Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.
The United States has welcomed a new beginning in its ties with Cuba after Havana opened an embassy in Washington for the first time in more than half a century. The US Secretary of State John Kerry said restoring full ties would be a complex process. The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called for wilder changes in US policy.
"I have referred to history to reaffirm that today an opportunity has opened up to begin working to establish new bilateral relations. Only the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade, the return of the occupied territory of Guantanamo and the respect for Cuban sovereignty will add some meaning to the historic event that we are witnessing today."
Hours before the start of the controversial presidential election in Burundi, grenade explosions and heavy gunfire have been heard in the capital Bujumbura. Government officials blamed those intend on disrupting the vote. President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term has triggered street protests and a failed military coup.
Mount Julian reports on the violence in Burundi. "It isn't clear who was shooting.
The Presidency's communications adviser said these were terrorist acts carried out by people attempting to disrupt the election. A group of high ranking soldiers try to stage a coup in May. It failed, but now some of its authors have threatened further attacks. Fears that the electoral crisis could turn into a civil war have prompted the international community to call for negotiations, and for postponement of the vote. But both attempts that preventing escalation failed."
The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has met Barack Obama at the White House less than eight weeks after being sworn in. The two leaders discussed the importance of cooperating and security issues including the threat posed by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.
Turkey is stepping up security along its border with Syria after a suspected suicide bombing killed 31 people. The Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said all measures necessary would be taken against Islamic State militants. The attack came as a group of young Turks and Kurds discussed the reconstruction of the Syrian town of Kobani.
Jim Miur reports.
"It was a scene of youthful exuberance and hope. Two hundred or so young Turks and Kurds, they were posing for a team photo chanting slogan supporting the Syrian Kurds fighting the IS militants. Then this... The center of the group was instantly engulfed in a huge fireball, apparently caused by suicide bomber in their midst. There was pandemonium and panic."
BBC news.
Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has expressed the hope that Germany would help bridge the gap between the European Union and the Middle East. He was speaking after meeting the German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel who was visiting Iran. Mr. Gabriel said an improvement of economic ties depended partly on the protection of human rights and the security of Israel. Earlier the UN Security Council and the European Union approved a deal negotiated last week with six world powers on Iran's nuclear programme.
There's been a mixed reaction in Egypt to a video of a policewoman punishing a man suspected of sexual harassment with an electric baton. The footage has been widely circulated on Egypt social media. From Cairo, Orlla Garren.
"A shouting match as a policewoman pulls away a man suspected of sexual harassment. The officer swears at him, slaps him across the face and jabs him twice with an electric baton. To some women here, she's become a heroine, dispensing much needed rough justice, but a leading campaign group against sexual harassment has condemned the brutal tactics.”
An 18-year-old French woman is in remission from HIV despite not having taken any drugs against virus for 12 years. Scientist said an International Aids Conference was told she contracted HIV from her mother around the time of her birth and took antiretroviral drugs until the age of six. Her family then stopped the treatment. The virus levels in the women's bloodstream are now too low to be measured.
Scientists say the volume of the Arctic sea ice which helps moderate global warming has increased by around 1/3 after an unusually cool summer two years ago. But they warn this is probably a one-off and climate change will continue to shrink the ice in the decades ahead.
BBC news.