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BBC news 2014-08-27

BBC News with David Austin.

A long-term ceasefire has come into effect in Gaza after 50 days of conflict in which more than 2,000 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians. Israel and the Palestinians reached the agreement in talks mediated by Egypt. The deal was greeted with celebratory gunfire on the streets of Gaza. Precise details of the deal remain unclear as Jeremy Bowen explains.

There are some lifting of restrictions of what can be brought into Gaza. Supposedly, there will be more negotiations coming out brokered by the Egyptians, in Egypt, in the course of the next month or so. But it's not clear exactly what the terms and conditions are and the thing which has always happened in the past is that those terms and conditions of ceasefires are open to a lot of interpretation and both sides often have different views about how it actually should work.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the Gaza ceasefire but said any violations would be utterly irresponsible. He added that the peace efforts must get to the root causes of the conflict.

The Russian and Ukrainian presidents have been holding their first direct talks to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine at a summit in the Belarusian capital. Earlier, President Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko took part in multilateral discussions which included the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton. After the meeting, Ms. Ashton said the atmosphere had been cordial and positive, but the conflict had to end.

We are very concerned about what's happening to ordinary people. And one of the points that I made this afternoon is that, during the seminar, when the winter is coming and there are places that don't have any power, places that don't have the capacity to provide heating. And there are people who are displaced and this is an area that we need to focus on now because time moves forward.

Russian media say the authorities there are trying to suppress news of the funerals of Russian servicemen believed to have been killed in Ukraine. Russian journalists investigating the story had been attacked in a cemetery in the Biskov region where a number of relief soldiers were buried. One of the journalists told the BBC they had to flee.

A report into child abuse in the northern English town of Rotherham has concluded that 1,400 children were sexually exploited over a 16-year period. The report's author Alexis Jay said the figures were shockingly high.

They were raped by multiple perpetrators. They were trafficked to other towns and cities in north of England. They were abducted, beaten and intimidated. There were examples of children being doused with petrol and threatened of being set alight. They were threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be the next if they told anyone.

World News from the BBC.

The French President Francois Hollande has announced details of a new government he hopes will breathe fresh life into his policies to restore economic prosperity. Reporting from Paris, Gavin Hewitt.

President Hollande had indicated that he wanted a government of clarity. Much of his inner core stays the same. Laurant Fabius remains as foreign minister. Michel Sapin stays in charge of finance. The new face is Emmanuel Macron, who takes over the sensitive portfolio of the economy. He used to an economic advisor to the president and is regarded as pro-business. Missing were the ministers who had been most critical of austerity and of reducing budget deficits.

More than 130 senior British business leaders have come out publicly against independence for Scotland. They've signed a letter to be published in a Scottish newspaper on Wednesday highlighting four main areas of concern about the impact of separation. Scotland's independence referendum will be held next month. Here is our business editor Kamal Ahmed.

One hundred and thirty-three chairmen, chief executives and senior business figures have said that with the Scottish economy growing now it's not the time for independence. They highlighted four key areas of concern: Currency risk, how a newly independent Scotland would forge a relationship with the European Union, how tax and regulation would change and the impact on exports. Supporters of independence said that Scotland would do far better as an independent nation as businesses would have greater freedom and the economy would be stronger. Kamal Ahmed reporting.

A powerful explosion at a shop in Argentina has killed at least two people and injured many others. The blast was at a store that sold gas cylinders in Virrey del Pino near Buenos Aires. It caused a large fire and destroyed a nearby supermarket and a garage. The emergency services say people could be trapped under the rubble. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

BBC News.