Plane crashes near Tehran

An Iranian plane crashed on Sunday while taking off from Mehrabad airport near Tehran, killing all 48 passengers aboard, the Tehran Times reported. The dead included five children. Engine shutdown has been cited as the cause of the crash.

Israeli strikes kill three Palestinians
Palestinian authorities threatened to quit peace negotiations in Cairo on Sunday unless Israel returned to the talks. Israel left the discussions, saying that it would not negotiate until rocket fire from Gaza stopped. Since the end of a three-day ceasefire on Friday, Israeli air strikes and shelling killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, which has put to risk efforts to achieve peace in the region.

Turkey headed for first direct presidential poll
Voters in Turkey were set to go to the polls on Sunday to choose the country’s next president in its first presidential election put to a popular vote. Three candidates, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from AK Party (or Justice and Development Party, in English), the opposition parties' candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and, the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party's candidate Selahaddin Demirtas are competing for a five-year term. Opinion polls predict that Erdogan is likely to win.

Ukraine separatists call for aid, ceasefire
After Ukraine troops surrounded Donetsk, the stronghold of pro-Russian separatists, rebel leaders called for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. Ukrainian officials have agreed on the condition that the rebels surrender their arms.

West African nations strengthen efforts to contain Ebola
To contain the spread of the Ebola virus, which has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation, Guinea has closed its borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nigerian goverment has declared it a national emergency. Following suit, Zambia has banned arrival of people from countries hit by the virus.