IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Gaza Strip

Long-term truce made with Israel

Israel and the Palestinians have reached a Gaza "permanent" cease-fire deal and an official announcement will be made in Egypt, where the agreement was mediated, a Gaza-based Hamas spokesman said on Tuesday. "An agreement has been reached between the two sides and we are awaiting the announcement from Cairo to determine the zero hour for implementation," said the spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri.

Afghanistan

Candidate to boycott audit

An adviser to a leading presidential contender, Abdullah Abdullah, says the candidate is threatening to boycott the country's ballot audit, which has been mired in obstacles. The complicated, UN-supervised audit of the 8 million votes from the June presidential runoff has been under way in Kabul for weeks. The process followed allegations of vote fraud on both sides and is meant to decide whether Abdullah, a former foreign minister, or former finance minister Ashraf Ghani will replace President Hamid Karzai.

Bangladesh

Floods pour into capital

Heavy flooding has forced thousands of people from their homes and caused severe damage to crops, with officials on Tuesday warning the situation could worsen as floodwaters poured into the capital, Dhaka. Heavy monsoon rain in recent days has aggravated the situation in the low-lying and densely populated country, with the wet season due to run into September.

Liberia

US official: Ebola has 'upper hand'

The Ebola virus has the "upper hand" in an outbreak that has killed more than 1,400 people in West Africa, a top US health official said, adding that experts have the tools to stop it. Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three hardest-hit countries, this week. "Lots of hard work is happening, lots of good things are happening," Frieden said on Monday. "But the virus still has the upper hand."

Germany

Berlin mayor to resign

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, whose reputation has taken a beating in recent years because of delays and cost overruns in the construction of the city's new airport, said on Tuesday that he will step down by the end of the year. Berlin's first openly gay mayor, Wowereit helped turn the city into a top tourist destination. He coined its famous "Poor, but sexy" slogan, which helped attract hip youngsters from around the globe to the city's famous night life and highlighted Berlin's low living costs.

Reuters-AP

(China Daily 08/27/2014 page12)