Ukraine keeps up anti-rebel offensive with nervous eye on Russia

 Members of Ukrainian self-defence battalion "Donbass" prepare to relocate to another base in the eastern Ukrainian town of Popasna

Ukrainian government forces, backed by warplanes, kept up a military offensive to claw back lost territory from pro-Russian separatists on Tuesday while casting a nervous eye at Russian military exercises over the border.

Kiev's military said government forces had clashed 26 times with separatists in the Russian-speaking east in the 24 hours up to Tuesday morning, while fighter jets had struck at rebel positions and concentrations of military equipment.

But it acknowledged that separatist forces had pushed it out of Yasynuvata, a railway junction near the main rebel-controlled city of Donetsk that it seized from separatists on Sunday.

Sierra Leone, Liberia deploy troops as Ebola toll hits 887

Health workers, wearing head-to-toe protective gear, prepare for work, outside an isolation unit in Foya District, Lofa County, Liberia in this July 2014

Hundreds of troops deployed in Sierra Leone and Liberia on Monday to quarantine communities hit by the deadly Ebola virus, as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak reached 887 and three new cases were reported in Nigeria.

With healthcare systems in the West Africa nations overrun by the epidemic, the African Development Bank and World Bank said they would immediately disburse $260 million to the three countries worst affected - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The World Health Organization, which warned last week of catastrophic consequences if the disease were not controlled, reported 61 new deaths in the two days to Aug. 1 as the disease continues to spread.

Second Ebola patient arrives in U.S. for more treatment

A plane carrying a second American aid worker infected with Ebola from West Africa arrived in Maine to refuel on Tuesday and was due to continue to Atlanta so the woman can receive further treatment for the deadly virus.

Missionary Nancy Writebol, 59, departed from Liberia on Monday in a medical aircraft. She was aboard a plane that landed at Bangor International Airport in Maine just after 8 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) on Tuesday, television station WCSH of Portland, Maine, reported. The station carried live coverage of the plane stopping to refuel at the airport.

Writebol's arrival came a day after Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City said it was testing a man who traveled to a West African nation where Ebola has been reported. He arrived at the emergency room on Monday with a high fever and a stomach ache, but was in good condition, hospital officials said.

Four players Man Utd must cull – and one who should survive

Louis van Gaal says he will inform his Manchester United players which of them are free to leave the club after tonight's friendly against Liverpool, but I think he will have made his mind up a long time ago.

[VAN GAAL SET FOR SHOWDOWN TALKS]
The papers have been full of speculation as to which names will be for the chop, so here’s my pick of four players who need to go, and one who should have a stay of execution.

NANI: OUT
I just think he is too inconsistent for a top club. He has the ability but it just appears that he doesn’t want it badly enough. He wants to do a few stepovers and a few backheels but that isn’t how you win things, is it? When he is at it he has been very pleasing on the eye but his big performances are too few and far between.

Seven-hour Gaza truce ends; violence hits Jerusalem

 A brief Israeli truce to allow aid to reach Palestinians ended on Monday amid accusations of strikes by both sides, while Jerusalem was rocked by two attacks that appeared to be a backlash against the war in Gaza.

Palestinians said Israel had bombed a refugee camp in Gaza City, killing an eight-year-old girl and wounding 29 other people, in an air attack after the start of the truce.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said there had been no strikes since 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), when the seven-hour truce started. She said four rockets had been fired from Gaza later and two had crashed inside Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage.