Britain and EU ‘Close to Reaching Agreement’

The BBC understands that Britain and the European Union are close to reaching an agreement that will clear the way for the second phase of talks on the UK's departure from the bloc. It comes ahead of the British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to Brussels on Monday.

A former Egyptian prime minister - who returned from exile but then disappeared - has given a phone interview on Egyptian television. Ahmed Shafik denied speculation that he'd been kidnapped. But he said he was now reconsidering his plan to run in next year's presidential elections.

The governor of Nigeria’s Borno State has said people who've been forced to leave their homes because of the Islamist group Boko Haram will now be housed in fortified garrison towns. These towns will be surrounded by farms, with the rest of the countryside effectively left to fend for itself.