BBC News with Nick Kelly.

Syria and Lebanon have said they are prepared to establish diplomatic relations, opening embassies in their respective capitals for the first time. The Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, and his recently-elected Lebanese counterpart, Michel Suleiman, announced the agreement in Paris after talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Nick Childs reports.



President Assad took a big step toward ending his country's diplomatic isolation when he was greeted at the Elysee Palace by President Sarkozy. The French leader's reward was to announce what he described as historic progress towards Syria and Lebanon normalizing their relations. All these have thrust President Sarkozy center stage in Middle East diplomacy as he prepares to host more than 40 leaders from Europe and the Mediterranean to launch his union for the Mediterranean.

The African Union has expressed concern over reports that the International Criminal Court may charge President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and other senior officials over alleged war crimes in Darfur. The AU said such a move could jeopardize peace efforts in the region where thousands of African peacekeepers are deployed. The statement came as a funeral ceremony took place in northern Darfur for seven peacekeepers who were killed in an ambush several days ago. The head of the peacekeeping mission, Martin Luther Agwai, said their deaths would not jeopardize the success of the operation.



"I want to assure the whole international community that to those who think they can arbitrate this act and discourage us from ambition, I will say that they will fail. We will continue where they have left and we will do that not only for their souls but for the love of people of Darfur and for peace in our world."



Britain says it will push the European Union to impose tough new sanctions on the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and other top officials of his government. The British Minister for Africa, Mark Malloch-Brown, said that despite the failure to secure a UN resolution to impose sanctions, Britain was determined to keep up the pressure on the Zimbabwean government.



"We will continue to press in all forms, and in the UN itself, but now very much in the EU in coming days, that's what we were doing with the United States as this is what we can do ourselves. We will continue to find ways to put unrelenting pressure on Mr. Mugabe and those around him having stolen the election.



Other officials said that Britain would ask the EU to act against businesses allied to the Zimbabwean government and to tighten a travel ban on Mr. Mugabe and his top aides.



Pope Benedict has said climate change will be at the top of his agenda during his visit to Australia. On the way there, he told reporters that he wanted to wake up consciences to make politicians and experts respond to, what he called, "this great ecological challenge” . The Pope said people must find an ethical way to change their lifestyle.

World News from the BBC.

The authorities in India have accused the Pakistani intelligence agency of involvement in a suicide attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul earlier this week. The Indian national security advisor said they have intelligence on the agency's role in the bomb attack which killed over 40 people including four Indian embassy staff. Pakistan has denied the accusations.

More than 130 Brazilian judges have criticized the Supreme Court for ordering the release of Daniel Dantas, a prominent banker facing corruption allegations. The President of the Brazilian Supreme Court, Gilmar Mendez, ordered Daniel Dantas's release from prison for the second time in less than a week. Gary Duffy reports.

Daniel Dantas, a prominent Brazilian banker, was arrested earlier this week as part of a wide ranging corruption investigation. Following an application by defense lawyers, the President of the Supreme Court, Gilmar Mendez, ordered his release. However, he was detained for a second time a few hours later amid allegations that some of his associates had tried to pay a bribe in order to interfere with the continuing police operation. The following day, the Supreme Court president again ruled that Mr. Dantas should be freed.

The former White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow, has died of cancer. He was 53. Mr. Snow had been a strongly conservative commentator on US national television, before joining the Bush administration in 2006 as one of the President's toughest critics. President Bush said he was deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Snow, whom he described as a dear friend.

And some of the biggest names in world football have joined a campaign to raise millions of dollars for African education ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Ronaldo of Brazil, Michael Ballack of Germany and Steven Gerrard of England were among the players taking part in a charity match in Munich to launch Goal4Africa. Fans are being asked to donate money every time their team scores over the next two years.

BBC News.