World News Update, what you need to know

A US official has identified the senior officer killed in Afghanistan as Major General Harold Greene, the highest-ranking American officer killed in combat since 1970.

ELSEWHERE:

GAZA, Palestinian Territories - A 72-hour truce has taken root in Gaza, as Israeli and Palestinian delegations travelled to Cairo to try to extend the ceasefire and families picked through the debris of war.

FREETOWN - Sierra Leone has deployed troops to guard quarantined Ebola patients as Saudi Arabia's first suspected case sparked fears of a possible global spread and British Airways cancelled flights to two west African countries.

MANCHESTER, England - British police have arrested a man suspected of making a hoax bomb threat aboard a Qatar Airways plane that caused it to be escorted down by a military fighter jet.

DONETSK, Ukraine - At least two civilians have been killed in heavy clashes on the outskirts of the main rebel-held bastion of Donetsk in east Ukraine, as the UN warned of a "massive exodus and destruction" if fighting intensified.

HIROSHIMA - Tens of thousands are gathering for peace ceremonies in Hiroshima to mark the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city, as anti-nuclear sentiment runs high in Japan.