Hundreds of troops have been deployed in Sierra Leone and Liberia under an emergency plan to fight the worst outbreak of the deadly ebola virus, which has killed more than 826 people across West Africa.

The Liberian government has said the bodies of all Ebola victims must be cremated as fears rose that the disease could be spread by burials in residential areas.

Ivorian government forces vowed to hunt down those responsible for an ambush that killed at least seven United Nations peacekeepers as Liberia sealed its border amid fears that the gunmen had used the country to stage the attack.

New Zealand have included two uncapped 20-year-olds in their 19-man squad for Friday’s Anzac Test against Australia.

WEST AFRICAN leaders promised to send peacekeepers to Liberia despite new rebel attacks that shattered a short-lived ceasefire considered crucial to restoring peace in the troubled country.

Liberian rebels shattered a day-old pledge to cease-fire, lobbing mortars at neighbourhoods crowded with refugees and briefly capturing a key bridge in the war-ruined capital desperately short of food and water.