Ukraine rebel-held Donetsk sees 'heavy fighting'

Ukrainian government forces are trying to recapture the Donetsk and Luhansk rebel strongholds

Heavy fighting has erupted in a suburb of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, local officials say.

At least two civilians were killed as government forces battled to retake the city from pro-Russia separatists, Donetsk city council confirmed.
Reports say powerful blasts and shooting were heard in the city.
Ukrainian government forces have made steady gains in recent weeks, encircling Donetsk and another rebel stronghold, Luhansk.
Power cuts "As of 17:00 (14:00 GMT), there are active military hostilities going on in the Petrovksy district of Donetsk," Donetsk city council said on Tuesday, quoted by Ukraine's Unian news agency.
Electricity has been cut in some parts of the district after shells hit substations in the area, Unian added.
It said that gunfire - including heavy weapons - could also be heard in other parts of the city.
Eastern Ukraine has been unstable since rebels declared independence from the authorities in Kiev in April.

Civilians have bore the brunt of fighting in recent days, with many homes and buildings damaged in cross fire

The Donetsk region has come under heavy shelling in recent weeks

At least 1,500 people, both civilians and combatants, are believed to have been killed and thousands more injured since Ukraine's new government sent in troops to put down the insurrection in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The rebels have since been pushed back to their strongholds in the two cities of the same name, though other pockets of resistance remain.
Separately on Tuesday, Russia called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reports.
It comes after that the number of people fleeing the war in eastern Ukraine to other parts of the country had jumped from 2,600 to 102,600 inside two months.
The figures for early June to early August coincide with a sharp increase in fighting between pro-Russian separatist rebels and security forces.
'Provocation' Russian President Vladimir Putin has also ordered his government to prepare retaliatory measures against the latest round of Western sanctions imposed, local news agencies report.
But he said the measures must be carefully designed to avoid affecting Russian consumers.
Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in March, has been accused of arming the rebels and has been targeted by US and EU sanctions. Russia denies the accusations.

Russian forces have been accused of helping the separatists with rocket barrages, a claim Moscow denies

Much of the fighting has taken place on Ukraine's eastern border with Russia

In a sign of increasing tensions, Ukrainian defence spokesman Andriy Lysenko on Tuesday condemned Russia's plans to carry out military exercises in southern Russia, calling it "a provocation".
He said Russia had massed some 45,000 troops along its shared border with Ukraine.
Mr Lysenko also said that Ukrainian troops had retreated from Yasynuvata, a railway hub in the Donetsk region formerly under separatist control.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of more than 300 Ukrainian soldiers who sought shelter inside Russia after being cut off by the rebels remain unclear.
The soldiers and border guards, who entered Russian territory on Monday, have been housed in tents supplied by the Russian border service while negotiations continue about their fate.
Russia says that 438 Ukrainian service personnel sought shelter near the town of Gukovo, in Russia's Rostov region, while the Ukraine government says there are 311 of them

Military jet escorts Qatar Airways plane to Manchester Airport

Officers boarded the plane and escorted a passenger onto the runway

A man has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat after RAF jets were alerted to escort a passenger plane to Manchester Airport.

The Qatar Airways plane, flight QR23, was escorted in by an RAF Typhoon following information received by the pilot from a passenger.
Police said the pilot had been handed a note about a possible device on board.
Armed police boarded the Doha to Manchester plane and arrested a 47-year-old man.
All flights in and out of the airport were suspended for about 25 minutes.
'Pretty shook up' The plane involved was an Airbus A330-30, with 269 passengers and 13 Qatar Airways crew on board.
The RAF confirmed Typhoon aircraft were launched from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire as part of its "quick reaction alert role" when a pilot requested assistance.
Operations at the airport resumed at about 14:00 BST.
Greater Manchester Police said the arrested man, who comes from the North West area, was being held in custody for questioning.
Passengers disembarked the plane "as normal", an airport spokesman said.
Josh Hartley, who boarded the plane at Doha in Qatar, said: "When the escort came it was very scary - I'm pretty shook up now."

Police, reportedly armed with Tasers, escorted a man off the plane

All flights to and from Manchester Airport were suspended

An RAF jet escorted the Qatar Airways plane flying to Manchester from Doha

Passenger Matthew Cox told the BBC: "Armed police came on and found a guy, searched him and made him stand up with his hands on his head and took him off the plane.
"He seemed no different to others on the plane, nothing unusual."

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Qatar Airways passenger Josh Hartley filmed the RAF jet from the plane

A statement for Qatar Airways confirmed flight QR23 landed safely at Manchester Airport ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 13:15 BST.
It said: "The crew on board had received a threat about a possible device and Qatar Airways immediately took all the necessary precautions to alert British authorities.
"The crew is now fully assisting police at the airport with their inquiries."
Manchester Airport said nine incoming flights were diverted to other airports, with five landing at Leeds Bradford International Airport.

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The jet and the plane were also filmed from the ground

A plane carrying the Manchester United team back from Florida, where they played in a pre-season friendly tournament, landed on time.
"There are a few minor delays to outgoing flights," a Manchester Airport spokesman added.
Witness Chris Phelan, 42, from Heaton Moor, was in his garden when he heard the roar of a jet plane before filming it on his camera.
"I looked up and saw what looked like a Typhoon jet flying close to a passenger plane.
"I live on the flight path so I'm used to seeing planes coming into land but it's the first time this has ever happened in the four to five years I've been here."

It is understood police were speaking to crew members about what they saw, while passengers reported waiting while their luggage was searched.
From about 16:20 BST, flights to and from the airport were returning to normal.
Aviation expert Chris Yates said information for passengers was kept minimal for a number of reasons.
He said: "This would be to create an air of calm on board the plane for all of the passengers and also not to communicate anything to anyone involved in making a threat or anyone who might be associated with that person."
Some relatives of those on board expressed frustration at the delays, and said they struggled to get the latest information from airport staff.

Passengers, including Josh Hartley who tweeted from on board the plane, were later allowed out of the airport

Arthur Smee, 58, a hospital porter from Penmaenmawr, North Wales, was waiting for his daughter, Lisa, 25, to arrive when he heard about the incident.
He said: "Some people were stood around talking and some had pictures of the plane being followed by a military plane - you just think the worst don't you?
"I'm just glad she got in touch. She said armed police have been on the plane and taken somebody off.
"They were just sat there for ages then put on a bus."
Matthew Cox's mother Pauline, who was waiting for her son to return from a three-week trip to Thailand, said: "Nobody has been out from Manchester Airport to tell us anything. Parents have been waiting, two, three hours.
"When we asked we were told they were in a remote location for security reasons."
But passenger Hazel McInnes, who was on another plane, said: "Fair play to Manchester Airport, our flight from Pisa landed on time at 14:20. We were informed that we could have been delayed, but we landed without any delay.
"We managed to catch Man United coming off their flight too, at baggage reclaim."
Figures from the Ministry of Defence show how often fighter jets are sent up in the UK to intercept aircraft as part of so-called "quick reaction alerts" (QRA).
There were 17 in 2013, 21 in 2012 and 20 in 2011, according to data given in a Commons written answer to Scottish National Party MP Angus Robertson in June.
The MoD said not every launch resulted in an interception, as some incidents were resolved beforehand.

Scottish independence: Salmond and Darling clash in TV debate

Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling went head-to-head before the 18 September referendum

Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling have clashed in a TV debate ahead of the Scottish independence referendum.

Scotland's first minister said the nation was being run by Westminster parties it did not vote for.
Mr Darling, leader of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, said independence campaigners had failed to answer key questions.
The STV debate, from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow, came ahead of the 18 September vote.
Mr Salmond told the 350-strong studio audience that very few people disputed Scotland could be a successful, independent country.
He said 49 of the 71 countries which took part in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games were the same size or smaller than Scotland, yet thousands of children with families were reliant on food banks, while the UK government was spending an "obscene" amount of money on nuclear weapons, based on the Clyde.

"For more than half of me life, Scotland has been governed by parties the we didn't elect at Westminster - and these parties have given us everything from the poll tax to the bedroom tax, and they are the same people who, through 'Project Fear' are telling us that this country can't run our own affairs," said Mr Salmond.
"My case this evening is simple - no one, absolutely no one will do a better job of running Scotland than the people who live and work in Scotland.
"On 18 September, we have the opportunity of a lifetime - we should seize it with both hands."

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Alistair Darling MP: ''No thanks to the risk of independence''

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Alex Salmond: "No one will do a better job of running Scotland than the people who live and work in Scotland"

Mr Darling said the referendum was about Scotland's future, not patriotism.
"There are times that, for the love of our family and the love of our country, it's sometimes best to say 'No' - not because we can't, but simply because it is not the best thing to do," he said.
"In six weeks' time, we will make the biggest decision that we've ever made here in Scotland - and remember this, if we decide to leave, there is no going back - there's no second chance."
Hitting out at Mr Salmond, the former UK chancellor said: "We cannot make this decision on the basis of guesswork, fingers crossed or his blind faith."
"Let's say with confidence, let's say with pride, let's say with optimism, 'no thanks' to the risks of independence and lets say 'let's have the best of both worlds, not just for us but for generations to come."

21st Century Fox withdraws bid for Time Warner

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has withdrawn its bid to purchase US entertainment giant Time Warner Inc for an estimated $80bn (£47bn).

Time Warner rejected Fox's initial offer in July.
The company wrote in a statement that Time Warner had "refused to engage with us to explore an offer which was highly compelling".
It added that the reaction in the company's share price since the proposal was unveiled undervalues Fox.
Shares in Time Warner plunged over 11% in after-hours trading after news of the withdrawal was announced.
As part of the announcement, Fox said it would authorise a $6bn share repurchase programme.
That pleased investors, who sent shares in the firm up over 6% in trading after markets were closed.
Fox's share price had declined by 11% since news of the takeover was announced.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone pays to end bribery trial

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Bernie Ecclestone tells waiting reporters "I'm going to take care of Formula 1"

A German court has agreed to end the bribery trial of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in exchange for a $100m (£60m) payment from him.

Mr Ecclestone's offer was based on an existing provision in German law.
Earlier on Tuesday German prosecutors accepted the offer from the 83-year-old billionaire who dominates motor racing.
He went on trial in April, accused of paying a German banker 33m euros (£26m; $44m) to ensure that a company he favoured could buy a stake in F1.
He denies wrongdoing.
The ruling means he walks free from the district court in Munich and can continue running the sport. It also means Mr Ecclestone is found neither guilty nor innocent.
His personal wealth is , which ranks him as the 12th richest UK billionaire.
If found guilty, he could have faced a 10-year jail term and the end of his decades-long dominance of motor racing.

Gerhard Gribkowsky, seen here at the start of his trial in October 2011, is now serving a prison sentence

A BayernLB banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, was allegedly paid by Mr Ecclestone to ensure the F1 stake was bought by a company that he favoured, so that he would remain in charge of the sport.
Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in 2012 for accepting bribes.
Mr Ecclestone says the payment was given to Gribkowsky after the banker threatened to make false claims about the F1 boss's tax status.
Prosecutors said Mr Ecclestone's advanced age and other mitigating circumstances gave grounds to accept the $100m offer.
'That's do-able' Mr Ecclestone has attended most of the hearings in person and arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday in a limousine, looking relaxed and accompanied by his wife, Fabiana Flosi.

Bernie Ecclestone in a court lift in Munich on Tuesday

Bernie Ecclestone (right) with lawyers Norbert Scharf (L) and Sven Thomas

Bernie Ecclestone has dominated the F1 business for decades

Asked by Judge Peter Noll if he could raise the $100m, Mr Ecclestone replied "yes". When asked if the payment could be made within a week, his defence lawyer, Sven Thomas, said: "That's do-able."
Judge Noll ruled that $99m would go to the Bavarian state coffers while $1m would be donated to a children's hospital. The sum is believed to be a record for such a payment.
Court spokesperson Andrea Titz said Mr Ecclestone: "The court did not consider a conviction overwhelmingly likely from the present point of view.
"With this type of ending... there is no ruling on guilt or innocence of the defendant."
'Really insolent' Under German law defendants can in certain circumstances "buy" termination of a trial.
The legal proviso exists in order to ease the burden on the courts and to deal with cases where reaching a judgment could prove difficult.
However a lawyer quoted by the Spiegelonline website, Franz Bielefeld, said it was unusual for the clause to be invoked in mid-trial - more often it is done before a trial starts.
Former Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, of the Liberal FDP party, criticised use of the loophole in the Ecclestone case, saying it was "not just bad taste - it's really insolent".
She said it allowed rich people to go free, whereas the less well-heeled could face prison.

Afghan soldier attack on UK army camp kills US general

Camp Qargha is a military training academy located near Kabul

A US major-general has been killed in an attack by a man in Afghan military uniform at a British-run military academy near Kabul, US officials say.

Two British soldiers were among the wounded, along with several Americans, a German general and an Afghan general.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence said the Afghan soldier who opened fire was shot dead.
The US major-general is the most senior international soldier killed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The BBC understands the shooting at Camp Qargha happened after a dispute broke out.
The attacker was a soldier who was recruited three years ago, Afghan defence ministry sources told the BBC.
Afghan 'Sandhurst' The incident is said to have occurred late morning or lunchtime after an argument between Afghans and an armed Afghan soldier.

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The BBC's David Loyn says the Afghan Ministry of Defence has confirmed that several foreign soldiers have been injured

The Afghan soldier opened fire from a guard post at a large group of senior Afghan and international troops.
By the time he had emptied the magazine of his US-issue M16 rifle, more than a dozen people had been shot, our correspondent says.
The Afghan commander of the British-led officers' academy, General Gulam Sakhi, was among those wounded.
The training academy is modelled on UK military academy Sandhurst and will be the only British military presence in Afghanistan when operations end this year.

The US major-general was the highest-ranking international military casualty since the fall of the Taliban in 2001

It first took cadets last October. A UK MoD spokesman said the incident was under investigation "and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time".
But the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said : "We can confirm that an incident occurred involving local Afghan and Isaf troops at Camp Qargha.
"The camp, also known as the Kabul ANA Officer Academy, is an Afghan National Security Forces facility. We are in the process of assessing the situation."
Previous shooting

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Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby: "The insider threat is a pernicious threat"

The academy is set in a long, low ridge of hills close to Kabul.
Its military history syllabus includes the analysis of Afghan tactics in past wars against the British, as well as during the mujahedeen wars against the Soviet army.
There were 10,000 applicants who applied ahead of its first intake.
Shortly after the academy opened there was a shooting incident when an Afghan soldier in a neighbouring barracks opened fire, injuring Australian and New Zealand troops providing security.
There are also troops from other nations at the site, including a large contingent of US soldiers.
Most of the UK's combat troops have already left Afghanistan, and almost all will have left by the end of the year.

Gaza conflict: Truce holding after Israel withdraws

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People in Gaza have been returning to see what is left of their homes, as Jon Donnison reports

A 72-hour humanitarian truce is holding in Gaza, halting four weeks of conflict that has claimed more than 1,900 lives.

Israel and Gaza militants maintained fire up until the truce started at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
Israel says it has withdrawn all forces to positions outside Gaza, and some residents there are now returning to discover the fate of their homes.
The truce has drawn an international welcome, and the focus for a longer deal will now fall on talks in Cairo.
'Durable solution' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement commending the armed forces.
"This was a complex operation that made heroes of soldiers under difficult combat conditions," he said.

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Martin Patience in Gaza and Bethany Bell in Jerusalem say there have been no reports of rockets since the ceasefire began

"There is no 100% guarantee for success but we did all we could to achieve our goal."
The EU and US have welcomed the ceasefire.
The EU called on all parties to respect the truce, and paid tribute to Egypt, which helped broker the deal.
It said: "We hope that this can be extended into a lasting ceasefire. We call on the parties not to miss this opportunity."

Israel-Gaza attacks

8 July

Israeli offensive began

• 4,760+ air strikes on Gaza
  3,370+ rockets fired at Israel
  
• 1,867 people killed in Gaza
  UN estimates 68% of deaths are civilians
  
• 4 civilians killed in Israel
  63 Israeli soldiers killed
  
Figures as of 09:00GMT, 5 August. Sources: Palestinian Health Ministry, OCHA, IDF

AP

US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US would continue to help the sides achieve a "durable, sustainable solution for the long term".
Hamas, which controls Gaza, has been counting the cost to the territory of the Israeli offensive.
Deputy Economy Minister Taysir Amro said that it could be up to $6bn (£3.55bn).
The BBC's Martin Patience in Gaza City says it is now quiet there, with Palestinian fishermen heading out to sea, as other residents stock up on supplies and try to make sense of four weeks of destruction.

Many Palestinians have been returning to damage or destroyed homes

Israeli soldiers celebrate after returning from Gaza

Fishermen in Gaza returned to the sea as the truce took hold

Palestinians remove a body found under rubble in Rafah, southern Gaza

A young Israeli attends the grave of a soldier killed in the Gaza fighting

Some have been returning to homes they were forced to evacuate during the offensive.
In the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Zuhair Hjaila, told Reuters he had lost his home and his supermarket.
"This is complete destruction. I never thought I would come back to find an earthquake zone."
In the southern town of Rafah, resident Tawfiq Barbakh told Associated Press: "I never saw anything like this in my life. I don't know how many shells landed every minute but it felt like 20 or 30."

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Maram and David share their Gaza audio diaries with 5 live (Recorded between 28 July and 3 August)

On the Israeli side of the border, Israela Yoed, who has lived on the Kfar Aza kibbutz for 50 years, told Agence France-Presse she did not trust Hamas but was confident the truce would hold.
"I believe that we can make things better through negotiations. I won't leave; I'm not afraid," she said.
Another kibbutz resident, Orly Doron, was more sceptical: "We had three or four ceasefires during this war; we all saw they weren't kept."
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says that while the troops have withdrawn, it is likely the army will go on searching for militant tunnels along the border - always a cause of great concern in Israel.
'Sustained quiet' The latest ceasefire was brokered by Egypt in talks between Palestinian delegates in Cairo on Monday.
Israel did not take part but has now sent a team for indirect negotiations.

Israel-Gaza attacks

• 28 days of airstrikes
  19 days of Israeli ground operations
  

• Israeli military claims

  32 border tunnels collapsed
  3,000 missiles destroyed
  

UN estimates up to

485,000

people displaced in Gaza

Figures as of 09:00GMT, 5 August. Sources: IDF, UN

Getty

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC a long-term truce would be hard to achieve.

"What Israel has done now is make peace all that much more difficult, because it has produced a sense of animosity, of anger, of distrust, of revenge," she said.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC that Israel had accepted a similar ceasefire deal three weeks ago and it was rejected by Hamas.
He said Israel's main focus for a longer-term deal would be on demilitarising Gaza to achieve a "sustained period of quiet".
The main Palestinian demands include the end of Israel's blockade of the territory and the opening of border crossings. They will also want internationally funded reconstruction.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks and destroying tunnels used by Palestinian militants.
The latest figures from Gaza's health ministry list 1,867 deaths. Some 63 Israeli soldiers and four civilians in Israel have died.