Fresh strikes around key Syrian town

1 October 2014 Last updated at 12:28

US-led forces have carried out air strikes on Islamic State (IS) militants battling Kurdish fighters around the northern Syrian border town of Kobane.

A BBC correspondent saw explosions outside the town in the morning.

At least 10 people were killed overnight, Syrian activists said, as the jihadists moved to within 2 to 3km (1.2-1.9 miles) of Kobane.

Tens of thousands of people have fled across the border into Turkey since IS launched an offensive two weeks ago.

The jihadists' advance has put pressure on the Turkish government to take a more significant role in the US-led coalition formed to combat IS.

Ministers submitted a proposal to parliament late on Tuesday to allow Turkish troops to conduct operations in Syria and Iraq, and to allow foreign forces to use Turkish military bases.

Parliament is expected to debate the proposal on Thursday, and the ruling AK Party's majority means it is likely to be approved.

In a separate development in Syria on Wednesday, at least 17 people, including several children, were killed and dozens wounded in a double bomb attack in the central city of Homs, officials and activists said.

The blasts took place as children left a school in the Akrama al-Jadida district, which is dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.

Desperate civilians

The BBC's Paul Adams, who is on the Turkish side of the border near Kobane, reported sporadic fighting between Syrian Kurdish and IS fighters on Wednesday morning. Several mortars were fired by the jihadists at houses on the besieged town's outskirts.

There were reports of several air strikes overnight and our correspondent says he saw at least two more on positions in the distance, each one sending a huge column of black smoke high into the sky. Jets are continuing to circle overhead, he adds.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group that monitors casualties from the three-year-old conflict in Syria, reported that there had been at least five air strikes south and south-east of Kobane.

It said nine Kurdish militiamen from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) and an IS militant had been killed in clashes overnight.

The Syrian Observatory also reported that IS had beheaded five Kurdish fighters, including three women, as well as four Arab rebels and a Kurdish civilian who had been captured during clashes 14km (8 miles) west of Kobane on Tuesday.

Images have been posted online purportedly showing the women's heads placed on a cement block in the town of Jarablus, which is held by IS, according to the Associated Press.

At the border fence itself, desperate civilians are huddled with their vehicles and livestock, our correspondent says.

They are clearly terrified at the advance of the militants but also angry at what they say is the refusal of the Turkish authorities to let them cross, he adds.

At the moment, the only official crossing point is several kilometres away, on the other side of Kobane, and the civilians say that minefields make it too dangerous to move.

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Clive Myrie reports from northern Iraq where the Peshmerga say they are fighting with weapons that are not up to the job

Capturing Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab, would give IS unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. The group has already seized large swathes of territory to the south in the provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir al-Zour, as well as in neighbouring Iraq.

Overnight, British warplanes fired four missiles at IS vehicles in Iraq. The Ministry of Defence said the two Tornados had fired Brimstone missiles at an armed pick-up truck and a transport vehicle west of the capital, Baghdad, adding that the strikes were "successful".

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott meanwhile announced that Royal Australian Air Force jets would begin supporting the US-led coalition operations against IS in Iraq, but would not yet carry out air strikes.

What is Islamic State (IS)?

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In 60 seconds: What does Islamic State want?

• Formed out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in 2013, IS first captured Raqqa in eastern Syria
• It captured parts of Iraq in June, including Mosul, and declared a "caliphate" in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq
• Pursuing an extreme form of Sunni Islam, IS has persecuted non-Muslims such as Yazidis and Christians, as well as Shia Muslims, whom it regards as heretics
• Known for its brutal tactics, including beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers
• The CIA says the group could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria

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Afghan troops killed in Kabul attack

1 October 2014 Last updated at 06:01

At least seven Afghan soldiers have died and many were injured after a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying troops in the Afghan capital Kabul.

A second bus was hit by a suicide bomber elsewhere in the city, injuring two soldiers and two civilians.

The Taliban said they had carried out the attacks.

The blasts come a day after Afghan and US officials signed a deal letting US troops stay in Afghanistan after the end of 2014.

The agreement was authorised by new Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, who was sworn in on Monday.

On that same day, two bombs killed at least 15 people in Kabul and Paktia provinces.

Mr Ghani's predecessor, Hamid Karzai, had refused to sign the deal because of a disagreement with the US.

'Huge explosion'

The attack on the army bus took place in western Kabul, and largely destroyed the bus.

"I was walking down the road when a huge explosion occurred," shopkeeper Sanaullah Khan told Reuters.

"Right after the blast, I saw dust and smoke rising from the area and then I escaped."

The second attack took place in northeast Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks on Twitter, saying they were a continuation of an offensive which started in the summer.

Under a US-brokered unity deal Mr Ghani shares power with runner-up Abdullah Abdullah who becomes chief executive. The Taliban has called the deal a "US-orchestrated sham".

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First Ebola case diagnosed in the US

1 October 2014 Last updated at 09:47

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Doctors are doing every thing they can to treat the man and prevent further infections, reports Alastair Leithead

The first case of the deadly Ebola virus diagnosed on US soil has been confirmed in Dallas, Texas.

Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital say the unidentified patient is being kept in isolation.

The man is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before travelling to the US nearly two weeks ago.

More than 3,000 people have already died of Ebola in West Africa and a small number of US aid workers have recovered after being flown to the US.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the Ebola virus seems to have been contained in Nigeria and Senegal, with no new cases reported there for almost a month.

Monitoring

"An individual travelling from Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States," CDC Director Thomas Frieden told reporters on Tuesday.

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Tom Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirms the US case

According to Mr Frieden, the unnamed patient left Liberia on 19 September and arrived in the US the next day to visit relatives, without displaying any symptoms of the virus.

Symptoms of the virus became apparent on 24 September, and on 28 September he was admitted to a Texas hospital and put in isolation.

The disease, which is not contagious until symptoms appear, is spread via close contact with bodily fluids.

Aid workers who caught Ebola in West Africa have come back to the US for treatment but this is the first case of a patient developing the virus on US soil, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Los Angeles.

A hospital official told reporters on Tuesday the facility already had procedures in place to deal with any such potential cases.

Preliminary information indicates that the unnamed patient, who was described as critically ill, was not involved in treating Ebola-infected patients while in Liberia.

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Bill Gates: "We have got to get medical personnel in there."

Health officials are working to identify all people who came into contact with the unnamed patient while he was infectious.

Those people will then be monitored for 21 days to see if an Ebola-related fever develops.

'We will stop it'

According to Mr Frieden, it is possible a family member who came in direct contact with the patient may develop Ebola in the coming weeks.

But "the bottom line here is I have no doubt that we will control this importation, this case of Ebola, so it does not spread widely in this country," he added. "We will stop it here."

The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died of the virus so far, mostly in Liberia.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of a new UN body set up to fight the disease urged more action within the next 60 days.

Anthony Banbury told reporters in Ghana that 70% of infected people needed to be receiving treatment and 70% of burials should be done safely within two months.

It is the world's most deadly outbreak of the virus.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
• Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no proven vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host

Ebola virus: Busting the myths

Do you know anyone who's been affected by the Ebola outbreak? Email your comments to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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Karadzic takes blame for Serb crimes

1 October 2014 Last updated at 10:18

Radovan Karadzic is closing his defence saying he takes "moral responsibility" for crimes committed by Bosnian Serbs but denying he ordered killings.

The wartime Bosnian Serb leader set out his case in a written brief before telling the UN tribunal there was not a shred of evidence against him.

He is accused in The Hague of genocide and other crimes, with one charge relating to the Srebrenica massacre.

Prosecutors have called for him to be given a life sentence if convicted.

The 69-year-old political leader of the Bosnian Serbs in the 1990s was handed over to the tribunal when he was arrested in 2008 after 13 years on the run.

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Radovan Karadzic is facing 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as Anna Holligan reports

More than 7,500 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys, some as young as 12, were killed by Bosnian Serbs in the Srebrenica enclave in July 1995. The massacre is considered Europe's worst since World War Two.

The Balkan conflict emerged from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, resulting in a bitter inter-ethnic series of wars from 1991 to 1999.

Self-assured

In a written brief that runs to more than 800 pages, Radovan Karadzic argues that he was not aware of the Srebrenica killings but takes responsibility for "any crimes committed by citizens and forces of Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb republic)".

As he conducted his own defence on Wednesday, he seemed more like a politician outlining his policies than a war crimes suspect facing life in prison, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports.

There was no shaking or stumbling in his delivery, she says. It was the self-assured performance of man who is comfortable in the spotlight.

"It is the Serb people that stand accused," he told his judges. "I know the truth, the prosecution knows the truth, they are trying to delude the court."

UN prosecutor Alan Tieger argued this week that "the policy of ethnic cleansing" had been fully exposed as had "Dr Karadzic as its driving force".

In all, Mr Karadzic faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He has been given 10 hours to speak in court, and will lay out his defence over two days.

The judges are expected to deliver their verdict in a year's time.

During the 1992-1995 war, Bosniaks sought refuge in the town of Srebrenica from the surrounding area as the Bosnian Serb army sought to expel non-Serb populations.

The UN had declared Srebrenica a "safe area" for civilians in 1993 but it fell in July 1995, after more than two years under siege.

Mr Karadzic is accused of orchestrating a campaign of ethnic cleansing together with former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic.

He was arrested in 2008 in Belgrade, where he had spent years masquerading as a faith healer, heavily disguised.

Gen Mladic is being tried separately. Another key suspect, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, died in 2006 before the end of his trial.

More than 100,000 people died in the Bosnian war, in which atrocities were committed by all three warring sides.

Timeline of Srebrenica siege:

6-8 July 1995: Bosnian Serb forces start shelling Srebrenica enclave

9 July: Bosnian Serbs step up shelling; thousands of Bosnian Muslim refugees flee to Srebrenica

10 July: Dutch peacekeepers request UN air support after Bosnian Serbs shell Dutch positions. Large crowds of refugees gather around Dutch positions

11 July: More than 20,000 refugees flee to main Dutch base at Potocari. Serbs threaten to kill Dutch hostages and shell refugees after Dutch F-16 fighters bomb Serb positions. Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic enters Srebrenica and delivers ultimatum that Muslims must hand over weapons

12 July: An estimated 23,000 women and children are deported to Muslim territory; men aged 12-77 taken "for interrogation" and held in trucks and warehouses

13 July: First killings of unarmed Muslims take place near village of Kravica. Peacekeepers hand over some 5,000 Muslims sheltering at Dutch base in exchange for the release of 14 Dutch peacekeepers held by Bosnian Serbs

14 July: Reports of massacres start to emerge

Timeline: Siege of Srebrenica

The former Yugoslavia was a Socialist state created after German occupation in World War II and a bitter civil war. A federation of six republics, it brought together Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Slovenes and others under a comparatively relaxed communist regime. Tensions between these groups were successfully suppressed under the leadership of President Tito.

After Tito's death in 1980, tensions re-emerged. Calls for more autonomy within Yugoslavia by nationalist groups led in 1991 to declarations of independence in Croatia and Slovenia. The Serb-dominated Yugoslav army lashed out, first in Slovenia and then in Croatia. Thousands were killed in the latter conflict which was paused in 1992 under a UN-monitored ceasefire.

Bosnia, with a complex mix of Serbs, Muslims and Croats, was next to try for independence. Bosnia's Serbs, backed by Serbs elsewhere in Yugoslavia, resisted. Under leader Radovan Karadzic, they threatened bloodshed if Bosnia's Muslims and Croats - who outnumbered Serbs - broke away. Despite European blessing for the move in a 1992 referendum, war came fast.

Yugoslav army units, withdrawn from Croatia and renamed the Bosnian Serb Army, carved out a huge swathe of Serb-dominated territory. Over a million Bosnian Muslims and Croats were driven from their homes in ethnic cleansing. Serbs suffered too. The capital Sarajevo was besieged and shelled. UN peacekeepers, brought in to quell the fighting, were seen as ineffective.

International peace efforts to stop the war failed, the UN was humiliated and over 100,000 died. The war ended in 1995 after NATO bombed the Bosnian Serbs and Muslim and Croat armies made gains on the ground. A US-brokered peace divided Bosnia into two self-governing entities, a Bosnian Serb republic and a Muslim-Croat federation lightly bound by a central government.

In August 1995 the Croatian army stormed areas in Croatia under Serb control prompting thousands to flee. Soon Croatia and Bosnia were fully independent. Slovenia and Macedonia had already gone. Montenegro left later. In 1999 Kosovo's ethnic Albanians fought Serbs in another brutal war to gain independence. Serbia ended the conflict beaten, battered and alone.

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Defiant HK protests on National Day

1 October 2014 Last updated at 12:49

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The BBC's Martin Patience says there is a carnival atmosphere on the streets

Thousands have joined pro-democracy protests in central Hong Kong, as they spread on China's 65th National Day.

The protesters want China to withdraw plans to vet candidates for the next Hong Kong leadership election in 2017.

Hong Kong's chief executive CY Leung urged them to back electoral reforms set out by Beijing. He was heckled by some protesters, who turned their backs when the national anthem was played.

China says it will "safeguard Hong Kong's prosperity and stability".

Protesters have gathered at the main protest sites in the Central business district, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.

A fourth protest site has also spread to Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, a major shopping district several roads south of Mong Kok.

Mr Leung has rejected campaigners' calls for him to stand down.

Carrie Gracie, BBC News China editor, Hong Kong

The 65th anniversary of China's communist revolution began in Hong Kong with a flag-raising ceremony made for TV audiences across China. Nothing was allowed to disrupt the choreography.

The only members of the public allowed to attend were dressed in red baseball caps and T-shirts, waving Chinese flags. One told me the democracy protesters "had ulterior motives and were marginal anyway".

Police were in attendance to protect both the flag and embattled Chief Executive CY Leung. He reminded his fellow citizens that Hong Kong's special status in China, known as "one country, two systems", means just that. It was an implied rebuke to protesters demanding Beijing overturn its restrictions on nominations for the 2017 leadership election.

The protesters are determined to be seen and heard. Some were outside the ceremony, turning their backs on the national flag.

And less than a mile away, crowds were voting with their feet, streaming into what they're now calling Democracy Square, an encampment filled with umbrellas and a sea of freedom flags. The national flag of China nowhere to be seen.

China media: HK 'social order'

Carrie Gracie: 12 hours of protests

Family atmosphere

The BBC's Juliana Liu, in Hong Kong, says that many families and parents with young children were in the streets on Wednesday, changing the atmosphere dramatically compared to Sunday, when police fired tear gas and pepper spray at the crowds.

Mr Leung attended a ceremony marking China's 65th National Day, which celebrates the founding of communist China in 1949.

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A drone captured the scale of the protests on Monday 29 September

The flag-raising ceremony went ahead peacefully but a fireworks display was cancelled.

Mr Leung said that while people had different ideas about what constituted a "desirable reform package", it was better to have the right to vote than not.

Beijing ruled last month that it would allow Hong Kong people to elect their next leader in 2017. But the choice of candidates will be restricted to those approved by a pro-Beijing committee.

A rumbling protest campaign ballooned into mass street demonstrations at the weekend.

Police responded initially with tear gas and pepper spray, but riot police later withdrew and since early on Monday the situation has remained calm.

Crowds swelled again on Tuesday night and the demonstrators - who include student groups, supporters of the Occupy Central movement and others angered by the police response - were hoping for greater numbers on Wednesday.

But the BBC's Babita Sharma, in Hong Kong, said while the numbers were still in their thousands, they were a bit thinner than on Tuesday.

Occupy Central co-founder Chan Kin-man said the protests would spread like "blossoming flowers" unless the government started to listen to their demands. He apologised for the disruption caused to people living in and around the protest sites.

China challenge

There are no signs of concessions from Beijing. On Tuesday Mr Xi told Communist Party leaders that his government would "steadfastly safeguard the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macau".

The protests are seen as a direct challenge to Beijing's grip on the territory's politics. Analysts say leaders are worried that calls for democracy could spread to mainland cities.

News of the protests is being heavily censored in mainland China. Media have blamed "radical opposition forces" for stirring up trouble.

Separately on Wednesday, rights group Amnesty International called on the Chinese authorities to "immediately and unconditionally" release some 20 people who have been detained in mainland China in recent days for supporting the protests in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile the US restated its position on the protests, saying that a genuine choice of candidates in the election would enhance the legitimacy of the chief executive.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to discuss the protests with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Hong Kong democracy timeline

• 1997: Hong Kong, a former British colony, is handed back to China under an 1984 agreement giving it "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years
• 2004: China rules that its approval must be sought for changes to Hong Kong's election laws
• June-July 2014: Pro-democracy activists hold an unofficial referendum on political reform and a large rally, which is followed by protests by pro-Beijing activists
• 31 August 2014: China says it will allow direct elections in 2017, but voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates; activists stage protests
• 22 September 2014: Student groups launch a week-long boycott of classes in protest
• 2017: Direct elections for chief executive due to take place
• 2047: Expiry of current agreements

Q&A: Hong Kong's democracy controversy

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Armed man shared lift with Obama

1 October 2014 Last updated at 10:30

President Barack Obama rode in a lift with an armed security contractor who had assault convictions, in another security lapse.

It happened on 16 September when Mr Obama visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The incident came to light on Tuesday, hours after the boss of the Secret Service was grilled by Congress about a security breach at the White House.

A Secret Service official confirmed the incident but declined to comment.

The incident contravened a protocol that only members of the Secret Service are allowed to carry weapons in the presence of the president.

Tuesday's revelations led to calls from one senior US congressman for a "top-to-bottom" review of the agency.

The gun was found when the man was questioned by agents after taking a video of the president in the lift.

He was immediately sacked by his supervisors, who arrived on the scene shortly after the incident, reports said.

A supervisor asked the man to hand over his gun, surprising the Secret Service team who had not known he was armed.

The Washington Post said the man had three convictions for assault and battery.

"This person was within arm's length of the president with a gun," said Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was told of the incident by a whistleblower.

It will come as another embarrassment on the day after the director of the US Secret Service, Julia Pierson, took responsibility before a hostile House oversight committee hearing for an "unacceptable" security breach at the presidential residence.

Omar Gonzalez, 42, scaled a fence at the White House, ran across the lawn, entered an unlocked door, entered the East Room and was eventually tackled inside.

That incident came after a previous security scare in 2011, when a lone gunman fired shots at the White House.

The following year three Secret Service agents were sent home from a presidential trip to Amsterdam after they were caught drinking.

On Wednesday Republican congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the House of Representatives committee with oversight of the agency, called for a comprehensive review.

"This latest episode adds to the growing list of failures from an agency plagued by operational challenges, cultural problems and reporting difficulties," he said.

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Kissinger 'considered Cuba strikes'

1 October 2014 Last updated at 12:50

US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger drew up plans to "smash Cuba" with air strikes nearly 40 years ago, government papers obtained by researchers show.

He was angered by Cuba's 1976 military intervention in Angola and was considering retaliation if Cuban forces were deployed elsewhere in Africa.

The information comes from documents declassified at the request of the National Security Archive.

They show that Mr Kissinger was eager for the US to stand up to Cuba.

The documents from the Gerald R Ford Presidential Library show that US officials devised plans to attack ports and military installations in Cuba in addition to measures ordered by Mr Kissinger to deploy Marine battalions based at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay to "clobber" the Cubans.

Anger

The government documents are published in Back Channel to Cuba, a new book by American University professor William M. LeoGrande and the director of the National Security Archive's Cuba Documentation Project, Peter Kornbluh.

Mr Kornbluh told the New York Times that Mr Kissinger was angered by what he felt was the decision by then Cuban President Fidel Castro to pursue his own foreign policy agenda in Africa rather than normalise relations with the United States.

A blockade of the island was also considered, the New York Times says. It reports that Mr Kissinger has refused to comment on its story.

Mr Kissinger, secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, initially supported underground efforts to improve relations with Cuba, the New York Times says.

But it says he was infuriated by Cuban President Fidel Castro's decision in late 1975 to send troops to Angola to help the newly independent nation fend off attacks from South Africa and right-wing guerrillas.

'Global chessboard player'

"Kissinger, the global chessboard player, was insulted that a small country would ruin his plans for Africa and was essentially prepared to bring the imperial force of the United States on Fidel Castro's head," Mr Kornbluh was quoted in the newspaper as saying.

"You can see in the conversation with [US President] Gerald Ford that he is extremely apoplectic," Mr Kornbluh said, describing the then secretary of state's language about doing harm to Cuba as "quintessentially aggressive".

Mr Kissinger's planned intervention came 15 years after a group of some 1,500 Cuban exiles trained and financed by the CIA launched an ill-fated invasion of Cuba from the sea in the Bay of Pigs.

The plan was to overthrow Fidel Castro and his revolution.

Instead, it turned into a humiliating defeat which pushed Cuba firmly into the arms of the Soviet Union and has soured US-Cuban relations to this day.

Supporters of Mr Kissinger say he played a key role in US foreign policy under presidents Nixon and Ford at the height of the Cold War, pointing out that he was the man who brokered detente with the Soviet Union, paved the way for President Nixon's landmark visit to China and who, they argue, negated the Communist threat in Latin America.

They argue that he was instrumental in securing peace deals in the Middle East and Vietnam.

But critics say he was the orchestrator of controversial carpet bombing of neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam War and helped Pakistan, Greece, Indonesia and Chile to embark on acts of repression.

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Shell kills four at Donetsk school

1 October 2014 Last updated at 12:56

A shell has killed four people at a school in the rebel-held east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, on the first day of classes, officials and witnesses say.

Another six people died when a minibus was hit elsewhere in Donetsk.

No children were apparently hurt when the school playground was shelled but a biology teacher and a parent were among the dead, witnesses told Reuters.

The school is 4km (2.5 miles) from Donetsk airport, where rebels have clashed with Ukrainian troops.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in eastern Ukraine since 5 September but the truce has frequently been violated.

Both sides blamed the other for Wednesday's attacks.

The Kiev-controlled regional administration said rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) had opened fire with a multiple-launch rocket system.

But DPR deputy leader Andrei Purgin told Russian TV that Ukrainian rocket launchers had targeted residential areas from as far as 40km (25 miles) away.

Pro-Russian separatists control of much of Donetsk and have launched several attempts to capture the airport to the north-west of the city in recent weeks.

Open conflict began in the east in April, after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists then declared independence in the two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Pupils in Donetsk only returned to school on Wednesday after the start of the school year was postponed by a month because of the fighting.

Many children had been moved to safer areas while the fighting was at its heaviest, but although clashes have continued since the ceasefire was declared, the violence has been less widespread.

Well over 200 people were at school number 57 in the Kievsky district when the playground was shelled, including 70 children. Although the school's windows shattered, none of the children was reported hurt.

Another shell hit a minibus at a bus stop a few streets away from the school and a Reuters reporter described seeing six bodies inside the vehicle.

The BBC's James Coomarasamy, visiting another school in Donetsk, says far fewer pupils than normal were present for the first day of the year, with the constant echo of artillery in the distance.

"The first thing we should teach our pupils is to love their country and the city they live in and that they should respect the people around them," an English teacher said.

Are you in the area? Email your accounts to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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Tear gas and clashes at HK protest

28 September 2014 Last updated at 12:48

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Police used pepper spray and tear gas on protesters trying to breach barricades

Hong Kong police have used tear gas to disperse pro-democracy protesters outside the main government building, after a week of escalating tensions.

Demonstrators trying to push through police barricades were earlier repelled by pepper spray.

Protesters want the Chinese government to scrap rules allowing it to vet Hong Kong's top leader in the 2017 poll.

Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said the demonstration was "illegal" and elections would go ahead as planned.

In his first public statement since the protests began, Mr Leung also added that consultations would continue.

He said he and his government had "been listening attentively to members of [the] public". But, he said, "resolute" action would be taken against the "illegal demonstration".

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Chief Executive CY Leung said the government was "resolute in opposing the unlawful occupation" by protesters

Protesters blocked a busy road on Sunday, clashing with police as they tried to join a mass sit-in outside government headquarters.

Police used hand-held cans of pepper spray to drive back the protesters, who defended themselves with umbrellas and face masks.

As evening fell, the police lobbed tear gas canisters into the crowd, scattering some of the protesters.

Thousands joined a sit-in outside government headquarters this weekend, bolstering a week-old protest, which began as a strike by students calling for democratic reforms.

On Saturday night, the leader of Occupy Central, another protest movement, brought forward a planned action to merge it with the sit-in by the students outside the central government building.

A statement by the movement said Mr Leung had "failed to deliver on political reform".

The protesters had also called for further talks but it is not clear how far - if at all - Mr Leung's mention of further consultations will be seen as recognising their demands.

Faith Kwek, a 19-year-old student protester, said Mr Leung's "words are just words".

"I don't think myself or any of the protesters will give in until we see bigger progress in the form of action from him. We don't want our country to surrender to China."

Occupy Central had originally planned to paralyse the central business district next Wednesday, but organisers advanced the protest and changed the location in an apparent bid to harness momentum from student protests outside the government complex.

Student activists had stormed into a courtyard of the complex late on Friday and scuffled with police using pepper spray.

Police said they made more than 60 arrests including prominent student activist leader Joshua Wong.

The BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong says that thousands had arrived spontaneously to support the demonstration by students.

Those outside the government buildings plan to stay until they are forcibly removed, she says.

However, some students expressed unease that their protest was apparently being taken over by Occupy Central.

"A lot of students left as soon as Occupy made the announcement they were starting their occupation," said university graduate Vito Leung, 24.

"I think they were really forcing it. This was always a separate student movement with similar goals but different directions. I don't think it should be brought together like this."

Unrest began when the Chinese government announced that candidates for the 2017 chief executive election would first have to be approved by a nominating committee.

Activists have argued that this does not amount to true democracy.

At least 34 people have been injured since the protests began, including four police officers and 11 government staff and guards, authorities said.

Hong Kong democracy timeline

• 1984: Britain and China sign an agreement where Hong Kong is guaranteed "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years following the handover in 1997.
• 2004: China rules that its approval must be sought for changes to Hong Kong's election laws.
• 2008: China says it will consider allowing direct elections by 2017.
• June-July 2014: Pro-democracy activists hold an unofficial referendum on political reform and a large rally. This is followed by protests by pro-Beijing activists.
• 31 August 2014: China says it will allow direct elections in 2017, but voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates. Activists stage protests.
• 22 September 2014: Student groups launch a week-long boycott of classes in protest.

Q&A: Hong Kong's democracy controversy

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US police officer shot in Ferguson

28 September 2014 Last updated at 05:53

A police officer has been shot in the strife-torn US town of Ferguson, Missouri, but the officer's condition is unclear, St Louis police say.

The officer was shot in the arm, according to local broadcaster KSDK, but the circumstances are not known.

Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis, has suffered outbreaks of violence since the shooting dead of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown on 9 August.

He was shot by white policeman Darren Wilson, leading to protests.

St Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman told AP news agency that an officer had been shot but he had no further information.

There have been violent clashes between police and demonstrators since the shooting of Mr Brown, 18.

Last week, police in Ferguson said they would not tolerate further violence after protesters looted shops and harassed officers.

Also last week, a street memorial where Mr Brown was shot was burned down in suspicious circumstances.

Police said the cause of the blaze was under investigation, and local residents suspected arson.

A St Louis grand jury has yet to decide whether or not to charge Mr Wilson with Michael Brown's shooting.

It is unclear when they will make a decision. A separate investigation by the US justice department is continuing.

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