Palestinians Hit The Beach During Gaza Ceasefire

Palestinian families have been enjoying a trip to the beach as life in Gaza slowly returns to normal after nearly two months of war.

As temperatures reached 32C on Friday, children could be seen building sandcastles and splashing about in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza City.

Last month, the same beach was the scene of a deadly Israeli attack when four cousins aged nine to 11 were killed as they played football.

Palestinians swimming in the sea on Friday

Gaza's health ministry described the attack as "cowardly" at the time, while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the deaths were a "tragic outcome" of a strike aimed at Hamas.

"I am telling you, we are living now a new life. Thank God we are back to life. We were dead," said Reyad Ajooz, sitting in the shade on the beach.

Beachgoers enjoy the sunset

"You know what it means to be dead? We really were dead, but thank God we are here and we hope the ceasefire will continue."

Another resident, Maha, said: "It is the first time after 51 days of war that we have come to the sea.

"It is good for our children to forget the sound of rockets and the sound of shelling.

"Seriously, we were living difficult and scary days. Thank god we came here and our children can live a normal life like any other children in the world."

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Ebola Drug ZMapp 100% Effective In Monkey Trial

Experimental ebola drug ZMapp has cured all of the infected monkeys it was tested on, lifting hopes it could be used to fight West Africa's deadliest ever outbreak.

Scientists reported the drug healed all 18 monkeys who were given a lethal dose of the virus.

According to the study, published by the journal Nature, the monkeys were treated with ZMapp three to five days after they were infected and when most were showing symptoms. 

Even those suffering advanced symptoms like rashes, liver dysfunction and haemorrhaging and were just hours from death survived.

No other experimental ebola drug has ever shown success in primates so long after infection, with five days equal to between nine and 11 days after infection in humans. 

Three monkeys who were not offered the treatment, produced by San Diago-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, died by day eight.

Kent Brantly, the US doctor who survived ebola, was treated with ZMapp

"The level of improvement was utterly beyond my honest expectation," said one study leader, Gary Kobinger of the Public Health Agency of Canada in Winnipeg.

In a commentary published by Nature, virologist Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas Medical Branch, described the results as a "monumental success."

It was the first time the drug was tested on primates.

Although it is not known whether the success will be replicated on people, who can take up to 21 days to show symptoms, Mapp has already begun producing more of the drug ready for scientific human testing.

The company has no more doses of ZMapp, which is grown in tobacco plants and takes several months to produce.

Ebola spread to a fifth African country on Friday

The final doses were given to seven people infected with the virus in recent weeks.

Two American aid workers were among five people who survived after being given the drug.

Their physicians do not know whether it was instrumental in their recovery as roughly half of those infected during West Africa's recent outbreak have recovered naturally.

A Liberian doctor infected with the virus died this week despite being given the drug, as did a Spanish priest.

It comes after researchers revealed the outbreak may have started at a funeral in Sierra Leone.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1,552 people of 3,069 confirmed ebola cases have died. 

WHO says there could be as many as 20,000 cases before the virus is brought under control. 

There is no approved vaccine or treatment beyond keeping patients hydrated and nourished. 

The virus spread to a fifth African country on Friday, with Senegal reporting that a university student who had travelled from Guinea was being treated.

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Cargo Plane Crashes In Southern Algeria

A Ukrainian cargo plane with seven people on board has crashed in the far south of Algeria, an official has said.

The Antonov-12 aircraft, which was heading to Equatorial Guinea, came down at 2.40am local time shortly after taking off from Algeria's Tamanrasset airport in the Sahara.

The plane, carrying six Ukrainians and one Russian, went down in a mountainous area about nine miles south of the facility.

And the crash could have been caused by technical problems.

The plane had reportedly made a stopover at the airport for unspecified technical reasons.

Three bodies had been found at the site, according to the official.

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Kerry Calls For Coalition Against IS Jihadists

US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for a global coalition to combat Islamic State extremists and their "genocidal agenda".

His comments came as Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah warned the West would be the jihadist group's next target unless there was urgent action to halt its advances through Iraq and Syria.

The UK Government has raised Britain's terror threat level from substantial to severe because of the threat from militant groups in the Middle East.

Writing in the New York Times ahead of this week's NATO summit in Wales, Mr Kerry pressed for "a united response led by the United States and the broadest possible coalition of nations".

Mr Kerry said the US would present an action plan to the UN in September

He said he and Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel would meet European counterparts on the sidelines of the summit to enlist assistance, and then travel to the Middle East to build support "among the countries that are most directly threatened".

US President Barack Obama has acknowledged Washington has no strategy yet to tackle the Islamic State, which has declared an Islamic "caliphate" in large swathes of territory under its control in Iraq and Syria.

But Mr Kerry said the US would be putting forward an action plan at a summit meeting of the UN Security Council in September, when Washington will hold the group's presidency.

"What's needed to confront its nihilistic vision and genocidal agenda is a global coalition using political, humanitarian, economic, law enforcement and intelligence tools to support military force," Mr Kerry said.

The UK has raised its terror threat level because of the extremist threat

The Islamic State (IS) has sparked growing alarm in the West at its rapid and brutal advance in both Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of people, including in gruesome beheadings and mass executions.

The US began carrying out airstrikes against the group in Iraq earlier this month, but has yet to decide if it will expand that military action into Syria.

The cost of American military operations have cost about $560m (£337m) since mid-June, according to the Pentagon - an average of £7.5m (£4.5m) a day.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said he is willing to co-operate in tackling jihadists, but that any military action on its territory must be co-ordinated.

This causes a dilemma for Washington, which has long backed the rebels seeking President Assad's overthrow, and accuses his regime of rights violations including the use of chemical weapons.

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Hundreds Hurt In Violent Pakistan Clashes

At least 300 people have been wounded in clashes between police and protesters in Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The violence comes amid an ongoing two-week political stand-off over claims Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's 2013 election win was the result of vote rigging,

Starting late on Saturday and continuing into early Sunday, the disorder erupted after around 25,000 people marched from parliament to the PM's house.

An AFP reporter at the scene said those on the march, which was led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and populist cleric Tahir ul Qadri, attempted to remove barricades around the house with cranes.

Smoke from tear gas canisters filled the air

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Islamabad police chief Khalid Khattak said officers exercised restraint but that protesters were armed with axes, wire cutters and hammers.

"They had a crane and drove it until the entrance of the presidency," he said.

"We are using only tear gas and firing rubber bullets where needed."               

Railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said protesters tried to uproot the entry gate to the prime minister's home.                

Those injured included protesters and police officers

The demonstrators had been camped outside parliament house since August 15 demanding Mr Sharif step down.

The crisis took on a new dimension earlier in the week after the government asked the army to mediate, raising fears the military would use the situation to enact a "soft coup" and increase its dominance over civilian authorities.

Speaking as fighting broke out on Saturday, defence minister Khawaja Asif said: "There are 1,600 to 2,000 trained terrorists. They have 200 women who are trained in the use of firearms and they have come with the intention of occupying state buildings.

"These are buildings that are symbols of the state. Their attempts are being resisted. And we will resist these with full force."

Protesters were carrying batons, iron rods and sling-shots. The injured were taken to Islamabad's two main hospitals, with the number of casualties expected to rise as clashes continue.

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Iceland Volcano Alert Amid Fresh Eruption

Iceland has raised an aviation alert for a region close to the subglacial Bardarbunga volcano after a small eruption in the area.

The small fissure took place in the Holuhraun lava field, about three miles north of the vast Dyngjujoekull glacier.

The country's meteorological agency described the eruption as a "very calm lava eruption and can hardly be seen on seismometers".

Authorities raised the aviation warning code to red in the region and closed the airspace around the eruption area up to 6,000 feet (1,823 metres).

Sunday's eruption is the third in eight days

No volcanic ash was detected and the Civil Protection Department said all airports remained open.

The eruption on Sunday at around 6am (EST) is the third to be registered in the area since August 23.

A similar fissure on Friday also prompted flights to be restricted in the area amid a warning to airlines by Icelandic authorities to be vigilant.

The Bardarbunga volcano lies under the Vatnajokull glacier, which dominates the eastern corner of Iceland.

More follows...

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China Rules Out Open Hong Kong Elections

Hong Kong: Democracy Promises Ring Hollow

Updated: 11:47am UK, Sunday 31 August 2014

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

"How Hong Kong develops its democracy is completely within the sphere of the autonomy of Hong Kong. The central government [in Beijing] will not intervene." So said Lu Ping in 1993.

Mr Lu was the main representative of the Chinese delegation in the delicate negotiations for the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997.

Today, for many, those words will feel deeply hollow.

At the heart of the 1997 "handover" was a pledge by China to honour the "one country, two systems" framework.

Under that agreement, known as the "Basic Law", Hong Kong would become part of Communist-ruled China but would be guaranteed autonomy to manage its own political, legal and social matters.

The Basic Law gave Hong Kong a "high degree of autonomy" and "executive, legislative and independent judicial power".

Crucially, the paper, endorsed by China, stated that the Chinese mainland's "socialist system and policies shall not be practiced" in Hong Kong.

"The previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged [in Hong Kong] for 50 years," it reads.

Until now, the territory's top political figure - the Chief Executive - has been chosen by a small election committee.

Today, Beijing has endorsed, for the first time ever, a proper framework for Hong Kong's first "direct" leadership election in 2017.

Good news you might think.

Given the wording in the Basic Law, which states explicitly that "universal suffrage" is the "ultimate aim" for Hong Kong, today's announcement from Beijing should have underlined the territory's political autonomy and allowed Hong Kongers to choose their leader with less, not more, interference from Beijing.

Yet the opposite has happened.

China's leaders have significantly tightened the threshold of eligibility for Chief Executive candidates.

You see, the 1997 "basic law" had small-print in it.

It states that Beijing has the final say over any interpretation or amendment of it.

And it appears the new leaders in Beijing are interpreting the paper differently from their predecessors and are amending it accordingly.

So, in the 2017 "election" (when the next Chief Executive will be chosen) Beijing has stipulated that each candidate must receive votes from half of a new "nomination committee" in order to be eligible to run.

Given that the nomination committee is made up of many pro-China loyalists placed there by Beijing, no democratic candidates will make it onto the ballot paper for the vote in 2017.

Beijing will successfully filter out any candidates it deems unacceptable.

We can expect protests and possible violence in the coming months.

The Occupy Central movement, which held a mass demonstration in July, has said it is prepared to bring the financial heart of Hong Kong Island to a standstill through a campaign of "mass civil disobedience".

Beijing has warned against "foreign interference".

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it will not tolerate the use Hong Kong "as a bridgehead to subvert and infiltrate the mainland".

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Paris Flats Collapse: Hunt For Trapped Victims

At least two people have been killed and several more are trapped after an explosion in a four-storey building in Paris.

Sniffer dogs are being used to search for at least six people missing in the residential complex in Rosny-sous-Bois, an eastern suburb of the French capital.

Emergency services at the scene

Fire spokesman Gabriel Plus said he was optimistic survivors would be found in the coming hours.

The two people killed were a child and an elderly woman, Mr Plus said.

At least ten others were injured.

Images of the blast showed it had ripped through virtually half of an adjacent apartment block.

Witnesses said the force of the blast shook buildings at least 100 metres from the site.

The cause of the explosion has not been officially confirmed, but police said a gas leak was likely to have been responsible. 

France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visited the scene and pledged support for victims and their families.

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Ukraine Navy Vessel Attacked, Says Kiev

EU To Draft Urgent Sanctions Against Russia

Updated: 1:20pm UK, Sunday 31 August 2014

Russia could be facing a fresh wave of EU sanctions within a week after Russian tanks reportedly attacked a town near the Ukrainian border city of Luhansk.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said tanks had been used to "destroy virtually every house" in the town of Novosvitlivka.

There were now thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks inside Ukraine, he told a news conference in Brussels, where EU leaders met to discuss the crisis.

"There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine but for the whole peace and stability of Europe," he said.

After meeting his European counterparts, Mr Poroshenko warned that efforts to end violence with pro-Russian rebels were close to a "point of no return" and that failure could lead to "full-scale war".

European leaders have ordered officials to make urgent preparations for a toughening of measures, likely to target senior Kremlin figures as well as the defence, energy and financial sectors.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU summit had taken "important steps" and the European Commission would present firm proposals for tougher sanctions within a week.

"It is totally unacceptable that there are Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil. We have now set out a timetable for further sanctions that could be ... significant steps," Mr Cameron said.

"It's a deeply serious situation and we have to show real resolve, real resilience in demonstrating to Russia that if she carries on in this way the relationship we have between Europe and Russia, Britain and Russia, America and Russia will be radically different in the future."

Outgoing EU Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso insisted it was not too late to find a political solution, but he added: "We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation ... where we can reach the point of no return.

"If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point can come."

He added: "Russia should not underestimate the European Union's will and resolve to stand by its principles and values."

Meanwhile, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite called for a stepped up arms embargo on Russia.

She said: "It is the fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine. That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU.

"Practically Russia is in a state of war against Europe."

It comes after a mutual exchange of captured soldiers between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday.

A group of 10 Russian paratroopers and 63 Ukrainian soldiers were returned after "very difficult negotiations", according to the Russian RIA news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a TV show recorded on Friday, again denied that Moscow had sent troops to fight in Ukraine.

He said: "We need to immediately begin substantive talks... on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood in southeastern Ukraine with the goal of protecting the lawful interests of the people who live there."

He added that the West "should have known that Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot at point-blank range".

Nato released images apparently showing Russian forces on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

Government sources said separatists are believed to have heavy weaponry supplied by President Vladimir Putin.

Included in the weaponry are 100 tanks and artillery pieces, anti-tank weapons and shoulder-mounted missile launchers, the sources said.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations it has sent soldiers or equipment across the border.

President Barack Obama has said the satellite pictures made it "plain" that Russia had "deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".

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UK Police In Spain To Question Ashya's Parents

The parents of Ashya King, who was taken out of hospital against medical advice, face being extradited to the UK after being arrested in Spain.

Officers in the Malaga area pulled over the family's car at 9pm UK time on Saturday and found the five-year-old and his parents inside after a tip-off from a staff member at the hotel where they were staying.

Sky News sources say British police have arrived in the area to question Ashya's parents - Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45.

The boy from Portsmouth, who underwent "extensive surgery" during an operation on his brain tumour seven days ago at Southampton General Hospital, was taken to a hospital in the local area.

He was in a stable condition, and there is no prospect of him being transferred to another hospital, say Sky sources.

An international search was launched after Ashya was taken on Thursday

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead, of Hampshire Constabulary, said his parents were in custody after being arrested on a European arrest warrant.

In response to criticism about the force's actions, he said: "Faced with the situation that we were, we had medical experts telling us Ashya was in grave danger... if he didn't get the care that he needed there was a potential threat to his life.

"So I make no apologies for being as proactive in this investigation as we have been."

He said it was too soon to say when Ashya would come back to the UK, but said Southampton General Hospital was liaising with doctors taking care of him in Spain.

Mr Shead said proceedings to extradite Mr and Mrs King to the UK are expected to start on Monday.

French media had picked up the story after Ashya was taken from hospital

The couple are due to appear in court on Monday morning, according to reports in Spain.

The arrests came as footage emerged on YouTube of Ashya's father, a Jehovah's Witness, insisting they had taken him from hospital to seek a cancer treatment not available on the NHS.

"We were much disturbed today to find that his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we've been labelled as kidnappers, putting his life at risk, neglect," he said.

"As you can see, there's nothing wrong with him. He's very happy actually, since we took him out of hospital."

He said he had spoken to specialists after Ashya's surgery and had requested proton beam treatment, which was not available on the NHS.

Ashya is now being cared for in a Spanish hospital

A spokesman for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said: "Our priority has always been Ashya's welfare and we are delighted that he has been found.

"We are now working closely with colleagues in Malaga to ensure he receives the essential medical support he needs.

"We are aware of the comments made online by his father.

"Throughout Ashya's admission we have had conversations about the treatment options available to him, and we had offered the family access to a second opinion as well as assistance with organising treatment abroad."

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