Putin calls for talks on eastern Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for immediate talks on statehood for eastern Ukraine as part of negotiations to try to end the conflict there.

Mr Putin was quoted as saying that, what he called, the lawful interests of his people must be protected.

Yesterday, the EU pledged to support Ukraine's sovereignty and draw up new economic sanctions on Russia which has denied that its military forces are operating inside Ukraine.

Last night, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that a new list of sanctions against Russia would be ready within seven days if Moscow did not withdraw troops and heavy weapons from eastern Ukraine.

Mr Kenny was speaking following a special summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

"Within seven days a new list of further options - serious options - would be presented for consideration," he told reporters.

The Taoiseach said that the mood of the meeting was one of solidarity with Ukraine, as well as unity among EU member states that Europe should not "renege upon" Ukraine, or "turn its back on the Ukrainian people" who wish to be associated very closely with the European Union.

Mr Kenny said that individuals and institutions which had supported pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine would be listed as part of broader sanctions effort.

The European Commission will now propose ways of "scaling up" existing sanctions against Russian and pro-Russian individuals, as well as companies within Russia's financial, arms and energy sectors.

Once the commission makes its proposal, member states can then formally impose the measures against Russia.

The crisis in Ukraine is expected to dominate next week's NATO summit in Wales.

The Taoiseach also welcomed the appointments of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as the new President of the European Council, to replace Herman Van Rompuy in December, and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as the new EU High Representative for Foreign Policy.

Mr Kenny said that EU leaders discussed ways to alleviate Europe's high levels of unemployment, in particular youth unemployment.

He said that European Commission President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker would present a €300 billion investment programme in November.
 

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Burton's dept 'had no strategy' to recover debt

Tánaiste Joan Burton's department has been criticised in an unpublished internal report over claims it had no strategy in place to recover millions of euro in outstanding redundancy debt.

The report has been seen by RTÉ's This Week.

The debts arise when the State is forced to step in and pay employee redundancy and insolvency payments in cases where bosses claim they cannot afford to pay.

Debt levels soared over recent years due to the economic crisis, with the State paying out more than €300 million since early 2011. 

The new figures show just 4.7% on average of this money was recollected during the period. Responsibility for the schemes transferred to Ms Burton's Department of Social Protection in January 2011.

The unpublished report found there was "no comprehensive policy for pursuing outstanding debt".

Cumulative debt was "continuing to rise year on year with no clear direction or strategy on how to deal with it," the report said.

Among a series of criticisms, internal auditors within the department flagged a "high" concern over the level of proof required from employers who claimed they could not pay redundancy or certain insolvency-related payments to outgoing staff being made unemployed.

The auditors concluded that "in many of the informal insolvency and bankruptcy cases, redundancy lump sums were being paid without financial proof of the employer's ability to pay".

Staff told the internal audit team that employers who claimed inability to pay went uncontacted for years, in some cases, after initial contact was made.

The report, which was finalised in the middle of 2013, found there was no policy or procedures in place for the follow-up of debt once an initial letter was sent to an employer.

The report was obtained by RTÉ's This Week under a Freedom of Information request.

The internal auditors also said that those working on redundancy and insolvency cases within the department needed specialist training, given the complexity of the files they were dealing with.

The scheme was previously administered at the Department of Enterprise.

The auditors said it was apparent that this training could not be provided in-house. The report goes on to note that despite this issue being first flagged in 2012, just €1,000 was provided to an external training budget for the purpose in 2013. The department did not say what the budget allocation was for 2014.

The auditors argued that the level of proof should be strengthened and a new debt recovery strategy should be put in place as a matter of urgency.

The department asked the Revenue Commissioners for advice on how to establish the veracity of employers' claims of inability to pay, according to the report.

However, department officials later chose not to use a special form which is used by Revenue for this purpose; describing it as overly bureaucratic.

The report did acknowledge that increased efforts were being made by the department to tackle the issue, and debt collection had improved recently.

Responding to the report, the department told RTÉ that it was confident that the self-declaration provided by employers via the official application form was sufficient, although the department said it continued to work with the Revenue Commissioner to strengthen the proofs required.

A spokesman said that recent legislation introduced earlier this year had given the department the power to seek greater recovery of over-payments, although the vast majority of the increased monies recovered relate to social welfare over-payments made to individuals rather than companies.

The new legislation includes the power to place attachment orders on future earnings - although this will apply mostly to individual social welfare payment recipients rather than employers. There is provision in the new legislation to recover outstanding monies via employer PRSI payments.

On a percentage basis the amount of redundancy and insolvency over-payments which were recovered has increased from 4.7% annually in recent years up to 22% for the first half of 2014 - although this figure may be artificially inflated due to the sharp fall in the amount being paid out under the scheme.

The State has paid out just under €30 million under the redundancy scheme so far this year, compared to an average of €91 million for each of the last three years.

The department said a debt management strategy would be rolled out later this year.

The internal auditors gave the debt recovery operation their highest risk rating. They expressed a "high" level of concern over the operation of the Redundancy Scheme, which posed a "financial and reputational risk for the Department."

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McGuinness confident in Stormont administration

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has said he is confident that the power-sharing administration at Stormont will not collapse, even though it faces immense challenges.

Mr McGuinness was speaking at an event in Derry to mark the 20th anniversary of the IRA ceasefire.

Sinn Féin selected an event in the hometown of Mr McGuinness to mark the ceasefire's anniversary.

He name-checked several people outside the republican movement when referring to what he called one of the momentous decisions of the last century in the politics of this island.

They included John Hume of the SDLP, the late Fr Alec Reid and the recently deceased Albert Reynolds.

His address also acknowledged the tensions in the power-sharing administration.

He was critical of what he called the unwillingness of unionists to accept democratic decisions like the one about the Union flag taken at Belfast City Council.

But he said he wants the administration to survive and told supporters there is no alternative to dialogue and agreement.

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Police defend handling of Ashya King case

The police officer who led the successful search for a severely-ill boy, who had been removed from a hospital in England to Spain by his parents, has defended the handling of the investigation.

Three days ago, an international arrest warrant was issued for the parents of five-year-old Ashya King after they had failed to return him to a Southampton hospital.

Last night, the couple were arrested near Malaga in southern Spain.

The family said they had taken Ashya to Spain against the advice of doctors in Britain because he was not getting the treatment they wanted after having a brain tumour removed.

The boy's father, Brett King, described the search that was mounted as 'a ridiculous chase'.

Assistant Chief Constable of Hampshire Police Chris Shead said he was aware the police's approach had created a "significant amount of debate".

"We had medical experts telling us that Ashya was in grave danger. Medical experts were saying to us that if he didn't get the care that he needed, there was a potential threat to his life," he said.

"Faced with those circumstances, I make no apology for the police being as proactive as we possibly can to actually find Ashya and ensure that he gets the help he needed," he added.

Ashya has now been taken to a local children's hospital in Malaga where staff are liaising with doctors at Southampton General Hospital over how to care for the boy. 

The case has demonstrated the desperate lengths some will go to in order to treat the seriously ill.

Ashya's father said the family was hoping to get to the Czech Republic, having been dismayed by attempts to treat his son in the UK.

His parents had been seeking proton beam radiotherapy - currently only available to treat eye conditions on the NHS in the UK.

Countries throughout Europe are, however, already using proton beam for a range of cancers in adults and children.

According to Cancer Research UK, the treatment differs from X-ray methods by aiming proton beams at cancers.

It works by sending charges into cancer cells, with doses of radiation aimed directly at the tumour. At the same time, the treatment spares healthy tissue, particularly tissues and organs behind the tumour.

The treatment is popular because it has a lower risk of side effects, though others are concerned that the long-term impact of the nascent procedure is not yet known.

In a video blog posted on YouTube prior to his arrest in Spain, Mr King said he was prepared to raise the money to pay for his son's treatment in Europe.

"Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer," he said. "It zones in on the area, whereby normal radiation passes right through his head and comes out the other side and destroys everything in his head.

"We pleaded with them (in Southampton) for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever.

"I went straight back to my room and looked it up and the American sites and French sites and Switzerland sites where they have proton beam said the opposite, it would be very beneficial for him.

"Then I spoke to them again, I wrote a letter which he never responded to, saying OK - I will sell my property in order to pay for the proton beam."

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Two dead, dozens injured in Paris explosion

An eight-year-old child and a woman in her 80s were killed and dozens injured in an explosion that reduced half of a four-storey residential block in a Paris suburb to rubble.

Rescue workers are combing the site for an estimated nine people, including two children, who are still unaccounted for, a spokesman for the French capital's firefighter service said.

It was unclear how many people were in the building when the explosion rocked the street in the north-eastern suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois shortly before 7am Irish time.

A gas leak was likely to have been the cause of the blast, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and police said.

Gabriel Plus, a commander of the fire brigade, noted that there were gas works on site, although he would not draw a direct link with the disaster.

The force of the blast shook buildings as far as 100 metres from the site.

Ghislaine Poletto, 55, who lives about 50 metres away, said she "jumped into her trousers" and hurried to the site where together with neighbours "we managed to pull two children out".

One of the children was "protected by a mattress and a board above his head which saved his life," she said.

A nearby school has been requisitioned by local authorities to host families hit by the blast.

Deputy Mayor Serge Deneulin said the building dates to the 1970s and was "in perfect shape."

Television images of the building showed one side ripped off completely, exposing the interiors of the apartments inside. 

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Woman injured in fire at Electric Picnic

A woman has been injured in a fire at Electric Picnic overnight.

It is believed the fire broke out at around 5am in a tent in the Pink Moon campsite in which both a woman and man were staying.

It is understood they lit a number of candles before falling asleep and as a result a sleeping bag caught alight. 

The woman, 31, was transferred to Portlaoise General hospital for treatment before being transferred to St James' Hospital in Dublin.

She is being treated for burn injuries which are not believed to be life threatening.

She has been described as comfortable.

The male occupant of the tent was treated at the campsite for minor injuries. 

Tens of thousands of people are in Stradbally for day two of the three day music and arts festival. 

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Irish soldiers involved in ongoing Golan operation

Irish soldiers in the Golan heights are involved in an ongoing operation to support UN outposts as a firefight has begun between Filipino UN troops and anti Syrian government forces.  

The  40 Filipino troops have been surrounded by the rebel forces, including some Islamist fighters for 48 hours.  

Gunfire began at 6am local time.  

A spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces has confirmed Irish troops are still operating in the area but for operational security reasons details are not been given out.          

The troops are part of UNDOF, a UN force that has monitored the disengagement zone between Israel and Syria since 1974 in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

UN officials are trying to establish the whereabouts of 44 Fijian peacekeepers, also part of UNDOF, seized by alQaeda-linked militants this week along the rocky frontier between Syria and the Golan Heights.

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Boy with brain tumour could be in Spain

A five-year-old British boy with a brain tumour who was taken from hospital by his parents without doctors' consent could now be in Spain, British police has said.

The police said they had "positive information" to suggest that Ashya King and his family could be in Spain where they have "strong links" to the Marbella area.

King's parents, who are Jehovah's Witnesses, drove him away from Southampton hospital in southern England on Thursday and were seen boarding a ferry to Cherbourg in France.

British and French police have been searching for the boy and a French prosecutor said the youngster had effectively been "kidnapped".

Interpol has also launched a missing persons alert following a request from British police, who warned that the batteries on King's feeding system would run out on Friday.

"The need to find Ashya is now desperate. It is really important that we find him and ensure he receives medical attention," said Chris Shead, deputy police chief in Hampshire, the region where the boy was taken from.

"We still don't know whether the King family have any spare batteries for the machine which administers food, the knowledge or any way of recharging the battery," Mr Shead said.

The youngster has undergone extensive surgery and was last operated on seven days ago.

Jehovah's Witnesses are known for refusing blood transfusions on religious grounds, but are otherwise open to other medical procedures.

The group said there was no indication that the boy's parents had been motivated by religious convictions and appealed to them to seek the best medical treatment for him.

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Croke Park Classic attracts 20,000 to Dublin

Up to 20,000 Americans have travelled to Dublin to support their teams in the Croke Park Classic this afternoon. 

Penn State and University of Central Florida are currently meeting for their season opener in Dublin.

It is the first time they have played outside the States. 

The American football event is estimated to generate up to €30m for the Dublin economy. 

Two F16 jets flew across Dublin this lunchtime for the event.

The jets had permission for the fly past and have now returned to Mildon Hall in England. 

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EU prepared to toughen sanctions against Russia

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said the EU is prepared to toughen sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis but also that it wanted a political deal to end the confrontation.

At a news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Mr Barroso said: "We are ready to take very strong and clear measures but we are keeping our doors open to apolitical solution."
              
He described any tightening of sanctions as intended not to escalate the crisis but to push Moscow to negotiate and he stressed that the EU did not want confrontation - "it makes no sense to have ... a new Cold War" - and said that would be "detrimental to all of Europe".
              
Mr Poroshenko, echoing comments by EU officials, said he expected a summit of EU leaders to make a formal request to the EU's executive Commission to draw up new sanctions measures that could be implemented if necessary.

Commission President Barroso noted that his staff already had a broad range of options to propose to member states. 

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait also sharply warned Russia on her arrival at the summit, saying Russia was practically at war with Europe, urging tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Ms Grybauskaite said "Russia is at war against Ukraine and that is against a country which wants to be part of Europe. Russia is practically in war against Europe,"  as she arrived for an EU summit.

She added sanctions so far "were too general, not targeted enough...This was a big mistake."

Finnish Prime minister Alexander Stubb later urged fellow European Union leaders "to be very firm" in their response to reports of Russian troops fighting inside Ukraine.

"We'll probably discuss further sanctions," Stubb said, adding these could target financial services, armaments, dual-use products and energy.

EU summit to appoint senior positions

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is in Brussels today for the EU leaders summit where it is widely expected that the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, will be appointed President of the European Council - replacing Herman Van Rompuy.  

The President is the person who chairs EU leaders summits and is tasked will securing compromise among the 28 Member States.

It is also predicted that Italy's foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, will take over from Catherine Ashton as the EU's foreign policy chief. 

Last month, EU leaders failed to agree on candidates for two top EU jobs.

It is now expected that the current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will take over from Herman Van Rompuy as Council President - reflecting a strong desire by eastern countries to finally hold a senior position in the Union. 

Mr Tusk is a centre-right politician and so it is expected that the Italy's centre-left Foreign Minister will take over from Britain's Cathy Ashton as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. 

The political horse-trading and consequent delay in appointments has been something of an embarrassment for the EU, at a time of major international upheaval in Iraq and Syria, Gaza and Israel as well as Eastern Ukraine. 

European Union Socialists have agreed to back Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as the bloc's new foreign policy chief, Germany has said.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande has announced that EU leaders will hold a summit in Italy in early October aimed at boosting growth and jobs in the bloc.

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Talks in Irish Rail dispute adjourned until Monday

Talks between both sides in the Irish Rail dispute over pay at the Labour Relations Commission have adjourned until 12pm on Monday.

The two unions - the NBRU and SIPTU - and Irish Rail management spent just over three hours setting out their position during exploratory talks at the Commission today. 

Speaking afterwards, both unions said there was still a long way to go before a resolution could be found. 

A spokesman for Irish Rail said they were hopeful of a resolution before the two planned strikes in September for the sake of it's customers. 

Three other unions at Irish Rail have accepted the cuts of between 1.7% and 1.6%.

Commuter, DART and Intercity rail services were suspended last Sunday and Monday in a dispute over temporary pay cuts at Irish Rail. 

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Terror threat to UK raised to 'severe'

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said Islamic State poses a "greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before".

Mr Cameron was speaking in Downing Street as the terror threat to the UK was raised from "substantial"' to "severe".

This means that a terrorist attack is "highly likely", although British Home Secretary Theresa May stressed that there is no information to suggest an attack is imminent.

Mr Cameron announced new laws to crack down on terror suspects.

He said legislation would be introduced so it was easier to seize jihadists' passports.

Mr Cameron said he would detail his plans in parliament on Monday to confiscate passports.

He said it will include further steps to stop people travelling, with new legislation that will make it easier to take people's passports away.

Mr Cameron said the intelligence and security services believed that at least 500 Britons had gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq.

Although he stressed that the British government had already taken steps to counter the threat of jihadists returning to commit atrocities, he said it had become clear that there was still a need to fill "gaps in our armoury".

Mr Cameron said the Taliban had harboured and facilitated al Qaida terrorism, but IS was effectively a state run by terrorists.

"We could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member," he added.

The gruesome murder of US journalist James Foley was "clear evidence - not that any more was needed - that this is not some far off (problem), thousands of miles away, that we can ignore".

The announcement comes against a backdrop of increasing concern about hundreds of aspiring British jihadis travelling to Iraq and Syria to learn terrorist "tradecraft", and the murder of US journalist James Foley by an apparently British killer.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the UK's most senior police officer, said Scotland Yard is prepared for an influx in case a swathe of homegrown extremists decide to return at the same time.

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Man ordered to vacate mother's home

A 46-year-old man has been ordered to leave his mother's home after she took legal action claiming she was "under siege" from him and his wife.

Elizabeth Stanley took legal proceedings against her son Patrick Fitzpatrick after he moved into the house last weekend and changed the locks.

Mrs Stanley's barrister Peter Bland told the High Court Mr Fitzpatrick broke into the property last Saturday with his wife and two children, aged four and three months, while she and her husband were away.

Mr Fitzpatrick is a son from Mrs Stanley's first marriage. Her first husband died intestate in 1970.

Mr Fitzpatrick is claiming to be a co-owner of the property.

Mr Bland said Mrs Stanley and her second husband, who are both in their 70s, left the house at Rahandrick, Ballacolla, Portlaoise yesterday over concerns about how her son would react when he heard about her legal action.

Mr Bland said the situation had become intolerable and there was a very unhappy history.

Representing himself, Mr Fitzpatrick said he is no threat to anyone and has been going in and out of the house his whole life.

He said he moved in at the weekend to assert his rights after being locked out of the house for the past two-and-a-half years.

After being questioned by the judge about his circumstances, Mr Fitzpatrick admitted he has a home in Swords and his daughter is expected in pre-school in Beaumont in Dublin on Monday.

Mr Justice Colm Mac Eochaidh said Mr Fitzpatrick moved into the house in an aggressive and high-handed manner.

He said he was an uninvited family member and it was clear that not only did he have a family home in Swords but it was available for him to stay in tonight.

The judge granted an interim interlocutory injunction.

He ordered Mr Fitzpatrick to leave his mother's home by 7pm today and to leave the keys behind him.

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Russia's Ukraine action 'military intervention'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman has said Russia's actions inside Ukraine "add up to a military intervention." 

It comes ahead of an EU summit that will consider fresh sanctions against Russia.

"Russia is strongly urged to refrain from all actions that mean a further escalation," said the spokesman, Steffen Seibert.

He pointed to a growing number of sightings of Russian fighters and arms inside Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has insisted that Kiev must enter substantial talks with pro-Russian rebels amid a dramatic escalation of the fighting in Ukraine.

"It is necessary to make the Ukrainian authorities start substantial talks," he told youths at a pro-Kremlin summer camp in central Russia.

It comes as the United Nations said the conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed nearly 2,600 people since mid-April.

The figure is included In its latest report, explaining the sharp increase by fighting in densely populated areas between Kiev's army and pro-Russian rebels.

The report noted that human rights violations like abductions and torture are "committed primarily by the armed groups" fighting the Ukrainian army.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama accused Russia of being responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Obama said the separatists there were trained, armed and funded by Russia.

In a press conference at the White House, he said the fighting in Ukraine was not the result of a home grown indigenous uprising, but had deep Russian involvement. 

Mr Obama added new images of Russian forces inside Ukraine made Russia's role plain for all to see.

However, he said the United States and NATO would not be taking any military action against the separatists in Ukraine.

Earlier, NATO said about 1,000 Russian soldiers are now fighting alongside the separatists in eastern Ukraine, in what it called a significant escalation of Moscow's military involvement. 

Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to the United Nations has accused Russia of lying about its role in eastern Ukraine.

Samantha Power was speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.  

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin did not respond to allegations that Russian soldiers were operating in Ukraine, but he urged the US not to intervene.

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Inquest told of difficulty accessing records

Stephen Desmond, the son of a woman who died from uterine cancer after being misdiagnosed with irritable bowel disease, has told the inquest into her death that he has had problems getting all of his mother's medical records from the Mater Hospital.

The inquest into the death of Maureen Desmond resumed at Dublin City Coroner's Court today.

The 74-year-old was diagnosed in 2009 with irritable bowel disease but a year later was found to have late-stage uterine cancer.
 
Ms Desmond had been first referred by her GP to the Mater Hospital in Dublin in November 2007 and she died in September 2011.

The inquest has previously heard that Ms Desmond had a hysteroscopy in 2008 and a CT scan in 2009 at the Mater and that these were deemed normal by the hospital.
 
In 2010, another hysteroscopy and scan revealed that she had stage three cancer that had spread.
 
In 2011, Ms Desmond had a partial response to chemotherapy.
 
After her first referral to the Mater in November 2007, it was nine months before an outpatient appointment for a hysteroscopy and a tissue sample was made.

Dr Arthur Grey, an expert independent witness for the coroner, re-examined radiology scans in the case.

Dr Grey, a consultant radiologist at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, said that in 2009, there was evidence of a small amount of metastatic disease in Ms Desmond's case.

In 2010, the CT scan showed there was extensive metastatic disease in certain areas.

John Gleeson, Senior Counsel for the Mater Hospital, said there were limitations to Dr Grey's report.

He also told the inquest it was also based on hindsight.

Under questioning by counsel for the hospital, Dr Grey said it was easier for him as a reviewer of the radiology who knows the final outcome of cancer.

The inquest has now adjourned until 26 September when it will hear from one of the main doctors who treated Ms Desmond.

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Iarnród Éireann and NBRU accept LRC invitation

Iarnród Éireann and the National Bus and Railworkers' Union have accepted an invitation from the Labour Relations Commission to attend exploratory talks on resolving an industrial dispute.

In a statement, Iarnród Éireann confirmed that management would attend the talks tomorrow.

The NBRU also issued a statement confirming representatives would attend.

NBRU General Secretary Dermot O'Leary said: "We understand that this invitation is designed to establish if there is a basis for further discussions around a more comprehensive agenda rather than one which has a disproportionate focus on our members' wages, we will engage with the commission on this basis."

Earlier this week, rail travel for thousands of passengers, including GAA fans and tens of thousands of commuters, was disrupted by strike action by members of the NBRU and SIPTU.

Commuter, DART and Intercity rail services were suspended on Sunday and Monday in a dispute over temporary pay cuts at Iarnród Éireann, which were imposed on Sunday. 

Three other unions at the company have accepted the cuts of between 1.7% and 1.6%. 

Speaking following today's LRC intervention, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe TD, said: "I welcome the fact that the LRC has intervened at this time and that the invitations to talks have been accepted by the parties to the Irish Rail dispute."

"As I have maintained, the LRC is the appropriate forum in which discussions can, and should, take place, and am hopeful of positive outcome."

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UK, French police search for boy with brain tumour

UK police said they are working with their French counterparts to find a five-year-old boy with a brain tumour who was taken away from hospital by his parents.

Ashya King's parents took him from a hospital in Southampton, southern England, yesterday without doctors' consent and along with his six siblings boarded a ferry to the French port of Cherbourg the same day, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the boy's life was at "substantial risk" as he needed constant medical care following recent surgery, adding that he was likely in a wheelchair or buggy as he cannot move.

"We are working with our counterparts in France to activate their emergency child rescue alert procedures," he said.

Police said Ashya was taken from Southampton General Hospital at around 2pm yesterday by his family.

Ashya is likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy, he cannot communicate verbally and is immobile, a police spokesman said.

The family are travelling in a grey-coloured Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK, and they are still believed to be in France.

Police said they arrived in France at 8pm local time yesterday.

It was unclear what motivated the parents to take their son away.

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No Irish among UN troops seized in Golan Heights

The United Nations has confirmed that an armed group captured 43 UN peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on today, but a Defence Forces spokesperson has confirmed all Irish personnel are safe and accounted for.

The UN said 81 further peacekeepers were "currently being restricted to their positions in the vicinity of Ar Ruwayhinah and Burayqah".

Israel closed off the area around Quneitra yesterday after an officer was wounded by stray fire as Syrian rebels, including fighters from the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra front, stormed the crossing.

No details were released on the nationalities of the detained peacekeepers but six countries are contributing to the 1,200-strong unit: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.

"Forty-three peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) were detained early this morning by an armed group in the vicinity of Quneitra," the UN said in a statement.

UN officials noted that the peacekeepers monitoring the armistice line between Israel and Syria were detained twice last year and released safely.

"The United Nations is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers and to restore the full freedom of movement of the force throughout its area of operation," it added.

In June 2013, there was a similar takeover of the crossing by rebel forces, but the Syrian army managed to regain control.

On the Israeli-occupied side of the Golan, an AFP correspondent saw six white UN vehicles crossing the ceasefire line into Syrian territory through a gate in the fence 25km south of the Quneitra crossing.

Quneitra is the only crossing between the Syrian and the Israeli-controlled sides of the strategic plateau.

The Philippines, which has 331 troops serving in UNDOF, announced on Saturday that it will pull out of the peace force, citing security concerns.

Filippino defense officials said no fresh troops would be sent to serve in UNDOF once the current soldiers return from duty in October.

Last year the Philippines also considered pulling its Golan peacekeepers out after 25 of them were kidnapped but later freed by Syrian rebels in two separate incidents.

A Filipino soldier was also wounded by a wayward shell last year.

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the plateau has been tense, with a growing number of rockets and mortar rounds hitting the Israeli side, mostly stray, prompting occasional armed responses.

During fighting yesterday, several mortars landed in or near UN positions, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Israel, which has yet to sign a peace deal with Syria, seized 1,200 square kilometers of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Meanwhile, Islamic State fighters have executed more than 160 Syrian soldiers captured during the IS storming of a key northern air base this week, a monitoring group has said.

The jihadists boasted on Twitter that they had killed 200 defeated troops and posted video of what they said was the garrison in headlong flight.

"IS executed more than 160 Syrian soldiers in three different places in Raqa province yesterday and at dawn today," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The soldiers were fleeing the jihadists' seizure of the Tabqa base on Sunday, which cemented IS control over Raqa province, capital of its self-declared Islamic "caliphate".

Abdel Rahman said the defeated garrison comprised 1,400 soldiers, 200 of whom were killed and 700 of whom managed to escape.

Of the other 500, dozens were captured last night as they attempted to cross the desert to government-held territory in the Orontes Valley to the west.

IS posted video footage showing young men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road. Militants shouted "Islamic State" and "There's no going back".

In Syria, the group controls all of Raqa province and much of Deir Ezzor further down the Euphrates Valley towards the Iraqi border.

It also controls most of the Sunni Arab heartland of neighbouring Iraq, north and west of Baghdad, including second city Mosul.

It has repeatedly posted often gruesome videos, both as a warning to those joining up to the Syrian army and as a propaganda tool to recruit volunteers from the wider Islamic world.

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UNSC to hold emergency talks over Ukraine crisis

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting this afternoon on the Ukraine crisis following reports that Russia has sent hundreds of troops to shore up separatists in east Ukraine.

The session, requested by Lithuania, will be held at 5pm Irish time at UN headquarters in New York, diplomats said.

It comes as a NATO military officer said that well over 1,000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine, in support of pro-Moscow separatists.

"They support separatists, fighting with them and fighting amongst them," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the supply of arms by Russia had increased in both "volume and quality".

Ukraine accused Russia today of bringing troops into the southeast of the country to support the rebels. 

Russia said no forces were crossing Ukraine's border. 

This morning, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said a Russian military invasion had taken place in Ukraine.

Mr Poroshenko called an urgent meeting of the country's security and defence council to decide the next steps in the crisis. He also cancelled a working trip to Turkey.

A member of President Vladimir Putin's advisory council on human rights, Ella Polyakova, also said she believes Russia is carrying out an invasion of Ukraine.

"When masses of people, under commanders' orders, on tanks, APCs and with the use of heavy weapons, (are) on the territory of another country, cross the border, I consider this an invasion," Ms Polyakova told Reuters. 

Meanwhile, Moscow's envoy to the OSCE denied that any Russian troops were in eastern Ukraine.

"There are no Russian soldiers" in eastern Ukraine, Andrey Kelin told journalists, following an emergency meeting of the European security body to discuss developments in Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine said "Russian troops" had seized control of a key south eastern border town where fierce clashes had been raging.

"Yesterday Russian soldiers took control of the town of Novoazovsk," Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council wrote on Twitter, adding that a number of surrounding villages had also been seized.  

Pro-Moscow rebel forces in Ukraine have gained a foothold on the Azov Sea and their objective is to fight their way down the coast to the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the leader of the main separatist entity has said.

Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said in an interview with Reuters that there were about 3,000 Russian volunteers serving in the rebel ranks.

He said that the rebels could defeat the Ukrainian military without the need for the Russian state to provide them with military support.

Ukraine has withdrawn its forces from Novoazovsk to save their lives and are now reinforcing defences of Mariupol, Ukraine's Security and Defence Council has said.

Ukraine's ambassador to the EU has called for "large-scale" military assistance from Brussels as Kiev and Washington claim Russian troops are fighting in the east of the country.

Kostiantyn Yelisieiev called for EU leaders who are meeting on Saturday to decide on "further resolute significant sanctions and large-scale military and technical assistance to Ukraine in order to stop the aggressor".

Earlier, the US ambassador in Kiev said Russia is now "directly involved" in fighting in the war-torn east of Ukraine.

"An increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in fighting in Ukrainian territory," Geoffrey Pyatt wrote on Twitter.

He added that Moscow was "directly involved in the fighting" and had sent in its "newest air defence systems including the SA-22".

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Study: Poorer people pay proportionately more tax

New research on the total amount of tax Irish people pay finds that, on average, 24% of gross income is taken by tax - both direct and indirect.

However, it finds that because of indirect taxes such as VAT, the poorest 10% pay a bigger share of their income to the tax authorities than the richest 10%.

In Ireland's income tax system, the more money you earn, the more tax you pay - on average 23% for the top 10%, 0.3% for the bottom tenth.

However, there are also indirect taxes such as VAT or excise that we pay when we buy things.  

Combining direct and indirect taxes produces a different picture.

Research by Dr Micheál Collins of the Nevin Economic Research Institute finds the poorest 10% pay just over 30% of their income in taxes.

This is mostly in the form of indirect taxes levied on the things they spend money on. 

Meanwhile, the top 10% spend 29.5% of their income on tax - mostly in the form of direct income tax.

The combined tax burden produces a u-shaped graph, with the bottom and top of the income distribution paying most, and those on lower middle incomes paying least.

Dr Collins, a former member of the Commission on Taxation, says the Government needs to think more broadly when considering changes to taxation.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland Mr Collins said if we were thinking in terms of objectives of giving money back to people, or collecting more money from people, we need to examine that and think about that in a more coherent way.

Mr Collins said if, for example, the Government wanted to assist more people, the indirect tax route would be a better tax route to go, and more people would gain from reductions.

Commenting on the possibility of a cut in the 23% VAT rate, Mr Collins said there would be merit in doing that.

However, he said he was not making proposals, and his research was establishing the facts.

Mr Collins said the real point was that we needed to think more broadly about this, and understand the tax system as a system, not an income tax system.

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Children begin first day at primary school

More than 70,000 four and five year olds are beginning their formal education at school today and over the coming week.

The country's school going population continues to grow with an estimated 8,000 additional pupils expected to attend primary schools this year.

Latest figures show the sector has grown by 27% overall over the past decade.

RTÉ news visited Divine Word Primary School in Dublin's Rathfarnham today, where 60 children started school.

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GSOC probing fatal incident involving garda car

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is investigating a fatal traffic incident in Dublin this morning involving a garda vehicle.

A 75-year-old woman injured in the incident in Clondalkin has died in hospital.

The woman, who was a pedestrian, was injured in the incident at about 11.30am.

She was taken to Tallaght Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

GSOC was informed of the incident and has sent a team of investigators to the scene.

Anyone with information that may be of assistance to the investigation is asked to contact GSOC at 1890 600 800.

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Unpaid wages to be in accounts by end of day - BOI

Bank of Ireland has confirmed that all wages will be in customers' accounts by the end of today.

It comes as thousands of customers reported they had not received payments this morning.

Customers with AIB, Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB bank accounts were affected.

In a statement, Bank of Ireland confirmed that all banks have now received any delayed payment originating from Bank of Ireland.  

It said many of these payments have already been processed and all credits will be in accounts by the end of today.  

The bank apologised to those who experienced a delay today.

Last month, tens of thousands of public sector workers and pensioners were not paid their wages on 31 July, after problems emerged with the transferring of payments from Bank of Ireland.

The bank confirmed that a small number of workers were not paid wages in another incident earlier last month.

It said that incident was due to "a separate and different issue on 3rd July that affected a small number of payment originators".

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Fears over future of another language school

Fears are growing over the future of another English language college in Dublin after it told students that it was closing immediately for an unscheduled holiday.

The college, on Merrion Square, is called English in Dublin.

It is understood to have at least 350 foreign students enrolled.

Yesterday it informed students via Facebook that it was taking what it called a "special holiday", in preparation for a move to a new more modern building.

The holiday was to begin immediately.

The message said the college looked forward to welcoming students back on 22 September.

The college was informed two weeks ago that it had failed an inspection carried out by a State accreditation agency.

This failure was likely to lead to the removal of its ACELS approval.

ACELS is a stringent language school rating system that is operated by a Department of Education agency.

Student representatives have said they fear that the college is, in fact, closing down.

Last month another college, BCT on Dublin's Parnell Square, announced a sudden unscheduled holiday in a similar way.

BCT has now closed permanently.

This morning English in Dublin's phone was ringing out.

A recording informed callers that it was not possible to leave a message because the mailbox was full.

State accreditation body Quality and Qualifications Ireland told RTÉ News the owner of English in Dublin told it yesterday evening that the college was definitely not closing down.

The owner made the comment in response to queries from QQI, it said.

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New consultant pay proposals 'very good'

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said that the new consultant pay proposals are "very good by anyone's reckoning".

He said the proposals had been accepted by the Health Service Executive and would allow consultants to earn €175,000 at the top of their salary scale, which was comparable to salaries in other English-speaking countries. 

Mr Varadkar said there were a large number of vacant consultant posts across the health service and this is impacting on waiting times and patient care.

He said he hoped that the Irish Medical Organisation will recognise this and back the proposals.

Talks between the IMO and the HSE on the pay scales of new hospital consultants at the Labour Relations Commission ended without agreement last night.

The talks had been under way for several weeks.   

The current talks process follows a 30% cut in the pay scales of new hospital consultants two years ago. 

The new pay scales prompted concern that highly qualified consultants are leaving Ireland to get work elsewhere. 

Under proposals from the LRC, the lowest paid consultants would now get a starting salary of €105,000, and the highest paid would start at €127,000, going up to €175,000 after about 12 years.

HSE's National Director of Human Resources Barry O'Brien said it would now proceed with the recruitment of new consultants.

In a statement, the HSE said the posts will be based on the new pay scale proposed by the LRC which comes into effect from 1 September. 

It says the LRC proposals give full regard to the relevant experience of doctors returning from abroad or currently in the Irish health system.

"Health Service Management will be engaging further with the IMO and other relevant parties on the implementation of these arrangements," it added.

The LRC proposals say that the HSE will 'consult' with the IMO in identifying the appropriate qualifications and relevant experience which may be applied in determining incremental credit when making new consultant appointments.

However, the IMO has reacted by saying the HSE is "not serious" about tackling the recruitment crisis for consultants.  

Director of Industrial Relations at the IMO Steve Tweed has stressed that Irish-trained doctors are queuing up to leave the country but the HSE is acting as if the queues are coming the other way.

He said they want an agreement on where consultants should be placed on the pay scale if they acquired experience overseas or in the role of an acting consultant.  

"The Irish health service is dangerously understaffed at specialist level," he added.  

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Couple agree to remove belongings after eviction

An elderly couple have agreed to remove their possessions from the home they rented for fifteen years following a long running dispute with the bank appointed receiver who wants to sell the house.

Violet, 61 and Martin Coyne, 73, said representatives from the Sheriff's Office had called to the house in Carpenterstown in Dublin 15 at 7.30am this morning and changed the locks.

Mrs Coyne arrived in court in a dressing gown, saying they were not able to regain access to the house this morning to collect their belongings. Mr Coyne was without his shoes.

ACC Bank sought to repossess the house after the owner went into receivership.

The case was before the courts in July when the couple failed to comply with an earlier order to leave.

Counsel for the couple Suzanne Boylan queried whether the sheriff had the legal powers to enforce the order this morning.

However, counsel for the receiver Steven Byrne said the Sheriff's Office was independent of the courts.

The case was adjourned until October, although the court was told that agreement had been reached for a representative of the Coyne's to collect their belongings this evening at 7pm.

Outside the court the couple said they had nowhere to go.  

Mr Coyne said they had tried very hard to get alternative accommodation but rents had doubled in recent times.

The couple are also in receipt of rent allowance which many landlords will not accept. 

Mrs Coyne said her grandchildren came to the house every day and they now had nowhere to go with them.

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UN aid convoy enters Gaza from Egypt

A United Nations humanitarian aid convoy crossed into Gaza from Egypt today for the first time since a blockade was introduced on the territory in 2007.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said the convoy, which entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing, carried enough food to last 150,000 people for five days.

The delivery follows 50 days of the deadliest violence in a decade between Hamas and Israel.

The fighting appears to have ended after a new long-term ceasefire was reached yesterday.

"It is extremely important that we have access to the Gaza Strip to ensure a constant flow of humanitarian supplies to meet the growing needs of the people affected by the recent violence," said Mohamed Diab, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and East Europe.

The convoy was carrying 15,650 food parcels, including ready-to-eat canned meat, canned beans, tea and dates, according to a statement from the UN agency in Geneva.

Another 10,000 parcels are to be delivered in the next few days.

Since the violence began in July, WFP has provided daily food rations to around 350,000 people in Gaza.

The organisation said it needs around €50m to continue its mission for the next three months.

Under the ceasefire deal reached yesterday, Israel will ease restrictions on the entry of goods, humanitarian aid and construction materials into Gaza.

Ending the blockade had been a key Palestinian demand in truce talks, with Hamas hailing the agreement as a "victory for the resistance".

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Prisoner charged with wife's murder found dead

Three separate investigations are under way into the circumstances surrounding the death of a prisoner in Cloverhill Prison in Dublin last night.

Marius Sarzynski was found slumped in his cell by prison staff at around 10.30pm. He had been charged with murdering his wife in September 2013.

Medical staff were alerted and an ambulance was called. He was removed to Tallaght Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It is believed gardaí were at the scene shortly after the incident and were back at the prison earlier today to carry out an investigation into the circumstances of the death.

Foul play is not suspected but Mr Sarzynski's death is not believed to be due to natural causes.

A spokesperson for the Prison Service confirmed an investigation had commenced following the death of the prisoner.

As well as the garda inquiry, the Inspector of Prisons and the Prison Service will both carry out separate investigations.

The Inspector of Prisons will then give its report on the death to the Minister for Justice.

It is believed Mr Sarzynski had just been returned to prison after receiving hospital treatment, after jumping out the window of a courthouse.

He had been charged with the murder of his wife Aleksandra Sarzynski, who died in an apartment in Bective House in Beaufort Place, Navan, Co Meath in August 2013.

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Nine-year-old girl shoots gun instructor in US

Police in the United States are investigating after a nine-year-old girl accidentally shot her gun instructor in Arizona.

The accident happened at a shooting range while the instructor was teaching the girl how to shoot an Uzi machine gun, according to a police report.

Charles Vacca, 39, was standing next to the girl when he instructed her to shoot a single round.

Then he switched the gun to the fully automatic mode, and the recoil caused the gun to swing around and shoot him in the head.

Mr Vacca was taken to a hospital but died a short time later.

A manager at the firing range told NBC News that firearms training there can begin as young as eight years old.

Firearms instruction at other shooting ranges in the US, which has the world's highest per capita number of guns, can start as early as seven years old.

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Ukraine says border control key to ending conflict

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the only effective instrument for ending bloodshed in eastern Ukraine was effective border controls with Russia, halting arms supplies to the rebels and releasing prisoners of war.

He was speaking in Minsk at international talks that include Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Poroshenko said all actors in the region wanted to emerge with dignity from the Ukrainian crisis and that he would listen to all options in a bid to bring peace.

Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin exchanged a firm handshake before going into what are likely to be difficult talks, as fighting continues between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government troops.

Top European Union officials will also be attending along with the leaders of Belarus and Kazakhstan - both Russian allies - at the talks in the Belarusian capital.

The meeting is the first between Mr Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart in nearly three months.

It comes a day after Mr Poroshenko dissolved the Ukrainian parliament and called snap elections for 26 October.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said her mission at the talks was to ensure the former Soviet republic can safeguard its territorial integrity.

Ms Ashton told the start of the high-level meeting she wanted to "try and support the people of Ukraine to find peace and security, to ensure that they are able to enjoy territoria lintegrity, a future that is economically viable... and growing and good relations with the neighbours."

Ukraine yesterday accused Russian troops of launching an incursion across the border and said its troops had captured ten Russian paratroopers from the 98th airborne division southeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

Adding to the tension, the Kremlin said yesterday that it planned to send a second aid convoy into east Ukraine "this week". 

Mr Poroshenko said dissolving parliament was necessary, as many deputies were allies of the militant separatists.

Russian military sources quoted by state agencies said that Russian troops captured by Kiev and shown on Ukrainian television had crossed the border accidentally.

"The soldiers were really taking part in patrolling a section of the Russian-Ukrainian border, they crossed it most likely by accident, on an unequipped, unmarked section," a defence ministry source was quoted as saying by three Russian news agencies.

The Ukrainian military has disputed this saying they were on a special mission.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Military has destroyed 12 armoured infantry carriers in the Novoazovsk area using artillery and aircraft, a military spokesperson has said. 

Andriy Lysenko also said Russian Mi-24 helicopters had attacked a border post in Luhansk region the previous day, killing four border guards.

"Yesterday, during the day, at the border post of Krasnatalovka, Russian Mi-24 helicopters attacked Ukrainian border guards. As a result of the attack, four guards were killed, three were injured," Mr Lysenko told Reuters.  

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Report says 1,400 children abused in UK town

Around 1,400 children were sexually exploited in one UK town over a 16-year period, according to a report.

The report on events in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2013, found that in more than a third of these cases the youngsters were already known to agencies.

It said there had been "blatant" collective failures by the council's leadership.

Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the report, said she found examples of "children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone".

Prof Jay said: "They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten and intimidated."

She said she found that girls as young as 11 had been raped by large numbers of men.

The report said failures of the political and officer leadership of Rotherham Council over the first 12 years she looked at were "blatant" as the seriousness of the problem was underplayed by senior managers and was not seen as a priority by South Yorkshire Police.

Prof Jay said police "regarded many child victims with contempt".

These failures happened despite three reports between 2002 and 2006 "which could not have been clearer in the description of the situation in Rotherham".

She said the first of these reports was "effectively suppressed" because senior officers did not believe the data.

The other two were ignored, the professor said.

The report said: "By far the majority of perpetrators were described as 'Asian' by victims."

But, she said, councillors seemed to think it was a one-off problem which they hoped would go away and "several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist".

She said: "Others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so."

The spotlight first fell on Rotherham in 2010 when five men, described by a judge as "sexual predators", were given lengthy jail terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.

The prosecution was the first of a series of high-profile cases in the last four years that have revealed the exploitation of young girls in towns and cities including Rochdale, Derby and Oxford.

Following the 2010 case, The Times newspaper claimed that details from 200 restricted-access documents showed how police and child protection agencies in the South Yorkshire town had extensive knowledge of these activities for a decade, yet a string of offences went unprosecuted.

The allegations led to a range of official investigations, including one by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The report concluded: "No one knows the true scale of the child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham over the years.

"Our conservative estimate is that approximately 1,400 children were sexually exploited over the full inquiry period, from 1997 to 2013."

In response, Rotherham Council, which commissioned the report, said it accepted its findings, including the statement that failures "almost without exception" were attributed to senior managers in child protection services, elected councillors and senior police officers.

It accepted that failures were not down to "frontline social or youth workers who are acknowledged in the report as repeatedly raising serious concerns about the nature and extent of this kind of child abuse".

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Figures show preschools not adequately monitored

A shortage of inspectors in the Dublin area in particular is reportedly leaving pre-schools without adequate monitoring.

That is according to figures obtained by Independent TD Róisín Shortall, who said the Government should be prioritising childcare to ensure children have the best start in life.

The figures show major regional variations in the level of inspections of early childcare facilities.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Deputy Shortall said her information showed that in the West of the country there was a ratio of one inspector to almost 7,000 children.

Meanwhile, the ratio in the East Coast and the North-East was one inspector to 21,000 children in the 0-5 age group.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has said a new national approach and registration process would ensure all services would be inspected every three years.

However, Ms Shortall described this target as "very unambitious".

"I think it's very unambitious to be aiming for an inspection regime where childcare facilities are inspected only once every three years," she said.

"If we are serious about giving children the best start in life that does mean putting in place the kind of investment that will ensure that the services they receive are good quality services and they will help the children to thrive," she added. 

Deputy Shortall also said the childcare system was underfunded, and many facilities in lower socio-economic areas were closing because the model the Government was using was not sustainable.

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International rugby player arrested in Dublin

An international rugby player has been arrested in Dublin.

The man, who's in his 30s, plays for a southern hemisphere country.

He's wanted here in connection with an alleged assault in the city a number of years ago and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him.

Gardaí arrested him this morning after he arrived in Dublin Airport by appointment.

He's being detained at a Dublin garda station pending his appearance before a criminal court this afternoon.

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Court approves transfer of baby to UK

The High Court has cleared the way for a seven-month-old baby, born to a woman with several psychological disorders, to be taken to the UK to ultimately be cared for by her father.

The baby girl was born in Ireland in January after her mother travelled here using false identification to avoid UK social services.

A barrister for the Health Service Executive told the High Court today that a concerned neighbour alerted Irish social services that a woman had given birth to a baby at home and had not received any medical treatment.

It transpired that the baby girl's mother had been reported missing in the UK and there were concerns for her.

She had been diagnosed with a number of psychological disorders.

The court heard that the woman had given birth to two other children in the UK.

One of the children is with the father while the second child died while in the mother's care aged four months in 2008.

In February, the HSE obtained an emergency care order and the four-week-old baby born in Ireland was placed in foster care.

Earlier this summer the High Court ruled that the baby's case can be transferred to a court in the UK.

Today Ms Justice Isuelt O'Malley was told the father was consenting to his daughter being placed in foster care in the UK for a number of weeks before being put in his care.

Ms Justice O'Malley consented to the baby being taken to the UK.

The mother will be allowed access to her baby until she leaves but does not intend travelling to the UK. 

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Israel and Hamas reportedly agree permanent truce

Palestinian officials have said a Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel has been reached under Egyptian mediation and that a formal announcement of an agreement was imminent.

There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, where a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.

"An agreement has been reached between the two sides and we are awaiting the announcement from Cairo to determine the zero hour for implementation," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in Gaza.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, one of the Gaza militant groups that has been firing rockets into Israel, said the announcement could be made within two hours.

Cairo's initiative, Palestinians officials said, called for an indefinite halt to seven weeks of hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and a widening of the enclave's fishing zone in the Mediterranean.

Under a second stage that would begin a month later, Israel and the Palestinians would discuss the construction of a Gaza sea port and an Israeli release of Hamas prisoners in the occupied West Bank, the officials said.

Both Israel and Egypt view Hamas as a security threat and are demanding guarantees that weapons will not enter the economically crippled territory.

Earlier today Israeli air strikes killed two Palestinians and destroyed much of one of Gaza's tallest apartment and office buildings, setting off huge explosions and wounding 20 people, Palestinian health officials said.

Israel had no immediate comment on the attacks that took place as Egyptian mediators stepped up efforts to achieve an elusive ceasefire to end seven weeks of fighting.

A rocket launched from Gaza hit a house in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon and lightly wounded four Israelis, local media reported.

Palestinian health officials say 2,125 people, most of them civilians, including more than 490 children, have been killed in Gaza since 8 July, when Israel launched an offensive with the declared aim of ending rocket fire into its territory.

Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and four civilians in Israel have been killed.

The attacks followed a day of heavy rocket fire at Israel, whose military said more than 130 rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza on Monday, one of them injuring a civilian.

Hamas claimed responsibility for firing rockets at Tel Aviv, at least one of which was shot down by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor.

Warning sirens were also heard in Israeli communities bordering Ben-Gurion International Airport. 

Israeli air strikes killed at least nine Palestinians in Gaza.

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Drowning linked to ice bucket challenge

Monday 25 August 2014 16.32

In Scotland, the death of a teenager who drowned in a quarry is being linked to the "ice bucket challenge" craze.

Cameron Lancaster, 18, died after disappearing under the water at Preston Hill Quarry in Inverkeithing, Fife, yesterday.

Emergency services were called to the scene and his body was recovered at about 9pm.

His family paid tribute to him and described his death as a "great loss".

Police in Scotland are investigating the circumstances of the death.

It is thought that the teenager took part in the ice bucket challenge before entering the water in the quarry.

The family of Mr Lancaster, from Burntisland, Fife, remembered his "friendliness, kindness and thoughtful generosity of spirit".

A police spokesman said: "Inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances of what happened."

The ice bucket challenge is a social media craze aimed at raising awareness and money for the neuro degenerative disease ALS, or motor neurone disease.

Participants have a bucket of cold water poured over their head, donate to charity and nominate others to take the challenge.

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Travel disruption with rail strike in second day

Monday 25 August 2014 16.10

Tens of thousands of rail passengers are having to make alternative travel arrangements as a strike at Iarnród Éireann continues for a second day.

The company has implemented pay cuts of between 1.7% and 6%, following prolonged negotiations. 

The cost-cutting proposals were accepted by three unions at Iarnród Éireann, but rejected by the National Bus and Rail Union and SIPTU.

Unions and management have been involved in talks on cost-cutting proposals for more than 18 months.

As the strike continues for a second day, and with further disruption to services scheduled next month - there is no talk of further negotiations, and no sign of Government intervention.

Iarnród Éireann imposed unilateral pay cuts yesterday, having accumulated losses of almost €150m over the past six years.

The NBRU has said its members are being asked to replace funding that the Government reduced.

The NBRU began its 48-hour strike action yesterday.

SIPTU began its 24-hour action today.

Head of Communications at Iarnród Éireann Barry Kenny said the company is engaged in all levels in addressing its financial situation.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Kenny said there was an ongoing review with the National Transport Authority in terms of the funding available for Iarnród Eireann's services.

However, Mr Kenny said 60% of the company's costs came from the pay bill.

He said there was no way of bridging the gap without getting some savings from pay.

Mr Kenny said the company felt that what it had proposed was modest.

Support for all-out strike - NBRU

The General Secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union has said his union has a mandate for an all-out strike over cost-cutting measures at Iarnród Éireann.

Speaking on the same programme, Dermot O'Leary said NBRU members will review their actions on 23 September.

He said the possibility of an all-out stoppage should not be ignored given that the union has a mandate of over 80% in favour of this action.

"We'll have a review of our actions if it goes to that stage on the 23rd of September. It is not for me to decide what out next course of action will be but just to remind people that this trade union has a mandate of 80% for an all-out strike so people should not ignore that either."

Mr O'Leary urged Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe to use his offices to address funding issues at Iarnród Éireann.

He said there is a lack of trust among NBRU members in Iarnród Éireann, given he said, that despite a suite of cost-cutting measures being proposed to his members in 2012, ten months later the company proposed further cuts.

Mr O'Leary said his members also do not have confidence in Government support due to the reduction in  subvention levels. 

He said the only solution to this dispute was for the Government, Iarnród Éireann and workers to engage in discussions.

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Funeral of teen shot by police in US to take place

Monday 25 August 2014 16.07

The funeral of a black teenager who was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, earlier this month takes place today.

Michael Brown's father appealed for calm at a rally yesterday following weeks of unrest.

The sometimes violent protests have focused attention on racial issues in the United States.

Local police have been criticised for mass arrests and the use of heavy-handed tactics and military gear.

"All I want tomorrow is peace while we lay our son to rest," Michael Brown Sr. said at a rally against police violence with civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton.

"Please, that's all I ask," he told the crowd of hundreds, including the parents of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager shot dead by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in 2012.

Mr Sharpton, who will also attend the funeral, said: "We don't want anything tomorrow that will defile Michael Brown's name."

Authorities remained braced for a possible flare-up around the funeral, although clashes between protesters and police had significantly decreased by midweek.

The National Guard also began a gradual withdrawal from the St. Louis suburb on Friday.

The White House said it was sending three presidential aides to the service at a St. Louis Baptist church and a large turnout was expected both inside and outside.

Hours before the 10am (4pm Irish time) funeral, rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson told Reuters news agency: "I think people will be under control.

"I think people will leave ... feeling inspired."

"Ferguson is a part of a bigger national urban cancer. This crisis is a metaphor for the urban American crisis," he said.

Yesterday evening, only a handful of people gathered at the site of the recent protests, greatly outnumbered by a visible but unobtrusive police presence.

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Democratic Representative Lacy Clay of Missouri, who is slated to speak at the funeral, said he had promised Mr Brown's parents he would push for a transparent investigation into his death.

"I'm more concerned that if we do not get to the truth and get to what actually happened and bring justice to this situation, then there's going to be a problem in the streets," he said.

A grand jury began hearing evidence on Wednesday, a process the county prosecutor said could take until mid-October.

"The real question is how quickly the killer has to pay the price," Mr Jackson said. 

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French government dissolved amid row over economy

Monday 25 August 2014 16.13

France has been thrown into fresh crisis after President Francois Hollande told his prime minister to form a new government.

This followed a much-criticised show of insubordination by the country's firebrand economy minister.

Mr Hollande ordered Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new cabinet "consistent with the direction he has set for the country", the presidency said in a statement.

It did not give any reasons, but the move came after Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg bad-mouthed the country's economic direction and ally Germany at the weekend in a move that angered Mr Valls.

This morning, Mr Valls offered the resignation of his government.

Mr Valls was asked to form a new team only four months ago but has continually had to reconcile policy differences between leftists such as Mr Montebourg and more centrist members of his Socialist-led government.

President Hollande's office said in a statement a new government would be formed tomorrow in line with the "direction he (the president) has defined for our country."

Mr Montebourg at the weekend said deficit-reduction measures carried out since the 2008 financial crisis were crippling the eurozone's economies and urged governments to change course or lose their voters to populist and extremist parties.

Finance Minister Michel Sapin acknowledged this month that weak growth would mean France missing its deficit-reduction target for this year but stressed the government would continue cutting the deficit "at an appropriate pace".

The weakness of the economy was a major factor in Mr Valls seeing his approval rating drop to a new low of 36% this month, while Mr Hollande remained the most unpopular president in more than half a century, an Ifop poll showed on Sunday.

Mr Valls was appointed to lead the government in a cabinet reshuffle in March, after the ruling Socialists suffered a bruising defeat in local elections. 

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High tax is 'disincentive' to work - Harris

Monday 25 August 2014 16.26

Minister of State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris has said he hopes consideration is given to widening the country's tax bands in the next Budget.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Harris said that many people are paying the higher rate of tax and that this is proving to be a disincentive to work.

"It is very clear to say that over the last number of months Government have had an open discussion in relation to the fact that many people are paying the marginal rate, a very high rate of tax, at a very low entry point," he said.

"Certainly from my conversation as I've been travelling around the country is that is becoming a disincentive to work.

"Where people who work the extra hours in overtime are really feeling that so that much of this is going into tax.

"I think it is important that we have a conversation about the marginal rate of tax, about the entry point to it.

"That is something I'd like to see considered and looked at in the run-up to the Budget," he added.

Mr Harris also said that the Statement of Government priorities outlines a commitment to improve working and living standards for citizens.

He said tax is an element within this commitment.

"What I'd like to see is that whatever flexibility does exist within the economy that that flexibility is directed at the average worker that is paying tax at a higher at a very early entry point," he said.

Speaking in relation to comments by the Irish Tax Institute, that cutting the Universal Social Charge benefit the widest number of people instead of reducing income tax, Mr Harris said he would welcome any method that would assist workers.

However, he said it is not yet clear what economic flexibility exists for this Government in its two remaining budgets.

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Hundreds attend State funeral of Albert Reynolds

Monday 25 August 2014 16.11

Hundreds of politicians, business figures and dignitaries attended the funeral mass of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

Extended family, friends and supporters paid their respects at the requiem mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook in Dublin.

Mr Reynolds died last Thursday aged 81 after a long illness.

Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence, which was read at the mass by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.

The pontiff recalled "with gratitude the late Taoiseach's efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Ireland."

Mr Reynolds is survived by his wife Kathleen, two sons and five daughters.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, President Michael D Higgins and several serving and past politicians attended the funeral mass this morning.

Among the mourners was former British prime minister John Major who described Mr Reynolds as a "remarkable friend".

The two men are credited with laying the foundation on which the Northern Ireland peace process was built.

Today's mass was officiated by Fr Brian D'Arcy, a close family friend.

Mr Reynolds's daughter Andrea read a reflection while his son, Philip, gave the eulogy saying:

"Few of us will ever bend the course of history, but our collective efforts can make this a better place. How successful he was in his life is for others to judge. To us it doesn't matter, he was just simply brilliant."

Fr D'Arcy praised Mr Reynolds as a peacemaker with a sincere interest in breaking the cycle of political violence in Northern Ireland long before he came to power, saying: "His motives were pure." 

"Albert thought deeply about violence. He knew peace is more than absence of war but he knew that peace could not take root until the violence stops," Fr D'Arcy said.

"For him peace was the only battle worth waging. He knew that peace was not achieved only by talking to your friends, you must talk to your enemies and make peace with them."

Eimear Quinn, Red Hurley, Paddy Cole and the Palestrina Choir were among the singers and musicians who participated in the ceremony.

Figures from politics across Ireland were in attendance including former SDLP leader and Nobel prize winner John Hume, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, and Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

Other former taoisigh at the service included Brian Cowen and John Bruton, while former president Mary McAleese also attended.

A large group of figures from Longford County Council and Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke were also present.

Several gifts offered up by Mr Reynolds's grandchildren during the service include a book of cloakroom tickets representing his time in the showband era and a 1963 train carriage for his time working with Ireland's transport agency.

Mr Reynolds was buried in Shanganagh Cemetery in Co Dublin with full military honours.

View our gallery of images

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Israeli PM warns about attacks in Hamas areas

Sunday 24 August 2014 14.33

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Gaza residents to leave any site where Palestinian militants were operating, saying the locations could be attacked.
              
This comes a day after an Israeli air strike flattened a Gaza apartment tower.
              
The Israeli military warned the 13-storey building's residents to leave, shortly before launching the attack. It said the tower had housed a Hamas command centre. 

Earlier, rocket fire from Syria slammed into the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights but there were no reports of casualties.

An army spokeswoman said that it was not known who launched the rockets and the Israeli military did not return fire.

She said there were no casualties in the attacks, at around , the 48th day of a war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in and around Gaza.

Last month a rocket from Syria prompted Israeli artillery to shell Syrian army positions.

In June, Israeli warplanes attacked Syrian military headquarters and positions after an Israeli teenager was killed in what the Jewish state said was a cross-border attack by forces loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Some previous incidents have been put down to stray fire from fighting between Syrian government troops and opposition forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the launch or reports of damage or injuries.

A Lebanese security source said the rocket was fired from Dheira, three kilometres (nearly two miles) from the border with Israel.
The same source noted that Israeli helicopters were seen flying around the border area.

In mid-July, at least nine rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Jewish state, prompting Israel to retaliate with artillery fire.

Lebanese military officials had at the time said they believed the attacks were carried out by a small Palestinian group in an act of solidarity with Gazan militants.

Israel did not return fire for last nights attack but sent "a strong protest" to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which monitors the border between Lebanon and Israel.

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Iran's foreign minister visits Iraq for talks

Sunday 24 August 2014 10.51

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif began a two-day visit to Iraq.

Iraq is fighting a Sunni Muslim insurgency led by Islamic State jihadists.

It said he was to meet his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari as well as the prime minister-designate, Haidar al-Abadi, with the issue of the Iran-Iraq border demarcation also on the agenda.

Iran, which like Iraq is predominantly Shia, was a longtime backer of the outgoing premier, Nuri al-Maliki, before dropping its support of the divisive leader in favour of Abadi.

Tehran has called for Iraqi parties to unite in the face of the Islamic State which has seized large swathes of the country.

It  says it is providing advice to Iraqi Kurds fighting the jihadists.

France, meanwhile, has pressed "all countries in the region" including Iran to join Western nations in the fight against the IS, which is also rampaging through Syria.
 

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€350,000 raised in Ireland's ice bucket challenge

Sunday 24 August 2014 12.47

The Ice Bucket Challenge has generated more than €350,000 for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The online trend involves raising funds for IMNDA by dumping buckets of ice and freezing water onto participants.

The craze began in July in the United States and has since raised millions of euro for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - the umbrella term used in the US for motor neurone diseases.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Chief Executive Aisling Farrell of the IMNDA said donations escalated considerably after Rose of Tralee host Dáithí Ó'Sé underwent the Ice Bucket Challenge at the festival on Monday night.

Ms Farrell said that IMNDA are delighted with the amount of money raised and donations continue to rise hourly. 

She said around €250,000 of the donations have come from people giving €2 to the IMNDA by texting MND to 50300. 

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Earthquake hits northern California

Sunday 24 August 2014 14.49

A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted northern California early this morning, knocking out power and causing some damage to roads in Napa and Sonoma counties.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or major damage from the quake, which struck at 3.20 am (11.20am Irish time), rousing people from sleep as far away as San Francisco.

The epicenter was near American Canyon, 64km northeast of San Francisco, the US Geological Service said.

There was a "low likelihood for casualties," it said, but issued an "orange alert" for possible damage, a rating which means "significant damage is likely and the disaster is potentially widespread."

An 2.6-magnitude aftershock hit about 30 minutes afterwards.

USGS expert Jessica Turner told KCBS radio that aftershocks of up to 5.0 are likely in the next week. 

The California Highway Patrol closed several off-ramps to highways and at least two roads in Napa Valley because of "significant roadway damage."

Drivers were cautioned to be careful at an intersection of two state roads in Napa Valley.

Power was knocked out to nearly 50,000 customers in Napa and Sonoma, which anchor two of California's most celebrated wine producing regions, according to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

It said it had sent crews out to assess the damage and restore power, and estimated electricity would be back up within several hours.

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Disruption as train strike takes place nationwide

Sunday 24 August 2014 14.56

Thousands of rail travellers are experiencing disruption today and will again tomorrow due to a strike at Iarnród Éireann.

No rail services apart from the Luas in Dublin will run - due to a two-day stoppage in a row over pay cuts. 

Fans who are travelling to Croke Park for today's football semi-final between Kerry and Mayo will have to travel by road.

No Intercity, DART or commuter trains will run - although Enterprise services will operate between Newry and Belfast.

Further strikes are planned for 7 and 21 September.

These dates will coincide with the All-Ireland Hurling and Football finals.

Unions say these dates were chosen to minimise the impact on people travelling to work and school.   

People travelling to the match at Croke Park may avail of buses being provided by private bus services.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge will also be closed until midnight tonight, it is reported that a music video is being filmed there.

AA Roadwatch have warned people that there may be delays around Newlands Cross due to roadworks.

There is also a marathon taking place in Longford Town.

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Islamic State militants storm Syrian airbase

Sunday 24 August 2014 15.44

Islamic State militants have stormed an air base in northeast Syria, capturing parts of it from government forces after days of fighting over the strategic location, a monitoring group said.
              
The air base at Tabqa, some 40km east of the city of Raqqa, is the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by the Islamic State group that has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in recent months.
              
There were fierce clashes between Islamic State fighters and government forces within the walls of the air base according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the violence in Syria using sources on the ground. 

Earlier today the Syrian air force had bombed areas around the base.
              
At least 100 Islamic State fighters have been killed since Tuesday when the group first attacked the base, and more than 300 have been injured, the Observatory said, adding that at least 25 Syrian army soldiers had also died.
              
Syrian media did not carry any immediate reports on the latest assault. 

On Saturday Syrian state television and the national news agency showed measures used to protect the base and said Islamic State had suffered heavy losses in its attacks.

It showed footage of bodies it said were militants.
              
The Syrian army sent reinforcements to the base overnight on Friday to fight Islamic State, which controls roughly a third of northern and eastern Syria.
              
The city of Raqqa on the Euphrates river is Islamic State's stronghold in Syria. 

The group, a radical offshoot of al Qaeda,has taken three Syrian military bases in the area in recent weeks, boosted by arms seized in Iraq.
              
To the west, the group withdrew from areas it controlled outside the Syrian city of Homs and retreated east after coming under attack from rival Islamist fighters, the Observatory said.            

Fighters from the group withdrew from a headquarters north of Homs on the orders of their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Observatory said, citing sources in areas north of Homs.
              
They said Islamic State gave up the territory to Nusra Front, al Qaeda's official wing in Syria.
              
As well as Nusra Front, Western-backed rebels have also been fighting Islamic State in Syria but have regularly been defeated by the group, which in June declared an "Islamic caliphate" in the territory it controls.
              
Activists have accused the Syrian army of avoiding confrontations with Islamic State because it has weakened rival rebel groups also battling Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

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Body of Albert Reynolds lies in repose

Saturday 23 August 2014 16.39

The body of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds is lying in repose in Dublin's Mansion House.

His remains will repose in the Oak Room before removal to the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook later in the evening.

The State funeral will take place on Monday. 

Mourners arrived at locations throughout the country yesterday to sign books of condolence in memory of the late Taoiseach.

The remains are to leave the Mansion House for the removal mass at 7pm, with live coverage on RTÉ News Now.

People have gathered to sign messages of sympathy in books at Dublin's GPO, Government Buildings and City Hall.

There were also sympathisers paying their respects to the ex-Taoiseach at Leinster House, Mansion House and Fianna Fáil's headquarters on Lower Mount Street in Dublin.

The Irish flag has also been lowered to half mast over Government buildings as a mark of respect.

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Man sustains serious injuries in Galway crash

Saturday 23 August 2014 11.51

A man has sustained serious injuries following a crash in Co Galway.

The accident occurred at around 7pm yesterday.

The driver lost control of the car and crashed into a wall.

He was taken to University Hospital Galway.

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Two remanded in custody over container death

Saturday 23 August 2014 14.05

Two men from Northern Ireland have been remanded in custody in connection with the death of a man found in a container at Tilbury Docks.

Stephen McLaughlin, 34, and Timothy Murphy, 33, are accused of conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.

Timothy Murphy, 33 of Elmgrove, Derry, has been remanded alongside Stephen McLaughlin, 34, of Limavady, Derry, with conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.

The men spoke only to confirm their names and personal details when they appeared during separate hearings at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in Essex.

They are charged with conspiring with each other and "with other persons unknown" to "clandestinely convey 35 Afghan nationals by sea in to an English port which facilitated the commission of a breach of immigration law".

The alleged offence is said to have taken place between 1 August  and 17 August.

The men sat quietly in the dock as they were each remanded in custody until a hearing at Basildon Crown Court on a date to be set during the week beginning 17 November.

Meet Singh Kapoor, 40, from Afghanistan, was found dead inside the container at the Essex port on 16 August.

Mr Kapoor was among a group of 35 immigrants, including 13 children, the rest of whom survived the ordeal.

The group is believed to have fled Afghanistan after suffering persecution.

They are in the process of claiming asylum in the UK after travelling to Europe in a lorry.

They reportedly spent 18 hours in the cargo container en route to the UK.

The ages of those in the container ranged from one to 72.

Essex Police said a post-mortem examination on Mr Kapoor had failed to establish the cause of his death and inquiries are continuing.

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Merkel says 'cannot rule out' new Russia sanctions

Saturday 23 August 2014 14.13

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she could not rule out new sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, following talks with President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev.

She said: "We cannot rule out thinking about further sanctions if things do not progress,"

Ms Merkel called for a "bilateral ceasefire and effective border controls" to help end the conflict in the east of the country.

Earlier, lorries from Moscow's controversial aid convoy to rebel-held parts of Ukraine returned to Russia .

The acting head of the mission observing the Russian border post known as Donetsk said that some of the vehicles had begun passing through but could not provide a number.

Russian news agencies reported that several dozen had arrived at the border.

The United States demanded that Moscow remove an aid convoy it sent into rebel-held eastern Ukraine without permission.

It accused Russia of a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of its former Soviet neighbour and threatening more sanctions.
              
Moscow, which has thousands of troops close to the Russian side of the border, warned against any attempt to "disrupt" the convoy.

It said it was purely humanitarian.

It did not say what action it might take if the Ukrainian military intervened.
              
NATO's top military commander said the movement of trucks looked like a disguised attempt to reinforce separatist forces.
              
The Western defence alliance said Russian troops had been firing artillery across the border.

Within Ukraine there has been a major escalation of military support for pro-Moscow rebels since mid-August.
              
Moscow denies backing the rebels militarily but the United States and European Union have imposed sanctions and the Kremlin has retaliated, renewing some of the chill of the Cold War. 

NATO has deployed extra troops in member states bordering Russia,including former Soviet Baltic states and ex-communist Poland.
              
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described the entry of the trucks without Kiev's permission as a "flagrant violation of international law". 

A senior security chief said Ukrainian forces would let them pass to avoid "provocations".
              
Kiev called on international allies to unite in "a decisive condemnation of illegal and aggressive actions" by Russia.

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