A ceasefire may still be officially in place in eastern Ukraine, but try telling that to the owners of burning homes in Donetsk. Battles are raging unabated between Ukrainian forces and separatist fighters, mainly around the city’s airport and nearby neighbourhoods are often caught in the crossfire. Resident Valentina Kovaleva told reporters: ‘All the balconies were damaged by shrapnel, everything burning. Can you imagine, if we hadn’t sent away the children, they would be dead now. Every day there is shooting. More than 3,500 people have been killed since fighting began between pro-Russian separatists and government troops’. Raisa Kozlova, a 75-year-old Donetsk resident injured by shelling, said: ‘What truce? You call that a truce? They might make agreements and talks, but it changes nothing. We’re still being bombed.’

Ukranian officials have said that government troops and pro-Russian rebels are withdrawing forces and artillery from frontline positions in eastern Ukraine in line with a peace agreement. Monday's withdrawal leaves a 30km buffer between the two sides as part of a nine-point memorandum signed on Saturday. The agreement came after a truce signed on September 5 was hampered by violations, leading to the deaths of 39 Ukrainian troops and civilians. However, reduced fire from pro-Russian rebels in recent days has allowed Ukranian forces to begin to pull back troops, said Anriy Lysenko, a Ukranian military spokeswoman. Although the withdrawal has begun, it is ‘not as large as expected’, added Lysenko. ‘We are seeing a trend that [the rebels] are reducing their use of heavy armed weaponry.’ Neither side has completed their withdrawal. The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, said that a continued Ukrainian offensive risked alienating support from the US and other Western governments.

The Belgian Justice Department has leads that jihadists from The Hague have plans to attack the office of the European Commission in Brussels.  In August, a man and a woman of Turkish origin were arrested at Brussels airport where they had returned from Turkey.  They had most probably been in Syria.  Apparently the Belgian Justice Department is searching for additional jihadists in the Netherlands.  All of these jihadists are Dutchmen of Turkish descent who are suspected of having connections to jihadist networks.

Traffickers are accused of ramming a boat carrying more than 500 migrants sailing from Egypt, causing it to sink in the Mediterranean off the coast of Malta, an inter-governmental agency reports. The account is based on reports from two survivors who were rescued and taken ashore in Sicily after spending a day and a half in the water clinging to flotation devices. The two Palestinian men, aged 27 and 33, were picked up by a Panamanian merchant ship. They told staff from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that they had fled Gaza through Egypt and were requesting asylum. They said that the migrants were forced to change boats several times, but resisted moving to a boat that they did not think was safe or big enough to carry them. When they refused to cooperate, the traffickers, in a separate boat, reportedly rammed the boat the migrants were in, causing it to sink 300 miles southeast of Malta on September 10.

Ukraine's parliament has granted self-rule to parts of eastern regions held by pro-Russian rebels, as well as an amnesty for the fighters themselves. A senior Ukrainian rebel leader has told the BBC that a new law granting self-rule to parts of the east will not sway the demand for independence. Andrei Purgin said there were no plans to develop any political relationship, federal or otherwise, with Ukraine. But he said there were ‘positives’ in the move by MPs to grant self-rule and an amnesty to pro-Russian rebels. He said it could be used as the basis for dialogue but rebels would not give up on a desire for ‘the Russian world’. The new law, which affects Donetsk and Luhansk regions and is in line with the 5 September ceasefire, was condemned by some Ukrainian MPs as ‘capitulation’. The truce halted months of conflict between separatists and government forces. It has held despite sporadic fighting between the two sides over the past 12 days.

The UK is to offer France the security fences used at the NATO summit in Wales to help tackle migrants trying to get into the country illegally from Calais. James Brokenshire the Immigration Minister, said the 9ft-high steel barricade could ‘replace and enlarge inadequate fencing’ at the French port. Increasing numbers of migrants have flocked to Calais in recent months. Earlier this week scores of illegal migrants were able to get past security and tried to run up the main ramp of a ferry bound for the UK, but they were foiled when the crew raised the ramp and turned a fire hose on them.  Mr Brokenshire said: ‘We would like to establish secure parking areas where legitimate hauliers and travellers can wait without being hassled by would-be illegal immigrants.’ He added that the UK was ‘no soft touch’ when it comes to illegal immigration and highlighted the government's efforts to tackle the issue.

Six EU countries have joined a US-led coalition to ‘degrade and destroy’ the IS in Iraq and Syria. The ‘Core Group’ came together at the NATO summit in Wales last Thursday and Friday (5-6 September). On the EU side, it includes, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK. The other members are Australia, Canada, Turkey, and the US. US president Barack Obama told the press: ‘We are going to degrade and ultimately destroy IS the same way we’ve gone after al-Qaeda, and the same way we’ve gone after its affiliates in Somalia’. It is considered a threat to EU countries because hundreds of European Muslims have joined it and might come home to carry out terrorist attacks. But Core Group leaders at the NATO event ruled out, sending ground troops, negotiating with IS on hostages; or forming an alliance with IS adversary, Syrian leader Bashar al,Assad.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed with Russian President Putin by phone on a ‘ceasefire process’ for the east. His office initially reported that a ‘permanent ceasefire’ had been agreed but later revised its statement. The earlier version of the statement on the Ukrainian presidential website read: ‘Their conversation resulted in agreement on a permanent ceasefire in the Donbass region [the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk].’ However, this has now been changed to: ‘Their conversation resulted in agreement on a process for ceasing fire in the Donbass region.’ The statement adds that the two presidents ‘reached a mutual understanding on steps leading to peace’. More than 2,600 civilians and combatants have been killed and more than a million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine in April, when pro-Russian separatists there declared independence.

A new government without a natural majority in parliament and little popular support will attempt over the next two years to impose the economic reforms which France has resisted for two decades. If anyone needs to be comfortable being unpopular, it's President Hollande. Officially the administration that took office Tuesday (the fourth government of his 27-month presidency) will be a band of like-minded individuals loyal to the courageous, reformist line of the President and his Prime Minister Manuel Valls.however, in practice it means that opponents of economic reforms have been removed. The French leader has had some terrible polls recently - fewer than 20% of voters believe in his ability to turn the economy around. If growth rebounds Mr Hollande could recover too. But things could also get worse - confidence in him could ebb further, the in-fighting could continue, and his programme could become stuck in the National Assembly.  It looks like rough seas ahead for the new government. See also: 

2,000+ people have died in fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. On Tuesday evening the Ukrainian and Russian presidents talked face to face, but there appeared to be no breakthrough. Poroshenko said a roadmap would be prepared to end fighting.  Although Putin would assist a dialogue he said stopping the fighting was a matter for Ukraine. The two leaders agreed to further consultations between Ukraine's and Russia's border guard agencies. Back in Russia the Moscow Times reported a statement by the ruling United Russia party stating a ‘thin line’ separates the two countries from an all-out war, and this risk has prevented Russia from sending aircraft to protect its borders from what it claims is rocket fire against its territory by Ukrainian forces. See