BBC News with Julie Candler.
Western powers have reacted angrily to the unauthorized entry of Russian aid convoy into rebel-held eastern Ukraine. The United States call it a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty and a dangerous escalation until Moscow to withdraw the vehicle or face further isolation. Tom Esslemont reports from Washington.
The White House described the movement of the convoy cross the border as a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty. It did not go as far as the Ukrainian government in Kiev which called it an invasion. But the Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the convoy was a pretense, an excuse to cross into Ukraine in an unauthorized way. Russia insists its convoy is for humanitarian purposes, but western trust for Moscow is wearing thin. The Obama administration says Moscow’s refusal to deescalate will lead to further sanctions and greater isolation.
Lithuania says its honorary consul in the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Luhansk has been murdered. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said the consul Mykola Zelenec was kidnapped and brutally killed by terrorists. Linas Linkevicius had earlier described the entry of Russian aid convoy into Ukraine as a blatant violation of international law.
Suspected Shia militiamen have killed more than 60 people in a Sunni mosque in eastern Iraq. The attack has deepened fears of sectarian configuration as Jim Muir reports from northern Iraq.
The area where a mythical and mosque place in Diyala province has seen clashes recently between Sunni rebels and Shia militiamen fighting alongside the Iraqi government forces. The massive killing of worshipers seemed to be an active revenge.
After several Shia fighters were killed in a bombing explosion, a group of militiamen headed to the small Sunni village and burst into the mosque during Friday prayers, spraying the congregation with gunfire. It’s just a kind of sectarian problem case that threatening to plunge the country back into the dark days of 2006 and 2007 when many thousands dead in a vicious spiral of communal carnage.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Islamist militant organization Hamas will pay a heavy price for the death of an Israeli child. Mr. Netanyahu ordered the military to intensify attacks on Palestinian militants in Gaza. The boy was the fourth Israeli civilian and first Israeli child be killed in a conflict. From Jerusalem, here is Mark Lobel.
A day after Israel’s targeted assassination of two senior Hamas military leaders and another senior fighter in Gaza, Hamas has fired over 80 rockets and mortars into Israel. Several mortars delicately boot very close to the border where one 4-year-old child was killed. Many on the scene say the young boy was hit in the head by a mortar shell while playing inside his family home. Israeli has lunched over 30 trikes in the past day into Gaza where 2,000 Palestinians now died since hostility began.
World news from the BBC.
The United States says a Chinese fighter jet came dangerously close to an American military petrol plane over international waters early this week. A Pentagon spokesman said the jet came within 10 meters of the US navvy plane during which he said was very dangerous intercept around 200 kilometers east of Hainan Island. He said the jet made several close passes in an apparent attempt to show off its weaponry. The US says it’s lodged formal protest with the Chinese government.
A cinema employee in central England has been jailed for 33 months for secretly recording a Hollywood action film and uploading it onto the internet. A court heard that Philip Danks cost Universal Pictures millions of dollars in revenue. Colin Patterson reports.
Fast and Furious 6 has downloaded 700,000 times. However, the federation against copyright theft cover his real identity,noticing that he used same online name, TheCod3r, both to sell illegal films and on internet dating site. Five days after he posted the recording, he was arrested by West Midlands Police, even this did not deter Danks from continuing to copy and sell other films online.
One of India’s most renowned novelist UR Ananthamurthy has died in the southern city of Bangalore. He was 82. Mr.Ananthamurthy who criticized the cast system and religious base politics made his name as a novelist in the south Indian Canada language. He was a winner of India’s top literary prize and a finalist for last year’s book prize.
The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has taken part in what’s become known as the ice bucket challenge, the charity activity that has recently gained popularity online. Mr. Renzi was filmed dumping a bucket of freezing water over his head in a bid to raise money for medical charities. Many celebrities have taken part in the challenge including the former US President George W. Bush and actor Tom Hanks.