Ukraine Withdraws Heavy Weapons From Frontline

Ukrainian forces have begun the process of withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline in agreement with separatist rebels, a military spokesman has confirmed.

However, convoys of armoured vehicles have been tracked entering Ukraine from Russia, and attacks from pro-Russia rebels have been continuing near the village of Shyrokyne, close to Mariupol.

Meanwhile, at least three people have been killed and 10 others wounded after an "unknown explosive device" was thrown from a car in the government-controlled city of Kharkiv.  

The incident, which is being treated as a terrorist act by the Interior Ministry, happened during a peace march to mark one year since former president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power.

Speaking to Sky News, Air Chief Marshal Lord Stirrup said the UK should consider providing weapons to Ukraine, and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of running a "gangster regime".

Ukrainian prisoners wait to be exchanged for rebel troops

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian government troops and rebel prisoners were exchanged across the frontline at a village in the country's war-torn east.

Some 139 Ukrainian soldiers and 52 rebels were swapped, according to a separatist official.

Video: Kerry Warns Russia Over Ukraine

The exchange took place in no-man's land near the village of Zholobok, about 12 miles from Luhansk.

The Ukrainians, some on crutches, were made to walk about two miles to a rendezvous point ahead of the exchange.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter page that he had been informed about the exchanges.

It came after Britain and the US discussed further sanctions against Russia in the wake of the breakdown of a ceasefire in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Moscow was being "extraordinarily craven" in its support for Ukrainian separatists in fighting that has raged in recent days.

Pro-Moscow rebels said most of the Ukrainian soldiers released were captured during fighting for the town of Debaltseve.

Some of the soldiers exchanged appeared to be injured and both sides accused the other of mistreating prisoners.

Video: Kerry Warns Russia Over Ukraine

The peace agreement signed last week in Minsk looked forward to an exchange of all prisoners as well as a cessation of hostilities.

Under the agreement, fighting was supposed to have stopped last Sunday with the pulling back of heavy weapons taking place on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Ukraine's military and the separatists accused each other of continuing to mount attacks a week after the ceasefire was called.

Ukrainian security spokesman Colonel Andriy Lysenko said one serviceman had been killed and 40 wounded in attacks over the past day.

He added that rebels were continuing to move equipment toward the port city of Mariupol.

Ukraine is concerned that rebels will try to seize the city with a view to establishing a land corridor between mainland Russia and Crimea.

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'Global Response' To Secure Turkey-Syria Border

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, on the Turkey-Syria border

A senior Turkish official has called on the international community to share more intelligence information to stem the flow of foreigners to Islamic State.

As the search continues for three London schoolgirls believed to be travelling to Syria, Cemalettin Hasimi told Sky News that Turkey cannot be expected to intercept people unless efforts are made to boost the country's travel blacklist.

"It's a global problem that requires a global response," said Mr Hasimi, who advises Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on security and foreign policy.

Turkish official Cemalettin Hasimi has called for a 'global response'

"The only way to prevent their entrance is to know their name, to have a list, so that we can take necessary measures.

"It is a proven fact (that) the best way to prevent the mobility of these groups or individuals is in the source countries."

Video: Efforts To Secure Turkey's Borders

Turkey currently has a list consisting of around 10,000 individuals who will be detained and deported should they try to enter the country.

The list, compiled as a result of information shared by intelligence agencies around the world, has grown significantly in recent months.

It has grown from 5,000 names in the summer of 2014, to 7,000 names by the end of that year.

But as the case of the three missing London teenagers has shown, the task of identifying those who intend to travel to Syria remains difficult.

Although the Metropolitan Police spoke to the girls two months ago in connection with another student who travelled to Syria, that information was not passed to Turkish authorities.

Video: Turkish Airport Security Challenges

Turkey attracts an average of 35 million visitors each year.

The country has established a network of Risk Analysis Centres at entry points, staffed by intelligence officials and expert profilers who assess travellers as they make their way into the country.

More than 500 people who were not on the travel blacklist have been detained and deported as a result of the checks over the past year.

They include a man from Norway carrying parts of an assault rifle in his luggage, and a Swedish citizen with bags of military-style camouflage and other equipment, who had travelled from Denmark.

Turkey is also stepping up its efforts along the Syria border, digging a trench nearly 60 miles long and three metres deep in the Kilis region.

Video: 2014: Passports Reveal Turkey Link

It is also installing concrete walls to prevent vehicles, weapons and people being smuggled along the 600 miles of border it shares with Syria.

The governor of Kilis, Suleyman Tapsis, told Sky News authorities in the region have apprehended 184 foreigners from 34 different countries in the past year.

"We are catching them with military overalls, camouflage, binoculars and other such equipment," he said.

"They have computers and the photos we find on their USB sticks make clear they are in a troubled state of mind."

During a visit to Turkey in December, Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the UK was prepared to offer "the highest level of intelligence co-operation we can possibly achieve" with Turkey.

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Sydney Siege: 18 Warning Calls Before Attack

A national security hotline received 18 calls about the self-styled cleric Man Haron Monis just days before he took 18 people hostage at a cafe in Sydney, a report into the siege has revealed.

The calls between December 9 and December 12 last year all concerned offensive material on his Facebook page.

Three days later he was shot dead by police, ending the 17-hour siege which left two hostages dead.

It was later revealed the Iranian-born attacker, who had long been known to security services, was out on bail at the time of the attack for a string of charges.

Releasing the government's report - the first since the siege - Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted "the system" had let the public down.

Video: Dec: Harrowing Siege Deaths Account

"Plainly, this monster should not have been in our community," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

"He shouldn't have been allowed into the country. He shouldn't have been out on bail. He shouldn't have been with a gun. And he shouldn't have become radicalised."

The report said all 18 calls were investigated by intelligence and police authorities, but none indicated a specific intention to carry out an attack, meaning the risk assessment for Monis was not changed.

"On the basis of the information available at the time, he fell well outside the threshold to be included in the 400 highest priority counter-terrorism investigations," the review said.

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1. Gallery: Dec: Funerals Held For Sydney Siege Victims

   A photo tribute for Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson is seen amongst flowers at a wreath laying ceremony after they were killed in a siege in the Lindt Cafe in Sydney on 16 December

Funeral services were held for the pair on 23 December. Mr Johnson's father Ken Johnson arrives for the service at St Stephen's Uniting Church

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UK 'Exporting Terror' With Homegrown IS Recruits

British authorities are not doing enough to alert parents when their children are at risk of being radicalised online, a lawyer for the family of a young woman who joined Islamic State has said.

Aamer Anwar told Sky News security authorities are not passing on intelligence which could allow families to prevent their children from travelling to Syria or Iraq.  

These failings, he said, mean the UK is "exporting terror" abroad.

This picture was posted on Aqsa Mahmood's Twitter page

His comments came as former Faith Minister Baroness Warsi warned that Islamic State's increasing drive to recruit young people online means security services are "fighting an ever losing battle".

"It is becoming more and more apparent that people are not being radicalised in places of worship but in their bedrooms by being on the internet," she told Sky News' Murnaghan Programme. 

Video: Teens Radicalised 'In Bedrooms'

Mr Anwar was speaking on behalf of the family of 20-year-old Aqsa Mahmood who fled her family home in Glasgow in November 2013 to marry an Islamic State fighter. 

She is accused of being among a number of young women now encouraging others back home to follow in their footsteps, something her family has condemned as a "disgrace".

One of three teenagers, feared to be one their way to Syria after boarding a flight to Turkey on Tuesday, is known to have contacted Ms Mahmood on Twitter. 

The message - which was sent on 15 February, two days before the schoolgirls left London said: "Follow me so I can dm (direct message) you back".

"There must be an inquiry as to what exactly the intelligence services are doing with the intelligence they are gathering," Mr Anwar said.

"If the intelligence services have this information, surely they should not just be sharing it with Turkey but they should be sharing it with the families so that they can nip this in the bud.

"There is no point in declaring war in ISIS in Syria but doing very little to stop young people actually getting on the flights and getting across the border into Syria.

Video: Missing Girls

"This could happen to any other family across the country," he warned.

He said serious questions also need to be asked about how the three young women, Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, were able to board the flight unimpeded and without their parents.

It has been revealed that all three girls were interviewed by police two months ago after one of their classmates, 15, also travelled to Syria. 

According to The Sunday Times two other girls attempted to join her but were apprehended.

Meanwhile the families of the three missing girls have all issued urgent appeals for them to come home.

"You belong at home with us. Syria is a dangerous place and we don't want you to go there," Shamima Begum's older sister Aklima told the newspaper.

"Mum needs you home." 

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Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight Confirmed For May

Floyd Mayweather Jr will fight Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas in what's expected to become boxing's richest ever bout.

Mayweather announced the welterweight fight by posting a photograph of a signed contract online.

Mayweather is expected to earn more than £77m from the fight

The 37-year-old fighter is expected to earn more than $120m (£77m) from the bout, while Pacquiao's split of the purse is likely to be around $80m (£52m).

The fight has been in the making for the past five years and follows lengthy negotiations over television rights. Rival networks reportedly thrashed out the terms for televising the fight earlier this month.

Pacquiao stands to earn around £52m

Additional stumbling blocks have been overcome in recent weeks, with both camps reaching an agreement on drug testing and both men able to wear their own gloves. No rematch clause has been included.

Pacquiao had spoken openly about his desire to reach a deal, but there had been silence from Mayweather until he announced the news via social media.

"What the world has been waiting for has arrived," said American Mayweather on the social networking website Shots.

"Mayweather vs. Pacquiao on May 2, 2015 is a done deal.

"I promised the fans we would get this done, and we did. We will make history on May 2nd. Don't miss it! This is the signed contract from both fighters.

"Giving the fans what they want to see is always my main focus. This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport. Boxing fans and sports fans around the world will witness greatness on May 2.

"I am the best ever, TBE, and this fight will be another opportunity to showcase my skills and do what I do best, which is win. Manny is going to try to do what 47 before him failed to do, but he won't be successful. He will be number 48."

The 37-year-old American, nicknamed "Money", is unbeaten in 47 fights with 26 knockouts, but Pacquiao is considered the biggest threat to his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.

Pacquiao was sleeping in the Philippines when the fight was announced, but his camp issued a statement saying the fans deserve the long-awaited fight.

"Pac Man" suffered back-to-back defeats in 2012, the second a shocking loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, but he repaired his reputation with three straight victories.

"It is an honour to be part of this historic event," said Pacquiao. "I dedicate this fight to all the fans who willed this fight to happen and, as always, to bring glory to the Philippines and my fellow Filipinos around the world."

Fight experts have been divided in their predictions for this eagerly anticipated encounter, with some favouring Pacquiao's all-action fighting style, while others back Mayweather to prevail with his slick counter punching.

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Fire Engulfs Dubai's Torch Tower Skyscraper

A huge fire engulfed part of the Torch Tower in Dubai in the early hours of this morning, forcing hundreds of people to flee the 1,100ft skyscraper.

Witnesses said the blaze appeared to have started at around 2am in the middle of the residential building, rapidly spreading across some 15 floors.

In several videos posted on social media websites, multiple floors of the high-rise were seen ablaze.

Strong winds fanned the flames and burning debris from the fire could be seen falling from building.

One witness said flames shot out from two sides of the building as glass and metal rained down from near the summit of the structure.

Footage shows the fire sweeping through the upper floors. Pic: Jaime Muller

Another witness said it looked "like the Titanic going down", according to Gulfnews.com.

One resident, Briton Steve Short, 53, from Liverpool, praised the work of firefighters who arrived quickly.

He said fire alarms alerted people to the blaze and building management sent workers knocking on doors to ensure residents got out.

Residents of at least one neighbouring tower were told to evacuate as a precaution because of high winds, but they were later allowed back inside.

It took firefighters several hours before they extinguished the blaze, according to a witness at the scene.

Hundreds of Torch Tower residents were evacuated. Pic: Jaime Muller

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Officials said there were no reports of casualties.

Opened in 2011, the Torch Tower has 79 floors and is one of the world's tallest residential buildings.

It is located in the Marina district of the city which is home to dozens of towering apartment blocks and hotels, many of them built over the past decade.

The apartments are popular with Dubai's large number of expatriate professionals.

Dubai, known for its skyline of hugely varied skyscrapers, has seen fires at towers in the past.

In 2012, a huge blaze gutted the 34-Tamweel tower in the nearby Jumeirah Lake Towers district. It was later revealed to have been caused by a cigarette butt thrown into a bin.

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Ebola Testing Kit Gives Results In 15 Minutes

The World Health Organization has approved a rapid test for the Ebola virus which can deliver a diagnosis in just 15 minutes.

In what could be a breakthrough for bringing the epidemic in West Africa to an end, the test kits will be deployed to countries affected by Ebola within a matter of weeks.

Although less accurate than traditional tests, which can take anywhere between 12 and 24 hours, this kit does not require electricity - making it ideal for examining patients in remote areas.

During rigorous trials conducted by the WHO, the ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test correctly identified 92% of those infected with Ebola, and 85% who were free of the virus.

The health agency has said this new testing kit should be followed up with a laboratory test wherever possible.

Video: Ebola: Schools Reopen In Liberia

Meanwhile, the UN's Mission for Ebola Emergency Response has praised Liberia's progress in slowing down the spread of the virus - but warned against complacency as the number of new patients continues to fall.

Ebola has killed more than 3,800 people in Liberia since December 2013 - but now, students are returning to their schools after they were closed for six months.

In Sierra Leone, an investigation is under way into how money meant to fight Ebola was used. Out of $5.75m (£3.75m) received in funding, a third was spent without invoices and receipts being saved.

Video: Ebola Nurse 'Happy To Be Alive'

Doctors, government officials and businesspeople now must answer to the Anti-Corruption Commission, which wants an explanation of where the cash went.

Video: Ebola Vaccines Flown To Liberia

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Eurozone Agrees To Extend Greek Bailout

Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to extend Greece's rescue loans - although not by as long as the government wanted.

The deal, which will enable Athens to continue paying its bills, was reached at talks in Brussels which were delayed for four hours as ministers worked on a draft accord.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone's top official and the Dutch finance minister, said Athens had asked for a six-month extension but this was rejected.

"Four months is the appropriate delay in terms of financing and future challenges," he said.

The agreement was clinched just a week before Greece's €240bn (£178bn) bailout expires, leaving just enough time for some member country parliaments to endorse it.

Video: Greek Rescue Package Explained

As part of the deal Greece must provide a list of economic and other reforms based on the current bailout programme by Monday.

This will be reviewed on Tuesday by the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.

If the three institutions do not believe the proposals go far enough, the list will be revised with a view to it being agreed by the end of April.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the deal would mark a new era for Athens and its relations with the European Union.

Video: Osborne Urges Eurozone Deal

"Today was a pivotal moment because Greece for five years now has been lonely, isolated in the Eurogroup. Today that isolation has broken," Mr Varoufakis said.

He said Greece had not used any threats or bluff to get the agreement and added it was a small step in a new direction for the country.

Markets reacted positively to the deal, with the Dow and S&P 500 surging to fresh records on Wall Street.

Mr Dijsselbloem said it was a "first step in this process of rebuilding trust" between Greece and its euro partners and allows for a strategy to get the country "back on track."

Video: Greece: Everything You Need To Know

"Trust leaves quicker than it comes," he said.

Mr Dijsselbloem worked flat out on Friday to secure an agreement as Germany insisted Greece stick with the austerity commitments included in its bailout programme.

The fraught discussions focused on a new package of concessions beyond those contained in the formal request for a loan extension submitted on Thursday.

Greece has ruled out another bailout like the existing one, saying the people who swept the anti-austerity Syriza party to power last month would not tolerate it.

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1. Gallery: Art War On The Streets Of Athens

   Athens has become a Mecca for street artists as anger grows over the impact of Greece's bailout deal with Europe

Wall paintings have sprung up all over the city reflecting the general frustration at rising unemployment and falling living standards

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Moment Armed Police Arrested Venezuelan Mayor

The mayor of Venezuela's capital has been arrested in an armed raid on his office over an alleged coup plot.

Antonio Ledezma, 59, tweeted that his building was being surrounded shortly before intelligence agents broke down the doors and fired shots into the air.

Opposition legislator Ismael Garcia wrote on Twitter: "I just saw how they took Ledezma out of his office as if he were a dog."

In recent days President Nicolas Maduro's government said dissident air force officers had been planning to topple his government in league with opposition leaders - including Ledezma - and the United States.

Later, President Maduro took to television and radio to say that Ledezma would be punished for trying to sow unrest.

President Nicolas Maduro said Ledezma would be punished

It comes amid heightened tensions one year after opposition protests called for the resignation of the president, sparking violence that left 43 people dead.

The country is struggling with severe economic problems and the head of the opposition alliance - Jesus Torrealba - said the arrest shows that dissenting voices are being "outlawed".

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1. Gallery: Ruckus In Caracas: Venezuela Protesters Clash

   Venezuela's National Guard personnel in riot gear stand in line during a protest against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas

Those gathered on Wednesday demanded the release of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, one year after he was jailed for allegedly inciting mass protests against the government

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Tough Talks On Greek Debt As D-Day Looms

These could well prove the most important few days in the euro's existence.

In the corridors and meeting rooms of the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, Greece and its euro counterparts have been charged with discussing how to keep the struggling nation in the single currency.

Their chances of success seem to be flagging.

Quite how we got here is a complicated story - it involves political and economic mistakes, financial jiggery-pokery, many decades of historical animosity and some big personality clashes.

Uncertainty continues over the Greek debt negotiations

Let's leave that aside for a moment and recall where we stand today.

Briefly: Greece is in dire need of money. The state has a series of debts to repay in March, some to the International Monetary Fund, some to the European Central Bank. 

Video: 'Confusion And Noise Over Greece'

It can't easily raise cash in the open markets (would you really want to lend to Athens right now?) so it will have to find that money elsewhere.

That means borrowing it from its eurozone colleagues. Greece is of course still receiving bailout support from the so-called Troika lenders (the European Commission, ECB and IMF), so the most straightforward thing would be to extend the existing bailout and withdraw some extra cash from it (there's about €7bn of it left, which would be very helpful right now).

However, extending the bailout would also mean extending the conditions attached to it - austerity, privatisations, labour market and pension reforms.

Syriza, the party which leads the new Greek government, adamantly set itself against that in its election campaign. It also said it would refuse to co-operate with the Troika in future.

That leaves it in a sticky place. Its finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has spent most of the past few weeks attempting to persuade his European counterparts to lend Greece some cash, but to do it as a "bridging loan" rather than as an extension of the "current programme".

That might seem like a mere terminological distinction - and in one sense it is. But underlying the terminology are real differences.

Signing up to the "current programme" again would mean obeying those hated conditions. A "bridging loan" of some sort, on the other hand, could have some discrete conditions of its own. Though some of these might be uncomfortable, they would at least be of Greece's new government's own making.

Video: Greeks Hope For Bailout Solution

The problem is that Greece's creditors are reluctant to let the country off all those conditions they set when lending them money.

For one thing, Greece has already been forgiven a chunk of its debts in 2012; the interest rates and maturities of its debts have been stretched out way into the future, making them cheaper to service.

For another, those conditions were not merely there as punishment - they were there to make the economy more healthy in the future.

Raising retirement ages, removing archaic protections on employees, privatising nationalised industries - those are precisely the kinds of Thatcherite reforms many other countries had to go through long ago, and are reaping the rewards of today.

Then there's the politics: German voters are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the idea of funding a poor creditor elsewhere whose own people seem to hate them.

The Spanish government is desperate that Syriza doesn't succeed, for fear of encouraging its people to vote for their own upstart leftist anti-austerity rival party, Podemos. The Irish would be furious if a country was given special treatment they were denied.

These countervailing forces mean getting an agreement, either today or this weekend or in the coming months, will be very difficult. And, as if things couldn't already be more difficult, the process has also been waylaid by some personal histrionics.

Video: Greek Bailout: The Key Numbers

The Greek negotiators have been unpredictable in the extreme - openly leaking bundles of documents, flagrantly disregarding the long-established rules of negotiations and publicly criticising their counterparts.

"These people are crazy," said one eurocrat when the talks broke down the last time, on Monday night. "They're totally crazy."

One can only assume yet more craziness to come in the next hours and days. The latest developments, on Thursday, included a letter from the Greek authorities which seemed to offer massive compromises on its position - including an extension of the bailout in some guise, and Troika supervision.

That was then dismissed abruptly by the Germans, who derided it as a "Trojan horse" gambit.

All of which threatens to make today's negotiations particularly awkward.

Meanwhile, hanging over all of this is the question of whether Greece will have money to pay its bills next month, whether it defaults, and, ultimately, whether it can stay in the euro.

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