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BBC news 2014-10-29

BBC News with Jonathon Izard.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned that an election planned by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine will be unlawful and that Moscow will violate international agreements if it recognizes the results. President Poroshenko of Ukraine said the polls will threaten the peace talks with the rebels. Dina Newman reports. “Despite the warnings from the US Secretary of State John Kerry and President Poroshenko of Ukraine, Russia insists it will recognize the results of the separatists' elections in Donetsk and Lugansk regions. This threatens to undermine the fragile ceasefire agreement signed last September. Armed rebels in eastern Ukraine say the polls will give them legitimacy and will allow them to negotiate with Kiev as equals.”

Dutch investigators are to ask Russia for evidence including information about a Ukrainian fighter jet activity relating to the crash of the Malaysian passenger jet MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July. Moscow says it has radar data showing a Ukrainian fighter jet in the vicinity of the airliner.

About 150 fighters from Iraqi Kurdistan are on their way to join their fellow Kurds in the battle against Islamic State militants in Syria. After leaving their bases in Iraq, the Peshmerga fighters will travel through Turkey and then cross into Syria to defend the town of Kobani where there has been further shelling today. Our reporter Jihad Gao is on the Turkey-Syria border. “Coalition fighter jets circling over the city pounded IS militants' position numbers of times, also the news of Kurdish Peshmerga from Iraqi Kurdistan crossing the border and coming to help the defenders of the city received by Kurdish community here with cheers. These groups are 150 equipped with heavy weapons are expected to arrive tonight, and most likely they cross the border into Kobani by the morning.”

The authorities in Egypt are reportedly planning to establish a buffer zone along its border with Gaza to prevent any smuggling of weapons. Allan Johnston reports. “There are reports that families living along the Egyptian side of the frontier have been ordered to evacuate their homes; they'll be demolished then trenches will be dug in an effort to prevent smugglers running tunnels under the border from Gaza into Egypt. This comes just days after an attack by militants in northern Sinai killed more than 30 Egyptian soldiers. And a local media has suggested that the Islamist Hamas Movement in Gaza is supporting fighters operating in Egyptian territory. Hamas denies this.”

President Francois Hollande of France has called for an end to violent protests which has followed the death of a young environmentalist in the south of the country. He said an investigation will reveal the truth. The prosecutor investigating the death said traces of an explosive used in police grenades were found on Remy Fraser's clothing.

BBC news.

President Obama has praised American health workers fighting Ebola in West Africa saying they should be applauded, thanked and supported. The authorities in some US states have come under criticism for their decision automatically to quarantine health workers returning from West Africa because it may discourage others from volunteering. The president said US efforts in Liberia, the worst-affected country, were starting to bear fruit and he insisted that Ebola was a problem that would get fixed. “This disease can be contained, it will be defeated. Progress is possible. But we're gonna have to stay vigilant, and we've gotta make sure that we are working together. We have to keep leading the global response - Americas not look like it to shine away, because other people are watching what we do.”

Sierra Leone has condemned the decision by Australia to stop issuing visas to people from West African countries affected by Ebola. Sierra Leone's information minister Alpha Kanu said the measure was draconian and discriminatory.

A major opposition leader in Burkina Faso Zefrin Jabbered says political change is needed as protests in the country grow. Huge crowds protested on Tuesday against the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaore to stand for another five-year term. The security forces used tear gas against some of the demonstrators. Mr. Jabbered said it was time for change. “Youth unemployment is a clearly grave problem and this morning it's what here, you will see about it only young people with no job were demonstrating. So the country needs some big and deep reforms to give an equal opportunity and chance to everybody but you can't do it until a political change.”

A funeral service has been held for the Canadian soldier who was shot dead last week by a gunman who is believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State group. Corporal Nathan Cirillo's coffin was carried through the streets of his hometown in Ontario. Thousands of mourners lined the route. BBC World Service News.