Ukraine: we're fighting Russia on behalf of Europe
7:18am Russian officials pressed Ukraine on Monday to declare a cease-fire with separatists, but Ukrainians say they are locked in a war not just against the rebels but also against Russia - on behalf of Europe.
Top world stories
Surrogate father allegedly abused twins
![An Australian father of surrogate twins has reportedly been charged with abusing them.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725339/Thumbnail60989259107wdx1409608300306.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Alexandra Back 7:51am An Australian man who fathered twins through a surrogate mother in Thailand has reportedly been charged with sexually abusing the children and possession of child pornography.
UK terror suspects may lose passports
![British Prime Minister David Cameron is mulling changes in the way the UK deals with dual citizens who go abroad to fight for terrorist organisations.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725343/Thumbnail6098931210abxx1409627040877.jpg-90x60.jpg)
1:04pm David Cameron said police in the United Kingdom may get new, temporary powers to seize the passports of British nationals fighting in the Middle East who are attempting to return to the UK.
UN mission to probe Islamic State abuses
![Crimes against humanity: A child cries in a military helicopter after being evacuated by Iraqi forces from Amerli, north of Baghdad.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725334/Thumbnail6098916810alty1409625778472.jpg-90x60.jpg)
12:44pm The UN Human Rights Council has unanimously agreed to send an emergency mission to Iraq to investigate Islamic State atrocities.
Britain 'deplores' Israel West Bank land claim
![Expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank ... Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725310/Thumbnail6098891210b7ez1409588332495.jpg-90x60.jpg)
2:19am The British government said on Monday it deplored an Israeli decision to appropriate a large swathe of land inside the occupied West Bank, saying the move would seriously damage Israel's international reputation.
UK parliamentary appointment on hold
![UK parliamentary position on hold ... Carol Mills, Department of Parliamentary Services Secretary, attends an estimates hearing at Parliament House, Canberra earlier this year.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725314/Thumbnail6098905010b7gg1409591207991.jpg-90x60.jpg)
NICK MILLER 8:17am The appointment of an Australian to the most senior non-political position in the UK parliament has been put on hold, after the man who chose her for the job buckled in the face of fierce opposition.
Latest world news
Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif clings to power amid accusations Imran Khan is colluding with army
Shaiq Hussain and Tim Craig 12:06pm Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was clinging to power as protesters stepped up their assault on government buildings while the capital was gripped with fear and confusion about whether the country's powerful military will step in to defuse the tension.
Americans held in North Korea plead for US help
![American missionary Kenneth Bae speaking to reporters at Pyongyang Friendship Hospital in Pyongyang.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5726140/Thumbnail60993340hvd2j1409622025522.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Choe Sang-Hun 11:40am North Korea granted two US news organisations interviews with three incarcerated Americans on Monday, with all three prisoners apologizing for violating its laws and beseeching Washington to send an emissary to negotiate their release.
Rapist in 2012 New Delhi assault now paints and cooks at correction home
![A painting made by the teenage rapist at the juvenile correction home.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725841/Thumbnail6098955510b9pj1409627611691.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Rama Lakshmi 1:14pm Twenty months ago, a teenager and five adult men fatally gang-raped a young student in a moving bus in New Delhi, a horrific incident that stunned Indians, sparked unprecedented national anger and dramatically changed the public debate on women's safety in India.
Leaks
Turkey summons US envoy over NSA spying
![Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden: leaks attributed to him have caused a diplomatic rift between Turkey and the US.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725785/Thumbnail60991332zv5en1409620557430.jpg-90x60.jpg)
10:00am Turkey has summoned the US charge d'affaires in Ankara to demand answers over a leak by Edward Snowden that Washington spied intensively on Turkish leaders since 2006.
Bad weather for 2050 as TV forecasters predict climate change
![More frequent weather extremes are expected with climate change.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725458/Thumbnail6098993310b8611409608472812.jpg-90x60.jpg)
7:54am Imaginary television weather forecasts predicted floods, storms and searing heat from Arizona to Zambia within four decades, as part of a United Nations campaign on Monday to draw attention to a U.N. summit this month on fighting global warming.
Banning Russian-made AK-47s sets off buying frenzy in US
![Tracy Earlenbaugh shows a Russian AK-47 at TW Firearms in Leesburg, Virginia on August 22. After the Obama administration added the machine gun to sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, gun dealers reported a massive jump in sales of the weapon.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725342/Thumbnail6098930510b7nm1409601953409.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Michael Rosenwald 6:06am Thirty-six hours after the Obama administration banned importation of the classic brand of AK-47 assault rifles as part of sanctions against Russia, a Maryland dealer specialising in the weapon took stock of its inventory.
After reaching $460,000, donations for Ferguson policeman halt mysteriously
![Photos surround the casket of Michael Brown before the start of his funeral at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St Louis on August 25.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725324/Thumbnail6098913110b7j21409598240059.jpg-90x60.jpg)
5:04am After raising more than $US400,000 for the police officer who killed an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, two online donation pages appear to have been shut down by their organizers without explanation this weekend.
Why South Korea predicts its end will come in 2750
![Love but less children ... A couple takes a selfie in front of trees covered with](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/02/5725292/Thumbnail6098880610b7a41409606878415.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Rick Noack 1:14am South Korea may be doomed. A recent study, conducted by the National Assembly Research Service in Seoul, predicts that the country will reach zero inhabitants by 2750.
Best of the world - September 2, 2014
![First graders wait for a festive ceremony to mark the start of another school year in Slaviansk, September 1, 2014. September 1 marks the start of a new academic year for students in Ukraine. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich (UKRAINE - Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY)](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5724976/DP-BOW1SeptTH-20140901195830869717-90x60.jpg)
The Herald's picture editors showcase the best images from around the globe.
Ukrainians pull back from airport as President Poroshenko slams Russia
![Line of fire: A man shoots at targets depicting Vladimir Putin at a range in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5725255/Thumbnail6098851110b7241409580019193.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Richard Balmforth, Pavel Polityuk 12:00am Ukraine's military said on Monday it had pulled its forces back from defending a vital airport in the east against Russian tanks, as President Petro Poroshenko accused Moscow of "direct and open aggression".
Three children stabbed to death in Chinese school
![Chinese children practice self-defence at a martial art school in Beijing on May 16, 2010, after several similar attacks on young children late last month shocked the nation. A court in eastern China on May 15 sentenced an unemployed man to death for knifing 29 children and three adults with a meat cleaver at a kindergarten, leaving several of his victims badly injured. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5725096/ps-02-knife-thumb-20140901211523817553-90x60.jpg)
1:51am A man armed with a knife killed three children and injured fiveothers in a primary school in China on Monday, the first day of a new school term after the summer holiday, state media reported.
Israel shoots down drone, Fijians still missing on Golan Heights
![Israeli soldiers watch as UNDOF vehicles cross into Syria from the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5724255/Thumbnail6096983810b0hv1409586895611.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Amy Teibel 3:44pm Israel said it had shot down an unmanned aircraft over the Golan Heights as uncertainty over the Syrian-Israeli frontier and the fate of 44 Fijian peacekeepers mounted.
Amid criticism, US strategy on Islamic State showing results
![President Barack Obama speaking about the militant threat in Syria and Iraq.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723889/Thumbnail6097763710ayvt1409586635323.jpg-90x60.jpg)
NICK O'MALLEY 5:58am In the face of criticism even from close political allies that the White House has been too slow in its military response to the Islamic State threat, the White House is still signaling it will not ramp up its efforts until it believes it has viable support.
New Zealand shooter kills two, remains at large
![A gunman is on the loose in Ashburton, New Zealand, after a fatal shooting.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723660/Thumbnail60975961zvxck1409545368785.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Sarah Robson and Dave Williams 2:23pm A balaclava-clad gunman who walked into a New Zealand unemployment office and shot dead two women is on the loose.
Analysis
Iraqi theatre more dicey than ever for Australia
![Iraqi security forces and Iraqi Shi'ite volunteers carry their weapons during an intensive security deployment to fight against militants of the Islamic State.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723678/Thumbnail6097566410ax7q1409551342784.jpg-90x60.jpg)
PAUL MCGEOUGH The Prime Minister is right when he says that Australia’s escalating involvement in the Iraq conflict is nothing like 2003, when Australia joined the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. But if he means that Iraq 2014 somehow is less dangerous than it was 11 years ago, then that is not the case.
Philippine troops in 'greatest escape' from Syrian rebels in Golan Heights
![Philippine military chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang speaking after the peacekeepers' escape.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723550/Thumbnail6097545210awr51409587059406.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Jim Gomez and Ryan Lucas Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials said on Sunday.
Libyan armed faction takes over US Embassy annex in Tripoli
![A view of an annex of the US embassy in Tripoli.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723216/Thumbnail6096975210av3g1409586960298.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick Members of a Libyan militia have taken over an abandoned annex of the US Embassy in Tripoli but have not broken into the main compound where the United States evacuated all of its staff last month, US officials say.
Israel claims land in West Bank
![Israeli women walk in a Jewish settlement known as Gvaot, in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723085/Thumbnail6097177410au6k1409556005151.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Isabel Kershner Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 400 hectares of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem - a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area - defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion and challenging world opinion.
Ebola claims 1552 lives, infects 3062
![Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare for the disposal of an abandoned dead Ebola victim in Monrovia.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5723006/Thumbnail6097133410adtj1409587005831.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Nigeria has confirmed a fresh case of Ebola in a doctor whose husband died from the virus, adding to a growing list of healthcare workers in West Africa hit by the epidemic.
Privacy
Microsoft refuses warrant to hand over customer's emails
![Outlook email Microsoft](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5722815/Thumbnail60970365zzafc1409528835675.png-90x60.png)
Jonathan Stempel A US judge on Friday lifted a suspension on her order directing Microsoft to turn over a customer's emails stored overseas to US prosecutors, but the software company said it won't.
US launches new air strikes on Islamic State rebels
![The wreckage of a Humvee used by the Islamic State militants.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5722781/Thumbnail6097009910asuv1409530486665.jpg-90x60.jpg)
The US military has launched new strikes on Islamic State forces in Iraq near the Mosul Dam and the town of Amerli.
British Speaker to front MPs over controversial recommendation of Australian Carol Mills as clerk of the House
![Department of Parliamentary Services Secretary Carol Mills has been recommended to take up a post in Britain as clerk of its lower House.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5722508/Thumbnail6096887210art21409522946850.jpg-90x60.jpg)
British parliamentary Speaker John Bercow will face MPs on Monday for the first time since a row erupted over his recommended candidate for the post of clerk of the House.
Vladimir Putin talks 'statehood' for south-eastern Ukraine as Kiev's ships attacked
![Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a globe presented him as a gift during his meeting with participants in the youth educational forum near Lake Seliger in Russia.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5722421/Thumbnail6096861710arp81409580140950.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Kateryna Choursina, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Ewa Krukowska Pro-Russian rebels attacked two Ukrainian coastal guard vessels for the first time, just hours after European Union governments agreed to impose new sanctions on Russia if the conflict worsens.
Parents of brain tumour boy Ashya King to face Spanish judge
![Ashya King, 5. the British boy who is suffering with a severe brain tumour.](http://web.archive.org./web/20140902032530im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2014/09/01/5722407/Thumbnail6096857110all91409515929591.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Elodie Cuzin The parents of a five-year-old British boy with a brain tumour who was taken from hospital without medical consent and found in Spain are set to appear before a Spanish judge.