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Fighting Continues In Eastern Ukraine After Ceasefire

Fighting is continuing in eastern Ukraine more than a day after a ceasefire was supposed to take effect.

The Ukrainian military command said the pro-Russian rebels had attacked 112 times since early Sunday, mostly in the bitterly contested Debaltseve area.

A Ukrainian officer said there was also fighting near Mariupol, a port city.

The rebels accused Ukrainian forces of shelling Donetsk airport. Meanwhile, further EU sanctions against Russia have gone into effect.

The new sanctions list targets 19 officials – most of them in the pro-Russian separatist strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, but also two Russian deputy defence ministers and a Russian celebrity singer and MP, Iosif Kobzon.

Armed separatist groups are also targeted, including a Cossack formation. Those listed are now subject to visa bans and asset freezes across the EU.

Russia is accused of fomenting the revolt in eastern Ukraine and giving the separatists reinforcements and heavy weapons. Russia denies doing so, but admits that Russian “volunteers” are fighting there.

In the past 24 hours, five Ukrainian soldiers died in fighting at Shirokyne, near Mariupol, the Ukrainian military said.

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Kapersky Reports $1bn Stolen In Cyber Theft

Up to 100 banks and financial institutions worldwide have been attacked in an “unprecedented cyber robbery”, claims a new report.

Computer security firm Kaspersky Lab estimates $1bn (£648m) has been stolen in the attacks, which it says started in 2013 and are still ongoing.

A cybercriminal gang with members from Russia, Ukraine and China is responsible, it said.

Kaspersky said it worked with Interpol and Europol on the investigation.

It said the attacks had taken place in 30 countries including financial firms in Russia, US, Germany, China, Ukraine and Canada.

“These attacks again underline the fact that criminals will exploit any vulnerability in any system,” said Sanjay Virmani, director of Interpol’s digital crime centre.

Kaspersky said the gang’s methods marked a new stage in cyber robbery where “malicious users steal money directly from banks and avoid targeting end users”.

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UK Growth Forecast Upgraded By Confederation Of British Industry

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) business lobby group has upgraded its forecast for the UK’s economic growth this year.

The CBI now expects the UK economy to expand by 2.7% in 2015, compared with its November forecast of 2.5%.

It credited a combination of low inflation and improvements in employment for the increase.

However, it warned that “volatility” in the eurozone, including Greece and Ukraine, was a risk to growth.

The CBI said increased household spending, thanks in part to low inflation boosting pay, as well as wage growth finally picking up would help to drive growth.

It also forecast a 5.8% increase in business investment.

It said firms had more to spend because the sharp drop in oil prices had helped to lower their operating costs leaving more space for investment, but said North Sea companies had been hurt by the drop.

“While lower oil prices are keeping costs down for businesses and consumers, the North Sea oil companies are suffering, harming jobs and investment in the industry,” said Katja Hall, CBI deputy director-general.

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Two Charged In Copenhagen Attacks

Danish police have accused two men of helping the gunman who murdered two people in separate attacks in Copenhagen.

The suspected gunman, named by Danish media as Omar El-Hussein, 22, was shot dead by police after he attacked a free speech debate and a synagogue.

A film director and a Jewish man were killed and five police wounded.

The two men are charged with providing and disposing of the weapon, as well as with helping the gunman to hide.

Michael Juul Eriksen, a defence lawyer for one of the men, said they denied the charges.

The suspects, who have not been named, appeared in a closed custody hearing on Monday.

Omar El-Hussein, the Danish national suspected of carrying out Saturday’s attacks, was known to police and had convictions for violent offences and dealing in weapons.

El-Hussein was released from prison two weeks before the attacks after reportedly serving a two-year sentence for grievous bodily harm.

Michael Gjorup, head of the country’s prison and probation service, told Danish media that authorities were concerned about changes in El-Hussein’s behaviour in prison and passed on information to Danish intelligence before the attack.

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IS Bombed In Libya By Egypt After Beheadings Of 21 Christians

Egypt says it has bombed Islamic State targets in Libya, hours after the group published video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians.

State TV said the dawn strikes had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas.

Libyan officials said Egypt had hit targets in the militant-held city of Derna in co-ordination with Libya.

A video emerged on Sunday showing militants forcing a group of men to the ground and decapitating them.

IS militants claim to have carried out several attacks in Libya, which is in effect without a government.

The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized in separate incidents in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, under the control of Islamist groups.

The video of the beheadings was posted online by Libyan jihadists who pledge loyalty to IS. It was one of the first such videos to come from an IS group outside its core territory in Syria and Iraq.

The video describes the Copts as “crusaders” and refers among other things to two women, wives of Coptic priests, whose alleged conversion to Islam triggered a sectarian dispute in Egypt in 2010.

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