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It was always a case of not if but when. What’s surprising is that it has taken this long for Denmark to be scarred by a fatal terror attack.

In September it will be 10 years since the Jyllands Posten newspaper inflamed the Muslim world with the publication of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including one of him with a bomb in his turban.

The country has been perpetually vigilant since 2005, after its embassies in the Middle East were burned, and Danish exports threatened.

Kurt Westergaard, the 79-year-old cartoonist who drew the seminal turban caricature, has spent the past decade living under a death fatwa (religious ruling). He narrowly escaped an attempt to kill him at home, and had to lock himself into a panic room when a Somali militant broke into his home in the city of Aarhus.

He continues to live under police protection.

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The Italian coastguard has rescued more than 2,000 migrants in a major operation off the Libyan coast, officials say.

During the rescue, search teams were threatened by Kalashnikov-wielding men who approached in a speedboat from Libya, Italian officials said.

Last week, at least 300 migrants perished in the Mediterranean Sea.

They were travelling in dinghies that ran into trouble during stormy weather after leaving the coast of Libya.

On Friday another 600 migrants were rescued about 50 miles (80km) off the coast of the North African country.

The latest rescue effort on Sunday involved a plane, four coastguard ships, two tugboats and a navy vessel, according to the AFP news agency.

Local media reported that the migrants had been aboard 12 boats and had been taken to Italy.

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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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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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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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