Britain: A “poo bus”, which runs on human and household waste, goes into regular service this month. Powered by biomethane gas, the Bio-Bus will use waste from more than 32,000 households along its 24km route.

IT is tragic but not unexpected that the ceasefire agreed between France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia last week seems as ineffective as earlier agreements made in efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine.

A top-level summit to discuss the crisis in Ukraine is being planned for the coming week.

As ceremonies held in recent weeks to mark the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Soviet troops at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland reminded us, a united Europe, one that gives members a common purpose and something approaching parity of esteem for all its peoples, is a relatively new concept.

The Russian rouble has fallen by more than 3% after escalated fighting in eastern Ukraine over the weekend.

Signs have emerged pointing to a major offensive in eastern Ukraine by rebels fighting to break off from the rest of the country.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed when a city bus was hit by an artillery shell in a separatist stronghold in east Ukraine.

Government troops and Russian-backed separatists have largely suspended hostilities in east Ukraine in a fresh attempt to revive a largely ignored ceasefire deal.

French president Francois Hollande has met Russian leader Vladimir Putin during an impromptu visit to Moscow in a rare display of goodwill amid high tensions over the ongoing conflict in east Ukraine and France’s decision to suspend the delivery of two warships to Russia.

President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for worsening relations with Russia since the Ukraine crisis and said Moscow would not allow itself to become internationally isolated behind another ‘Iron Curtain’.

Russian president Vladimir Putin made an early exit yesterday from a two-day summit of world leaders where he was roundly criticised over Russia’s escalating aggression in Ukraine, but brushed off suggestions that he had felt pressured.

Shelling in rebel-held parts of east Ukraine killed at least 12 civilians as a top leader of pro-Russian rebels rejected Ukrainian legislation meant to end the unrest by granting self-rule to large swathes of the east.

Ukraine is “still in a state of war” with neighbouring Russia despite a cease-fire between Kiev’s forces and Moscow-backed rebels in the east, the country’s prime minister said shortly after a second convoy of Russian trucks rolled into Ukraine.

Crash investigators will publish a preliminary report tomorrow on the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine.

A border guard vessel has been attacked by land-based forces, Ukraine said, hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin called for immediate talks on a political solution to the crisis in the east of the country.

EU leaders sent a clear message to Russia to step back from the brink of war in Ukraine when they unanimously agreed to make Poland’s prime minister their chief.

A town in east Ukraine has come under shellfire by pro-Russian rebels amid fears they are launching a counter-offensive on government-held parts of the region.

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine are meeting for their first bilateral talks at a much-anticipated summit in Minsk, which many voiced hopes may help bring an end to fighting between Kiev’s forces and pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.

The range of sanctions that come into force today against Russia chosen by the EU and the US have been very carefully balanced to impact as little as possible on their national interests.

Another 21 bodies have been found in the sprawling fields of east Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed last week, killing all 298 people on board.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the "last chance saloon" over the Ukraine crisis, but appears to be doing little to get out of it.

President Vladimir Putin has asked Moscow’s parliament to cancel a resolution sanctioning the use of military force in Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies.

Senior Russian parliamentarians urged Ukraine to sack its foreign minister for calling President Vladimir Putin a "dickhead" during a violent protest outside Russia’s embassy in Kiev.

Hundreds of armed insurgents have attacked a border guards’ camp in eastern Ukraine leaving at least five rebels dead, a spokesman for the guards said.

President Vladimir Putin flew in to Crimea yesterday for the first time since it was annexed by Moscow, proclaiming as he marked the Soviet victory in the Second World War that incorporating the former Ukrainian territory had made Russia stronger.

A pro-Russia insurgency in east Ukraine has decided to go ahead with a referendum on autonomy despite a call from Russian president Vladimir Putin to delay the vote.

The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city has been shot in the back and pro-Russian insurgents have seized more government buildings in the country as unrest continued.