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BBC news 2014-09-02

BBC News with Natalia Rolleston

Ukraine's defence minister has warned that Russia has begun a full-scale military intervention in Ukraine after his troops were forced to withdraw from Luhansk airport in the east. Valeriy Heletey said Russian forces were behind the latest offensives by separatist rebels in Luhansk and Donetsk, and said the Kremlin had brought war to his country. Moscow denies sending soldiers into Ukraine. Steve Rosenberg has been following developments from Moscow.

In eastern Ukraine today Ukrainian troops lost more ground to pro-Moscow forces. They pulled back from the strategically important airport in Luhansk and from the town of Gueorguievka. And yet only a few days ago it seemed that Kiev had the upper hand in this conflict and was close to defeating the militants. Kiev accuses Moscow of sending in Russian troops and armoured columns to bolster the separatist rebels. Moscow denies sending troops into Ukraine and claims that rebel gains there are simply the result of a successful counter-offensive.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it is now clear that the conflict in eastern Ukraine has never been internal but one between Russia and Ukraine, and warned that Berlin was prepared to impose new sanctions on Moscow even if they hurt the German economy. The country's President Joachim Gauck meanwhile said Russia had ended its partnership with Europe by seeking to impose what he called a new order on the continent.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has agreed to send an emergency mission to Iraq to investigate violations committed by Islamic State fighters.  Meeting in Geneva, the council condemned abuses by the militants, saying they may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Chaloka Beyani, a UN special rapporteur on human rights, warned of a genocide if the humanitarian situation in Iraq is ignored.

"While some of the most horrific reports emerging from Iraq remain to be verified, many of the warning boxes have already been ticked. We join our voices to those who have stressed that atrocities by Isil currently ongoing in Iraq appear to amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and reveal a real risk of genocide."

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a series of new measures to deal with citizens planning to travel abroad to fight with extremist groups. Here's our political correspondent Rob Watson.

The government already has the power to deny a citizen a passport. Now police will have the ability to confiscate them at the airport if someone is suspected of heading off to fight in Syria or Iraq. The Prime Minister David Cameron also announced a tightening of controls on terrorism suspects' movements within Britain. But the controversial idea of stopping British nationals from returning home after fighting abroad now seems unlikely.

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The United States has requested the immediate release of three of its citizens currently detained in North Korea. The State Department asked for the release of Kenneth Bae, Jeffrey Fowle and Mathew Miller out of humanitarian concern. The three men have appealed to Washington to secure their release.

On the final day of the football's international transfer window Manchester United has so far been the biggest spender. According to Fifa the five major leagues have already exceeded the $2bn spent on transfers last year. Our sports correspondent Alex Capstick has the details.

Anxious for success and with pockets bulging from an improved broadcast deal, the clubs have splashed the cash at record levels, and as United's unexpected swoop to sign on loan the prolific Colombian striker Radamel Falcao from Monaco, which has dominated the headlines so far today. As the clock ticks down to 11pm when business must cease other switches are likely, then a nervous wait for managers like United's new boss Louis van Gaal, owners and fans to discover whether or not the money has been wisely spent.

Spain has returned to Colombia nearly 700 indigenous artefacts produced before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in the 16th century. The items of huge cultural and archaeological value had been smuggled to Spain by men involved with the Colombian drug cartels. They were seized in a police operation 10 years ago, but the Colombian government only won the legal right to have the items repatriated in June.

A series of grooves carved into the wall of a cave in Gibraltar may be proof that Neanderthals, the extinct cousins of modern humans, were more creative and intelligent than previously thought. According to new research the marks, which look like a Stone Age version of the Twitter Hashtag, were about 40,000 years old. Scientists say they are significant because that they show that Neanderthals were capable of abstract thought just like modern humans.

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