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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian military official says the bodies of 87 soldiers have been retrieved from southeastern Ukraine. Russian-backed rebels routed Ukrainian forces in the region over the past week, forcing them into retreat. Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing a peace plan, calling on the rebels to stop "advancing" and urging Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the region. Ahead of a NATO summit, President Barack Obama is blasting Moscow, casting its aggression in Ukraine as a threat to peace in Europe.
JERUSALEM (AP) — A spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry is confirming that slain journalist Steven Sotloff was also an Israeli citizen. The 31-year-old Florida native freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, but disappeared in Syria more than a year ago. Yesterday, the Islamic State group released a video showing Sotloff being beheaded. President Barack Obama is vowing to build a coalition to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State group, saying the United States will not be intimidated by the militants.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says thousands of refugees are fleeing northeastern Nigeria into Cameroon to escape the militant group Boko Haram (BOH'-koh hah-RAHM'). The U.N. says villagers in Cameroon have also been abandoning their homes after the Islamic extremist militants began launching attacks last week. In one instance they slit the throats of three people in a Catholic church. Boko Haram is pursuing a new strategy to hold territory it is calling an Islamic caliphate.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The president of a missionary group is providing more details about the latest American aid worker to contract Ebola. SIM President Bruce Johnson says Dr. Rick Sacra returned to Liberia about a month ago after another doctor and a missionary became ill with the deadly virus. Johnson says Sacra wasn't caring for Ebola patients but was delivering babies at the missionary group's hospital when he fell ill. It's not known whether the doctor will return to the U.S. for treatment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of unaccompanied children caught illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States continues to drop. Officials of the Customs and Border Protection agency say agents apprehended 3,129 child immigrants in August. Homeland Security says agents were finding more than 2,000 children a week in June. Since Oct. 1, more than 66,000 children have been found illegally crossing the border by themselves. Most are from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
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