An amended ceasefire-deal was signed between the Ukrainian government and separatist militants amidst shelling and explosions in eastern Ukraine on Saturday morning.

Under the new cease-fire agreement, both sides are not permitted to advance beyond the positions that they held on Friday and are expected to move all heavy artillery 9 miles away from their front lines, reports the New York Times.

Scotland has voted to stay within the United Kingdom in a referendum on independence held Thursday, with 55% voting "No" to Scotland becoming an independent country and  45% voting "Yes".

The final vote which came in shortly after 8am Friday morning, 2,001,926 votes for the "No" campaign and 1,617,999 votes for the Yes campaign. 

Two former Bosnian Serb police officials have been charged over their role in the Srebrenica genocide by Bosnian prosecutors this week.

The two men, wartime police chief in Bratunac, Miodrag Josipovic and deputy commander of a Bratunac police station,  Branimir Tesic, were charged with "deliberately helping and supporting the main perpetrators of genocide."

The People’s Protection Units (YPG) warned of a genocide in the Kurdish enclave of Kobani in Syria, which is currently surrounded by Islamic State (IS) fighters.

The YPG, a group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has joined with other Syrian opposition groups to fight the IS militants, but has been unable to halt an advance which has seen IS capture 21 Kurdish villages in North-West Syria in less than 24 hours.

The Kurdish pocket in the Aleppo province of Syria is now under attack.

Redur Xelil, the YPG’s spokesperson said that “mobilisation in Kobani isn’t enough, the international community has to take action.”

The people of Scotland have begun voting in a historic referendum on whether the country should become independent.

The turnout is expected to be high, with an overwhelming 97% of the electorate (over 4.2 million people) having registered to vote.

Voters will be asked to state "yes" or "no" to the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

The polling booths, which opened at 7am will remain open until 10pm. All those in a queue at 10pm will be allowed to cast their votes. The result is expected early on Friday morning, following the counting of votes which will take place in 32 of Scotland's local authorities.

Recent polls have put the referendum results on a knife edge, with the Yes campaign only two points behind despite pledges of ever increasing devolution and autonomy by all three main pro-unionist parties if Scotland votes no.

In an eleventh hour intervention the acclaimed Scottish tennis champion, Andy Murray, expressed his tacit support to the Yes campaign in a tweet posted late yesterday. Murray, who lives mainly in Surrey, will not be able to vote himself.

Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this! — Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 18, 2014

Meanwhile the US President Barack Obama urged Scots to stay within the union, in a signed tweet posted yesterday.

The UK is an extraordinary partner for America and a force for good in an unstable world. I hope it remains strong, robust and united. -bo — The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 17, 2014

The French president today said that he had agreed to the Iraqi government’s request for air support to fight Islamic State militants.

French air strikes would only target the IS positions in Iraq and not Syria Francis Hollande told reporters on Thursday.

“Our goal is to pursue peace and security in Iraq by weakening the terrorists. We won’t go beyond that. There will be no troops on the ground and we will intervene only in Iraq,” Hollande is quoted by the BBC as saying.

The Governor of California signed a bill on Thursday that will see teaching on the Armenian genocide brought into public schools across the state.

Governor Jerry Brown signed the Armenian Genocide Education Act which will see survivor and witness testimony incorporated into the teaching of human rights across public schools. The bill will also encourage more professional development activities and resource development for teachers to educate their pupils about the genocide.

US President Barack Obama pledged to send 3,000 military personnel to West Africa in an attempt to combat the outbreak of the Ebola virus, as he warned the epidemic was “spiralling out of control.”

In remarks delivered to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the US President called the outbreak a “potential threat to global security”, adding