The European Union and nato have condemned russia for sending an aid convoy into ukraine without proper clearance from kiev. Ukraine said moscows move amounts to an invasion. The Foreign Ministry in kiev says russia violated International Law by entering the country without permission. Russia rejects this, saying it is carrying out a humanitarian mission. The convoy had been waiting for clearance at the border for several days. A humanitarian aid convoy or the start of an invasion . The claims and accusations have been flying fast since around 100 russian trucks crossed the border into ukraine, despite kiev toss objections. Ukraines Prime Minister says his countrys sovereignty has been violated. Russias goal is ukraine itself. It cannot accept the fact that ukraine made the decision to sign and Association Agreement with the European Union. We are moving forward. We are part of europe. Thats where we are heading and where we will end up. Meanwhile, russias state media and local officials are reporting that the First Vehicles in the convoy have arrived in lujans luhansk, a rebel stronghold. The eu and u. S. Have condemned russias latest move, saying it runs counter to an agreement with the red cross. The icrc was to export the escort the convoy, but it backed out because of the volatile security situation. Kiev says neither its Customs Officials know the red cross know the contents of all the trucks and that the delivery is a ploy to resupply separatist forces. So far, moscow has ignored International Calls to withdraw. Our correspondent joins us now from kiev. Ukraine is talking tough, describing the convoy coming in as an invasion, but what can kiev do about it . I dont think that kiev can do much about it. Because if the Ukrainian Army tried to stop or to a attack the convoy, there would be a high risk that russia could use it as a pretext to into the ukrainian territory with regular troops, and that could lead to an escalation of the situation, something that no one here in kiev wants, so what kiev can do and what the Ukrainian Government does right now is to call upon the International Community to condemn russias action and hope that ukraine gets International Support to prevent a fullscale russian invasion. Ok, this convoy coming in, which is a slap in the face for kiev earlier in the week, it looked like the Ukrainian Military were pushing back the separatists. Are we seeing the momentum in this conflict changing now . At least that is what officials here in kiev fear. In the last days, as you said, the Ukrainian Army was reportedly gaining ground in the separatist strongholds of luhansk and donetsk, and many people i talk to assume that is the reason for russia to give the convoy the green light right now, to prevent the Ukrainian Army to continue its operation. At the same time, there are reports that russia is continuing to supply the separatists with weapons and military hardware, and there are reports that russia is directing its troops near the ukrainian border. Reports, we have to say it, which are very difficult to be confirmed from here. Thank you very much for that update. Well, what would a political solution for the ukraine conflict look like . Its hoped the leaders of russia and ukraine will try to answer that question when they sit down together tuesday in belarus. Petro poroshenko and Vladimir Putin are getting plenty of encouragement in the runup to their face to face meeting. As we heard in our report earlier, german chancellor Angela Merkel is traveling to kiev herself for talks with ukrainian president on saturday. The timing of the german chancellors visit to kiev is significant. Ukraine will celebrate its Independence Day on monday. On tuesday, president Petro Poroshenko is meeting russian president Vladimir Putin for direct talks. The German Government intends to show it is on ukraines side. The chancellor wants to send a very strong signal, saying that we support ukraines policy and that we are against the russian strategy of destabilization and frozen conflict. Despite their differences, merkel apparently remains able to get through to president putin. He seems to respect her as a tough but trustworthy negotiator who believes in compromise. Germany has long held a key role in the ukraine crisis as a mediator and as policy coordinator within the eu. The most important thing is for europe to have a united policy. Eu unity was important during the imposition of economic sanctions as preventing any split within europe remains extremely important. That is where germanys leadership role comes in. Merkel is backing poroshenko, but she is also pressing both him and pugin putin to find a political solution. Germany wants to get diplomacy back in gear. There are high hopes for the meeting between the russian and ukrainian leaders. For more analysis, we are joined by our political correspondent. John, what sort of message will chancellor merkel be delivering when she arrives in kiev . Of course, by going to kiev on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations in ukraine, she is sending a very strong signal, first of all, to poroshenko of support from germany and from the European Union. She will also be talking about material support. Ukraine is, of course, in a financial and Economic Disaster situation at the moment. She is also, though, going to be asking for something in return, i think, and that is for him and his government to calm down the rhetoric against russia ahead of poroshenkos meeting with putin on tuesday. She has also been in close telephone contact with president putin himself, and she telephoned today with him, and apparently, they discussed concrete steps that germany and russia could take to stop the fighting in Eastern Ukraine and to promote an internal dialogue. Her mission is very interesting. This is, of course, an international crisis, but germany is playing a prominent role in trying to solve it. Germanys relationship to russia has been strained since russias annexation of crimea and its alleged support for the russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, but germany still has a Good Relationship with russia, basically, i suppose based on the fact that germany is one of russias maitre Major Trading partners. It also happens to be the economic powerhouse of europe, and for its part, russia regards germany as having a permanent calling card, as it were, in moscow. Ukraine, on the other hand, of course, is in this pretty disastrous financial situation, as it said. It needs a Free Trade Agreement with europe more immediately than that, of course, it needs immediate Financial Economic help. Europe is prepared to give that, but it wants in return for it to behave as a member of the European Union or an associate member of the European Union is expected to behave. Thank you very much. The German Parliament will be holding a debate on whether to deliver weapons to iraq. Lawmakers agreed to the emergency session after talks in berlin on friday. In a major policy shift earlier this week, the government said it was ready to arm iraqi kurds to support their fight against Islamic State militants. Delivery could include advanced antitake missiles like this as well as other arms and munitions. So far, germany has only supplied humanitarian aid and nonlethal military equipment. Chancellor Angela Merkel has categorically ruled out putting german boots on the ground. A former u. K. Defense chief says it is likely that britain will eventually join the u. S. In carrying out air strikes on the militant islamic fighters in iraq. Lord Richard Dunne is said the move would be in britains strategic interests. Meanwhile, the u. S. Defense department has released footage showing what it says are two american airstrikes on Islamic State targets new the mobile dam and iraq. It says the strikes destroyed an armed truck as well as an armored personnel carrier and a machine gun and placement that was firing on iraqi units. Lets bring in our washington correspondent, richard walker. I understand that there is pressure building to intensify u. S. Military involvement in the campaign against the Islamic State and to possibly extend that into syria. What is the word from the pentagon . That pressure has certainly been building through the week, and especially since the killing of the american journalist james foley. Of course, there are growing hints from the Obama Administration just within the past 24 hours that something might the on the cards. It really began on thursday when the defense secretary chuck hagel gave a briefing to the media. In that briefing, he was asked about possible airstrikes in syria, whether they might be a possibility, and he said, all options were being explored, including airstrikes. We just heard from one of the white houses top security advisers, a man called ben rhodes, and he was saying that the u. S. Reserves the right to take action against anyone threatening its interest and saying, we are not going to be restricted by any borders. He referred in those comments to the killing of james foley as a terrorist attack, perhaps changing the terms of reference over the murder of that journalist earlier in the week. We have also had top military officials referring to that border it as something that is really nonexistent now and practice on the ground. Put all that together and certainly some hints that something might be on the cards. Moving into syria would be quite a step. Could the signal that the u. S. Is ready to change its policy in dealing with the assad regime . There have also been some calls along those lines. I think most prominently from a former british formers foreign secretary who said that it was necessary now to work with president assad against the Islamic State. This was put also to chuck hagel and that briefing yesterday, and he emphatically said no. He said that aside assad remains part of the problem, not part of the solution, but it is a measure of how much the middle east has changed over the past year, that almost exactly a year ago, president obama was considering airstrikes against assad. Now the middle east looks very different. Thanks for that analysis. So how is the group Islamic State managing to recruit so many young people, especially from western countries . We taken a closer look at some of the cases here in germany. Silvio is a german convert to islam. In a propaganda video for the Islamic State, he reaches out to wouldbe recruits in german. And his message is being heard. Islamic state videos often get thousands of cliques. They are professional recordings with pop video style editing designed to appeal to young people in particular. The Islamic State is very active online, especially on facebook, twitter, and youtube, and their efforts are paying off. Many of the groups members have come from western countries and are now fighting in serbia and iraq. This is another propaganda clip happy children carrying guns. The message of the video the next generation is ready and waiting. The Technology May be modern, but its ideology is not. The group imposes an extreme version of sharia law, banning cigarettes as well as alcohol. A voice offcamera says in german that nobody smokes there. The group has set up what it calls an islamic caliphate, stretching across parts of syria and iraq. The selfproclaimed leader all fighters are required to swear loyalty to him. Anyone who steps out of line faces the threat of death. Will be back in a minute with a look at the kickoff of the bundesliga season. Stay with us. Welcome back. We continue in the middle east where a hamas rocket attack has claimed the life of an israeli child. The fouryearold boy was killed near a kindergarten in the Southern Community close to the gaza strip. He was the fourth israeli civilian to be killed in the war since it began on july 8. Meanwhile, officials in gaza say more than 2000 palestinians have been killed, nearly a quarter of them children. In another development, hamas militants who control gaza suspect some of their fellow palestinians have been collaborating with the israelis, even helping them select targets for airstrikes. On friday, hamas publicly executed 18 alleged collaborators. The killings took place as israel continued its offensive. This is where some of the shootings took place. The radical Islamic Hamas Movement killed 18 palestinians it accused of collaborating with it says they gave the Israeli Defense forces information about the location of hamas leaders. The public executions were meant as a warning to others. The killings came after three hamas commanders were killed in israeli air strikes. Its not the first time the militants had carried out mass executions. We are very happy about the executions, even happier than when an israeli soldier is killed. Everyone who does something that is for bid and gets what he deserves. The palestinian territories have the death penalty. Executions must be approved by president mahmoud abbas. The Palestinian Center for human rights in gaza has criticized the killings. We are not for the death penalty. Meanwhile, is really airstrikes continue. The numbers of dead and injured continue to rise. Many other gazans have lost their homes. Friday morning, the israeli army said it had carried out 20 attacks on rocket launchers and weapons caches in the gaza strip. Business news now. Federal reserve chief janet yellen is giving away very few clues about their future course of u. S. Interest rates. At a central banking conference in jackson hole, wyoming, she said the u. S. Labor market was still hurting from the effects of the recession and that the fed should move cautiously. She is being closely watched for any shift in monetary policy. Most Analysts Expect the fed to raise its ultralow benchmark lending rates as it winds down its economic stimulus for the u. S. Economy. European shares dipped in friday trading, trimming their biggest weekly gains for six months. Our correspondent sent us this summary of fridays action from the frankfurt stock exchange. Politics is clearly back on the agenda after russia decided to send its aid convoy into the ukraine without the consent of the Ukrainian Government. The Ukrainian Government called that act a flagrant violation of International Law but also said that they have no plans on attacking it. Another big highlight for the day was the speech of janet yellen, the fed chair, which was taking place at the annual gathering of central bankers in jackson hole. Traders had hoped for more insight about win the fed is actually planning on hiking rates, but Jenny Janet Yellen disappointed on that, and she was just saying she is all her options open. In japan, heavy rain is hampering search and rescue efforts after a series of deadly landslides on wednesday. Torrents of mud swept down at least five valleys on the outskirts of hiroshima, burying dozens of homes. 40 people are confirmed dead with dozens more still unaccounted for. Local authorities fear the death toll could double. Digging with shovels is slow work in this tangle of roots, debris, and mud, but these are highly dangerous conditions. The slopes are already saturated by weeks of heavy rain, and rescue workers are aware they could easily trigger another landslide. We have to be extremely careful here as we are looking at a potential secondary disaster due to weather conditions, so, yes, we can say rescue and Search Operations are going through a difficult patch right now. A months worth of rain was dumped on this hillside in just a few hours, giving local residents little time to react. Only a day ago, police were reporting only seven missing, but that number has now risen to more than if the. It is common with disasters of this kind that the damage is greater than we first taught from initial reports. Even here at the site, it is still not possible to fully grasp the scope of the disaster, so the number of missing people keeps increasing. Authorities have issued evacuation orders for more than 4000 people and put another 160,000 on alert. Residents from nearby communities have been flocking to emergency shelters set up in local schools, fearing more waterlogged slopes could collapse. Everyone got scared. Even people at the base of the mountain fled here. But people here are also asking questions about why so many houses were allowed near unstable slopes and why the call to evacuate came so late. Some sports news now, and at the european swimming championships in berlin, adam pt of berlin has set a new world record in the 50meter restaurant, clocking 26. 62 seconds. Unbelievable. That is fast. Earlier this week, he won the gold medal in the 100meter breaststroke. He came ahead of his french teammate and the italian.