DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's rebels are surrounded and ready to agree to a cease-fire to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe," the insurgents' new leader said Saturday as conditions deteriorated in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, artillery thundering through deserted streets.

There was no immediate government response to the cease-fire statement. Ukrainian troops have made steady advances against the rebels in recent weeks.

"We are prepared to stop firing to bar the spread of the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in Donbass (eastern Ukraine)," Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the so-called prime minister of the Donetsk separatists, said in a statement on a rebel website.

His motive for offering a cease-fire was not clear but his comments could be aimed at increasing the pressure on Ukraine to allow in a Russian aid mission.

Russia, which the Ukrainian government in Kiev and Western countries allege is supporting the rebels, has called repeatedly for a humanitarian mission into eastern Ukraine. But Kiev and the West suggest that could be just a pretext to send Russian forces into the region — and say about 20,000 of them have gathered just across the border.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a statement late Saturday saying that Ukraine is prepared to accept humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine. But he said the aid must come in without military accompaniment, it must pass through border checkpoints under Ukrainian control and the mission must be international in character.

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A local woman stands on her damaged balcony after morning shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Satu …

Poroshenko said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed German participation in such a mission.

In Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama and Merkel agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine was unacceptable and would violate international law.

Artillery reverberated Saturday across Donetsk, home to nearly 1 million people before 300,000 fled the conflict.

"The situation is getting worse with every hour," Donetsk city council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky told The Associated Press.

At least one person was killed and 18 wounded in shelling that hit about 30 apartment blocks Saturday in Donetsk, he said, adding that about 2,000 residential buildings had no electricity.

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A communal worker removes a tree that was cut down by a shell after morning shelling in Donetsk, eas …

City streets were nearly empty of cars and pedestrians and most stores were closed. Explosions were also heard near Donetsk's airport.

Ukrainian officials have consistently denied that their forces are shelling civilians, but the rebels dismiss that and claim the government is aiming to blame the insurgents for the increasing death and destruction. Ukraine says the rebels have deliberately put rocket launchers in populated areas.

Some say both sides are to blame.

"We're afraid of the Ukrainian army, which is firing on the city, and of the rebels of the Donetsk People's Republic, who are robbing and killing civilians," said Dmitry Andronov, a 47-year-old resident.

Zakharchenko's statement that the city was surrounded came hours after the rebels' top commander said Ukrainian forces had seized a key town, Krasnyi Luch, effectively cutting Donetsk and nearby territory off from the rest of the rebel-held east.

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Community workers remove a tree that was cut down by a shell after morning shelling in Donetsk, east …

"The Donetsk-Horlivka group of the fighters of Novorossiya is completely surrounded," Igor Girkin said on a rebel social media page.

Novorossiya, or "New Russia," is a term widely used by the rebels for the eastern area that seeks independence from the government in Kiev. Horlivka, where rebels and Ukrainian forces are also fighting, is 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Donetsk.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military operation, Andriy Lysenko, told reporters Saturday that he could not confirm that Krasnyi Luch was under government control.

Concerns were also rising about a possible humanitarian catastrophe in the rebel's second-largest city of Luhansk, where fighting has been heavier and more prolonged. A map released by the Ukrainian military showed Ukrainian forces near the outskirts of Luhansk on three sides, with an opening to other rebel-held territory only to the south.

Russian news agencies quoted Luhansk authorities as saying Saturday that the city has been without water and electricity for a week and most of its stores were closed.

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A local woman walks past a tree that was cut down by a shell after morning shelling in Donetsk, east …

Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron also spoke by telephone on Saturday about Ukraine.

"Both expressed grave concern about reports that Russian military vehicles have crossed the border into Ukraine and that Russian armed forces are exercising for a 'humanitarian intervention'," said a statement from Cameron's office. Both "are absolutely clear that such a so-called humanitarian mission would be unjustified and illegal."

The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Valeriy Chalyi, said Saturday that Russian forces wanted to enter Ukraine under the guise of a humanitarian mission but Ukraine had blocked the move.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the report, saying "there was no attempt by Russian soldiers at penetration," according to Russian news agencies. But he reiterated Russia's call for humanitarian action, saying "this catastrophe now is the No. 1 theme for discussion."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was working to alleviate the crisis in eastern Ukraine but warned that any Red Cross aid convoy "will be taken in strict adherence to our fundamental working principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence."

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Ukrainian government soldiers drive their tank with a Ukrainian national flag in Donetsk region, eas …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in a telephone interview about his communications with the Red Cross about efforts to distribute humanitarian aid, the White House said.

A White House statement said Biden and Poroshenko agreed that if "Russia were serious about improving the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine," it had to immediately stop shelling Ukrainian troops, release Ukrainian hostages being held inside Russia and cease providing weapons to pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine.

In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, city workers and volunteers removed the last of the barricades that had blocked the city's main street since anti-government protests began in November.

Protesters had erected the barricades to protect a sprawling tent camp on the city's main square. Although the camp's size dwindled sharply after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in February and a new government came to power, a determined core of demonstrators remained.

Yanukovych's ouster precipitated the crisis in Ukraine's east, which was his support base. Fighting began in April, after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine's Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula.

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Peter Leonard in Kiev, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Ukraine rebels open to cease-fire

Pro-Russian separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko says his forces want to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
'Situation is getting worse'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says American jet fighters and drones have conducted four more airstrikes on Islamic militants in Iraq, taking out armored carriers and a truck that were firing on civilians.

U.S. Central Command says the Islamic State militants were firing on Yazidi civilians taking shelter in the Sinjar mountains. In a statement, the military says the militants were firing on civilians indiscriminately.

Central Command says the strikes near Sinjar were spread out, with three before noon Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday and one about 3 p.m.

The military says indications suggest that the strikes were successful in destroying the armored vehicles.

This is the third round of airstrikes against Islamic State forces by the U.S. military since they were authorized by President Barack Obama.

U.S. conducts more airstrikes on Iraqi militants

Jet fighters and drones take out armored carriers and a truck, U.S. Central Command says.
Obama's strategy

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian negotiators threatened to quit Egyptian-brokered Gaza war truce talks Sunday unless Israeli negotiators return to Cairo — the latest sign of the vast gaps between the sides on a new border deal for the blockaded territory.

As the talks stalled, Israel responded to rocket fire from Gaza with at least 20 airstrikes, killing a 14-year-old boy and two other Palestinians, Gaza officials said.

Israeli officials have said their negotiators, who left Egypt on Friday, only will return if the rocket fire from Gaza stops.

"Israel will not negotiate under fire," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, warning his country's military campaign "will take time."

Hamas has refused to extend a temporary truce that helped launch the Cairo talks last week, saying it wants guarantees from Israel first that Gaza's borders will open. Israel and Egypt have enforced the blockade, to varying degrees, since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

Since the truce expired Friday, smaller Gaza militant groups — though not Hamas, according to claims of responsibility — have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at Israel, including two on Sunday.

"If Hamas thinks it has worn us down, it is wrong," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said. "We will return to the table only after an end to the fire. ... We are not intending to compromise."

The diplomatic standoff, coupled with the ongoing cross-border attacks, signaled that a broader deal for battered Gaza, as envisioned by the international community, likely will remain elusive.

Israel has said it will not open Gaza's borders unless militant groups, including Hamas, disarm. Hamas has said handing over its weapons arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable.

Various ideas have been raised to end Gaza's isolation, including deploying international inspectors at all crossings to address Israeli security concerns about smuggling weapons and militants. Europe has floated the idea of a link between ports in Gaza and Cyprus, with inspectors at both ends checking people and cargo.

Palestinian officials have said that Israel has so far rejected such proposals.

Instead, one proposal circulated by the Egyptian mediators over the weekend offered an easing of some of the restrictions, according to Palestinian negotiators who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss internal deliberations with journalists. It was not clear if this was an Egyptian or an Israeli proposal.

Palestinian negotiators said they rejected the ideas, insisting on a complete end to the blockade. The Palestinian team includes Hamas officials and representatives of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, from whom Hamas took Gaza in 2007.

On Sunday, Palestinian negotiators vented their frustration about the lack of progress and the absence of the Israeli team.

Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the delegation and a confidant of Abbas, said the Palestinian team would leave Sunday evening if it becomes apparent that the Israeli counterparts will not return.

"If it is proven to us that the Israeli delegation is setting conditions for its return to Cairo, we will not accept any condition for the continuation of the talks," he said.

Palestinian negotiator Bassam Salhi, who represents a small PLO faction, said the team met late Saturday with Egyptian mediators. In the meeting, the Palestinians were told that Egypt is in touch with Israeli officials and hopes to make progress, Salhi said.

"We told the Egyptians that if the Israelis are not coming and if there is no significant development, we are leaving today," he said Sunday.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Gaza war erupted on July 8, following weeks of escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas.

Israel launched an air campaign on the coastal territory, sending in ground troops nine days later to target rocket launchers and cross-border tunnels built by Hamas for attacks inside Israel.

Israel has targeted close to 5,000 sites, the army has said, while Gaza militants have fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli aircraft hit about 20 targets, the army said.

Gaza officials said a 14-year-old boy was killed and four people were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the central town of Deir al Balah. One woman was killed and eight family members were wounded in a strike on a home in the southern town of Bani Suheila, and a man was killed in a separate strike, on a house in the Jebaliya refugee camp, they said.

Navy gunboats fired at the Gaza fishing port, and fire erupted in the building where fishermen store their equipment, police said.

Gaza's civilians, especially children, have paid a steep price.

Of more than 1,900 people killed, at least 450 were children, according to Palestinian health officials. Children also made up almost one-third of close to 10,000 wounded. More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving some 65,000 people homeless, according to U.N. estimates. Tens of thousands fled fighting in the border areas, including heavy Israeli tank shelling, and are staying in crowded U.N. shelters.

In the West Bank, vandals torched a car Sunday in the Palestinian village of Kafr Yasuf and sprayed Hebrew graffiti that read "price tag," Israeli police said. The phrase is commonly used by a small group of mostly teenage Jewish extremists in attacks on Palestinians or their property. Such acts have been widely condemned by Israeli leaders.

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Laub reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Palestinians to quit Gaza talks if Israel no-show

Border discussions are in doubt as Palestinian negotiators insist Israeli officials return to Cairo.
Israel's stance

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. Some 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added.

"We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," Sudani told Reuters.

Sinjar is the ancient home of the Yazidis, one of the towns captured by the Sunni militants who view the community as "devil worshipers".

"Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar," Sudani said.

The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Arbil.

The Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are spread over northern Iraq and are part of the country's Kurdish minority.

A deadline passed at midday on Sunday for 300 Yazidi families to convert to Islam or face death at the hands of the Islamic State. It was not immediately clear whether the Iraqi minister was talking about the fate of those families or others in the conflict.

The militant group, which arrived in northern Iraq in June, has routed Kurds in its latest advance, seizing several towns, a fifth oilfield and Iraq's biggest dam - possibly gaining the ability to flood cities and cut off water and power supplies.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Alison Williams)

Missouri crowd after shooting: 'Kill the police'

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The fatal shooting of a black teenager by police sent hundreds of angry residents out of their apartments Saturday in a St. Louis suburb, igniting shouts of "kill the police" during a confrontation that lasted several hours.

A St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP called for the FBI to look into the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis.

Brown's grandmother, Desiree Harris, said she saw him running in her neighborhood Saturday afternoon when she passed him in her car. Just minutes later, after she returned home, she heard a commotion and went outside to check on it. Less than two blocks away, she found Brown's body.

"He was running this way," she said. "When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn't tell me nothing."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported several distraught relatives were outside talking with neighbors, including Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, and stepfather, Louis Head. Head held a sign that read: "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!"

A spokesman with the St. Louis County Police Department, which is investigating the shooting at the request of the local department, confirmed a Ferguson police officer shot the man. The spokesman didn't give the reason for the shooting. St. Louis County police said a large crowd confronted officers following the shooting, yelling such things as "kill the police."

John Gaskin, a member of the St. Louis County NAACP, said the FBI should get involved "to protect the integrity of the investigation." He alluded to the 2012 racially-charged shooting of a 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was subsequently acquitted of murder charges, as well as the death of a New York man from a police chokehold after he was confronted for selling individual cigarettes on the street.

"With the recent events of a young man killed by the police in New York City and with Trayvon Martin and with all the other African-American young men that have been killed by police officers ... this is a dire concern to the NAACP, especially our local organization," Gaskin said.

Gaskin said officials in the organization spoke with St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, who told them teenager had been shot twice.

By early Saturday night, dozens of police cars remained parked near the shooting scene as mourners left votive candles, rose petals, a large stuffed animal and other remembrances at a makeshift memorial in the middle of the street. At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police at the scene called for about 60 other police units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents, about two-thirds of whom are black.

Harris said her grandson had recently graduated high school and was looking forward to the future, including possibly attending college.

"My grandson never even got into a fight," she said. "He was just looking forward to getting on with his life. He was on his way."

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told the Post-Dispatch that the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.

"We are hoping for calm and for people to give us a chance to conduct a thorough investigation," Jackson said.

Gaskin said the angry crowd was reacting to a "trauma."

"Anytime you have this type of event that's taken place, emotions are going to run high," he said. "But for 600 people to gather around an area to see where a man is lying in the street, that means something happened that should have not happened."

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Associated Press writer Maria Sudekum contributed from Kansas City, Missouri.

Rage in Missouri over fatal shooting by police

The death of a black teenager near St. Louis prompts a confrontation between residents and officers.
Shouts of 'kill the police'