Timeline: Deadliest stampedes

Thousands of people have died in recent years in stampedes, many of them at religious festivals. Here are some of the most deadly:

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThere have been several stampedes in the past two decades in Mina during the Hajj pilgrimage

24 September 2015, Mina, Saudi Arabia

More than 700 people taking part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage die in a stampede near Mecca. Two million people had converged on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil in the Hajj's last major rite. Some 450 people were injured.

14 October 2013, Madhya Pradesh, India

At least 115 people die in a stampede near the Ratangarh temple after panic broke out on a bridge. Hundreds of thousands had gathered for the Hindu festival of Navatri.

14 January 2011, Kerala, India

More than 102 pilgrims are crushed to death while returning from the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala. The shrine is in a remote, mountainous, area of dense forests.

22 November 2010, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

More than 375 people die in a stampede on a bridge on the Tonle Sap river during celebrations of the annual Water Festival. Prime Minister Hun Sen described the stampede as the "biggest tragedy" to hit Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge.

30 September 2008, Rajasthan, India

More than 220 people die in a stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple inside Jodhpur's famous Mehrangarh Fort.

3 August 2008, Himachal Pradesh, India

At least 140 people die in a stampede at a hilltop Hindu temple in northern India. A rain shelter on a mountain path to the Nainadevi temple collapsed in bad weather, causing panic. Dozens more pilgrims were hurt.

12 January 2006, Mina, Saudi Arabia

At least 364 die in a crush during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Officials say the stampede happened after pieces of luggage spilled from moving buses in front of one of the entrances to the bridge of Jamarat, causing pilgrims to trip.

31 August 2005, Baghdad, Iraq

Up to 1,000 Shia pilgrims are trampled to death or drown in the Tigris River after rumours of a suicide bombing sparked panic. Many of the dead are women and children.

25 January 2005, Maharashtra, India

Up to 300 Hindu pilgrims die in a stampede during a Hindu pilgrimage to the remote Mandhar Devi temple. Many pilgrims are crushed and burned to death as fires in roadside stalls force crowds into a narrow stairway leading to the hilltop temple.

1 February 2004, Mina, Saudi Arabia

Some 251 pilgrims are trampled to death in a 27-minute stampede during the Hajj. Officials say many of the victims were not authorised to participate in the Stoning of Satan ritual, after new procedures were introduced following previous stampedes.

9 May 2001, Accra, Ghana

Some 126 die at the Accra Sports Stadium after a match between rival teams Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. The Ghanaian police are blamed by many survivors for causing the stampede by firing tear gas in the packed and locked stadium, after angry demonstrations by fans of the losing side.

9 April 1998, Mina, Saudi Arabia

At least 118 pilgrims die and more than 180 are hurt during the Stoning of Satan ritual. The pilgrims, mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, are trampled to death after panic erupts when several people fall off an overpass.

2 July 1990, Saudi Arabia

Some 1,426 pilgrims, mostly Malaysians and Indonesians, die in a huge crush in a tunnel leading to Mecca's holy sites. The authorities say most died of asphyxiation after the tunnel's ventilation system broke down.

IS conflict: France launches air strikes in Syria

French planes had hit targets identified during reconnaissance missions over the past fortnight, the statement said, without giving details.France has carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, the president's office says.
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Image copyrightEPA

Image captionFrench jets have been flying reconnaissance missions over Syria to identify targets

The French prime minister said the strikes had hit IS "sanctuaries where those who attack France are trained".

A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.

France, like the UK, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace.

The UK announced earlier this month it had carried out a drone strike against two British citizens in Syria but has yet to fly manned operations in Syrian airspace.

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Analysis: Hugh Scholfield, BBC News, Paris

The French air strikes in Syria reflect the shifting emphasis in the war against the Islamic State. Before now, France said that international law prevented it from attacking targets in Syria, and it was adamant that it would do nothing to help - even indirectly - the Assad government.

But the situation has changed. France now says it has evidence that IS planned terror attacks against it from Syria - making air strikes against the militants legitimate under UN rules on self-defence.

The biggest change though is that France has swallowed hard and accepted that getting rid of Mr Assad is no longer the priority.

Paris will not ever say it too loudly - because it used to be the Syrian president's most outspoken opponent - but at the moment the fight against IS trumps everything else.

Assad's position

More than 200,000 Syrians have been killed since the country erupted into civil war in 2011. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been accused of killing tens of thousands of his own citizens with indiscriminate bombing in rebel-held areas.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted on Saturday that Mr Assad was "responsible for the current chaos" and could not stay in power as part of a peace deal.

"If we were to say to the Syrians that the future lies with Assad, then we will expose ourselves to failure," he told a news conference at the UN in New York.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron - along with US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande - has previously demanded that Mr Assad be removed from power as a condition of any peace deal, but he is expected to soften that position this week.

Mr Assad has a staunch ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin. In order to secure Russia's support in the fight against IS, Mr Cameron is expected to tell the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York that Mr Assad could remain temporarily in power at the head of a transitional government.

European leaders gathering at the UN are intensifying calls for a diplomatic push in Syria in the wake of a massive influx of refugees heading for Europe.

Approximately four million Syrians have fled abroad so far - the vast majority are in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan - and more are on the move.

The urgency of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict has also been reinforced by Russian military build-up in Syria in support of Mr Assad's regime.

And in an apparent further boost to Mr Assad's position, Iraq on Sunday announced that it had signed an agreement on security and intelligence co-operation with with Russia, Iran and Syria to help combat IS.

Syria conflict: Russia sends signal over future role in region

The airfield at Latakia in north-western Syria is the focus of the Russian effort.Despite Russian denials that anything unusual is going on, the evidence is building of a significant Russian logistical effort in Syria to back the Assad regime.

Image copyrightSyria Army

Image captionThe Syrian army has released images that appear to show new Russian military vehicles

Several heavy Antonov military transport aircraft have arrived there over recent days and two landing ships carrying vehicles and other equipment have docked at the port of Tartus where Russia maintains a small naval base.

Moscow insists on the one hand that it is supplying "humanitarian aid" to Syria; though equally it also admits that it is continuing its long-standing policy of arming President Bashar al-Assad's forces. And where Russian equipment goes, so too do Russian advisers and trainers.

But what is going on suggests activity of an altogether different scale.

In the contemporary world there is a range of "open-source" intelligence assets that help to betray the growing Russian presence. Civil satellite images, for example, show extensive expansion and re-building at the Latakia air base with the runway being widened along its length; new accommodation; a new control tower; and lots of new concrete hard-standing.

Image copyrightShonquis Böler/Bosphorus Naval News

Image captionA Russian landing ship has been seen sailing through the Bosphorus

Concrete is one of the more prosaic elements of military power but if you want to send aircraft to a location in large numbers and quickly, what you need is a surface on which they can be turned round, refuelled and sent on their way.

Landing ships carrying equipment to Syria have been spotted going through the narrow straits of the Bosphorus. YouTube images shows armoured fighting vehicles of types never before sold to the Syrians "in action" inside Syria.

Most bizarre of all in terms of operational security, "selfie" photos taken by Russian service personnel in Syria betray not just their presence but give some indication of the units from which they are drawn.

So that is what can be seen without the resources of a major intelligence service. But clearly Russia's activities have prompted a good deal of interest from the Americans.

Classic 'air bridge'

US spokesmen have urged the Russians to scale back their support for Mr Assad. And since these pleas have fallen on deaf ears, US officials are becoming rather less reticent on commenting on what they have seen of Russian activities on the ground.

So US sources are widely quoted as describing the presence of small numbers of Russian T-90 tanks in Syria, heavy artillery and mobile SA-22 air defences, though none of this has been independently verified.

That something of a Russian build-up is under way is not in doubt.

Russia is building its capabilities in Syria, but to what end? What is the purpose of all of this?

Determining President Vladimir Putin's intentions is no easy matter. What is clear though is that the scale of the Russian effort so far is insufficient to change the balance of forces on the ground.

Even if the additional equipment were all to be passed to the Syrian Army it might only give them a local advantage.

Image copyrightAP

Image captionRussia's President Putin has been a key ally of Bashar al-Assad's government

What is going on is more subtle and, for now, as much a signal as a demonstration of practical intent.

Russia is putting into place all of the elements to be able to operate a classic "air bridge" - establishing a secure base in Syria with the capacity to handle enough aircraft to allow for the rapid reinforcement of the Assad regime if needed.

Once established, such a base could perform other functions. There has been speculation that Moscow might at some stage want to deploy ground attack aircraft of its own. Russian troops - though many experts believe this is unlikely - might need to become directly engaged in the fighting. A secure airport at Latakia opens up a range of options.

More important still is the signal this all sends about Moscow's foreign policy ambitions and the role that it intends to play in Syria and the wider region. There was a time after the end of the Cold War when Russia's moribund navy never ventured into the Mediterranean and its foreign policy ambitions were greatly curtailed.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionSyria has taken delivery of Russian BTR-80 vehicles (foreground)

Today Mr Putin sees a much more expansive role for Russia and he sees his toehold in Syria on the coast at Tartus as providing the basis for a more significant foothold in the region.

Russia's backing for Mr Assad should be seen not as a vote of confidence in Syria's embattled president but as an investment in a country where Russia believes it can play out its foreign policy role.

Indeed, Mr Putin's military deployments signal that he will not let the Assad regime fall. This does not mean Mr Assad will be there forever. Russian diplomacy is working in tandem with its military policy exploring all avenues for reaching some sort of interim deal in which Mr Assad might stay on for at least the time being.

But Russia's horizons in Syria probably extend well beyond Mr Assad's active presence - a reflection of Russia's concerns about militant Islam and wider trends in the region and also its belief that western remedies in the Middle East have been an unmitigated disaster.

Russia's military deployments do though present some practical problems for the West, not least for Washington which has an active air campaign under way in Syrian air space.

What happens if Russia does begin to play a direct military role? Who will it be fighting - so-called Islamic State or all of Mr Assad's enemies, some of whom at least are allies of the West?

Up to now Syrian government forces have not tried to interfere with the US-led air campaign. But what problems might the presence of Russian-manned air defences lead to? Syria's grim and multifaceted civil war is just about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Republicans round on Donald Trump in 'Obama Muslim' row

Donald Trump is taking flak from fellow Republicans for not correcting a supporter who said US President Barack Obama was a Muslim and not American.

The businessman, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, has been strongly criticised by two of his Republican rivals.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr Trump acted inappropriately and he should apologise.

Mr Trump has cancelled his appearance at a big Republican event on Friday.

His campaign team said he was pulling out of the Heritage Foundation because of a "significant business transaction" that needed his attention.

The criticism has been piling up since a man at Mr Trump's rally in New Hampshire on Thursday night prefaced a question by saying Mr Obama was a Muslim and "not even an American".

The supporter went on to say: "We have a problem in this country - it's called Muslims."

Mr Trump let it go unchallenged and within a few hours, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said his failure to denounce "hateful rhetoric" was "disturbing and wrong".

And on Friday his Republican competitors for the nomination waded into the row.

"He's playing into this hateful narrative and he has to set it right," said Mr Graham, who said he would never question the president's faith or patriotism.

Leaders have an "obligation" to correct such statements, said New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

"If somebody at one of my town hall meetings said that, I would correct them and I would say, 'The president's a Christian and he was born in this country. Those two things are self-evident,'" said Mr Christie.

The White House also responded. Spokesman Josh Earnest said: "Mr Trump isn't the first Republican politician to countenance these views to gain votes."

Migrant crisis: Neighbours squabble after Croatia U-turn

Waves of migrants seeking to enter the EU from the south-east have been shunted from one border to another as governments disagree over the crisis.

Croatia reversed its open-door policy after 17,000 arrivals since Wednesday. It is now sending thousands of migrants north, angering Slovenia and Hungary.

Hungary, which is putting a fence on its border with Croatia, is reportedly sending new arrivals on to Austria.

Two EU crisis meetings will take place next week.

Many of the migrants are fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands began entering Croatia from Serbia this week after Hungary closed its Serbian border, and cut off the previous route north.

Croatia had initially said the migrants would be welcome, but on Friday it said it was overwhelmed and would not become a "migrant hotspot".

Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said that more than 17,000 migrants had arrived since Wednesday morning and that 3,000 had now crossed into Hungary.

Hungary reversed its stance from earlier in the week and let the new arrivals in.

One train carrying up to 1,000 migrants to Hungary was seized by authorities there and the driver arrested, the head of Hungary's disaster unit said, according to Reuters. Some 40 Croatian police were disarmed, the report said. Croatia later denied this and said the officers had returned to Croatia.

Hungary is now taking the migrants to two registration centres, close to the border with Austria.

Austria said it had no co-ordination with Hungary to take the migrants. It reserved the right to deny entry to migrants who did not request asylum because they wanted to continue travelling north to Germany or elsewhere.

Separately, hundreds of migrants set off for Slovenia, to the west. The BBC's Christian Fraser, at the Slovenia-Croatia border, said the number of migrants arriving was building on Friday evening.

Slovenian police pepper sprayed about 500 migrants at one bridge on the border, Associated Press reported.

Migrant crisis: Day's events as they happened

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionHungarian police watch migrants at the Beremend crossing with Croatia

EU in disarray - Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels

There are clearly no simple solutions, but criticism of the EU's incoherent response to the refugee crisis is mounting, and Europe's leaders know it.

Two EU meetings next week will be crucial, if that trend is to be reversed. But they'll take place amid serious disagreements between EU member states.

Governments in central Europe are issuing strong criticism of each other - for failing to protect their borders, or for passing the buck. And several of them blame Germany for encouraging so many migrants to travel in the first place.

Germany, in turn, has warned again that any country showing a lack of solidarity on this issue cannot count - over time - on receiving money from the rest of the EU.

If this becomes not just a difference of opinion, but a clash of values, then Europe could be in real trouble.

In other developments:

• Turkish police sealed off the road to Greece at the border town of Edirne after several hundred migrants tried to make the crossing
• Germany is to set up a tent settlement to accommodate 5,000 people in Bavaria, the entry point for migrants coming from Austria
• The International Organisation for Migration said 473,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, including more than 180,000 Syrians
• German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said EU members reluctant to accept migrant quotas might have to be over-ruled with a majority vote at a summit on 23 September
• The latest EU figures show that in the second quarter of 2015, 213,200 first-time asylum seekers applied for protection, up 15% on the first quarter and up 85% on the same quarter in 2014

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThere was a huge crush to board a train out of Tovarnik on the Croatia-Serbia border

Slovenian anger

Earlier, Hungary announced it was building a new fence along part of its border with Croatia.

It was Hungary's completion of a razor-wire fence along its border with Serbia earlier this week that forced Serbia to move migrants towards Croatia.

Hungary's new laws made attempts to cross its frontier illegal, and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Friday accused Croatia of encouraging "masses of people to commit a criminal offence".

Croatian officials said earlier that every border crossing with Serbia except the main road linking Belgrade and Zagreb - at Bajakovo - had been closed.

Many migrants who managed to enter were rounded up by Croatian police and sent to reception centres.

Some were taken to the capital, Zagreb, but many were also trying to get to Slovenia on foot.

The Slovenian interior ministry said it expected some 1,000 migrants to arrive in the next 24 hours.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionMany migrants were sent to a reception centre in Beli Manastir after crossing into Croatia

Image copyrightAP

Image captionHungarian police begin building a razor fence on the Croatia border

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionHundreds of migrants try to walk to the Greece-Turkey border at Edirne, forcing Turkish police to seal off the road

Bostjan Sefic, state secretary at the Slovenian interior ministry, accused Croatia of breaking the rules of both the EU and the Schengen free movement agreement by deciding to no longer register migrants.

It has closed its rail service to Croatia.

However, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar later said that if the pressure of arrivals became too great, it might seek to form corridors allowing migrants safe passage.

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Media captionCroatian Ambassador to UK, Ivan Grdesic: Closing borders "deflecting people to go somewhere else"

The crisis has challenged the Schengen regime, with Germany, Austria and Slovakia all reimposing checks on parts of their borders.

EU regulations dictate refugees must register and claim asylum in the first member state they reach.

But many migrants and refugees wish to continue on to Germany and Austria.

Migrant crisis in Europe: Key dates

• 13 July: Hungary starts building razor-wire fence on border with Serbia
• 19 Aug: Germany says it expects to receive 800,000 asylum applications by the end of 2015
• 27 Aug: Bodies of 71 Syrian migrants found in lorry in Austria
• 2 Sept: Image of body of three-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi, washed ashore in Turkey, moves public opinion worldwide
• 12 Sept: Record 4,330 migrants cross into Hungary
• 13 Sept: Germany reintroduces border controls with Austria in shock migrant policy U-turn. Other EU nations also later resume controls
• 15 Sept: Hungary enacts tough laws on migrants crossing its new Serbian border fence. Thousands of migrants turn to Croatian route
• 18 Sept: Croatia transports migrants over its border into Hungary. Hungary rushes to build new border fence there