Gaza 'Is Living In A Disaster Situation'

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, in Gaza

The first ambulance came in at speed, tyres squealing.

Inside, was a 10-year-old boy.

They rushed him to the emergency ward, but there was nothing they could do to save his life.

We saw other children being brought in - a little girl, maybe five years old, carried in a paramedic's arms.

An ambulance brings a child to Gaza's Shifa Hospital

She looked absolutely terrified.

The doctors told us they treated a six-month-old baby for shrapnel wounds to the head.

We saw an 80-year-old woman, clearly very frail and confused and clearly seriously injured.

"Gaza is living in a disaster situation," said Dr Sobhi Skaik at Shifa Hospital.

"Again the war is coming to kill and kill and kill.

"Today is the 33rd day of this massacre in Gaza. This is inhuman and it has to be stopped."

Dr Sobhu Skaik tends to an injured 80-year-old woman

He said they need basic supplies now - surgical instruments, drugs, medication, and expertise - specifically vascular, orthopaedic and neurosurgeons.

One of the ambulances pulling up outside had blast damage to the windscreen and a bullet hole in the side.

Six medics have been killed in Gaza so far.

Paramedic Ahmed Abu-Ali said: "We feel we are targeted in any minute.

"All medical teams are now afraid they are targeted, it's very hard now.

"We wake up every day and we don't know if we are coming back to our homes or not."

We saw outgoing rockets too.

Although Hamas has not admitted firing any rockets since the ceasefire ended, Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant groups have said they fired on Israel.

But Israel says Hamas violated the ceasefire, and therefore Hamas is responsible for any resulting harm to the residents Gaza, who, it says, are being used as human shields.

But it's difficult to explain that argument to a parent carrying their child into the emergency ward.

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US Ebola Victim Writes Message From Isolation

Obama: Ebola Drug ZMapp 'Not Ready For Africa'

Updated: 1:35pm UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

It is too soon to send an experimental drug to Africa to treat the deadly ebola virus, President Barack Obama has said.

Two Americans are already receiving the ZMapp drug in the US, but the President said efforts should focus on improving facilities and sending more aid workers to the region.

"We've got to let the science guide us," the US President said.

"I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. What we do know is that the ebola virus - both currently and in the past - is controllable if you have strong public health infrastructure in place."

"Let's get all the health workers that we need on the ground,"  he added. "Let's help to bolster the systems that they already have in place.

"During the course of that process, I think it's entirely appropriate for us to see if there are additional drugs or medical treatments (that can help)."

His comments came as ebola tests were returned negative on a man who went to a New York hospital with a high fever after a visit to West Africa.

Meanwhile, Liberia declared a state of emergency over the outbreak, with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf warning that extraordinary measures were needed.

Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency last week.  

Nigerian health minister Onyenbuchi Chukwu told reporters he had asked the US about accessing the experimental drug ZMapp.

However, there are "virtually no doses available", according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Another 45 people died between August 2 and 4, with another 108 suspected cases identified, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The death toll now stands at 932.

The WHO has convened a panel of experts to explore the use of experimental treatments and will announce a plan to deal with the virus on Friday.

ZMapp, made by a company in San Diego, is being used to treat American aid workers Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol.

The pair improved after being given the drug while still in Liberia, according to the group they were working for, but it is unclear whether the drug was responsible.

ZMapp has never been tested on humans and was only identified as a possible treatment in January after research by the US government and the military.

Experiments on monkeys suggest ZMapp may reduce fatalities in infected people.

It is slow to produce however, and the antibodies have to be grown in specially-modified tobacco leaves.

Symptoms of the incurable virus include fever, vomiting, severe headaches, muscular pain and, as the patient nears the end, profuse bleeding.

It is transmitted via bodily fluids rather than through the air and has a mortality rate of 60-90%.

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Israel: 20 Hits on Gaza As Violence Resumes

'Again The War Is Coming To Kill And Kill'

Updated: 10:20pm UK, Friday 08 August 2014

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, in Gaza

The first ambulance came in at speed, tyres squealing.

Inside, was a 10-year-old boy.

They rushed him to the emergency ward, but there was nothing they could do to save his life.

We saw other children being brought in - a little girl, maybe five years old, carried in a paramedic's arms.

She looked absolutely terrified.

The doctors told us they treated a six-month-old baby for shrapnel wounds to the head.

We saw an 80-year-old woman, clearly very frail and confused and clearly seriously injured.

"Gaza is living in a disaster situation," said Dr Sobhi Skaik at Shifa Hospital.

"Again the war is coming to kill and kill and kill.

"Today is the 33rd day of this massacre in Gaza. This is inhuman and it has to be stopped."

He said they need basic supplies now - surgical instruments, drugs, medication, and expertise - specifically vascular, orthopaedic and neurosurgeons.

One of the ambulances pulling up outside had blast damage to the windscreen and a bullet hole in the side.

Six medics have been killed in Gaza so far.

Paramedic Ahmed Abu-Ali said: "We feel we are targeted in any minute.

"All medical teams are now afraid they are targeted, it's very hard now.

"We wake up every day and we don't know if we are coming back to our homes or not."

We saw outgoing rockets too.

Although Hamas has not admitted firing any rockets since the ceasefire ended, Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant groups have said they fired on Israel.

But Israel says Hamas violated the ceasefire, and therefore Hamas is responsible for any resulting harm to the residents Gaza, who, it says, are being used as human shields.

But it's difficult to explain that argument to a parent carrying their child into the emergency ward.

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Obama Approves Strikes To Stop Iraq 'Genocide'

President Barack Obama has authorised airstrikes against Islamist militants in northern Iraq and ordered airdrops of supplies to besieged religious minorities.

Three aircraft delivered food and water to thousands of Iraqis trapped on a mountain, and left the drop zone after 15 minutes, according to the Pentagon.

In a late-night televised address, Mr Obama said targeted strikes would be launched - if needed - to stop the advance on Irbil by the Islamic State - the group previously known as ISIS or ISIL.

The President said the action would be aimed at defending Americans and protect civilians under siege, preventing a "potential act of genocide".

Thousands of Yazidis have fled their homes

"Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, 'There is no one coming to help,'" said Mr Obama.

"Well, today America is coming to help."

However, he stressed there was no intention of sending in any troops.

Prime Minister David Cameron called the attacks by IS "barbaric" and said he was "extremely concerned by the appalling situation in Iraq and the desperate situation facing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis".

However, Downing Street said there would be no UK military action in Iraq.

Some 40,000 residents from the ancient Yazidi community have been forced to leave the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar after the Sunni fighters overwhelmed Kurdish forces.

Many Yazidis are trapped on Mount Sinjar without food or water and are at risk of starvation as the militants surround the base.

"Children are dying of thirst, meanwhile ISIL forces have called for the destruction of the entire Yazidi people, which would constitute genocide," Mr Obama said.

Obama in discussion with his national security team

"These innocent families are faced with a horrible choice: Descend the mountain and be slaughtered, or stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger."

Two F-18 fighter jets kept watch over the three cargo aircraft - one C-17 and two C-130s - during the Mount Sinjar aid mission.

The planes dropped 72 bundles, containing more than 20,000 litres of drinking water and 8,000 pre-packaged meals.

Militants have been surging across the north of Iraq towards Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region.

The US has a consulate in the city, where civilian and military staff work.

Mr Obama said airstrikes would target IS convoys "should they move toward the city".

The announcement was Mr Obama's most significant response yet to the crisis. The President had been reluctant to deepen US military re-engagement in Iraq after the last troops left in 2011.

ISIS issued an ultimatum toYazidis to convert to Islam

But he said the strikes had been approved to help Iraqi forces and stop a "massacre" of the Yazidis.

IS has issued the Yazidi people an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death.

The group sees the Yazidis, who are followers of a religion derived from Zoroastrianism, as "devil worshippers".

Attacks on minorities in Iraq could constitute a crime against humanity, said the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Christians, are fleeing from the jihadists who have swept through more than a dozen towns in recent days.

Militants have been surging across the north of Iraq towards Irbil

Among them, the militants captured Iraq's biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to leave, fearing for their lives.

The group has declared a caliphate - an Islamic state - across much of Iraq and Syria and wants to bring in a strict version of Islamic law.

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Ebola An International Health Emergency - WHO

Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

Updated: 12:08am UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Pistorius Disability 'Provoked Him To Fight'

Oscar Pistorius' lawyer says his disability meant he had a "fight-not-flee" response when he thought he heard an intruder.

In his closing argument, Barry Roux repeated Pistorius' claim that he believed he was firing on an intruder when he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Mr Roux said that when anxious and startled, people either fight, flee or freeze.

He said Pistorius' disability meant he had developed an "exaggerated fight response" over time, because fleeing was not an option.

Pistorius spent his whole life "knowing he couldn't run away," Mr Roux said.

He said it was this that prompted the double-amputee to confront the supposed intruder and open fire.

The athlete's lawyer was picking up where he left up on Thursday when he began summing up the defence, taking over from prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

The prosecution alleges that Pistorius intended to shoot and kill his Ms Steenkamp when he fired four shots through the bathroom door where she was hiding after an argument on February 14 last year.

In his closing argument, however, Mr Nel argued that regardless of whether he knew he was firing at his girlfriend, Pistorius intended to kill whoever he believed was behind the door.

Mr Nel said Pistorius therefore cannot escape a murder conviction.

The state is pressing for the athlete to be convicted of premeditated murder - which carries a life sentence.

Once the defence has finished summing up judge Thokozile Masipa adjourns the trial to deliberate on her verdict with two legal assistants.

It is expected she'll set a date for a verdict in the next few weeks.

More follows...

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Obama: Ebola Drug ZMapp 'Not Ready For Africa'

Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

Updated: 12:08am UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Khmer Rouge Leaders Sentenced To Life In Prison

Two former Khmer Rouge leaders have been sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in the genocide of an estimated two milllion people in Cambodia.

Nuon Chea (L) and Khieu Samphan remained impassive as they were sentenced

The UN-backed tribunal's verdicts were announced against Khieu Samphan, 83, the Maoist regime's former head of state, and Nuon Chea, 88, who was leader Pol Pot's deputy.

The charges centred on the forced exodus of millions of people from Cambodia's cities into the countryside, where they were starved or worked to death.

A man whose father and siblings died during the regime cries outside court

Also for operating an execution site in the northwest where thousands of people were shot and buried in mass graves.

Nuon Chea, wearing his trademark sunglasses, sat in a wheelchair in the dock as the verdict was read in the capital Phnom Penh, while Khieu Samphan stood next to him.

Cambodian and international journalists watch the trial

Survivors of the brutal regime - which oversaw the torture and execution of tens of thousands of Khmer people - cried and applauded as they were jailed following the two-year trial.

"This is the justice that I have been waiting for these last 35 years," said 70-year-old survivor Khieu Pheatarak.

A woman holds a traditional Khmer scarf as she awaits the sentencing

"I will never forget the suffering but this is a great relief for me. It is a victory and an historic day for all Cambodians."

She was among tens of thousands of Cambodians taken from their homes at gunpoint in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge's peasant army.

Torture instruments used by Khmer Rouge activists displayed at Tuol Sleng

They were forced into agricultural work in an attempt to create a totally self-sufficient and classless agrarian society.

The men's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. 

Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary died while facing trial

"It is unjust for my client. He did not know or commit many of these crimes," Son Arun, a lawyer for Nuon Chea, told reporters.

Despite both defendants denying any knowledge of the Khmer Rouge's crimes, they both eventually expressed remorse for the suffering inflicted.

An undated photo of Pol Pot (left) with Ieng Sary (centre)

Survivors fear the ageing men will not live long enough to serve more than a year or two of their sentence.

Former foreign minister Ieng Sary died aged 87 last year while on trial on charges of genocide.

His wife Ieng Thirith was released in 2012 after it was ruled she was too ill to stand trial.

Pol Pot was arrested by former Khmer Rouge colleagues and sentenced to life under house arrest in 1997. He died a year later.

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Oscar Pistorius: Trial Closing Speeches Begin

Closing speeches have begun in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius who shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home.

It will be the last chance prosecution and defence lawyers have to convince judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa before she reaches her verdict.

Opening his argument this morning, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that a criminal trial was a "blunt instrument for digging up the truth" but that he was confident of his case.

Reeva's parents June and Barry Steenkamp arrive for the hearing

Pistorius, 27, faces a minimum of 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder. He could also be convicted on lesser charges, such as culpable homicide or murder without premeditation.

The prosecution says Pistorius intentionally shot Ms Steenkamp before dawn in anger after a quarrel. The defence contends that he fired by mistake, thinking an intruder was in the toilet cubicle and that  Ms Steenkamp was in the bedroom.

Ms Steenkamp's parents are in court to listen to the closing speeches which are expected to last two days. It is the first time her father, Barry Steenkamp, has attended court since the trial began.

The hearing in Pretoria was put on hold last month after hearing from 37 witnesses.

More follows...

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Israel-Hamas Ceasefire As Troops Exit Gaza

A three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding as Israeli ground troops are withdrawn to "defensive positions" on the border.

Tuesday saw the longest lull in fighting since the almost four-week conflict began, with both sides seemingly observing the terms of an Egyptian-brokered truce.

Some of the 440,000 Palestinians displaced by the fighting were able to make the trek from UN-run shelters back home to survey the damage.

Palestinians crowd into an ice cream shop as the truce comes into effect

Shops and local businesses also gradually reopened as confidence grew that the ceasefire was holding.

The truce began at 8am local time (6am UK time) and follows six previous ceasefire attempts which have all been marked by allegations from both sides of continued attacks.

But aerial assaults were put on hold as Israel's ground offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas' network of cross-border tunnels, also drew to a close.

Civilians could return to the streets of Gaza to enjoy the lull in fighting

Israel says its troops and tanks were redeployed in "defensive positions" near the border.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the move came after the last of 32 tunnels located inside Gaza was destroyed overnight.

"Today we completed the removal of this threat," he said.

There was a rapid exchange of fire in the minutes leading up to the truce, with Hamas militants launching rockets over the border and Israeli warplanes carrying out airstrikes.

An Israeli soldier carries his gear after returning to Israel from Gaza

Hamas claimed the rockets were launched in retaliation for Israel's "massacres".

Israel's anti-missile system shot down one rocket over Jerusalem, while another struck a house in a town near Bethlehem.

Israeli warplanes also carried out at least five airstrikes before the ceasefire took hold and the skies fell silent.

Tuesday's ceasefire deal followed lengthy negotiations in Cairo attended by a Palestinian delegation, but shunned by Israel.

An Israeli delegation has now arrived in Egypt to join indirect talks aimed at thrashing out a more lasting deal.

Hamas has demanded Israel withdraw from Gaza and end a blockade of the territory.

It has also called for its prisoners to be released and for international assistance in rebuilding Gaza.

Bassam Salhi, a member of the Palestinian delegation, admitted brokering a peace deal which satisfies both sides will prove difficult.

"It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too," he said.

More than 20 Palestinians were killed on Monday, including an eight-year-old girl who died in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Gaza City, just minutes into a seven-hour partial truce.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, was rocked by two attacks which appeared to be in retaliation for violence in the Gaza Strip.

The driver of a digger was shot dead after hitting a bus, killing one person, in what Israel described as a "terrorist attack".

Palestinians returned their things to the remains of their destroyed homes

Several hours later a gunman shot and wounded an Israeli soldier before escaping on a motorbike.

Israel launched its military operation on July 8 with the stated intention of ending "persistent" Hamas rocket attacks.

It subsequently launched a ground offensive aimed at destroying cross-border Hamas tunnels, an objective Israel says it has now achieved.

More than 1,880 Palestinians and 64 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives since the conflict began. Two Israeli civilians and a Thai labourer working in Israel have also died.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi has resigned saying she can no longer support the UK Government's stance on Gaza.

Lady Warsi, who is also Minister for Faith and Communities, announced her departure on Twitter, where she has been increasingly vocal in her condemnation of Israel's actions.

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