Video: Reporter Confronts Iraq ISIS Militants

UK Carries Out Second Aid Drop In North Iraq

Updated: 3:53pm UK, Tuesday 12 August 2014

The RAF has completed its second aid drop over Northern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

More than 3,000 reusable water containers holding 3,500 gallons of water and other "essential supplies" were dropped on Mount Sinjar.

Up to 40,000 Yazidis remain in the sweltering mountains after fleeing militants from the Islamic State (IS).

A previous attempt to drop supplies had to be abandoned for fear it could hurt those on the ground.

A "small number" of Tornado jets are also being sent to the region so they can be used, if required, to help ensure humanitarian supplies are delivered.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iraq's new Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi to form a new government quickly, following his appointment on Monday.

It had looked like his appointment could result in increased instability after the incumbent prime minister Nuri al Maliki refused to step down from the role he has had for eight years.

But reports from Iraq said many of Mr Maliki's previous supporters backed Mr Abadi's appointment and on Tuesday a senior Iranian official, the Arab League and Saudi Arabia also welcomed the move.

Meanwhile, Mr Maliki ordered Iraq's security forces to stay out of what he called a "political crisis", damping fears they may intervene.

The US has been calling on Baghdad to form an "inclusive" government for many weeks in order to counter the threat from IS, formerly known as ISIS.

Mr Kerry said of Mr Abadi, a former exile in the UK: "We are urging him to form a new cabinet as swiftly as possible and the US stands ready to support a new and inclusive Iraqi government and particularly its fight against (the Islamic State)."

Mr Kerry had been meeting with senior figures in the Australian government and said afterwards that the allies would take the threat posed by jihadist foreign fighters to the United Nations.

The UN move came after Australia's prime minister slammed a "barbaric" photo which apparently showed the seven-year-old son of a militant holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.

The European Union said it was increasing its aid to Iraq by 5m euros, bringing its total to 17m euros, in addition to the £13m in total provided by the UK.

The US's Centcom military information centre said it had carried out five aid drops on Mount Sinjar and a number of airstrikes on IS targets near the mountains.

France is planning a second aid drop into the mountains of Sinjar in the next two days.

The US has admitted that airstrikes against militants will not be enough to halt the advance of IS.

Joint staff operations director Lieutenant General William Mayville said: "We assess that US airstrikes in northern Iraq have slowed Islamic State (IS) … however, these strikes are unlikely to affect IS's overall capabilities or its operations in other areas."

But Mr Kerry also tried to allay US fears of being drawn back into another ground conflict in the area - 11 years after it launched a war in the country.

"There will be no reintroduction of American combat forces into Iraq. This is a fight that Iraqis need to join on behalf of Iraq," Mr Kerry added.

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Girl, 3, Saved By Dog After Days Lost In Woods

A three-year-old girl has been rescued from a wolf-infested Siberian forest after going missing for nearly two weeks - thanks to her pet dog.

Karina Chikitova's puppy huddled next to her and kept her warm for more than a week before returning home to get help.

The dog then helped rescuers find the child, who hid in long grass during the cold nights and survived on wild berries and river water, the Siberian Times reported.

Karina Chikitova is carried to safety

Dramatic video footage of the rescue revealed the moment Karina was found, frightened and peering out from her grass hiding place.  

"I carried Karina myself to the car, and she was light as a bird," said rescuer Afanasiy Nikolayev. "She was hardly 10kg - but amazingly she was fully conscious."

The remarkable story began after Karina became lost when she wandered away from her home in the remote southwest Sakha Republic region of Russia.

She had been following her father, Rodion, who was unaware his daughter was trying to keep up with him as he made his way to a distant village.

Karina was treated in hospital - but had not suffered any serious injuries

The little girl quickly got lost and spent 11 days and nights in the long grasses of the forest, huddled up to her unnamed pet dog, the Siberian Times reported.

The child's mother believed Karina was with her father and the alarm was only raised four days later when the parents spoke by telephone.

Helicopters and drones joined 100 people in the search for the girl and at one point, as hopes began to fade, rescuers were confronted by a bear.

Hopes faded further when the pet dog returned to the family's village - Olom in Olyokminsky district - without the child.  

More than 100 people joined in the hunt for the youngster

"Two days before we found Karina her puppy came back home," said Mr Nikolayev.

"If she was to hug her puppy, we thought, this would have given her a chance to stay warm during nights and survive."

But the story took a happy twist when the puppy helped to guide the rescuers to the disoriented youngster.

The video footage shows the moment excited rescuers discovered her, after spotting her footprints.

The family pet was among dogs searching for the girl

"It was Karina's puppy that helped the adults find the girl," Mr Nikolayev said.

"She doesn't want to speak about the time she spent in taiga (the forest), or not yet. The only thing she said that she was eating berries and drank water from rivers."

Karina is now in hospital in Yakutsk where doctors are seeking to build her strength.

She has no serious injuries, though she suffered scratches to her feet after losing her shoes. She was also covered in bites from mosquitoes and other insects.

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Iraqis Fleeing ISIS Face 'Desperate' Plight

The US has sent 130 more military advisers to northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission, as the plight of families displaced by Islamist extremists deepens.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the soldiers had been sent to northern Iraq to develop additional humanitarian assistance options beyond the current airdrop effort.

The move is in support of displaced Iraqi civilians, including Christian and Yazidi minority groups, trapped in the Sinjar mountains by Sunni militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros, in northern Iraq, said the situation was also getting "ever more desperate" for those fleeing the violence and who had managed to escape.

A map detailing the Sinjar mountains

"Many have friends and relatives still stuck in the areas taken over by the militants, with no idea if they will make it out alive," she said.

"We are talking about thousands of people that are now taking refuge wherever they can."

What began as a small number of families squatting on a piece of land owned by a Kurdish businessman, has been transformed into a makeshift refugee camp in Dohuk province which has attracted between 6,000 and 8,000 men, women and children.

Areas the Islamic State has launched offensives and wants to make one state

Tadros said: "There aren't enough tents. There are only about 230 actual tents that have been donated by the local mayor, and so most of them are actually on the floor, without any shelter, and are using bits of metal, anything they can, to shelter from the blistering heat.

"There are a couple of showers and bathrooms, but that is it, and the situation is getting worse, by the day, by the hour, as more people come here, completely dependent on locals providing them with food and clothes.

"The owner of this area has told me he doesn't even know if he is going to be able to feed all of these people this afternoon.

Iraqi Christians receive food at Ainkawa's Saint Joseph church, near Irbil

"And these of course, are considered the lucky ones, the ones who did manage to escape."

Since June, the US has sent about 700 military personnel to Iraq to protect diplomats there and take stock of the country's military capacity.

Western powers and international aid agencies are considering further help for the thousands of refugees driven from their homes by IS fighters near the Syrian border.

A man gestures to a crater caused by a suicide car bomb blast in Baghdad

US Secretary John Kerry said the US would consider requests for military and other assistance once Iraq's new prime minister-designate forms a government to unite the country.

Haider al Abadi has received support from the US and Iran, and Sunni neighbours Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but his Shi'ite party colleague, Nuri al Maliki, has refused to step aside after eight years as prime minister.

Meanwhile, at least eight people were killed in a car bomb explosion in a shopping district of Iraqi capital Baghdad, near the home of Mr Abadi, on Tuesday night.

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Gaza Truce Holds After Death Toll Tops 2,000

A 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held overnight - paving the way for talks aimed at securing a lasting end to the month-long conflict.

The truce, which was agreed during negotiations between both sides in Cairo, began at midnight (10pm UK time).

Israel pledged to return to Cairo on Monday if the ceasefire was observed.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes the break will provide a "chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit of all civilian populations".

Israel and Hamas exhanged fire up to the deadline

Since the last truce broke on Friday, warplanes have reportedly hit more than 170 targets in Gaza, killing at least 19 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, militants fired at least 136 rockets at Israel. Some 93 hit, according to the army.

The death toll since Israel launched its military campaign on July 8 topped 2,000 on Sunday - 1,939 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.

The break in fire will allow Gazans to stock up on supplies and recover the dead buried beneath rubble.

Gazans inspect the damage after Israel's weekend bombardment

Preliminary reports say rebuilding Gaza will cost up to £4.8bn, according to the UN.

More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed and the livelihoods of 300,000 people ruined.

Almost a third of the population - 500,000 people - are displaced within Gaza.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said for the ceasefire to hold, Israel must end its blockade of the Gaza Strip and reopen the seaport.

10,000 homes have been destroyed since July 8

Israel's campaign has been aimed at destroying Hamas' infrastructure, including its network of tunnels.

Away from Gaza, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was apparently shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Mohammed Khalil al Anati was killed in Al Fawwar refugee camp, southwest of the city of Hebron, a medical official said.

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Medics Desperate To Help Paralysed Gaza Girl

By Katie Stallard, Sky Correspondent, in Gaza

Maha is seven years old and paralysed from the neck down.

Her mother and sister were killed in the airstrike on their house. She remembers everything about it.

She told Sky News: "We were sitting at home when we heard the noise. So we went down under the stairs.

"This is where we were injured. Some of us stayed alive, some of us died.

"Those who stayed alive were injured, all the family was injured.

"Me and my mother were injured, and we knew if we stayed like this we would die. But my mother stayed at home and she died."

Maha watches everything around her, she understands what is being said, but she doesn't understand why she can't move her arms and legs.

She said: "I feel like I can't do anything with my body. And when I move like this I can't feel my body moving."

She has been like this for 22 days now.

Her family tells her that she will get better, but any real hope of that depends on urgent treatment abroad.

Mahasen Sheikh Khalil, her aunt, explained: "She doesn't know that she could stay paralysed like this.

"She's waiting to go for treatment abroad so she might get well.

"She says to me, 'Aunt, if I can move my hand then I can eat by myself. I just want to stand up, move and play.'"

The family has been told there are three hospitals willing to treat Maha - in Germany, Turkey, and the US - and a sponsor has agreed to cover the cost.

But they need to get her our of Gaza first, and they are still waiting for permission from Israel.

Palestinian aid workers are trying to help, but the sad truth is there are other children like Maha here, all of whom need equally immediate care.

Her doctor, neurosurgeon Basil Baker at al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told us that with every day that goes by, her chances of nerve recovery fade.

He explained: "Her lower limbs are lost. The recovery for the upper limbs is the aim.

"If she remains here and gets an infection, it will be difficult to treat.

"This means that she will be worse, we will not have any chance for any nerve recovery."

He hopes that she might be eligible for stem cell therapy in the future.

At the very least, he said, she deserves to be registered as a possible candidate.

Maha has already lived through three wars - she has learned how to be brave.

She has also learned how to hate.

"I would love the Israelis to die so I can stay alive," she said.

"So nobody else from our side would be killed. Because they killed and injured a lot of us."

Maha used to want to be a doctor when she grew up, now she wants to be in the resistance.

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Extremists Beaten Back After Iraq Airstrikes

Islamist extremists have been forced out of two towns in northern Iraq by Kurdish troops - amid a deepening political crisis in the country.

The militants were driven out of Makhmour and al Gweir, near Irbil, after fighters were aided by a series of US airstrikes targeting armed vehicles.

Kurdish forces have been bolstered further after senior US officials said the Obama administration has begun directly providing them with weapons to defend themselves against attacks by Islamic State (previously known as ISIS).

US soldiers watch as halal meals are parachuted to the ground in Iraq

The recapturing of the towns came as embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki appeared on TV  to accuse the new President of violating the constitution.

In a surprise speech, Mr al Maliki resisted calls to resign amid the jihadist insurgency and declared he will file a legal complaint against Fuad Masum.

He accuses him of failing to name a prime minister from the country's largest parliamentary faction by Sunday's deadline.

The US, which has urged Iraq to form an inclusive government, immediately issued a statement backing President Masum.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will chair a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee to discuss the crisis at 11am, as No10 resists calls for Parliament to discuss military action.

The political turmoil comes amid mounting evidence of the slaughter of minority Christians and Yazidis by Islamic extremists.

Yazidi refugees approach the food bundles on the ground

Photographs taken in the north of the country appear to show crucifixions and beheadings, as well as a series of executions by gunfire.

Iraq's human rights minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani said accounts from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar suggested hundreds had been slaughtered.

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

The Australian newspaper also featured a photograph purporting to show the nine-year-old son of terrorist Khaled Sharrouf carrying the head of a Syrian soldier.

The picture was apparently posted on Twitter by Sharrouf, a convicted terrorist raised in Sydney.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the photograph was further evidence of "just how barbaric" the militants were.

Refugees flee the extremists carving a bloody path through northern Iraq

As the world watched the images from Iraq in horror, a Downing Street source told Sky News David Cameron would resist pressure to recall Parliament to discuss military action.

"Our focus is humanitarian support," the source said.

"The key priority is getting support to people in desperate need."

Tory backbencher Conor Burns said the Government's response so far, of ruling out military intervention and air dropping supplies, was "not strong enough".

David Cameron has been urged to recall Parliament

"These people are being beheaded by people from IS, and our only response is to drop some food or water on them," the Bournemouth West MP said.

The former head of the army, Lord Dannatt, also backed a parliamentary recall, insisting Britain was "watching in horror" as atrocities were committed.

"In the face of a crisis of this scale, with the potential for so much human misery, this is not the moment for decision-makers to be on holiday," he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

Yesterday, Downing Street announced that more UK advisers were being sent to the under-threat city of Irbil to help deal with the developing crisis.

The US has been carrying out airstrikes to protect the area, which is a Kurdish stronghold and major centre for the country's oil trade.

Overnight, US military planes conducted a fourth air drop of food and water for civilians besieged by jihadists on Mount Sinjar.

A C-17 and three C-130 cargo aircraft dropped 88 bundles of supplies that will provide "food and water for thousands of Iraqi citizens".

The militants have driven as many as 150,000 Yazidis from their homes into the Sinjar mountains, where they are cut off from food and water.

The jihadists have also kidnapped 300 women as slaves.

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RAF Makes First Aid Drop To Iraqi Refugees

American jet fighters and drones have conducted four more airstrikes on Islamic militants in Iraq - as a British plane made its first humanitarian aid drop.

The US military said the strikes took out armoured carriers and a truck that were firing on civilians and came after Barack Obama warned the air campaign to restore order to Iraq could last for weeks, or even months.

The third wave of attacks on Islamic State (IS) fighters, formerly known as ISIS, came as one of two British C130s made humanitarian airdrops in northern Iraq on Sunday morning.

Thousands of Yazidis have fled their homes

The planes were stocked with humanitarian aid, including reusable filtration containers, tents, and solar lights which can also recharge mobile phones.

They aim to ease the suffering refugees stranded on Mount Sinjar since fleeing Islamic State attacks on their homes a week ago, said to number between 50,000 and 150,000.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond on Saturday announced "a continuing drumbeat of airdrop operations" around the Sinjar mountains. The Government has pledged an emergency £8m aid package to help refugees in Iraq.

The boundary shows the area IS wants to create as a caliphate

The jihadists have been sweeping through northern Iraq, beheading and crucifying captives who refuse to be converted to Islam.

They have driven thousands of Yazidi people from their homes, leaving them stranded in the mountains in northwest Iraq without food or water.

Reports suggested that thousands of refugees, including children, may have already lost their lives after being trapped in the mountains without food and water for days.

At a press conference on Saturday Mr Obama said he viewed the US offensive in Iraq as a "long-term project" to rout out militants and deliver aid to beleaguered civilians.

President Obama says the US offensive is a "long-term" project

The President, who has ruled out sending in ground troops, and David Cameron discussed the commitment to providing humanitarian relief during a telephone conversation on Saturday.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "Both leaders also agreed that aid drops are not a long term solution, and that a way must be found to get these people to safety and to avert a genocide."

It is the first American offensive in Iraq since Washington pulled out its forces in 2011 after nearly a decade of brutal war.

He has also said US airstrikes aim to prevent IS fighters from attacking Irbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish region, where the US has a diplomatic mission.

British aid is loaded onto a plane destined for Iraq

"I'm not going to give a particular timetable, because as I've said from the start, wherever and whenever US personnel and facilities are threatened, it's my obligation, my responsibility as commander in chief, to make sure they are protected," Mr Obama told reporters.

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Passenger Jet Crash In Tehran Kills 48 People

A passenger plane has crashed into a residential area in Tehran killing all those on board, including seven children, according to state media in Iran.

The Sepahan Air flight, which had 40 passengers and eight crew members on board, went down near Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport after its engine went out shortly after take-off.

It was bound for the eastern city of Tabas when it crashed near a market at around 9.18am local time (5.48am EST) in the capital on Sunday, narrowing avoiding further fatalities.

Crowds in the Azadi neighbourhood gathered round the remains of the airline after it hit a wall and trees, close to a market.

Crowds gather at the crash scene

Its tail fin, bearing Sepahan's dolphin logo, was torn from the fuselage and landed in the middle of a street.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards cordoned off the wreckage and debris scattered across the road.

One witness said: "The scene was terrible... we were lucky because there was a market 500 metres away and a lot of people were there."

Security forces cordon off the remains of the jet's tail fin

Another added: "I was on my motorbike and I heard something behind me. I turned round and it was a plane, so I got on to the ground because it was so close."

The country's state-run news agency IRNA said: "Initial reports indicate that the 48 people aboard the plane have been killed, including seven children."

The twin-engien Iran-140 aircraft is a 52-seat passenger plane usually used for domestic flights and is built in the country with Ukrainian technology.

The aircraft crashed into a residential area in the capital Tehran

There have been several plane crashes in Iran which have been blamed on its ageing aircraft and poor maintenance.

The last major disaster was in January 2011, when an Iran Boeing 727 crashed during an emergency landing in a snowstorm in the northwest of the country, killing around 77 people.

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Gaza Ceasefire Talks On Brink Of Collapse

Peace talks aimed at ending the violence in Gaza are on the verge of collapsing.

A Palestinian delegation has threatened to walk out of discussions in Cairo unless the Israelis return to the negotiating table without conditions today.             

"Within the next 24 hours, the delegation's presence in Egypt will be determined," said Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau.

Smoke rises from the coastal side of the Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike

Israel - whose delegation left Cairo after a 72-hour truce ended in bloodshed on Friday - has said it will not take part in talks while violence is ongoing.

The Palestinians blamed their decision to resume fire on Israel's refusal to end the blockade of Gaza and open a seaport.

Egyptian mediators have met separately with both sides at least three times this week.

A man sits amid the ruins of his home in Gaza

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama expressed "serious concern" about renewed hostilities in Gaza during a phone call on Saturday.

The leaders called on Israel to exercise "restraint".

A Downing Street spokesman said: "They agreed that Israel has a right to defend itself but it should do so in a way that exercises restraint and Israeli forces must take utmost care to avoid civilian casualties.

"Both agreed that the priority must be to re-establish a ceasefire that paves the way for negotiations on a more lasting peace that allows both Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety alongside one another."

Abu Marzouk says the Palestinian delegation is ready to walk away

The Israelis launched more than 30 air attacks in Gaza on Saturday, killing nine Palestinians, while militants continued to fire rockets into Israel.

A month after Israel launched its military campaign, nearly 1,900 Palestinians have been killed - mostly civilians.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat, while three civilians have died from rocket fire into the country.

A boy surrounded by rumble in a bombed out Gaza street

The UK, France and Germany issued a joint declaration on Saturday urging Hamas and Israel to agree an immediate ceasefire.

In London, protesters called for an end to the Gazan "massacre" as they marched in Hyde Park.

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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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