Massacre 'Likely' If Islamic State Takes Kobani

More than 500 people trapped in Kobani could be "massacred" if Islamic State wins the fierce battle for the Syrian town.

Staffan de Mistura, UN envoy to Syria, made the warning as militants reportedly took more territory and shelled a border crossing to try to isolate the town.

He said 500 to 700 people - many of them elderly - were trapped in Kobani, with only a small area available for a possible escape through the fighting.

Staffan de Mistura says thousands are also trapped near the border

Mr de Mistura said a UN analysis showed 10,000 to 13,000 more people remain stuck near the border.

Since the siege began in mid-September, some 200,000 people have fled the Kurdish-dominated town into Turkey.

Video: Calls For Ground Forces In Kobani

Despite seven more US-led airstrikes, IS fighters could be close to seizing Kobani, according to monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

People still living there "will be most likely massacred" if the town falls, said Mr de Mistura.

The UN envoy urged: "When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not be silent."

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

Calls have been growing louder for Turkey to send ground forces to support the town's defenders but it has ruled out a ground operation on its own.

The US has said the Kurds "continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL".

However, the situation could be approaching tipping point.

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1. Gallery: Protests Rage In Turkey Over IS

   Residents walk through a damaged street in central Diyarbakir following overnight clashes with police

2. Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities, mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters took to the streets to demand more be done to protect Kobani

3. Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish settlement, has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters for three weeks

6. Kurdish protesters set fire to a barricade set up to block the street as they clash with riot police in Diyarbakir

7. Flames are seen near a Turkish police vehicle in Diyarbakir during a demonstration of Kurds to demand more Western intervention against Islamic State militants (IS) in Syria and Iraq

9. Kurdish protesters set fire to a bank

10. The Halkbank branch was set ablaze

13. Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish riot police

14. Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul

17. Smoke rises from the Gaziosmanpasa district in Istanbul

18. A public bus burned by Kurdish protesters is pictured in the Gaziosmanpasa district

UK-based SOHR said IS, also known ISIL or ISIS, now has "at least 40%" of Kobani after winning control of an local government area on Friday.

Deputy head of the Kurdish forces Ocalan Iso gave a different assessment and said IS was still bombarding the town from afar and probably only had 20% control.

Islamic State, which wants to expand its repressive Islamic 'caliphate', has already been accused of massacring minority populations in its push through Iraq.

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

The US State Department warned there was a "an increased likelihood" of reprisal attacks from IS since America and its coalition partners launched military action against the group in Iraq and Syria.

The US wants access to an air base in southern Turkey which could become a strategic stronghold in the battle against the militants.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said US officials have raised the possibility of using the Incirlik air base during discussions this week.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Airstrikes Missing IS Front Line, Say Fighters

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

We met Abu Ibrahim, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) Commander, and his two friends in a coffee shop in Urfa, Southern Turkey.

They had just returned from the Syrian border town of Kobane, where he told us the FSA had joined forces with Kurdish militias to fight the group calling themselves Islamic State (IS).

It was an uneasy alliance with the Kurds, Abu Ibrahim told us, but they had little choice - they had to unite against their common enemy and help defend the town.

Abu Ibrahim says he left Kobane to help carry injured fighters to hospitals in Turkey.

He and his two friends - an activist and a fighter - say they plan to smuggle back in to Kobane imminently.

Video: First RAF Airstrikes Against IS

They are all originally from Eastern Syria but were forced out of their towns by IS militants. 

They made it to Kobane a few weeks ago but admit they are now running out of ammunition.

"Turkey needs to open the border for us to get ammunition, because now we are trapped between Turkey and IS.

"I was smuggled into Turkey illegally and I will go back the same way."

He continued: "If things stay the same way, frankly we'll have no other option but to fight with knives.

"There's no way to bring in weapons ... we would rather die than leave our land."

Abu Ibrahim also says IS has around 5,000 fighters in Kobane right now and admits his forces and the Kurds are less than half of that.

Abu El Majed has been fighting in Kobane against IS for months and says they are not only outnumbered but also outgunned.

"We have RPGs, machine guns, light weapons like Kalishnikovs ... and that's what we're using against IS who have tanks, canons, heavy weapons," he explained.

For the past few days, US- led airstrikes have focused on hitting the outskirts of Kobane, but the fighters say the strikes are having almost no effect because they're not targeting the IS front line.

Abu Jarrah is an FSA activist who says he watched the coalition strikes from a hilltop.

"I could see IS positions clearly, they had their flags raised, they weren't hiding.

"But the jets would hit a kilometre or two away from the target," he told us, throwing his hands up in disbelief

For these men and thousands like them from the FSA, Kobane is the last hope. 

They've been driven out of towns from Eastern Syria all the way to the Turkish border.

If they lose this battle with IS, they'll have nowhere else to go.

"I'm prepared to fight until the last drop of my blood. I know if I am killed in Kobane, that's it. I can't live in Turkey. So we will fight with everything we have," said Abu Majed.

But that may not be enough. 

US and Arab air power in Syria is not stopping the advance of the militants, while those fighting IS on the ground are being defeated and slowly driven out of their own country.  

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Says Priority Is IS In Iraq, Not Kobani

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

America is putting the defence of the Iraqi government and the destruction of Islamic State's command structures ahead of defending the embattled Kurdish city of Kobani, a leading member of the Obama administration has admitted.

Tony Blinkin, US Deputy National Security Advisor, said on a visit to London that the focus of the American-led coalition was "in the first instance in Iraq".

He said that Turkey's repeated calls for a humanitarian safe area inside Syria and a no-fly zone in its air space were being considered and the subject of talks with Washington's envoys in Turkey.

"The objective is Isil (IS)," he said. "It is a threat to a country, Iraq, with which we have a partnership.

"It's also a threat to many people in Syria, in a country where we don't have a government we can work with.

Video: Airstrikes 'Missing IS Targets'

"In order to get at Isil and deal with the threat it poses to our people in the region, our interests in the region, and - if left unchecked - to us here in the UK and to the US, we have evolved what I believe is a very comprehensive strategy.

"And it has multiple lines of effort. It has a military line of effort,  which is designed to set Isil back on the ground in the first instance in Iraq … and that's critically important.

"What has been a big part of Isis success is the perception it has created - that it had momentum, that it was 10ft tall and that it was on the march, and on the move and that was attracting foreign fighters in record numbers.

"It's important in the first instance to start to blunt that momentum - start to take it down a few pegs and start to move it from its toes to its heels. And in Iraq that's exactly what we are doing.

"In Syria the principle initial challenge with regard to Isil is to go after the HQ and the command and control ... to go at its ability to supply itself or to resource itself to sustain itself and then to project that into Iraq."

Mr Blinkin is the first western official to admit what has been suspected by Syria's rebels, who have been fighting both the Damascus regime and Islamic State - that they are a lower priority for Washington.

A no-fly zone would deny Damascus the freedom of the skies to bomb rebels and civilian areas.

But this has been resisted by the Western allies while they work out which moderate opposition groups they will arm and train over coming months to provide the boots on the ground that the allies have refused to deploy to the region.

Senior military sources have repeatedly told Sky News that it will take at least a year to train moderate rebels - and that who to train and where to train them has yet to be decided.

Among the groups seen by experts as most reliable are the Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq and the YPG, Kurdish militia in northern Syria currently battling to save Kobani.

The US coalition has stepped up air strikes against the Islamist militants around Kobane - but Mr Blinkin warned that the priority would continue to be to attack IS's infrastructure which reinforced its campaigning in Iraq.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Snapchat Hackers Post Explicit Images Online

Explicit images taken with the photo sharing app Snapchat have reportedly been intercepted via a third party app and leaked online.

Users of the app, many of them teenagers, have apparently had their photos gathered over a number of years before being posted on a website.

The leak - dubbed the 'Snappening' - comes after the iCloud security breach in which nude photos of stars including Jennifer Lawrence and recently former Dr Who Matt Smith were published online.

Jennifer Lawrence: 'It is a sex crime'

San Francisco-based Snapchat said it was not the source of the latest leak and that it strictly prohibits use of third party apps, which are created by separate developers as "add-ons".

"We can confirm that Snapchat's servers were never breached and were not the source of these leaks," a spokeswoman said.

Video: How Snap Chat Works

"Snapchatters were allegedly victimised by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our terms of use precisely because they compromise our users' security.

"We vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed."

Snapchat allows users to share videos and images that "disappear" after up to 10 seconds. However, recipients can "screen-grab" and save the pictures if they wish.

The app came under fire earlier this year after hackers published 4.6 million Snapchat user names and phone numbers on a website.

Video: "This Is Attacking Children"

Police and children's charities have previously warned teenagers about the dangers of using the app to send intimate photos.

In last month's so-called 'Fappening' scandal a hacker posted hundreds of naked images of celebrities on the online community 4Chan.

Jennifer Lawrence, one of the most high-profile victims, told Vanity Fair: "It's not a scandal. It is a sex crime."

Other victims include Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, actress Winona Ryder and Matt Smith's ex-girlfriend Daisy Lowe.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Wants To Use Turkey Base In IS Fight

The United States wants access to an air base in southern Turkey which could become a strategic stronghold in the battle against Islamic State militants.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said US officials have raised the possibility of using the Incirlik air base during discussions this week.

He said Turkey has valuable military capabilities which would help in the US effort to strike IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Mr Hagel made the comments at the start of a six-day, three-country visit to South America where he is due to stop first in Colombia.

US leaders have urged Ankara to become more involved in the battle against IS, whose militants have spread across Iraq and Syria and taken control of territory near the Turkish border.

Video: Calls For Ground Forces In Kobani

Washington said US forces launched a further nine airstrikes around the embattled town of Kobani on Thursday as the battle for control of the town continued.

Islamic State militants have captured more ground in the Syrian border town despite intensified US-led airstrikes.

IS fighters seized control of a third of Kobani on Thursday.

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

US Central Command said it is continuing to monitor the situation, adding "indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL".

But officials have warned that the airstrikes alone may not be enough stop the IS advance on Turkey's doorstep.

Barack Obama on Wednesday met military commanders to discuss the campaign amid fears troops would be needed on the ground.

Video: Turkey Warily Watches IS Advance

"Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission," the US president said.

"As I've indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight."

Senior US commanders have warned that the Islamists could take Kobani if more is not done.

Video: Why Is Turkey Joining The IS Fight?

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: "Airstrikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani.

"We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again.

"We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that other towns and villages and perhaps Kobani will be taken by IS."

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola Could Be 'Next AIDS', Top US Official Says

Urgent action is needed to prevent the ebola outbreak from becoming as deadly and prolific as the AIDS virus, America's top health official has said.

Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said "it's going to be a long fight" to contain a disease that has already killed 3,900 people.

"We have to work now so that it is not the world's next AIDS," he told the heads of the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington.

"I would say that in the 30 years I've been working in public health, the only thing like this has been AIDS."

The scale of the ebola outbreak

Mr Frieden's comments were echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who insisted that the world needs to put 20 times more effort into quashing the ebola virus once and for all.

Their warnings came after Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with ebola in the US, died from the disease at a hospital in Texas.

Video: Fight Against Ebola Is Our War

Meanwhile, a Spanish nurse remains at "serious risk" after she became the first-known patient to contract ebola outside Africa.

Teresa Romero is "very ill and her life is at serious risk as a consequence of the virus", according to the Spanish government.

According to the CDC, the number of ebola cases worldwide could exceed 1.4 million by January if the world's response continues to be slower than the spread of the virus.

Video: How Can The UK Stop Ebola?

In Liberia, officials have had no choice but to postpone nationwide to elect a new senate.

Some three million voters were due to head to polling stations on Tuesday, but the current government believes it would be impossible for "a mass movement, deployment and gathering of people" to go ahead without endangering lives.

In neighbouring Guinea, international aid agencies have warned that their ebola treatment units have been pushed to their "physical limits", after a significant surge in the number of new patients.

Video: Ebola: Five New Cases An Hour

There are growing concerns that the emergence of ebola cases in the US and Europe could lead to the outbreak widening far beyond Africa.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malala Yousafzai Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her championing of girls' education rights.

She shares the prize with anti-child slavery activist Kailash Satyarthi.

The Nobel committee praised them "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".

Kailash Satyarthi is the joint winner of the prize

Malala was shot in the head and neck when a gunman got on to her school bus and tried to kill her in Pakistan in October 2012.

She was attacked for criticising the Taliban over its interpretation of Islam, which limits girls' access to education.

Video: 18 October 2013: Malala Meets Queen

The 17-year-old was flown to Birmingham for life-saving treatment and now lives in the city with her mother, father and two brothers.

Her campaigning has included addressing the United Nations and meeting President Obama to ask him to end drone strikes.

In an emotive UN speech last year, the teenager said: "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

"I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him."

Video: 12 July 2013: Malala Addresses UN

Malala was also one of the front runners for last year's award.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the teenager and called her the "pride" of his country.

"She has made her countrymen proud," he said.

"Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment."

Video: 4 February 2013: I Can Talk Again

Indian campaigner Mr Satyarthi shares this year's prize, with the committee saying his Save The Childhood Movement had campaigned hard "on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain".

His work has led to the rescue of tens of thousands of child slaves after he gave up a career in electrical engineering in 1980.

"It's an honour to all my fellow Indians. I am thankful to all those who have been supporting my striving for more than the last 30 years," said Mr Satyarthi.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Extremely Powerful' Typhoon Threatens Japan

Japan is preparing for its strongest storm this year as super typhoon Vongfong threatens to wreak havoc when it makes landfall over the Okinawa Islands.

"There is no question that it is an extremely large, extremely powerful typhoon," said an official at Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

"It's the strongest storm we've had this year, definitely, although it has lost some strength from its peak."

The typhoon, which will be Japan's second in a week, was south of Okinawa, and moving north at 15 kph (9 mph) with winds of 185 kph (114 mph) on Friday afternoon, the agency said.

It was likely to be closest to Okinawa, an island chain 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo, late on Saturday or early on Sunday.

Video: Deadly Typhoon Hits Japan Islands

The typhoon was expected to weaken as it moved north, and likely to hit land on Sunday on the westernmost main island of Kyushu, before moving northeast towards Japan's largest main island of Honshu, where it is likely to weaken into a tropical storm. 

Government officials were due to meet on Friday night to plan their response, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

"We are calling on all citizens to pay close attention to weather reports and respond promptly if the authorities advise them to evacuate," he said.

Vongfong was following the path of Phanfone, a typhoon that hit the mainland on Monday.

Video: High Waves Whipped Up By Typhoon

Japan's Kyodo news agency said nine people are now known to have been killed by Phanfone, including three US military servicemen in Okinawa who were washed out to sea. Their bodies have since been recovered.

Okinawa is home to about half of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan.

Two to four typhoons make landfall in Japan each year.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Military: Airstrikes Alone May Not Stop IS

Airstrikes alone may not be able to stop the advance of Islamic State fighters in Syria, US officials have warned.

Barack Obama met military commanders to discuss the campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq amid fears troops would be needed on the ground.

"Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission," the US President said.

"As I've indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight."

US-led airstrikes have continued on Kobani - where IS militants have been fighting a fierce battle with Kurdish forces - although senior commanders have warned the Islamists could still take the strategic border town.

Coalition jets have been targeting IS fighters around Kobani

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: "Airstrikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani.

"We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again.

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

"We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that other towns and villages and perhaps Kobani will be taken by IS."

Rear Adm Kirby said troops would be needed to defeat IS, adding: "We don't have a force inside Syria that we can co-operate with and work with."

The US military's Central Command said American-led forces carried out 14 coalition strikes on Wednesday and 19 bombing raids near Kobani since Tuesday, in an attempt to help Kurdish militia.

"Indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL," a statement said.

Video: Airstrikes Target IS In Border Town

Activists said the strikes killed at least 45 IS militants since Monday evening, forcing the group to withdraw from parts of the town.

Over the past few days, thousands of IS fighters armed with heavy weapons looted from captured army bases in Iraq and Syria had managed to push into some areas.

The fighting has forced 200,000 residents and villagers to flee and seek shelter across the border in Turkey.

Idriss Nassan, deputy head of Kobani's foreign relations committee, said the town was "still in danger" and more airstrikes were needed.

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1. Gallery: Protests Rage In Turkey Over IS

   Residents walk through a damaged street in downtown Diyarbakir following overnight clashes with police

2. Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities, mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters take to the streets to demand more be done to protect Kobani

3. Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish settlement which has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters for three weeks

6. Kurdish protesters set fire to a barricade set up to block the street as they clash with riot police in Diyarbakir

7. Flames are seen near a Turkish police vehicle in Diyarbakir during a demonstration of Kurds to demand more western intervention against Islamic State militants (IS) in Syria and Iraq

9. Kurdish protesters set fire to a public bank

10. A branch of Halkbank is set ablaze

13. Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish riot policemen

14. Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul

17. Smokes rises from the Gaziosmanpasa district in Istanbul

18. A public bus burned by Kurdish protesters is pictured at the Gaziosmanpasa district

The Kurdish population, who live in many of the areas IS controls in northern Syria, northern Iraq and parts of southeast Turkey, has been pressuring Ankara to intervene to defend Kobani.

Turkey says it does not want the town to fall and has encouraged the US to set up a no-fly zone and a humanitarian corridor (buffer zone) on the border.

France is backing calls for a buffer zone and the US and Britain said they were willing to "examine" the idea of a safe haven.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lego Drops Shell Over Greenpeace Spill Video

Lego has ditched a long-standing partnership with Shell, after a Greenpeace video used its toys to illustrate an Arctic oil spill.

The decision comes after the slick parody video by the environmental group went viral online, garnering more than 5 million YouTube hits, over the oil giant's plan to drill in the Arctic.

Using Lego blocks, the video starts by showing animals in pristine snowy wilderness before moving on to a scene of heavy machinery drilling for oil.

To gentle background music a Shell branded road tanker and petrol station are brought into view - before it zooms in on a pin-striped businessman smoking a cigar on a Shell offshore drilling rig.

The video had a pin-striped businessman smoking a cigar on a Shell oil rig

A crude oil slick then starts spreading before the Arctic 'drowns' in a black morass.

The video ends with two captions: "Shell is polluting our kids' imaginations.

"Tell Lego to end its partnership with Shell".

Lego products are currently sold at Shell petrol stations in more than two dozen countries, in a deal estimated at £68m.

In response to the campaign Lego CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp said the current deal with the Anglo-Dutch Shell, negotiated in 2011, would not be renewed.

"We want to clarify that as things currently stand we will not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell when the present contract ends," the company said in a statement.

Lego said kits should not have been used in the Greenpeace-Shell dispute

"A co-promotion like the one with Shell is one of many ways we are able to bring Lego bricks into the hands of more children and deliver on our promise of creative play."

Lego, the world's biggest toy manufacturer, added: "The Greenpeace campaign uses the Lego brand to target Shell.

"As we have stated before, we firmly believe Greenpeace ought to have a direct conversation with Shell.

"The Lego brand, and everyone who enjoys creative play, should never have become part of Greenpeace's dispute with Shell."

The oil company would not be drawn into the exact business dealings it has with the Danish toy firm.

A Shell spokesman told Sky News: "Our latest co-promotion with Lego has been a great success and will continue to be as we roll it out in more countries across the world.

Greenpeace finished the video by criticising Shell amid a sea of oil

"We don't comment on contractual matters."

Greenpeace said that within the last three months Lego was swamped with more than 1 million complaints.

Its Arctic campaigner Ian Duff said: "This is a major blow to Shell. It desperately needs partners like Lego to help give it respectability and repair the major brand damage it suffered after its last Arctic misadventure.

"Lego's withdrawal from a 50-year relationship with Shell clearly shows that strategy will not work."

Greenpeace previously targeted Lego's US-rival Mattel, over Asian pulp and paper used as packaging for its Barbie dolls.

Founded in the interwar period, wood-based Lego was replaced by plastic components around 1947. Petroleum by-products are used as feedstock for plastics and as an energy source in their manufacture.

Naomi Klein, author of global warming book This Changes Everything, told Sky News Business Presenter Ian King that the capitulation by Lego is part of a wider trend.

"A lot has to do with carbon bubble research showing these companies have five times more carbon in their reserves than our atmosphere can safely absorb," Ms Klein said.

"Since that research has come out it has been a game-changer and this is one more sign of that."

:: Naomi Klein will be interviewed by Ian King Live, tonight at 6.30pm.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hong Kong Government Cancels Protest Talks

The Hong Kong government has called off talks with pro-democracy demonstrators who have paralysed parts of the territory for more than a week.

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets demanding free elections after China said it would have to approve candidates for the region's 2017 ballot.

The largely student movement also wants Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, to resign.

It was hoped that talks on Friday would ease tensions.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests have drawn huge crowds

But Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said: "Students' call for an expansion of an uncooperative movement has shaken the trust of the basis of our talks and it will be impossible to have a constructive dialogue."

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Justice Department handed the investigation of a $6.4m (£4m) business payout to Mr Leung to prosecutors on Thursday.

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1. Gallery: Protest Is An Art In Hong Kong

   Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have been keeping their message alive with highly-produced poster art celebrating the 'Umbrella Revolution'.

2. Click/swipe through for more images...

Opposition leaders argue that the head of the former British colony faces a "huge integrity problem" over his failure to declare the payments made to him by Australian engineering company UGL.

Australian media reported that Mr Leung received two payments from UGL during a deal struck in December 2011 - months before he took office in July 2012, but a week after he announced his candidacy.

At the time, UGL was buying insolvent property services firm DTZ - where Mr Leung  was a director.

The reported deal was that Mr Leung would receive payment so that he did not compete with the firm over the following two years and would act as an adviser "from time to time".

"It boils down to a huge integrity problem," pro-democracy MP Claudia Mo said. "Can you imagine Obama being a consultant of some company while being a political leader?"

Another MP, Cyd Ho, urged Hong Kong's parliament to investigate the payments.

Video: Ultimatum For Hong Kong Protesters

"He should have cut himself off all business affiliations. This time it's a very serious case. A statement cannot explain away all the queries from the public," she said.

While Mr Leung has not yet commented publicly, his office says he was under no legal obligation to declare the earnings.

It comes as protests continue, though numbers have fallen in recent days.

Video: Hong Kong Protesters Clash

Small groups still control a number of barricades across the city in what has become the most organised challenge to Beijing's rule since Hong Kong's handover in 1997.

Occupy Central, one of the main protest networks, claims a "new wave of civil disobedience" is to be announced by all groups involved.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Ebola Victim Was About To Realise His Dream

By Sky News US Team

Thomas Eric Duncan, the ebola patient who died in a Texas hospital, had long-held ambitions to join his family in America and was planning to propose to his girlfriend, it has emerged.

Mr Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with ebola in the US, was born near a leper colony in Liberia but eventually fled the country during the civil war.

The 42-year-old was in America to attend the high-school graduation of his son, who moved to the US as a toddler.

According to his friends and family, Mr Duncan grew up in a village near the Yila Mission, an American Baptist mission hospital and leper colony.

He moved to a middle-class area in the Liberian capital Monrovia for high school. But by the time he was 18, warlord Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from Ivory Coast, initiating years of conflict.

Thomas Eric Duncan arrived in the US on 20 September

Mr Duncan sought to join his half-sister who had moved to the US with her husband in 1989, shortly before Taylor's invasion. But his application was denied.

He fled to a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast, where he met Louise Troh, who would become his girlfriend. Their son was born in the camp.

Video: US Airports To Start Ebola Checks

When Ms Troh's application to live in America was accepted, she and the couple's son moved to the US - but Mr Duncan's efforts to relocate were denied.

He moved to another refugee camp in Ghana, then returned to Liberia where he worked as an executive's chauffeur.

When he arrived in the US on 20 September, it was the coronation of years of efforts.

He had confided that he wanted to ask Ms Troh to marry him, according to a lifelong friend, Thomas Kwenah, quoted by the AP news agency.

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1. Gallery: Ebola Crisis: Special Report

But by then he had already been exposed to ebola. He is believed to have contracted the virus while helping a pregnant neighbour in Liberia who eventually died.

Mr Duncan showed no symptoms on the flights.

But his death on Wednesday in Dallas alarmed the public in the US and raised questions over the authorities' ability to cope with the disease. Officials say an outbreak is unlikely in the US.

A sheriff's deputy who entered Mr Duncan's apartment, apparently without wearing protective clothing, is being tested for ebola in what officials say is an "abundance of caution". 

Video: Ebola: Flight Route Of US Patient

Four people in the apartment have been quarantined.

In Spain, a nurse has tested positive to the deadly virus, while in Australia a woman is being tested. 

US officials have also stepped up airport screening at five airports: New York's JFK, Newark in New Jersey, Washington Dulles, Chicago and Atlanta.

The new checks, taking effect from the weekend, will include taking the temperatures of hundreds of travellers arriving from West Africa.

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

The UK is facing calls for similar screenings.

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Thailand Murder Suspects In Torture Claim

Two Burmese migrants accused of killing a pair of British tourists in Thailand have claimed they were beaten and threatened with electrocution by police.

Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, who are both 21, claim they were mistreated following their arrest for the murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the island of Koh Tao on September 15.

Their allegation follows claims made by other Burmese migrant workers arrested in connection with the murders who say they were subjected to similar treatment.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the claims and demanded any confession extracted through torture be ruled inadmissible in court.

The organisation cited a lawyer from the Burmese embassy legal team, who said he had been told that police had beaten the suspect and "threatened him with electrocution".

David Miller and Hannah Witheridge were found dead on the island of Koh Tao

Thai police, who have come under immense domestic political pressure to solve the case, deny the allegations and have said they have DNA and CCTV evidence to back up murder confessions obtained from the men.

The suspects were recently paraded in front of reporters and performed a re-enactment of the murders on the beach where the Britons' bodies were found.

Video: Sept 19: CCTV Of Murder Victim

Police spokesman Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen said re-enactments of crimes were commonplace after confessions.

"It's what you call the crime enactment," he said. "It's carried out in order to get a sense of what happened after the confession. In Thai law the offenders have to give their consent - you can't force them to do it."

A statement issued by Amnesty said: "According to reports, police officers poured boiling water over some of the Burmese migrant workers they were questioning. Others were also beaten and threatened."

Richard Bennett, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director, said: "The pressure to be seen to be solving an appalling crime that has garnered considerable attention should not result in the violation of rights, including to a fair trial.

"Authorities should provide protection from threats and acts of retaliation to anyone, regardless of their immigration status, reporting or speaking about torture or ill-treatment, and full redress to victims.

"They must also ensure that any alleged confession or information that has been coerced as a result of torture is not admitted as evidence in court, unless to prove that torture has been carried out.

"All suspects should also be guaranteed their rights to a fair trial - which is of particular importance in a crime that could carry a death sentence."

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said it was concerned about the reports and expected a fair investigation.

"The investigation and judicial process remains a matter for the Thai authorities, but we expect it to be conducted in a fair and transparent way," he said.

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Airstrikes Target IS Fighters In Border Town

Two new airstrikes have reportedly been carried out against Islamic State (IS) targets around the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing into the air from a hill on the eastern side of the town, according to the AFP news agency.

A second strike, a few hours later, sent a cloud of smoke above the northeastern side of the city.

They were the first airstrikes since a flurry of attacks yesterday, which some sources said had helped Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) push back the IS militants.

Idris Nahsen, a Kurdish official from Kobani, said the airstrikes had been helpful.

"The situation has changed since Tuesday," he said. "YPG forces have pushed back IS forces."

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

It comes after at least 12 people were killed during pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Turkey, with protesters claiming the country is not doing enough in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

According to reports, five people have been killed in Diyarbakir, the largest town in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast region.

Several other deaths were recorded in other southeastern towns, including three in Mardin, two in Siirt, one in Batman and another in Mus.

Police have also used tear gas and water cannon to disperse angry protests in Istanbul and Ankara.

Video: Turkey Turns Water Cannon On Kurds

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala accused the pro-Kurdish protesters of "betraying their own country".

"Violence will be met with violence," he said.

"This irrational attitude should immediately be abandoned and (the protesters) should withdraw from the streets."

The demonstrations called by the main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP), stem from claims that Ankara is failing to intervene militarily against IS jihadists fighting for Kobani.

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1. Gallery: Assad's Forces Seize Area From Islamists

   Forces of Syria's President Bashar al Assad carry a Syrian flag as they head towards a spot where a flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is positioned on a hillside in Zor al-Mahruqa village

2. Assad's forces said they had regained control of the area and its surrounding hills, in the Hama countryside

3. The flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is burnt on the hill

5. The Syrian national flag is erected

6. Assad forces inspect military equipment, which they said were left behind by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

7. An abandoned base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

10. Assad forces inspect an underground base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in the nearby al-Hareeqa village

12. A Polish army member hods the German flag in front of an Eurofighter aircraft during a visit of new NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway (not pictured) at Lask air base

13. NATO will stand by member state Turkey if it comes under attack as a result of the fighting in neighboring Syria, alliance Secretary-General Stoltenberg said

Some 400 people are believed to have been killed in the town and thousands displaced during weeks of fighting.

US, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates jets had previously launched five attacks against targets south of the city.

In a statement, US Central Command said four armed vehicles, anti-aircraft artillery, a tank and a militant unit were hit during the strikes.

Reports suggest the fighting has become less intense following the coalition attacks.

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1. Gallery: IS Attacks Town Near Turkish Border

   Turkish army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa Province

2. Kurdish fighters vowed not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery

3. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defence of the town

4. An IS fighter walks near a black flag belonging to the Islamic State near Kobani

14. Kurdish refugees from Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc

15. Islamic State is trying to seize Kobani, which is predominantly Kurdish, and has ramped up its offensive in recent days despite being targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at halting its progress

16. Turkish Kurds look at Kobani as they stand on top of a house near Mursitpinar border crossing. Continue through for more pictures

Reporter Jenan Moussa, positioned just 500m over the border in Turkey, told Sky News: "I can still hear shooting and shelling but (it is) nothing compared to Monday.

"I heard and I saw three airstrikes. One on the western side and two on the eastern."

Meanwhile, officials in Baghdad say IS militants have downed an Iraqi military helicopter near the refinery town of Beiji, killing the two pilots on board.

A military aviation official said the militants used a shoulder-fired missile to take down the Bell 407 helicopter north of Beiji on Wednesday. The town is home to Iraq's largest oil refinery and is located about about 130 miles north of Baghdad.

It comes after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan warned Kobani was "about to fall".

Canada has also now agreed to join the coalition of forces carrying out airstrikes against IS in Iraq.

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Canada Authorises Airstrikes Against IS In Iraq

By Sky News US Team

Following a request from the US, the Canadian parliament has voted to authorise airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq.

The motion introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party passed 157-134 on Tuesday.

It allows airstrikes in Iraq for up to six months, and explicitly rules out using ground troops in combat operations.

The combat mission includes up to six CF-18 fighter jets, a refuelling tanker aircraft, two surveillance planes and one airlift aircraft.

IS forces launching an assault of Kobani

About 600 airmen and airwomen will be involved.

"The threat posed by ISIL is real," Mr Harper said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State by one of its acronyms.

Video: The Brutal Battle For Kobani

The US has been bombing IS in Syria for more than two weeks with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in Iraq since August.

European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.

It is unclear how effective the airstrikes are in weakening the group.

IS appears close to capturing the strategically important town of Kobani near the border with Syria.

The White House welcomed Canada's deployment.

"Canadians and Americans have fought alongside each other in several major conflicts over the past century, and we are grateful for Canada's further contribution against terrorism," a White House statement said.

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Ebola Dead Abandoned On Streets After Strike

Ebola victims are being left on Sierra Leone's streets because of a strike by burial teams, according to media in the country.

The workers, who arguably have one of the world's most dangerous jobs, complain they have not been paid.

The situation is "very embarrassing", said health ministry spokesman Sidie Yahya Tunis.

He promised money was available for the workers.

"We haven't been paid for two weeks, so we need our money right now," said one angry worker.

"We don't even care if dead bodies have been littered all over the city - all we want is our money. We've been stigmatised in our communities, so let the government pay us our money."

Sky's Alex Crawford saw first-hand the extreme precautions burial teams in the region have to take as they retrieve corpses.

Teresa Ramos says she followed all the safety procedures

She said teams in neighbouring Liberia - the worst affected country with more than 2,000 deaths - were overwhelmed, with "not enough hours in the day for them to track down the dead".

Any temporary halt in collection only adds to the risk of further infection because the virus can stay on the bodies, said Sky's Health Correspondent Thomas Moore.

Video: Suiting Up In An Ebola Hotspot

Six hundred people have died from the virus in Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation, and more than 3,400 in total.

The virus has swept through Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, with the World Bank saying the financial impact could hit $32.6bn (£20bn) by the end of the year

A Spanish nurse continues to be treated in a Madrid hospital after becoming the first person outside Africa to contract ebola.

Teresa Romero, 40, told El Mundo she had no idea how she contracted the virus and that she followed all precautions.

Video: Online Appeal To Save Ebola Dog

Another three people are also quarantined at the hospital, including the woman's husband - who has made a video appeal for authorities not to destroy the couple's dog.

Some 50 other people - who either had contact with Mrs Romero or treated one of the two missionaries who died at the hospital - are also being monitored.

Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy has called for calm and promised "transparency" over the scare, which has raised questions over whether strict safety rules were properly followed.

In Britain, David Cameron is chairing a meeting of the COBRA emergency committee as four hospitals stand by to handle any UK cases.

Video: UK 'Lacks Ebola Experience'

The UN, meanwhile, has said one of its medical officials in Liberia has tested positive for ebola and is receiving treatment.

The unnamed official is the second member of their mission to contract the virus - the other died on 25 September.

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Ebola: Seven Facts About The Deadly Disease

Ebola is a virulent virus that has killed thousands during the latest outbreak and is notorious for its low survival rate among sufferers of the full-blown disease. Here we explain what it is.

What is ebola?

Ebola is a virus that can develop into a full-blown disease known as ebola haemorrhagic fever (ebola HF) or ebola viral disease (EVD), which in some patients leads to massive internal and external bleeding.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not flesh-eating, but destroys living tissue cells, which leads to the haemorrhaging, or bleeding.

Is it always fatal?

Video: Deadly Plague: In Ebola Country

The average fatality rate is 50% but case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% of people who contract the full-blown disease. It is not known why others survive.

Around 70% of those who have contracted ebola during the latest outbreak have died.

How is it transferred?

Ebola is transferred from person to person through contact with the blood or secretions of other bodily fluids of infected people.

It can also be caught from infected animals or during burial ceremonies in which mourners come into contact with dead victims.

Video: Ebola Outbreak: On The Front Line

Sufferers who are recovering after surviving the infection are known to have passed on the virus through sexual intercourse.

What are the symptoms?

Ebola often starts with a rapidly developing fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.

This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

In some patients death can be very painful, as the disease destroys connective tissue and also attacks skin and internal organs. The time from infection through to appearance of symptoms is between two and 21 days.

Video: Body Retrieval Worker Mark Korvoyan

How can it be prevented or treated?

There is no vaccine for ebola. Besides intensive supportive care to replace lost fluids (eg oral rehydration solution), the only medicine for the illness is ZMapp.

The experimental drug has been credited with saving lives since it was tested on sufferers for the first time this year.

However, it has not yet been subject to randomised clinical trials to establish its safety and whether it works.

Where does it come from?

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

The disease was first identified in Zaire in 1976, in a part of Africa that is now part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is believed that fruit bats may be one of the hosts and is also known to be present in monkeys and apes.

It is thought it may have made the leap from animal to human through the custom of consuming bush meat, which is common in some parts of Africa.

How dangerous is it?

It is classified as a level 4 biohazard, regarded as the most dangerous and requiring decontamination for those who work with it.

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India Axes 'Laughable' Laws From British Rule

India is to repeal nearly 300 obscure laws dating back to the British Raj.

Among the archaic rules to be scrapped is a decree making it a criminal offence to unearth and keep treasure worth as little as 10 rupees (10p) because it still belongs to the British monarch.

A law from 1838 dictating that property in an area of the former imperial capital of Calcutta can only be sold to the East India Company, which laid the foundations of the British Empire but ceased to exist more than 150 years ago, is also set to be chopped.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took up office earlier this year, has made it one of his priorities to weed out 287 obsolete laws, after failed attempts by previous administrations. They are due to be axed during a session of Parliament in November. 

Mr Modi has made axing obsolete laws a priority

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is leading the legislative clean-up, said: "Some of the laws on our books are laughable. Others have no place in a modern and democratic India."

Another obscure rule to be scrapped is an act making flying kites or balloons without police permission illegal across India as they are classified as an 'aircraft'.

A World War II decree outlawing the dropping of leaflets from the air in the state of Gujarat will also go.

And motoring laws stating that car inspectors in the state of Andhra Pradesh must have a clean set of teeth and anyone with a "pigeon chest, knock knees, flat foot, hammer toes and fractured limbs" is disqualified from driving will cease to exist too.

The Indian Government hopes that less regulation and faster decision-making will make India a less puzzling place to do business and attract more foreign investment.

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Ebola Outbreak: Four Quarantined In Spain

A Madrid nurse who became the first person to contract ebola outside of Africa is being treated with antibodies from survivors of the illness, hospital officials have revealed.

Four people, also including her husband, have been placed in quarantine at the hospital over fears they may also have the deadly virus.

The nurse was part of a medical team at the city's La Paz-Carlos III hospital that treated two Spanish missionaries who died shortly after returning from Africa with the disease.

A second nurse who also helped treat an infected priest is among the four being monitored by health workers, as is a man who arrived on a flight from Nigeria displaying symptoms.

Spain's health authorities said they had been in touch with a total of 22 people who are thought to have been in contact with the 40-year-old nurse, whose name has not been released.

Video: Spanish Nurse Contracts Ebola

They are also monitoring around 30 other members of the health care team that treated one of the missionaries.

Officials added that although the nurse began a holiday after one of the missionaries she had been caring for died on 25 September, she did not leave Madrid during this time.

She began feeling ill on 30 September and was diagnosed with ebola on Monday, but is in a stable condition.

EU countries have demanded an explanation from Spain's health minister as to how the nurse caught the disease, despite all the precautions taken

Video: Body Retrieval Worker Mark Korvoyan

A spokesman said a letter sent to the health minister sought "to obtain some clarification" from Spanish authorities, adding: "The priority remains to find out what actually happened."

Spain's health minister, Ana Mato, said an emergency protocol is in place and that authorities are working to establish the source of the contagion at the Madrid hospital.

"We are working to guarantee the safety of all citizens," she said.

In the US, President Barack Obama says airport screening measures are being stepped up in the country to help identify people who might have the deadly virus.

Video: Spanish Nurse Contracts Ebola Virus

More than 3,400 people have died in the latest ebola outbreak, which has swept through West African countries Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the British Army said more than 100 British Army medics were being sent to Sierra Leone to help tackle the ebola crisis within the next few weeks.

Personnel from the 22 Field Hospital have been undergoing an extensive training exercise in full protective suits, with simulated casualties in make-up.

They will staff a field hospital set up specifically to treat medics who have caught the disease, not members of the general public.

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

An Army spokeswoman said: "They are going through all their procedures and getting atuned to wearing their personal protective equipment, working in quite hot temperatures."

Experts say quarantine systems in developed countries including the UK, US and Spain mean the disease is very unlikely to spread to the same extent seen in poor African countries.

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Kobani 'About To Fall' To Islamic State

Turkish President Recep Erdogan says Syrian border town Kobani is "about to fall" to Islamic State militants and that a ground operation is needed to defeat the group.

It comes as fresh airstrikes targeted fighters who have been bombarding the town with machine-gun fire and shells.

Plumes of smoke billowed into the air over Kobani after jets launched the attack, believed to have been part of the US-led mission.

IS fighters raised their black flag over two buildings in the key border town after a day of heavy fighting on Monday.

Kobani is just over a mile from Turkey

The militants were reported to have moved into the southwest of Kobani overnight, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions on two sides of the town.

Fierce fighting raged in the area over the weekend as local Kurdish fighters struggled to hold out against rocket and mortar attacks - despite support from another three US strikes.

Video: New Strikes Target IS At Border

But Jenan Moussa, a reporter just 500m over the border in Turkey, told Sky News that the fighting was much quieter compared with Monday when bullets were "flying over our heads".

"I can still hear shooting and shelling but nothing compared to yesterday," she said.

"I heard and I saw three airstrikes. One on the western side and two on the eastern."

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1. Gallery: IS Attacks Town Near Turkish Border

   Turkish army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa Province

2. Kurdish fighters vowed not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery

3. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defence of the town

4. An IS fighter walks near a black flag belonging to the Islamic State near Kobani

14. Kurdish refugees from Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc

15. Islamic State is trying to seize Kobani, which is predominantly Kurdish, and has ramped up its offensive in recent days despite being targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at halting its progress

16. Turkish Kurds look at Kobani as they stand on top of a house near Mursitpinar border crossing. Continue through for more pictures

Turkey has massed a line of tanks close to the border in a show of force should IS cross the line into its territory.

At least 400 people - fighters from both sides, and civilians - have been killed during three weeks of fighting around the town, according to British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said it had documented the deaths from sources on the ground but added the real figure could be double.

Video: Firework Attacks In Istanbul Unrest

Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the Kurds were angry that they had not been getting enough air support.

"If (Kobani) falls then symbolically and strategically it will send a message to the Kurds that the coalition is not going to come to their aid."

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, prompting weeks of street battles and forcing around 160,000 people to flee into Turkey.

Video: Turkey Turns Water Cannon On Kurds

The group - who last week murdered British hostage Alan Henning - controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and wants more territory for its 'caliphate'.

Violent clashes were reported overnight in Istanbul and other Turkish cities as hundreds of demonstrators angered at the IS advance clashed with police.

Protesters set up barricades, threw stones, fireworks and petrol bombs at police in some Istanbul neighbourhoods, said the country's Dogan news agency.

Video: Desperate Help Needed In Kobani

Police also reportedly used tear gas and water cannon on protesters in the Kurdish-dominated cities of Diyarbakir, Batman, Van, Sirnak, Sanliurfa and Hakkari.

Tensions in Turkey - a member of the NATO alliance - are rising after its parliament last week authorised military action if necessary.

The order allows incursions into Syria and Iraq to counter the threat "from all terrorist groups" and also means NATO powers could use the country as a base for airstrikes.

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Face-To-Face With The Dying In An Ebola Centre

By Garwen McLuckie, Sky News Cameraman

Before filming inside the high-risk zone, we were told that all or equipment would have to be either disinfected or incinerated.

I had prepared hard - bringing tailor-made plastic sealed containers for the small DSLR camera I would be using and rigging up microphones for Sky News Correspondent Alex Crawford to carry under her clothing, or in a waterproof "dry sack".

In the end, none of them worked, but we were saved by our DSLR camera mike, which provided astonishing sound quality despite being smothered in plastic.

On arrival at the unit, we were first taken to a wooden shed so we could change into medical scrubs.

I felt confident, even excited about the challenge ahead as we moved to a small room be prepped for the high-risk area.

Each person was assigned a nurse to help us dress and to make sure we were properly covered.

First we had to put on large plastic socks which went up to our calves and white plastic boots.

Health workers secure protective body suits with duct tape

Then there was a hairnet, followed by a plastic PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) onesie which zipped right up to my neck and had a double sticky seal down the zip.

The first of three latex gloves went on and were sealed on to the onesie by duct tape round my wrist.

The onesie had its own hood which I pulled over my head, followed by a surgical mask over my mouth and nose.

I was then given another separate hood which went over my head and shoulders, covering my forehead, chin and neck. By this stage I was really feeling the heat and the humidity.

Alex Crawford with extra equipment used for filming in the virus zone

A huge yellow plastic apron was draped over me before my face was finally sealed by goggles. Not even a millimetre of my skin was exposed under these three layers of protection.

Almost immediately I was struggling with the heat and an extreme claustrophobic sensation which I had never experienced before - I wondered how long I would last.

Within a very short time, perspiration was filling my face mask, covering my nose and mouth and I could feel the bubbling of my own sweat as I kept trying to suck in air.

There didn't seem to be much of it.

Alex Crawford speaks to an ebola survivor in a quarantine area

At one stage while Alex was talking to one of the ebola victims I had to close my eyes whilst filming to try to calm myself.

I kept thinking: "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

After filming for an hour, it took a painstaking 10 to 15 minutes to strip off each layer and be carefully disinfected each time.

The doctor could see I was anxious to get everything off but it was essential to observe all the health protocols.

My upbringing means I always give way to women, letting them through doors first and so on.

But in this case I think I would have rugby-tackled Alex to the ground if she hadn't let me go through the disrobing procedure before her.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola Deaths Hidden As Fear Grips Liberia

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, Monrovia

Liberia's few ebola treatment centres are overwhelmed with the sick and dying - with patients sharing beds and the dead laying near the desperately ill.

The country has accounted for more than half of the world's deaths from the latest ebola outbreak in West Africa and despite assurances from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that it is under control, evidence on the ground seen by Sky News appears to suggest otherwise.

Whole communities are gripped with fear about the virus - and terrified citizens prefer to die alone, unaided because of the stigma attached to admitting to the disease.

Dozens of ebola victims are dying in their homes in Monrovia, increasing the chances of the virus spreading.

And official numbers of victims are almost certainly unrepresentative of the real death count because of the lack of co-ordination and nationwide spread of the disease.

Video: Ebola Outbreak: On The Front Line

Small teams of about half a dozen workers set out daily to retrieve the ebola dead - most of whom have died after suffering in secret.

Their relatives are reluctant to admit ebola has caused the death, as this invariably invites ostracism from their communities and targets them as potential virus carriers.

The body recovery squads - still called "burial teams" despite government orders that all ebola victims be cremated - are doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

They take extreme precautions, wearing multiple protective clothing layers along with goggles, boots, gloves and head coverings to try to stay safe.

Video: Music Protects Against Ebola

Head of Team Three, Mark Korvoyan, told Sky News: "There's no day comes that people don't die in their house. Every day, every blessing day."

There's simply too much work for the recovery teams to do, not enough hours in the day for them to track down the dead.

Even as they were picking up the latest corpses from the Elwa Treatment Centre, a young man was sobbing outside.

He cried: "Oh my God, I was just bringing a phone for my sister. Now they say she's died. What am I going to do? She has children..."

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

George Nyumah, like so many of Liberia's citizens, is frantically worried about catching the virus.

So the five children his sister cares for are left alone to fend for themselves in their one-room, corrugated iron shack home.

The eldest is 16, the youngest just two and they all sleep on the dirty mattress which their sick mother lay on in the days before she was taken into the ebola centre.

Their chances of catching or carrying the virus must be very high.

Video: Ebola: A Global Threat

For that reason, their uncle George - and the rest of the extended family - will keep well away for 21 days, just to see if they develop signs of the killer disease.

Even if they survive the virus, they'll have to fight poverty and the community's suspicions in the weeks and months ahead.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Hostage Tells Parents He Fears Being Killed

A former soldier threatened with death by Islamic State militants has spoken of his fear of being killed by his captors in a letter sent to his parents.

Peter Kassig, 26, was captured on 1 October 2013 in Syria, where he was taking aid to refugees fleeing the country's civil war.

In a statement released to the media, Ed and Paula Kassig said their son had written of his sadness at the pain his captivity was causing his family.

He wrote: "I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all.

"I am very sad that all this has happened and for what all of you back home are going through.

Video: Kassig's Parents Issue Video Plea

"If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need."

Mr Kassig was threatened at the end of a video showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning on Friday.

The former Army Ranger, who set up Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA) in Turkey to provide aid for Syrian refugees, had begun delivering supplies to refugee camps in 2012 and providing medical aid to injured civilians.

Video: Alan Henning Memorial Service

According to a former IS hostage, Mr Kassig voluntarily converted to Islam sometime between his captured and December 2013 and is now known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig.

In the letter, he added: "In terms of my faith, I pray every day and I am not angry about my situation in that sense.

"I am in a dogmatically complicated situation here, but I am at peace with my belief."

Video: Henning's Family 'Numb With Grief'

In a statement, the Kassigs said: "We continue to pressure the government to stop its actions and continue to call on his captors to have mercy and release him."

They added that the text of the letter had been edited to remove "sensitive information", and that they received it in June, but did not indicate how they obtained it.

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IS Raises Flag In Town Near Turkey Border

Islamic State militants have apparently captured part of a town close to the Syrian border with Turkey after days of fierce fighting.

The extremist group raised its black flag on a building on the eastern side of Kobani, where Kurdish fighters have been involved in clashes after a nearly three-week siege of the town, according to Reuters.

Idris Nahsen, a Kobani official, had said the militants were less than a mile from the town, which was hit by rockets and mortars during fighting over the weekend.

Turkish tanks are lined up facing the Syrian border

The US also carried out three airstrikes targeting IS positions near the town in Syria on Sunday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed at least 33 IS militants and 23 Kurdish defenders were killed during the fighting.

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1. Gallery: IS Oil Refineries Hit By US Airstrikes

   A man inspects damage at an oil refinery that was targeted by what activists said were US-led air strikes at al-Khaboura village, near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad of Raqqa governate

2. Three makeshift oil refineries in Syria's Raqqa province were hit as part of an assault to weaken Islamic State (IS) militants

3. The United States has been carrying out strikes in Iraq against the Islamic State since July and more recently in Syria with the help of allies

4. It aims to damage and destroy the bases and forces of the al Qaeda offshoot which has captured large areas of both countries

5. Street vendors selling diesel and gasoline wait for customers along a street in the Islamic State's stronghold of Raqqa

6. Activists said that the price of the diesel and gasoline has increased since the beginning of the US air raids. Continue through for more pictures

One shell was fired from inside Syria and hit a house in the Turkish village of Buyuk Kendirci, injuring four people.

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, forcing around 186,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey.

It has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq after declaring an Islamic caliphate in June, including a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

The Turkish parliament authorised involvement in the campaign against IS last week, but no military operations have been announced.

It comes after a masked IS militant was filmed murdering British aid worker Alan Henning and threatening US hostage Peter Kassig in a video released on Friday.

The 47-year-old former taxi driver, from Eccles in Greater Manchester, was captured as he drove an ambulance full of aid supplies into Syria on 27 December last year.

The Ministry of Defence said two Tornado fighters had dropped Paveway bombs on IS targets near Ramadi, in Iraq, on Sunday night.

The RAF jets, based in Akrotiri, Cyprus, attacked IS forces who were shooting at Iraqi troops from a building near the city.

A leader from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Taliban ally that has been based in Pakistan's tribal belt since 2001, has declared its support for IS.

The group was set up in the 1990s and is listed as a terrorist group by the US.

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'Dangerous Crossroads' For Hong Kong Protests

By Greg Milam, Sky Correspondent, in Hong Kong

Authorities in Hong Kong have again called on 'Occupy' protesters to step aside and allow government offices and schools to operate as normal on Monday morning.

There are signs that leaders of the protest movement are willing to co-operate with police and clear access routes on roads they have blocked for a week now.

Police have warned they will take "all necessary action" to restore order after a weekend of tension and little sign of protesters losing enthusiasm in their calls for reform.

Away from the protest areas, it is largely business as usual in Hong Kong: a wedding party at the famous Peninsula Hotel, tourists packing cross-harbour ferries and snapping photos at the statue marking the handover from Britain.

Tens of thousands of protesters occupy streets in the financial district

Irene Pan and her 11-year-old son, who were crossing one of the bridges over a deserted main road through Hong Kong island, said: "I have seen a lot different opinions from all over the country and this city.

"It is a chance for the people of Hong Kong to think and to voice what we think no matter what the opinion is.

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1. Gallery: Protest Is An Art In Hong Kong

   Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have been keeping their message alive with highly-produced poster art celebrating the 'Umbrella Revolution'. Continue through for more images...

"Hong Kong people have been silenced and politically moderate for a long, long time."

Behind the protest barriers, among the banners, walls of peace messages and tents full of supplies, groups of students continue to join the sit-in.

Shandy Hung told Sky News: "At the beginning I don't know much about politics, but I know that if we don't stand up now we will loose the time to fight for our democracy.

Video: Ultimatum For Hong Kong Protesters

"This is just the beginning. I think the most successful thing about the 'Umbrella Revolution' is that more and more people like me will start to care about politics."

Her friend Florence Lam added: "I think the protesters will allow people to go back to work but they will not stop the protest. We have done so much and this is about Hong Kong's future now."

All around them are signs of the determination of protesters to keep that message alive, including highly-produced poster art celebrating the 'Umbrella Revolution'.

Video: Hong Kong Talks Called Off

Scuffles and angry confrontations over the weekend highlight there are those in Hong Kong who are unhappy at the continuing protests.

As the South China Morning Post reported, Monday represents a "dangerous crossroads" for the people of Hong Kong.

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