By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, in Iraq
Ansar Marjaiyeh, or Soldiers Of The Religious Leadership, is a group of Shia volunteers leading the fightback against Islamic State militants near Fallujah.
IS snipers are just 200m away, and they return fire hard and fast. The volunteers are slowly pushing the militants back, but holding the territory they retake is their main challenge.
Their weapons are not impressive, but their resolve is. Dozens of these fighters have been killed so far. This is just one of several open fronts with the Islamic State group in Iraq.
More than 20,000 Shia militiamen from different groups, many backed by Iran, are involved in the fight against IS. They make up what is known as the Popular Mobilisation Force. Around 5,000 Iraqi officers and soldiers are working with them.
The men proudly show off their weapons and what they have picked up during battle.
Video:People Return Home After Liberation
One militia leader showed us what he said was a receipt, bearing the stamp of the Islamic State group, invoicing the Syrian government for crude oil worth thousands of dollars. The receipt said the oil was to be transferred from Mosul to Syria.
We met up with hundreds of fighters on their way to the frontline in Tikrit - the birthplace of former president Saddam Hussein, which was taken over by IS last summer.
The military operation In Tikrit is in its third week, but the militias still only control parts of the city.
Hadi al Amiri heads up the Badr Brigade, one of Iraq's most effective fighting forces.
Seen by many as Iran's man on the ground, he told Sky News that dozens of Iranian advisors are helping take back territory from IS, and that Tikrit would be retaken within days.
Video:'This Is Not A Sectarian War'
But he insists co-ordination with local Sunni forces has been key, and is confident his men will soon take back Anbar before recapturing the country's second city, Mosul.
He said: "We were victorious in Diyala, and we're using the same strategy here, as a result of a high degree of co-ordination between the army, the popular mobilisation forces and the police."
In Diyala, though, Sunni families returning have found their homes burned and looted. Rights groups say dozens of villages were destroyed not just by IS, but also Shia militias carrying out revenge attacks.
We spoke to people in Diyala who told us they heard about those attacks from their neighbours and friends, but did not see anything themselves.
Militia leaders insist they have strict orders not to harm locals under their control, and near Tikrit, we found Shia fighters helping hundreds of families going home.
Video:Shia Fighters Battle Islamic State
There are also some areas where the battle was too fierce, meaning there is nothing left to come back to. Islamic State flags still litter the walls along the streets as mangled metal and charred buildings replace what used to be a vibrant neighbourhood.
For now, the momentum is with the militias and the Iraqi army.
Tikrit will be a strategic and symbolic victory before the push northwards, but that will entail Shia militias controlling Sunni and mixed villages - putting Iraq's delicate sectarian balance to the ultimate test.
Up to 100 bodies, many with their throats slit, have been found in a mass grave on the edge of a town in northeast Nigeria after it was freed from Boko Haram militants.
Soldiers from Chad and Niger who have liberated Damasak from the Islamist group said they discovered the bodies under a bridge on one of the main roads leading out of the town.
Chad's military spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna said: "There are about 100 bodies spread around under the bridge just outside the town... this is the work of Boko Haram."
A Reuters witness said they had counted at least 70 bodies.
Chadian and Nigerian soldiers have retaken the town of Damasak
Col Agouna, who visited the scene himself close to the border with Niger, claimed the massacre probably occurred about two months ago because the bodies were partially mummified by the dry desert air.
He said several of the victims had been decapitated while others had been shot.
Video:Feb 2015: Battling Boko Haram
"There are heads here and bodies there, the mass grave has become like a termite mound," he added.
Damasak was seized by Boko Haram in November but recaptured by troops from Niger and Chad on 9 March as part of a multinational effort to wipe out the militants.
All but around 50 of the town's residents had fled by the time Damasak was recaptured. Those who remained were mostly too old or too sick to leave.
Video:Islamic State's Reach
Damasak resident Mbodou Moussa said: "People were in town when they (Boko Haram) attacked, they fired at us, we ran away to the bushes but they continued to fire and chased some people to kill them."
Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in a six-year insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.
The regional offensive was launched this year with Chad, Niger and Cameroon as Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and biggest economy, prepares for presidential elections on 28 March.
Video:Boko Haram Align With Islamic State
Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the insurgency.
His challenger Muhammadu Buhari has campaigned on a reputation for toughness gained when he was military ruler of Nigeria in the 1980s.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says he is optimistic that a deal over his country's nuclear programme can be reached during the current round of negotiations.
Mr Rouhani said that recent progress in the talks between Tehran and other world powers, including the UK, could see an agreement.
Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying: "In this round of talks, shared points of view emerged in some of the areas where there had been a difference of opinion, which can be a foundation for a final agreement."
"I believe it is possible to reach an agreement and there is nothing that cannot be resolved."
Earlier he said those negotiating with his country have realised that "threats and sanctions are ineffective".
Video:'Genuine Progress' In Nuclear Talks
Iran and world powers - US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - ended their latest nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Friday and will resume negotiations later next week.
They are aiming towards a 31 March deadline for a framework agreement.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says "genuine progress" has been made but warned that significant gaps remain and "we have not yet reached the finish line".
Video:Barack Obama's Message To Iran
He added: "It is a matter of political will and tough decision making...and we must all choose wisely in the days ahead."
France has been demanding more stringent restrictions on the Iranians under any deal than the other Western delegations and at one point during the talks French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius phoned his team to ensure it made no more concessions, officials said.
He said: "France wants an agreement, but a robust one that really guarantees that Iran can have access to civilian nuclear power, but not the atomic bomb."
Video:2012: Netanyahu UN Speech on Iran
Iran wants UN sanctions to be lifted immediately and denies that it harbours nuclear weapons ambitions.
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 20 Maret 2015 | 20.18
North Korea Nuke Threat Frightening - If True
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Video:North Korea: Defectors 'Human Scum'
North Korea's ambassador to the UK has told Sky News that his country could fire a nuclear missile "anytime".
This is a big deal and a frightening prospect - if it's true.
North Korea ambassador Hyun Hak-bong
Ambassador Hyun Hak-bong made the claim in an interview with Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall from the country's London embassy.
"We are prepared," the ambassador said. "That is why I say if a sparkle of a fire is made on the Korean peninsula, it will lead to a nuclear war.
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Gallery: Kim Jong-Un Guides Artillery Fire And Landing Exercises
A view of artillery fire exercises guided by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un
The set of photos was released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang. Continue through for more pictures
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"We don't say empty words. We mean what we mean. It is not the United States that has a monopoly on nuclear weapons strikes."
Bunkall sought clarification: "So can I just be clear: you are telling me that the North Korea has the ability now to fire a nuclear missile?
"Anytime, anytime, yes." the ambassador said.
It is widely accepted that North Korea has "the Bomb". But possessing a nuclear bomb is one thing; having the ability to deploy it on a missile is quite another. That is what the ambassador seems to be claiming North Korea can now do.
For years, North Korea has been trying to marry two distinct technologies: it wants to bring together its ballistic missile programme (which it often claims is part of its project to put satellites into orbit) with its nuclear weapon programme.
To deploy a nuclear weapon, North Korea needs to make its nuclear devices "small" enough to fit in the tip of its ballistic missiles - it needs to "miniaturise" them. That's the tricky bit.
Video:Sony Hack Timeline
The country's nuclear weapons programme itself appears to be successful. It carried out apparently successful underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Analysts believe that the country could have enough weapons-grade plutonium for at least six bombs.
Shortly after the 2013 test, North Korea claimed its scientists had used a miniaturised nuclear device. No proof was provided but, nonetheless, it prompted the alarm bells in Washington DC and Seoul, South Korea.
Recently, American military sources have said North Korea has probably managed some form of miniaturisation. Sources have told Sky News that China, the country with the closest ties to North Korea, holds similar views.
The ambassador's comments to Sky News would, on the face of it, confirm that they have successfully miniaturised their weapons. However, they come at a time when North Korean nuclear or missile tests have been unnervingly absent.
The last flight test of a long range rocket was in December 2012. In July 2013, Sky News was in Pyongyang to see the country's Musudan and KN-08 missiles being paraded through the streets. They have not been seen since.
But a lack of a headline grabbing fourth nuclear test or missile launch could mask quiet activity. Those who study satellite images of North Korea's known missile launch sites have reported expansion and infrastructure construction.
Video:Woman Exposes North Korea Horrors
"I'd say there is a consensus forming that North Korea has miniaturised and weaponised at some basic level," Professor John Delury, senior fellow at the US-China Centre in Seoul, told Sky News.
"There's always room for improvement, of course," he said.
And that's the point: whether or not the ambassador was telling the truth about the ability to fire a nuclear missile, we know that they are trying desperately hard to achieve the capability to do so. The Korean peninsula is already a dangerous place.
Unless North Korea can be brought back to the "Six Party" denuclearisation talks, things could be about to become far less predictable and considerably more dangerous.
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North Korea Nuke Threat Frightening - If True
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:North Korea: Defectors 'Human Scum'
North Korea's ambassador to the UK has told Sky News that his country could fire a nuclear missile "anytime".
This is a big deal and a frightening prospect - if it's true.
North Korea ambassador Hyun Hak-bong
Ambassador Hyun Hak-bong made the claim in an interview with Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall from the country's London embassy.
"We are prepared," the ambassador said. "That is why I say if a sparkle of a fire is made on the Korean peninsula, it will lead to a nuclear war.
1/5
Gallery: Kim Jong-Un Guides Artillery Fire And Landing Exercises
A view of artillery fire exercises guided by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un
The set of photos was released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang. Continue through for more pictures
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"We don't say empty words. We mean what we mean. It is not the United States that has a monopoly on nuclear weapons strikes."
Bunkall sought clarification: "So can I just be clear: you are telling me that the North Korea has the ability now to fire a nuclear missile?
"Anytime, anytime, yes." the ambassador said.
It is widely accepted that North Korea has "the Bomb". But possessing a nuclear bomb is one thing; having the ability to deploy it on a missile is quite another. That is what the ambassador seems to be claiming North Korea can now do.
For years, North Korea has been trying to marry two distinct technologies: it wants to bring together its ballistic missile programme (which it often claims is part of its project to put satellites into orbit) with its nuclear weapon programme.
To deploy a nuclear weapon, North Korea needs to make its nuclear devices "small" enough to fit in the tip of its ballistic missiles - it needs to "miniaturise" them. That's the tricky bit.
Video:Sony Hack Timeline
The country's nuclear weapons programme itself appears to be successful. It carried out apparently successful underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Analysts believe that the country could have enough weapons-grade plutonium for at least six bombs.
Shortly after the 2013 test, North Korea claimed its scientists had used a miniaturised nuclear device. No proof was provided but, nonetheless, it prompted the alarm bells in Washington DC and Seoul, South Korea.
Recently, American military sources have said North Korea has probably managed some form of miniaturisation. Sources have told Sky News that China, the country with the closest ties to North Korea, holds similar views.
The ambassador's comments to Sky News would, on the face of it, confirm that they have successfully miniaturised their weapons. However, they come at a time when North Korean nuclear or missile tests have been unnervingly absent.
The last flight test of a long range rocket was in December 2012. In July 2013, Sky News was in Pyongyang to see the country's Musudan and KN-08 missiles being paraded through the streets. They have not been seen since.
But a lack of a headline grabbing fourth nuclear test or missile launch could mask quiet activity. Those who study satellite images of North Korea's known missile launch sites have reported expansion and infrastructure construction.
Video:Woman Exposes North Korea Horrors
"I'd say there is a consensus forming that North Korea has miniaturised and weaponised at some basic level," Professor John Delury, senior fellow at the US-China Centre in Seoul, told Sky News.
"There's always room for improvement, of course," he said.
And that's the point: whether or not the ambassador was telling the truth about the ability to fire a nuclear missile, we know that they are trying desperately hard to achieve the capability to do so. The Korean peninsula is already a dangerous place.
Unless North Korea can be brought back to the "Six Party" denuclearisation talks, things could be about to become far less predictable and considerably more dangerous.
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The bodies of five dead babies have been found in a house in southwestern France, according to reports.
The body of a newborn was found in a thermal bag on Thursday morning by the father.
Police were called and a short time later officers "discovered four more bodies of babies during their search" at the house in Louchats, near Bordeaux.
Reports in French media have said the four remaining bodies were found in a freezer.
The 40-year-old father has been taken into custody while the mother, aged 35, is in hospital for gynaecological and psychiatric tests.
The mother is not known to have a documented history of psychological problems and the father is reported to have said he knew nothing about the babies.
The couple, who are understood to work in farming, have two daughters aged 13 and 15.
All five bodies are undergoing post-mortem examinations to determine how they were born and whether they would have been considered medically viable.
The worst case of infanticide in recent French history dates back to 2010, when a mother admitted to killing eight of her babies, smothering them immediately after they were born.
Federal authorities are investigating the death of an African-American man who was found hanged in woodland in Mississippi.
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said that the man had not been seen since 2 March.
He had gone missing in a wooded area in Claiborne County in western Mississippi. His body was found during a search by local law enforcement officers.
The body was found in woodland in western Mississippi
The Mississippi chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) identified the dead man as Otis Byrd, 54, and called for a swift and thorough federal investigation into his death.
"Mr Byrd was found hung in a tree, and because of that we want to ensure it was not in fact a racial hate crime," said Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP.
A cause of death has not been determined and authorities are unclear whether the man was killed or took his own life.
The investigation is being carried out by the FBI, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the US Attorney's office.
Johnie Baker, 87, owns the land where the body was found - about 200 yards from Mr Byrd's house.
Mr Baker, who did not accompany authorities on the search, described it as an area of pecan and black walnut trees, frequented by hunters and home to several wild hogs.
Lynching, or extrajudicial public execution by hanging, was once a common practice in parts of the US in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. By one estimate, some 3,500 African Americans and 1,300 whites were lynched from 1882 to 1968.
North Korea is ready to launch a nuclear war if it feels threatened, the country's ambassador to the UK has told Sky News.
In a rare interview, the senior official told us North Korea has nuclear weapons and is ready to use them.
"We are prepared," he said. "That is why I say if a sparkle of a fire is made on the Korean peninsula, it will lead to a nuclear war.
"We don't say empty words. We mean what we mean. It is not the United States that has a monopoly on nuclear weapons strikes."
"So can I just be clear: you are telling me that the North Korea has the ability now to fire a nuclear missile?" I clarified.
Hyun Hak-bong speaking to Sky News
"Any time, any time, yes."
Hyun Hak-bong also hit out at allegations made against his country days after the United Nations launched yet another investigation into North Korea's human rights record.
Video:The North Korean Defectors
The diplomat was asked about allegations made to Sky News last year by North Koreans living in the South Korean capital Seoul. They claim to have been tortured and beaten in their own country.
He said: "Those allegations are based on fabricated stories by the defectors from the North."
"Do you know the difference between human beings and animals? Human beings have a conscience and morality. If they do not have a conscience and a morality the are like nothing.
"They're animals. That is why we call the defectors animals. They are no better than animals. They're human scum."
Video:Feb: Surviving N Korea Prison Camps
The UN will investigate reports that up to 20,000 North Koreans have been sent to Qatar to help build the 2022 World Cup facilities under inhumane conditions.
Sky News was invited to interview the Ambassador for a second year running. Like 12 months ago, the interview coincided with annual US/South Korean military exercises.
The exercises are called Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, and last a number of weeks. They involve hundreds of thousands of troops on land, sea and in the air.
America says the manoeuvres are defensive but Pyongyang believes they are a preparation for an invasion.
Video:Woman Exposes North Korea Horrors
The ambassador claims America is "softening" North Korea before conducting "a pre-emptive strike".
The exercises raise tensions on the peninsula but so far have not led to war. The worry is one misunderstanding could turn the situation very serious
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 19 Maret 2015 | 20.18
Two men were killed and more than a dozen wounded after gunmen armed with automatic weapons opened fire in a Swedish pub.
Police said the death toll is expected to rise after the attack, which took place as drinkers were watching football on television in the bar in Gothenburg.
A witness told the Aftonbladet newspaper that two people entered the pub in the Biskopsgaarden suburb in western Sweden armed with weapons that looked like Kalashnikovs and started shooting.
"We were sitting watching the football game when the shooters came in," the witness said.
The shootings took place in an area plagued by gang violence
Another witness said the shootings were over quickly.
"I didn't have time to think what was happening. Then I saw that my friend was bleeding. I tried to stop the flow of blood as well as I could with my hands," a man who gave his name as "Rocky" told public broadcaster SVT.
"Several attackers opened fire with automatic weapons," police said in a statement.
"Two men aged 20 to 25 were killed. Ten to 15 people were shot and wounded in varying degrees."
A police spokeswoman added: "There is absolutely nothing that indicates terrorism."
Police rushed to the bar, where drinkers had been watching football
The gunmen fled the scene by car and police are still hunting for them.
The shootings are believed to be gang-related.
Gothenburg has seen dozens of criminal gang-linked shootings in recent years, many of them in Biskopsgaarden, a housing estate with high unemployment and a large immigrant population.
A man was shot dead in an apartment in the area in May 2014, while in January a man was shot in the leg in a square near the scene of the latest killings.
Sweden and neighbouring Denmark have grappled for years with criminal gangs, including Hells Angels, Bandidos and immigrant groups battling for control of the drugs trade.
Police have launched a murder investigation and are questioning "a large number of people".
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Yazidis flee Islamic State fighters in Sinjar in August 2014
Islamic State jihadists should be prosecuted for committing genocide against the Yazidis in Iraq, the United Nations has said.
The UN human rights office published a report detailing mass killings, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers by the extremists.
The agency said in a statement that IS "may have committed all three of the most serious international crimes - namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide".
The report, based on interviews with more than 100 witnesses and survivors of attacks in Iraq between June 2014 and February 2015, highlights brutal IS attacks on ethnic and religious groups, including Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen, Kurds and Shia.
A mass grave thought to contain up to 1,700 IS victims has been found
IS, which controls a swathe of territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, launched "a series of systematic and widespread attacks" on the Yazidi minority's heartland in the northern Nineveh province last August.
According to the report, the attacks appeared intended "to destroy the Yazidi as a group," which "strongly suggests" IS is guilty of "genocide" against the Yazidi.
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Gallery: Thousands Of Displaced Yazidis
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain
Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq's human rights minister says
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The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Irbil
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A displaced child rests as she makes her way, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain
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Members of the Kurdish Red Cresent help a displaced woman from the Yazidi sect. Continue through for more pictures
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The report - ordered by the UN Human Rights Council last September following a request from the Iraqi government - found some villages "were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population".
In some Yazidi villages, men and boys over the age of 14 were rounded up and shot, while the women and girls were abducted as the "spoils of war".
Female captives were sold into sexual slavery or handed over to IS members as "gifts", the report said, with witnesses describing girls as young as six screaming for help as they were raped in a house used by IS fighters.
Video:Kurds Claim IS Used Chlorine Gas
A pregnant 19-year-old told the investigators she was repeatedly raped by an IS "doctor" over a period of two and a half months, and that he deliberately sat on her stomach, saying "this baby should die because it is an infidel. I can make a Muslim baby."
Boys as young as eight were forced to convert to Islam and given religious and military training, including being forced to watch videos of beheadings, the report said.
Yazidis, whose ancient religion has elements of Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism, are considered to be devil worshippers by the Sunni Muslim militants.
Video:Islamic State's Reach
The jihadists have also ruthlessly targeted anyone perceived to be connected with the Iraqi government, the report said, pointing to the massacre last June of up to 1,700 cadets from the Speicher army base, after they reportedly surrendered.
A mass grave - believed to contain the bodies of victims of the massacre - was uncovered in Saddam Hussein's home town Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.
A former police officer told the investigators IS fighters had slashed the throats of his father, five-year-old son and five-month-old daughter after he showed his police ID card during a search.
Video:Yazidis Head Back To Mount Sinjar
The report also accused Iraqi security forces and affiliated militia of a range of serious crimes during their operations against IS, the report said.
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IS Must Be Put On Trial For Genocide, UN Says
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Yazidis flee Islamic State fighters in Sinjar in August 2014
Islamic State jihadists should be prosecuted for committing genocide against the Yazidis in Iraq, the United Nations has said.
The UN human rights office published a report detailing mass killings, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers by the extremists.
The agency said in a statement that IS "may have committed all three of the most serious international crimes - namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide".
The report, based on interviews with more than 100 witnesses and survivors of attacks in Iraq between June 2014 and February 2015, highlights brutal IS attacks on ethnic and religious groups, including Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen, Kurds and Shia.
A mass grave thought to contain up to 1,700 IS victims has been found
IS, which controls a swathe of territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, launched "a series of systematic and widespread attacks" on the Yazidi minority's heartland in the northern Nineveh province last August.
According to the report, the attacks appeared intended "to destroy the Yazidi as a group," which "strongly suggests" IS is guilty of "genocide" against the Yazidi.
1/21
Gallery: Thousands Of Displaced Yazidis
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain
Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq's human rights minister says
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The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Irbil
]]>
A displaced child rests as she makes her way, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain
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Members of the Kurdish Red Cresent help a displaced woman from the Yazidi sect. Continue through for more pictures
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The report - ordered by the UN Human Rights Council last September following a request from the Iraqi government - found some villages "were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population".
In some Yazidi villages, men and boys over the age of 14 were rounded up and shot, while the women and girls were abducted as the "spoils of war".
Female captives were sold into sexual slavery or handed over to IS members as "gifts", the report said, with witnesses describing girls as young as six screaming for help as they were raped in a house used by IS fighters.
Video:Kurds Claim IS Used Chlorine Gas
A pregnant 19-year-old told the investigators she was repeatedly raped by an IS "doctor" over a period of two and a half months, and that he deliberately sat on her stomach, saying "this baby should die because it is an infidel. I can make a Muslim baby."
Boys as young as eight were forced to convert to Islam and given religious and military training, including being forced to watch videos of beheadings, the report said.
Yazidis, whose ancient religion has elements of Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism, are considered to be devil worshippers by the Sunni Muslim militants.
Video:Islamic State's Reach
The jihadists have also ruthlessly targeted anyone perceived to be connected with the Iraqi government, the report said, pointing to the massacre last June of up to 1,700 cadets from the Speicher army base, after they reportedly surrendered.
A mass grave - believed to contain the bodies of victims of the massacre - was uncovered in Saddam Hussein's home town Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.
A former police officer told the investigators IS fighters had slashed the throats of his father, five-year-old son and five-month-old daughter after he showed his police ID card during a search.
Video:Yazidis Head Back To Mount Sinjar
The report also accused Iraqi security forces and affiliated militia of a range of serious crimes during their operations against IS, the report said.
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Breaking News: British Woman Killed In 'Brutal' Tunisia Attack
An al Shabaab leader thought to be a mastermind of the Nairobi shopping mall attack was killed in a US drone strike last week, the Pentagon says.
Adnan Garaar was targeted while in a car near the town of Dinsoor, 150 miles west of the Somalian capital Mogadishu, on 12 March.
Residents said the car contained three al Shabaab members and the vehicle was completely destroyed.
Confirming Garaar's death, the US military said in a statement: "He posed a major threat to the region and the international community and was connected to the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya.
"His death has dealt another significant blow to the al Shabaab terrorist organisation in Somalia."
Video:Kenya Names Shopping Mall Attackers
Some 67 people, including six Britons, were killed in the Westgate Mall attack in September 2013.
The attack was the largest in Kenya since al Qaeda bombed the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998.
Al Shabaab has vowed to carry out attacks in Kenya and Uganda in retaliation for the countries' contribution to the African Union force supporting Somalia's government.
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Video:Brit Woman Killed In Terror Attack
A British woman was killed in the terror attack in Tunis that left 23 people dead, it has emerged.
Named as Sally Adey, the victim was on holiday with her husband, who is receiving support from the firm that runs the cruise ship the pair were sailing on.
Prime Minister David Cameron described the killings as an "appalling and brutal outrage".
Describing it as "the latest example of extremist terror", he said: "We have to fight it with everything we have, whether that is taking the poison out of young minds here in Britain, whether it's working with intelligence, policing and security services in other countries around the world or whether it's dealing decisively with those areas of the world from which these problems come."
Witnesses say the gunmen behind the attack opened fire on tourists arriving at the capital's Bardo Museum, renowned for its collection of Roman mosaics, before chasing them inside.
Video:PM Condemns Tunis Terror Attack
The two attackers were among the 23 people left dead.
The victims, who also included Japanese, Italians, Colombians, Spaniards, Australians, Poles and French, were passengers on two cruise liners which had recently arrived in Tunis.
Moncef Hamdoun, an official with the Charles Nicolle hospital where many victims were taken, said seven of the dead remain unidentified.
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Gallery: Gallery
Police officers stand outside the parliament
A tourist injured after an attack by gunmen on Tunisia's national museum is wheeled on a stretcher
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Police lead their dogs during the attack by gunmen
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Police officers and a journalist run outside the parliament
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A tourist injured after an attack by gunmen on Tunisia's national museum
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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "Sadly, I can confirm the death of a British woman in yesterday's terrorist attack in Tunisia. Consular staff are providing assistance to her family. My thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.
"The Tunisian people are rightly proud of their democratic transition.
"Cowardly attacks, such as the one we saw yesterday, must not be allowed to undermine what they have achieved."
Video:Tunisians Unite Against Terror
Meanwhile, Mr Essid said one of the two gunmen was known to intelligence services. Authorities are searching for two or three other possible accomplices.
In an interview with France's RTL radio, Mr Essid said Tunisia was working with other countries to learn more about the attackers, identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui.
The pair were killed by security services in a raid after the attack.
Video:Terrified Hostages Flee Museum
Mr Essid said Laabidi had been flagged to intelligence, although not for "anything special." No formal links to a particular terrorist group have been established following the attack.
Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, also revealed a Spanish tourist couple were found safe after hiding out in the Tunis museum all night after the attack.
He said the pair, Juan Carlos Sanchez and Cristina Rubio - who is four-months pregnant, were so afraid that they did not want to move.
Video:Tunisia's Deadly Exports
Mrs Adey was among 10 people sailing on MSC Cruises' vessel, Splendida, who were killed in the attack. Twelve were injured.
The company said: "At this tragic time, the MSC Cruises family wishes to extend its most sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those who were affected by this tragic event and are suffering as a result, in particular to the families and friends of those who lost their lives as well as the injured ones."
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British Woman Killed In 'Brutal' Tunisia Attack
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Video:Brit Woman Killed In Terror Attack
A British woman was killed in the terror attack in Tunis that left 23 people dead, it has emerged.
Named as Sally Adey, the victim was on holiday with her husband, who is receiving support from the firm that runs the cruise ship the pair were sailing on.
Prime Minister David Cameron described the killings as an "appalling and brutal outrage".
Describing it as "the latest example of extremist terror", he said: "We have to fight it with everything we have, whether that is taking the poison out of young minds here in Britain, whether it's working with intelligence, policing and security services in other countries around the world or whether it's dealing decisively with those areas of the world from which these problems come."
Witnesses say the gunmen behind the attack opened fire on tourists arriving at the capital's Bardo Museum, renowned for its collection of Roman mosaics, before chasing them inside.
Video:PM Condemns Tunis Terror Attack
The two attackers were among the 23 people left dead.
The victims, who also included Japanese, Italians, Colombians, Spaniards, Australians, Poles and French, were passengers on two cruise liners which had recently arrived in Tunis.
Moncef Hamdoun, an official with the Charles Nicolle hospital where many victims were taken, said seven of the dead remain unidentified.
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Gallery: Gallery
Police officers stand outside the parliament
A tourist injured after an attack by gunmen on Tunisia's national museum is wheeled on a stretcher
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Police lead their dogs during the attack by gunmen
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Police officers and a journalist run outside the parliament
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A tourist injured after an attack by gunmen on Tunisia's national museum
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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "Sadly, I can confirm the death of a British woman in yesterday's terrorist attack in Tunisia. Consular staff are providing assistance to her family. My thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.
"The Tunisian people are rightly proud of their democratic transition.
"Cowardly attacks, such as the one we saw yesterday, must not be allowed to undermine what they have achieved."
Video:Tunisians Unite Against Terror
Meanwhile, Mr Essid said one of the two gunmen was known to intelligence services. Authorities are searching for two or three other possible accomplices.
In an interview with France's RTL radio, Mr Essid said Tunisia was working with other countries to learn more about the attackers, identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui.
The pair were killed by security services in a raid after the attack.
Video:Terrified Hostages Flee Museum
Mr Essid said Laabidi had been flagged to intelligence, although not for "anything special." No formal links to a particular terrorist group have been established following the attack.
Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, also revealed a Spanish tourist couple were found safe after hiding out in the Tunis museum all night after the attack.
He said the pair, Juan Carlos Sanchez and Cristina Rubio - who is four-months pregnant, were so afraid that they did not want to move.
Video:Tunisia's Deadly Exports
Mrs Adey was among 10 people sailing on MSC Cruises' vessel, Splendida, who were killed in the attack. Twelve were injured.
The company said: "At this tragic time, the MSC Cruises family wishes to extend its most sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those who were affected by this tragic event and are suffering as a result, in particular to the families and friends of those who lost their lives as well as the injured ones."
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Anti-Capitalist Rally Turns Violent
Violent clashes have broken out in Germany's financial capital ahead of the opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters.
Police in Frankfurt say they have arrested about 350 people after anti-austerity demonstrators became "aggressive and violent" in the early hours of the morning.
Almost 90 officers were reportedly injured after police and firefighters came under attack from activists throwing stones and hurling "unidentified liquids".
A 'capitalism kills' banner has been erected near the ECB Pic: @khusain
Meanwhile, reports of cars being torched across the city continued to emerge, including three police patrol vehicles which were set alight during an attack on a central police station.
The police and fire departments both issued appeals on Twitter, urging protesters to remain calm.
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Gallery: Frankfurt In Flames As ECB Building Protests Turn Violent
Members of the so-called "Blockupy alliance" have staged protests against austerity and the authority of the European Central Bank ahead of its new headquarters officially opening in Frankfurt, Germany
A policeman stops an anti-capitalist protester near the ECB building
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Protesters climb one of the Frankfurt towers. Pic@ @khusain
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Four German police cars set on fire by protesters burn near the ECB building
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Riot police clash with protesters dressed as clowns. Continue through for more pictures
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"Our firefighters are being attacked. Please stop doing that!" Frankfurt Fire Department tweeted.
Shortly before the ECB building's inauguration, police deployed water cannon to disperse groups of protesters gathered outside the security zone around the 185-metre (605ft) new skyscraper.
There is a massive police presence across the city, with up to 10,000 anti-austerity protesters, marching under the "Blockupy" banner, expected to take part in the rally.
"It is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city," a police spokeswoman told news agency AFP.
Blockupy, which brings together an alliance of anti-capitalist and anti-austerity groups from across Europe, has repeatedly organised protests in Frankfurt's banking district since 2012.
The organisation is targeting the ECB over its role in imposing austerity measures on financially troubled countries like Greece.
On its official Twitter page, the group accused police of brutality, claiming several people had been injured.
"Stop police violence," it wrote.
Activists have erected a banner reading "capitalism kills" in view of the new building.
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Frankfurt In Flames Amid Anti-Capitalist Rally
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Anti-Capitalist Rally Turns Violent
Violent clashes have broken out in Germany's financial capital ahead of the opening of the European Central Bank's new headquarters.
Police in Frankfurt say they have arrested about 350 people after anti-austerity demonstrators became "aggressive and violent" in the early hours of the morning.
Almost 90 officers were reportedly injured after police and firefighters came under attack from activists throwing stones and hurling "unidentified liquids".
A 'capitalism kills' banner has been erected near the ECB Pic: @khusain
Meanwhile, reports of cars being torched across the city continued to emerge, including three police patrol vehicles which were set alight during an attack on a central police station.
The police and fire departments both issued appeals on Twitter, urging protesters to remain calm.
1/34
Gallery: Frankfurt In Flames As ECB Building Protests Turn Violent
Members of the so-called "Blockupy alliance" have staged protests against austerity and the authority of the European Central Bank ahead of its new headquarters officially opening in Frankfurt, Germany
A policeman stops an anti-capitalist protester near the ECB building
]]>
Protesters climb one of the Frankfurt towers. Pic@ @khusain
]]>
Four German police cars set on fire by protesters burn near the ECB building
]]>
Riot police clash with protesters dressed as clowns. Continue through for more pictures
]]>
"Our firefighters are being attacked. Please stop doing that!" Frankfurt Fire Department tweeted.
Shortly before the ECB building's inauguration, police deployed water cannon to disperse groups of protesters gathered outside the security zone around the 185-metre (605ft) new skyscraper.
There is a massive police presence across the city, with up to 10,000 anti-austerity protesters, marching under the "Blockupy" banner, expected to take part in the rally.
"It is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city," a police spokeswoman told news agency AFP.
Blockupy, which brings together an alliance of anti-capitalist and anti-austerity groups from across Europe, has repeatedly organised protests in Frankfurt's banking district since 2012.
The organisation is targeting the ECB over its role in imposing austerity measures on financially troubled countries like Greece.
On its official Twitter page, the group accused police of brutality, claiming several people had been injured.
"Stop police violence," it wrote.
Activists have erected a banner reading "capitalism kills" in view of the new building.
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Breaking News: Eight Tourists Killed In Tunisia Militant Attack
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Netanyahu Wins Israeli Election
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has scored a resounding victory in Israel's election, final results show.
With nearly all the votes counted, Likud appeared to have earned 30 of parliament's 120 seats.
Exit polls had shown a tight race with Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union, but the centre-left party ended up with just 24 seats.
Mr Herzog told reporters: "A few minutes ago I spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and congratulated him on his achievement and wished him luck."
Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, his co-leader of the Zionist Union party
Mr Netanyahu will now set about putting together a coalition government with right-wing and religious allies.
The win comes after he moved to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
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Gallery: Israel Goes To The Polls In Tight Election
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote in Jerusalem
An Israeli soldier choosing a ballot from behind a voting booth near Ofakim
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Isaac Herzog, co-leader of centre-left Zionist Union party, poses for a photograph at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv
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Mr Herzog places a note in the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews in Jerusalem
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A supporter of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party holds a campaign poster in Bnei Brak
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In a four-day pre-election blitz, he made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties.
As well as ruling out a Palestinian state, he also pledged to continue building settlements on occupied land.
His victory is likely to mean continued tensions with the United States, which has had an increasingly fraught relationship with Mr Netanyahu.
The win was unexpected as the last opinion polls published four days before the vote showed the Zionist Union with a four-seat advantage over Likud.
In a statement, Likud said Mr Netanyahu intended to form a new government within weeks, with negotiations already under way with the pro-settler Jewish Home party led by Naftali Bennett, and with religious groups.
The critical party to get on side will be centrist Kulanu, led by former Likud member Moshe Kahlon, who won 10 seats, making him a kingmaker given his ability to side with either Mr Netanyahu or the centre-left opposition.
"Against all odds, we achieved a great victory for the Likud," Mr Netanyahu said.
"I am proud of the people of Israel, who in the moment of truth knew how to distinguish between what is important and what is peripheral, and to insist on what is important.
"Reality is not waiting for us. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for them regarding security, economy and society as we committed to do - and we will do so."
If he manages to form a workable coalition, it would give Mr Netanyahu a fourth term in office after the six years he has already spent in power.
It puts him on track to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister, a position currently held by the country's founding father and first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who served between from 1948 to 1954 and from 1955 to 1963.
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Missing Claudia: Police Chasing New Leads
Netanyahu's Likud Party Wins Israeli Election
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Netanyahu Wins Israeli Election
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has scored a resounding victory in Israel's election, final results show.
With nearly all the votes counted, Likud appeared to have earned 30 of parliament's 120 seats.
Exit polls had shown a tight race with Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union, but the centre-left party ended up with just 24 seats.
Mr Herzog told reporters: "A few minutes ago I spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and congratulated him on his achievement and wished him luck."
Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, his co-leader of the Zionist Union party
Mr Netanyahu will now set about putting together a coalition government with right-wing and religious allies.
The win comes after he moved to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
1/17
Gallery: Israel Goes To The Polls In Tight Election
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote in Jerusalem
An Israeli soldier choosing a ballot from behind a voting booth near Ofakim
]]>
Isaac Herzog, co-leader of centre-left Zionist Union party, poses for a photograph at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv
]]>
Mr Herzog places a note in the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews in Jerusalem
]]>
A supporter of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party holds a campaign poster in Bnei Brak
]]>
In a four-day pre-election blitz, he made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties.
As well as ruling out a Palestinian state, he also pledged to continue building settlements on occupied land.
His victory is likely to mean continued tensions with the United States, which has had an increasingly fraught relationship with Mr Netanyahu.
The win was unexpected as the last opinion polls published four days before the vote showed the Zionist Union with a four-seat advantage over Likud.
In a statement, Likud said Mr Netanyahu intended to form a new government within weeks, with negotiations already under way with the pro-settler Jewish Home party led by Naftali Bennett, and with religious groups.
The critical party to get on side will be centrist Kulanu, led by former Likud member Moshe Kahlon, who won 10 seats, making him a kingmaker given his ability to side with either Mr Netanyahu or the centre-left opposition.
"Against all odds, we achieved a great victory for the Likud," Mr Netanyahu said.
"I am proud of the people of Israel, who in the moment of truth knew how to distinguish between what is important and what is peripheral, and to insist on what is important.
"Reality is not waiting for us. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for them regarding security, economy and society as we committed to do - and we will do so."
If he manages to form a workable coalition, it would give Mr Netanyahu a fourth term in office after the six years he has already spent in power.
It puts him on track to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister, a position currently held by the country's founding father and first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who served between from 1948 to 1954 and from 1955 to 1963.
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Breaking News: Osborne Tells Voters: The Sun Is Shining
Breaking News: Live Updates: Chancellor Delivers Budget
Breaking News: Budget 2015: The Key Points You Need To Know
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