Eddie Izzard Meets Syria's Child Refugees

By Eddie Izzard, Ambassador for UNICEF UK

Most Brits would think of Iraq as one of the most dangerous places on Earth. But it's here, in the searing summer heat, that seven-year-old Nisreen from Syria has been forced to seek refuge.

Like millions of other Syrian children, Nisreen has lost everything she ever knew. With bombings in her region and a breakdown of security, a group of men almost succeeded in kidnapping her from her home in Syria.

Her mother, Dala, took immediate action. She picked up Nisreen and her two-year-old brother and fled, leaving behind her friends, family and school.

Dala told me Nisreen's story from their basic shelter near Dohuk in northern Iraq. It's converted from an animal barn and they share it with two other families.

I've travelled to the region with UNICEF UK to report on the Syria refugee crisis for Sky News.

There are huge numbers of Syrian refugees who need vital aid

I had heard about horrific conditions facing children in Syria and in neighbouring countries like Jordan and Lebanon, but the hardship faced by Syrian refugees in Iraq is an untold story.

Every Syrian child has been touched by this conflict and in every refugee family there is a story of tragedy - of children who have lost their childhood.

The number of refugees pouring into Iraq from Syria has tripled over the past six months, and the number is expected to more than double again by the end of the year - to 350,000.

For those who managed to escape Syria, life as a refugee remains incredibly difficult. Nisreen is still out of school and has become ill from the effects of the extreme heat and dust.

I also met children like 11-year-old Ahee who lives in a tent in the Domiz refugee camp not far from Nisreen's shelter.

The Dohuk refugee camp in northern Iraq

With summer temperatures peaking at 45 degrees and a camp once designed for 10,000 now crammed with 45,000, she is facing the real risk of dehydration and the outbreak of disease.

Children are struggling to get access to clean water and vital schooling. Ahee and her family don't wash regularly as they can't afford to waste a drop.   

UNICEF is working night and day to get vital aid to Syrian children and their families - like vaccinations and medical supplies. 

In the last year they've supplied 10 million people in Syria and the region with clean drinking water, and they are doing everything they can to get as many children into school as possible.

However, the numbers of refugees are huge and resources are stretched to the limit.

UNICEF has around only a third of the money it needs this year to get aid to children like Nisreen and Ahee who need it and desperately requires more funds to carry out its vital work.

If we don't act now, Syria's children are at risk of becoming a lost generation.

:: Nisreen is not the seven-year-old girl's real name, but has been used to protect her identity.

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San Francisco Crash Survivors Tell Of Horror

Survivors have spoken of the terrifying moment a pilot tried to abort a landing seconds before it crashed onto the runway in San Francisco.

Two Chinese teenagers died after the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 struck the runway shortly after the jet reportedly hit a sea wall.

Benjamin Levy said: "The nose of the plane, as you know, goes up a little bit. And then full throttle starts hitting hard and then we felt that we were going up again, so that's why I said maybe the guy is about to pull one of those almost mislandings and go back up.

"But it didn't happen, we just crashed back. So as I say - if we flipped, none of us would be here to talk about it."

Xu Da, a product manager from China, was sitting with his wife and teenage son near the back of the plane.

He stood up and saw a gaping hole through the back of the plane where its galley was torn away along with the tail.

The tail of the plane was torn away. Pic. NTSB/Twitter

Xu and his family escaped through the opening. Once on the tarmac, they watched the plane catch fire, and firefighters hose it down.

In the chaotic moments after the landing, Wen Zhang grabbed her four-year-old son, who hit the seat in front of him and broke his leg.

Spotting a hole at the back of the jumbo jet where the bathroom had been, she carried her boy to safety.

"I had no time to be scared," she said.

Eugene Rah said: "The seat I was sitting in, it has one more strap coming across my chest here in addition to the one that goes around the waist because It was a sleeper seat. If I did not have that, I would have hit the ceiling: that's how hard the impact was."

Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling during the crash. Pic. NTSB/Twitter

Fred Hayes filmed the crash from around a mile away "I was watching it come in and I did notice that nose being up in the air. My initial reaction was that it was trying to abort the landing and go back up," he told CNN.

"There was big boom and then it pitched forward and bounced off its nose."

One of the flight attendants described the chaos as she and her colleagues began their evacuation of more than 300 people.

Sky's Asia correspondent Mark Stone said Lee Yoon Hae told South Korean media that she first went to the cockpit to see if the pilots were alive. She then made three announcements telling the 291 passengers to remain calm and prepare to evacuate.

There were four pilots on the plane: two in the cockpit and two more reserve pilots in the main cabin. One of the reserve pilots opened the front door with an axe and ordered the evacuation.

Video showed hundreds of people running down emergency chutes

Stone said Mrs Lee, 40, explained how one of her colleagues had a leg trapped. She helped to release her leg and at the same time tried to calm the passengers, some of whom were panicking.

Mrs Lee said that many of the passengers were confused and disorientated.

She shouted to the Chinese passengers to evacuate immediately. Many of them tried to take their hand baggage with them, but she said she was forced to order them not to.

Mrs Lee said several fires broke out within the cabin and she was not aware that the tail of the plane had broken off because the ceiling between her and the rear of the aircraft had collapsed.

She helped one badly injured female passenger to the emergency slide and then returned back into the aircraft to help others and was one of the last to leave the aircraft.

Mrs Lee, who has already been given 14 awards for her work at Asiana Airlines, broke her coccyx in the accident, but was unaware of her injuries until she arrived at the hospital.

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Video Shows Aftermath Of San Francisco Crash

The dramatic evacuation of a Boeing 777 that crashed onto the runway in San Francisco has been captured on film.

Two teenagers were killed and around 180 people were injured, many of them seriously, when Asiana Airlines flight 214 slammed into the runway.

The pilot who was flying the plane when it came down had just 43 hours' experience flying that type of aircraft, aviation officials have said.

The amateur video taken immediately after the crash shows black smoke billowing from the plane as the 305 passengers and crew evacuated using the emergency chutes.

The plane spun as it hit the ground (Pic. CNN/Fred Hayes)

It also clearly shows that the aircraft's tail has been torn off and other parts of the plane were significantly damaged.

Air crash investigators said the crew tried to abort the landing less than two seconds before impact.

Although the captain, Lee Gang-guk, had spent nearly 10,000 hours at the controls of other planes, he had never landed at San Francisco before.

He was sitting alongside another pilot who had flown 3,200 hours in 777s and around 12,000 hours in total.

The mangled interior of the Boeing 777 (Pic: NTSB/Twitter)

Meanwhile, officials are looking at whether one of the two teenagers killed in the crash was run over by a rescue vehicle.

It is not clear whether she died during the crash or whether she was knocked down as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

As air crash investigators continue to look for the cause of the crash, they published a series of pictures, including one taken inside the wreckage of the plane, showing oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling of the cabin and seats bent at various angles.

The landing gear was separated from the fuselage (Pic: NTSB/Twitter)

They have recovered both "black box" in-flight recorders from the 777, which should reveal exactly why the aircraft came down.

Deborah Hersman, head of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane was travelling well below its target speed of 157mph.

She said a piece of safety equipment that warns pilots of an impending stall went off moments before the crash.

Investigators study the aircraft's tail fin (Pic: NTSB/Twitter)

Cockpit voice recordings revealed the crew's desperate attempts to climb back into the sky but did not suggest any mechanical problems.

No warnings were issued to air traffic controllers until seven seconds before impact.

Although the cause of the crash is yet to be confirmed, one theory is that the plane clipped a sea wall at the end of the runway as it came in to land.

Teenagers Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan died in the crash

Amateur video obtained by CNN shows the plane landing on the runway and then appearing to spin counter-clockwise before crashing down again with black smoke billowing from its tail.

Meanwhile, further tales from those on the flight from Shanghai, which travelled to San Francisco via a stop-off in Seoul, have emerged.

Fei Xiong, who was taking her eight-year-old son on a trip to Disneyland, said: "My son told me 'The plane will fall down, it's too close to the sea'. I told him, 'Baby, it's OK, we'll be fine'."

Xu Da, who was sitting near the back of the plane with his wife and teenage son, described seeing sparks - possibly from exposed electrical wires - and a gaping hole through which he could see the runway.

Wen Zhang climbed from the wreckage with her four-year-old son, who hit the seat in front of him and broke his leg in the crash.

"I had no time to be scared," she said.

The two pilots - part of a crew of 16 - had around 22,000 flying hours between them.

There were 291 passengers on board, many of whom were Chinese.

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Egypt: Morsi Supporters Shot Dead At Barracks

Egypt: Timeline Of Morsi's Reign

Updated: 8:21am UK, Monday 08 July 2013

Key developments over the year since Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president.

:: 2012

June 30: Mr Morsi, elected with 51.7% of the vote, is sworn and becomes Egypt's first civilian and Islamist president.

August 12: The new president scraps a constitutional document that gave sweeping powers to the military and sacks Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who ruled after Hosni Mubarak's ousting in February, 2011.

November 22: Mr Morsi decrees sweeping new powers for himself.

November 30: Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts a draft constitution despite boycott by liberals, Christians.

December 8: The president annuls the decree giving himself increased powers.

December 15 and 22: 64% of voters in a two-round referendum back the new constitution. Egypt plunges into political crisis, with demonstrations by Morsi supporters and opponents sometimes turning deadly.

:: 2013

January 24: There is violence between demonstrators and police on the eve of the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Nearly 60 people die in a week.

April 5: Four Christians and a Muslims are killed in sectarian violence.

May 7: President Morsi's cabinet reshuffle falls short of opposition demands.

May 16: Gunmen kidnap three policemen and four soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. They are freed on May 22.

June 2: Egypt's highest court invalidates the Islamist-dominated Senate, which assumed a legislative role when parliament was dissolved, and a panel that drafted the constitution.

June 15: Morsi announces "definitive" severing of ties with Syria.

June 21: Tens of thousands of Islamists gather ahead of planned opposition protests.

June 23: Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warns the army will intervene if violence erupts.

June 28: The US says non-essential embassy staff can leave after an American is killed during protests.

June 29: The Tamarod ('rebellion') campaign which called rallies for June 30 says more than 22 million have signed a petition demanding Mr Morsi's resignation and a snap election.

June 30: Tens of thousands of Egyptians take to the streets nationwide determined to oust the president on the anniversary of his turbulent first year in power. At least 16 people die in protests across the country.

July 1: The opposition gives President Morsi a day to quit or face civil disobedience. The Tamarod calls on "the army, the police and the judiciary to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds".

Egypt's armed forces warn that it will intervene if the people's demands are not met within 48 hours.

July 2: The presidency rejects the army's ultimatum, saying it will pursue his own plans for national reconciliation.

Foreign minister Kamel Amr becomes the sixth member of Mr Morsi's cabinet to resign.

US President Barack Obama calls on Mr Morsi to respond to the protests and resolve the crisis through "political process".

July 3: A day of drama as tanks and troops deploy near the presidential palace, with a military deadline for Mr Morsi to yield power passing.

He is overthrown late in the day as the country's most senior army official announces the suspension of the Islamist-tinged constitution and a "road map" for a return to democratic rule to stop "bloodshed".

July 4: As Mr Morsi is held by the army, the head of the constitutional court is sworn in as the interim president.

July 6: Fierce street battles between supporters of Morsi and their opponents leave at least 36 people dead.

July 8: Some 35 people are shot dead in clashes between Morsi supporters and the Egyptian army, outside the Republican Guard headquarters.

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Asiana Plane Crash Lands: 'No Engine Problems'

A passenger plane which crash landed at San Francisco International Airport, killing at least two people, had no engine or mechanical problems, according to the airline's boss.

Around 180 people were injured after the South Korean Asiana Airlines jet slammed into the runway, broke off its tail and then the aircraft caught fire. 

The Boeing 777, which originated in Shanghai then flew to Seoul before heading to the US, was believed to be carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members.

The San Francisco Fire Department, said 181 people were taken to various hospitals - 49 of whom are in a serious condition.

The debris of the aircraft's tail is seen on the runway after the crash

The dead were female Chinese teenagers, aged around 16 or 17, who were seated at the back of the plane. They were found outside the aircraft.

Asiana Airlines chief executive Yoon Young-Doo said: "We purchased this airplane in March 2006... currently we understand that there are no engine or mechanical problems."

Mr Yoon said the crew had made an in-flight broadcast as usual, "asking passengers to buckle up for landing. There was no emergency alarm".

He declined to comment directly on whether the crash on Flight 214 was due to pilot error.

But he said the two pilots had been fully trained in compliance with Korean regulations and had more than 10,000 flying hours of experience between them.

A plume of smoke rose from the plane after the crash landing

Mr Yoon also declined to say whether he believed the crash could have been caused by an error by air traffic controllers at San Francisco.

Terrorism had been ruled out as a cause of the accident, the FBI confirmed.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane's tail section break off during the crash. South Korea's transportation ministry said the tail hit the runway before it crashed.

A fire started when the plane landed and passengers were forced to use emergency inflatable slides to escape the aircraft, witnesses added.

Parts of the tail and the landing gear were strewn across the runway. TV footage showed the top of the fuselage had been burned away and one engine appeared to have broken off.

David Eun, believed to be a passenger on the aircraft, posted on Twitter: "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok. Surreal."

The wreckage is visible next to one of the runways at the airport

He added: "Fire and rescue people all over the place. They're evacuating the injured."

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the Boeing 777 was supposed to land on runway 28 left at San Francisco International Airport.

She said the sequence of events was still unclear, but it appeared the plane landed and then crashed.

Debbie Hersman, chairman of the Transport Safety Board, said: "Teams are going to be focused on operations, human performance, survival factors, the airport, airport operations and they are going to be focussing on the aircraft - the systems, the structures and the power plants.

"It's still too early for us to tell (what happened).

A statement from San Francisco General Hospital said 10 patients from the crash - eight adults and two children - were in a critical condition.

Asiana is second in size to the South Korean national carrier Korean Air. 

It has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States, and joined the Star Alliance, which is anchored in America by United Airlines.

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Egypt Protests Continue As New PM Put On Hold

Supporters of Egypt's ousted leader have vowed to continue their protests as the new president backed away from an announcement of a new interim prime minister.

Protesters have gathered across the country in support of Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the army this week in a move that has led to further chaos.

Mr ElBaradei is a Nobel prize winner

In Cairo's Nasr City district, lines of fighters brandished homemade weapons and body armour at road blocks affixed with Mr Morsi's picture.

They have vowed to take to the streets until the toppled Muslim Brotherhood leader is reinstated.

At least 36 people are known to have died in street battles that took place in the capital and across the country.

The violence came as reports said Mohamed ElBaradei, who is a main rival of Mr Morsi, would be sworn in by Egypt's new interim president Adli Mansour.

But the presidency later appeared to backtrack.

"Interim president Adli Mansour met today with Dr ElBaradei but so far there has been no official appointment," presidential advisor Ahmed al-Muslimani told reporters.

However, he added that Mr ElBaradei was "the logical choice" among a list of names being considered.

Mourners attended funerals for five protesters killed overnight

Mr ElBaradei won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work as former director of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency.

He also led the protests against Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring uprising that ended his autocratic rule in February 2011.

Friday night's street battles took the overall death toll to at least 75 in the past week.

Hundreds of people gathered at a mosque in the Manyal neighbourhood of Cairo to attend funerals for five anti-Morsi protesters who were killed overnight.

Earlier, the president held talks with the army chief and interior minister in apparent attempts to work out strategies to contain another round of violence.

More than 75 people have been killed in the past week

Meanwhile, lawyers for Mubarak entered a not guilty plea as his retrial for alleged complicity in the killings of protesters in 2011 resumed.

The 85-year-old former leader appeared in the dock behind bars, wearing dark sunglasses and a white prison uniform.

During the televised hearing, Cairo's criminal court heard submissions by the defence before proceedings were adjourned until August 17.

It comes as US President Barack Obama insisted America was not aligned with any political party or group in Egypt.

A White House statement said: "The US categorically rejects the false claims propagated by some in Egypt that we are working with specific political parties or movements to dictate how Egypt's transition should proceed.

"We remain committed to the Egyptian people and their aspirations for democracy, economic opportunity and dignity.

"But the future path of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people."

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Whale Knocks Surfer Unconscious In Australia

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A man surfing just off Sydney's Bondi beach has been knocked unconscious after an encounter with a huge whale.

Bishan Rajapakse was surfing with a friend 30 metres off the famous beach when the mammal, thought to be a southern right whale, appeared.

The 38-year-old man told reporters in Australia he saw the whale approach and the next thing he knew he was waking up on the sand.

He said: "I just remember this magnificent whale slowly coming to the right of me and coming for another look.

"I just kind of felt like talking to it like a dog or an animal, and say 'hey', that was it. Maybe it was giving me 'high five', I don't know."

Bishan Rajapakse pictured recovering in hospital

Mr Rajapakse was dragged to safety by fellow surfers and lifeguards and was then taken to a local hospital where he was treated for head and shoulder injuries.

Fellow surfer Richard Freeman, who was in the sea at the time, said: "That tail, the power in it. Oh my God.

"It was... I'm just glad he's all right, because it could have been such a different ending."

Whales are a common sight off Sydney's coast at this time of year as they migrate north, but it is very rare for them to swim so close to beaches.

Mr Rajapakse said it was the biggest whale he had ever seen.

The surfer was placed in an ambulance after the knock

He told reporters: "I certainly thought it was like a little minibus size. I've seen a few whales in Bondi before, you know, just walking, but this was the biggest I've seen.

"And we were so close to it. So it looked massive. It looked like an alien to us, you know, like one of those alien spacecraft or something. It was amazing."

Several people witnessed the incident from the beach.

Businessman Lachlan Harris said: "You just saw basically surfers, surfboards, swimmers thrown into the air like skittles, I've never seen anything like it.

"It was like they were soft toys getting thrown around the cot by a whale, and, you know, the whole beach sort of gasped basically," he said.

The whale swimming off Bondi Beach

Lifeguard Anthony Harries warned beachgoers to take care.

He said: "It is a good message not to go close to these mammals. They're extremely powerful and they can get up to 80 tonnes (78.74 tons)."

Mr Rajapakse has now been released from hospital. 

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Canada Train Explosions: Three People Killed

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

Police in Canada say they are expecting more fatalities after a train carrying crude oil came off the rails, sparking a number of explosions.

One person has been killed and "many" others are said to be missing.

The crash happened as the unmanned 73-car freight train travelled through Lac-Megantic in Quebec on Saturday morning.

Fires continued burning nearly 24 hours after the accident and up to 2,000 people were forced to leave their homes.

The train's operator confirmed it had been parked out of town, but they are unsure how it "got released".

More than 1,000 residents were told to leave the area (Pic: Quebec police)

Massive flames and thick smoke could be seen. The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown area.

Lieutenant Guy Lapointe, a spokesman with Quebec provincial police, said: "I don't want to get into numbers, what I will say is we do expect we'll have other people who will be found deceased unfortunately.

"We also expect that down the line the number of people who are reported missing with regards to people who have actually lost their lives will be much higher."

No one was on board the train when it rolled into the town, according to the operator the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMAR) company.

Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of Rail World Inc, the parent company of MMAR, said: "If brakes aren't properly applied on a train, it's going to run away.

"But we think the brakes were properly applied on this train.

A train wagon burning after the explosion

"We've had a very good safety record for these 10 years. Well, I think we've blown it here."

Mayor Colette Roy-LaRoche was nearly in tears as she addressed the media, according to the Montreal Gazette.

"When you see the downtown of your city almost destroyed you think, how are we going to get through this? But I can assure everyone here that all the authorities and ministries have been very supportive," she said.

"We've deployed all the resources possible."

Four tanker cars blew up after the train, which had 73 cars in all, came off the rails shortly after 1am local time.

Environmental experts have also arrived in the town to assess how much oil may have spilled into the Chaudiere River.

Environment Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette said: "Right now, there is big smoke in the air, so we have a mobile laboratory here to monitor the quality of the air.

"We also have a spill on the lake and the river that is concerning us.

"We have advised the local municipalities downstream to be careful if they take their water from the Chaudiere River."

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Cuba Bus Crash: Two UK Tourists Among Injured

Sixteen passengers, including two Britons, have been injured in Cuba after a bus left the road and flipped over.

State-run newspaper Cinco de Septiembre said the crash occurred in the province of Cienfuegos on the route between Trinidad and Varadero, two popular tourist destinations.

The injured were listed as two Britons, two Czechs, four Dutch, one Filipino, one Irish and six Russians.

One of the injured passengers is taken to hospital

Cinco de Septiembre said three of the tourists were thought to be in a serious condition.

Two have reportedly undergone surgery and are in intensive care.

Carlos Mendoza, a doctor who attended the injured passengers, confirmed that three people were in hospital.

But he added that "at this time there are no life-threatening injuries".

Emergency services attending the scene

Other wounds included broken collarbones and minor lesions.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement: "We are aware of a bus crash involving British nationals between Trinidad and Varadero in Cuba on the evening of July 4.

"Our embassy in Havana is in close contact with local authorities. Consular officials are on their way to the area to provide assistance if needed."

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Snowden Offered Asylum In Two Countries

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has been told he could be welcomed in Nicaragua and Venezuela after applying to another six countries for asylum.

Speaking at a public event, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his government was willing to grant political asylum to the former NSA contractor "if circumstances permit it".

He added: "We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua.

"We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the whole world, and especially its European allies."

Mr Ortega said his government had received an asylum application at its embassy in Moscow.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made the same promise during a speech marking the anniversary of Venezuela's independence.

He said: "As head of state, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American Edward Snowden so that he can live (without) ... persecution from the empire.

It was not immediately clear if there were any conditions to Venezuela's offer.         

Snowden is believed to be holed up at a Moscow airport looking for a country that will give him safe haven as the US wants to extradite him to face espionage charges.

The 30-year-old initially asked 21 countries for asylum but most said he must be on their soil for his application to be accepted.

WikiLeaks revealed he has since applied to more countries.

A tweet from the anti-secrecy website said: "Edward Snowden has applied to another six countries for asylum.

"They will not be named at this time due to attempted US interference."

The message appeared to be an allusion to the drama surrounding the flight of Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose plane was recently abruptly rerouted to Austria over suspicions Snowden was aboard.

Washington has revoked the passport of Snowden, who is seeking to evade US justice for leaking details about a vast US electronic surveillance programme to collect phone and Internet data.

He also revealed evidence of the spying activities of British eavesdropping agency GCHQ - including its scanning of vast amounts of emails and other internet traffic by tapping cable networks.

A bid by Snowden for Icelandic citizenship failed when the country's parliament voted not to debate it before the summer recess.

Russia has shown signs of growing impatience over his stay in the country.

Its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday Snowden had not sought asylum there and needed to choose a place to go.

Moscow has made clear that the longer he stays, the greater the risk of lasting damage to relations with Washington.

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