Iraqi PM Appeals For Help To Fight IS 'Cancer'

Bribes Of Cash And Guns To Tackle IS Jihadis

Updated: 5:03pm UK, Tuesday 09 September 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Washington is on the move.

From dither to decision to deliberation and even direction, it's been a frustrating process to behold.

But it may, in the end, provide a map through the minefield of the Middle East that is at least navigable.

Past failures are no excuse for inaction.

The disaster of the invasion of Iraq, and the debacle of Afghanistan, have meant that Western public opinion is not disposed for more adventures in the Muslim world.

Politicians have taken refuge from addressing whether Islamic State is the threat they claim it is using the backward argument that there's no public support for action.

Now Barack Obama has been briefing his nation via the media, Congress, and in a landmark speech, of the need to take action to stop the IS spread.

His Secretary of State John Kerry is simultaneously en route to the Middle East with a very simple message: "The IS is a much bigger threat to you all than it is to us - so you'll be expected to do the heavy lifting here."

That doesn't just mean 'boots on the ground'.

Of course the US will be looking at a Yemen or Libyan-type operation in which local or regional forces provide troops, while allies do the bombing from a safe height.

But the campaign against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been slow and is far from over - mainly because while AQAP has lost many leaders it has not lost the political struggle.

Similarly, Mr Kerry's trip to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with his hosts, Jordan, Egypt, the Lebanon and six Gulf states, will focus on the military option and a much more complex political strategy to undermine IS in the Sunni world.

Jordan is ahead of the game on this, having organised a regional gathering of Sunni tribal leaders a few weeks back.

Key will be the role of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which have been rivals for Sunni dominance.

Qatar has favoured the radical non-violence of the Muslim Brotherhood, while all other regional powers and the Gulf States see the Brotherhood as a threat to their autocracies.

This need not get in the way, though, of reaching out to Sunni tribal leaders in Syria and Iraq to persuade them their future lies not with trying to win power on the back of IS and then turning against it.

Rather that it lies in turning against IS now and quickly ending an even more drawn out conflict.

They will need bribing with money and guns - which Arab states will be expected to come up with.

There are signs that IS is already vulnerable.

Former members of Saddam Hussein's armed forces who are inside IS are already showing signs they want more power, according to intelligence sources.

Meanwhile, the IS leadership for much of Iraq has been switched to Syria, and vice versa, to offset frictions between rival groups.

And inside Syria, sources say, several IS 'emirs' have clashed with local tribal chieftains who despise all outside attempts to rule over them, but would welcome support from fellow Arab Sunni governments.

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Father Held Over Deaths Of His Five Children

A father is being held after the bodies of his five children - aged between one and eight - were found hundreds of miles away from his home.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr is suspected of killing the youngsters and dumping their bodies in rural Alabama.

The bodies had been buried in individual garbage bags and left in an isolated spot about 10 miles east of Camden, Wilcox County, according to CBS.

Wilcox County Sheriff Michael Jackson said: "This is a very tragic situation. These kids' lives were snuffed out before they had a chance to enjoy life. Justice will be served."

Jones, 32, was stopped for driving while under the influence in Raleigh, Mississippi, on Saturday.

The scene where the five children's bodies were found in Alabama. Pic: NBC

An inspection of his SUV led police to find what they described as evidence of a crime.

Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton told WLTX that a chemical smell could be detected coming from Mr Jones' Cadillac Escalade when he was detained at a driver's licence checkpoint.

Officers found what they believed were ingredients used to make the drugs crystal meth and a synthetic form of marijuana.

Deputies also found what appeared to be bleach, muriatic acid, blood, and other bodily fluids in the car, Sheriff Crumpton said.

A search for Jones' name on police databases led Smith County officers to discover that he was connected to a missing persons report.

Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said the children's mother had reported Jones and the five children missing just after 6pm on Wednesday, September 3.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr is led away be police in Mississippi. Pic: NBC

The five youngsters lived with Jones, who was the children's "primary legal custodian", but the mother, from whom he is divorced, had told deputies that she had been unable to contact him, according to Fox10tv.

Jones was arrested and questioned, before according to Sheriff Crumpton, confessing to officers late on Monday.

He then led them to the site where the bodies had been left.

The children have not been named.

The bodies are being transported to Lexington County, South Carolina, to be formally identified.

Jones has been charged with child neglect. He is also facing a number of other charges, Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said.

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Elephant Kills Maine Rescue Centre Founder

The co-founder of a centre for retired circus elephants has been killed by one of the animals he devoted his life to looking after.

Vet Dr James Laurita, 56, was killed on Tuesday when an elephant stepped on him in an enclosure at Hope Elephants, in Hope, Maine.

Knox County Sheriff's office said deputies found him unresponsive on the floor of a barn at the foundation, about 87 miles from Portland.

A medical examiner's report said that he appeared to have fallen before one of the centre's two elephants caused an injury that led to his death.

Mark Belserene, of the state medical examiner's office, said the official cause of death was asphyxiation and "multiple fractures caused by compression to the chest."

"The elephant was not aggressive in any way. It was clearly an accident," he said.

Mr Laurita established Hope Elephants in 2011 having previously worked at a veterinary practice in nearby Camden.

The Hope Elephants centre in Hope, Maine. Pic: Google Street View

According to the Camden Hospital for Animals website, he had worked in a circus for several years after receiving his zoology degree in the early 1980s.

He had then gone on to study elephant behaviour in India and had since become an expert in performing animal ultrasound.

The centre's two retired elephants - Opal and Rosie - arrived in 2012.

Dr Laurita had worked with the pair decades before as an elephant handler with the travelling Carson & Barnes Circus.

A statement on the Hope Elephants website said: "Jim's passion for all animals, but especially elephants, was boundless.

"It was Jim's ability to share that passion with all around him that not only helped to make our organisation a reality, but also enriched and enhanced the lives of all who had a chance to know Jim.

"It was through education that Jim passed on his passion and the importance of wildlife conservation."

It is not known which of the elephants was responsible for Dr Laurita's death.

He leaves behind a wife and two boys.

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Hostel Owner 'Filmed Himself Abusing Tourists'

The owner of a backpacking hostel in New Zealand is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting young male guests, while he filmed the attacks.

Michael Harris, 56, who owns Mainstreet Lodge in the North Island town of Kaitaia, was charged with 39 offences against 16 men, aged 18-25, including indecent assault, aggravated wounding related to allegedly drugging the suspected victims', and making intimate visual recordings, police said.

The men were mostly overseas tourists who stayed in the hostel over the past two-and-a-half years.

The lodge has 16 rooms, including dormitories

The lodge has 16 rooms with 65 beds in total, including dormitories.

Police said they were looking to speak with anyone who had stayed at the lodge in the last few years to find out whether there are other potential victims.

Harris will be in court next week. Pic: Peter de Graaf/Northern Advocate

Detective Senior Sergeant Rhys Johnston said in a statement: "These victims are unlikely to know that something has happened to them, although they may have suspicions.

"This is an ongoing investigation and we have a lot of work ahead to assess evidence and establish if there are further victims we are not yet aware of."

Mainstreet Lodge markets itself to 'budget conscious travellers'

Harris is in custody and will appear in Kaitaia District Court next week.

The Mainstreet Lodge website states: "Mike welcomes guests to come and discover the unspoilt Far North.

"Mainstreet Lodge is a great option for budget conscious travellers and backpackers, and a great place to connect with other travellers."

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'Solid Family' Massacred On Australian Farm

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Police divers have found the body of a man at a dam in Australia after a woman and her three children were discovered shot dead at a remote farmhouse.

Farmer Geoff Hunt has been missing since the bodies of his wife Kim, 41, and his children Fletcher, 10, Mia, eight and Phoebe, six, were found at a property near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales on Tuesday.

Divers at Lockhart Dam, not far from the farmhouse, found a gun on the dead man and police said the body had injuries "not inconsistent" with wounds found on the woman and children.

Police earlier on Wednesday described the death scene of the mother and her three young children as "horrific" and like nothing they had ever encountered.

"I don't think even the most hardened professional could remain unmoved by what's out there," Wagga Wagga local area commander Superintendent Bob Noble said.

"It's certainly not something I've encountered anything similar to before, and I hope not to ever again."

Local media reported the alarm was raised when the children failed to turn up to school.

The fatal shootings happened at a property near Wagga Wagga

Emergency services were called to the farmhouse on Tuesday afternoon and found the children's bodies inside the property and their mother on the path outside.

The Hunt family were well loved by the local community, Supt Noble said.

"It's going to send quite a shock wave through those communities and throughout the whole area," he said.

"These people were well integrated into the local community through work, through social events, through sport. Three young children attended the local school.

"It is going to devastate everyone."

Lockhart Mayor Peter Yates said the 900-strong town community was in severe shock, according to the Australian Associated Press.

"It's just really, really, really traumatising," he said.

Deputy mayor Roger Schirmer said the mood was sombre.

"They were a highly regarded solid family. It will rock this town," he said.

Mrs Hunt had just returned to nursing in April after recovering from a serious car accident two years ago.

The local parish priest, Father Tony Schipp, said nobody in town had suspected anything was amiss with Mr Hunt.

"He was happy. He was making arrangements for events that were coming up, that he was going to be part of," Father Schipp said.

It is understood police have found a suicide note.

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Chemical Plant Blast Prompts Evacuation Alert

More than 14,000 people have been warned to stay indoors and prepare to evacuate their homes in northern Germany after an explosion and fire at a chemical factory.

Local media reported around 300 firefighters were at the scene at Ritterhude near Bremen. 

One man has been seriously injured and suffered third degree burns in the blast at the Bergolin plant.

The injured man was found in the rubble of the factory and several residents were slightly injured, police said.

A number of people living close to the scene have left their homes and are being looked after at local schools.

The explosion, which occurred at around 9pm, could be heard from miles away and sparked a huge fire.

Flames nearly 50 metres high were reported and the windows of nearby homes were damaged in the explosion.

Marcus Neumann, a spokesman for the Verden-Osterholz police, said the injured man is thought to be a plant employee whose car was found nearby.

He said the employee had responded to an alarm on his beeper and drove to the plant to investigate.

Investigators have been unable to access the site because of the heat from the blaze.

The plant is owned by Organo Fluid GmbH, which specialises in recovering solvents from mixtures.

"We had always looked upon this facility with worry," Ritterhude mayor Susanne Geils told DPA.

"We've always said that this company is out of place here."

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Wreck Of Franklin Expedition Ship Discovered

Explorers have discovered the wreck of one of two ships lost in the 1845 Franklin expedition to Canada's Northwest Passage.

Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128, on board the British ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were trying to find the passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans when they became stuck in ice.

The men all died and the ships mysteriously vanished, with tales among Inuit people describing the crew's descent into cannibalism.

Canada says it has sovereignty over the Northwest Passage

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: "This is a day of some very good news and that is that we have found one of the two Franklin ships."

Mr Harper, who has visited the Arctic territory of Nunavut every year since he took office in 2006, described the discovery as a historic moment.

"This is a great historic event. For more than a century, this has been a great Canadian story and mystery," he said.

The crew of HMS Erebus, pictured, were forced to trek overland

"I say it has been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers and so, I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country."

Global warming is melting the Arctic ice sheets, allowing ships the possibility of travelling through the Northwest Passage as a shortcut between oceans.

Canada says it has sovereignty over the passage, but the US does not acknowledge the claim and says the channel is in international waters.

The wreck was found at a depth of 36ft in Nunavut, Canada

Parks Canada archaeologists discovered the wreck using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.

Images showed the largely intact wooden ship resting upright on the sea bed 36ft (11m) below the surface.

Ryan Harris, of Parks Canada, said: "It is a very substantial wreck, quite well preserved."

The grave of one of the crew members on the ill-fated expedition

It is unclear if the wreck found is the Erebus or the Terror.

Divers and archaeologists have been trying to locate the ships in the Victoria Strait in Nunavut since 2008.

The search for Franklin started in the late 1840s and traces of 70 crew members have been found - some of whom began trekking overland after the ships became stuck.

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Ukraine 'Regrouping' Forces To Defend East

Ukraine is "regrouping" its forces in the east of the country, President Petro Poroshenko has said, accusing "terrorists" of provoking his forces.

The move does not amount to a new offensive against pro-Russian separatists, he insisted, but is simply a move to defend the country's territory.

Mr Poroshenko said the ceasefire in Ukraine had been difficult to maintain because of the actions of the separatists.

On Wednesday morning, he signed a law which allowed for fresh economic sanctions to be imposed on Russian individuals and companies who have been backing rebels in eastern Ukraine battlegrounds. 

There are also parliamentary plans for a "special status" - giving greater autonomy - to be granted to Donetsk and Luhansk within the next week.

Despite the concerns raised during a televised government meeting in Kiev, a spokesperson for the Kremlin insisted that Russia and Ukraine are happy with how the ceasefire is holding "on the whole".

President Poroshenko unveiled his latest measures in a government meeting

It came as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Ukraine could be facing a health emergency because its medicine supplies are dwindling.

Dorit Nitzan, the UN health agency's representative in Kiev, warned: "Ukraine has no vaccines... they don't have any vaccines in their storage. Even before the crisis began they had low [immunisation] coverage."

The professor's main concern is that there could be an outbreak of polio, a disease which mainly affects young children, as it "usually comes in countries of turmoil".

The WHO has warned that Ukraine has a shortage of 'every kind of vaccine'

The European Union is set to meet on Wednesday to discuss when its new sanctions against Russia, which were formally agreed on Monday, should be implemented.

EU President Herman van Rompuy confirmed there would be "an assessment of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace plan".

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is also planning to deploy drones in the region, so it can monitor whether the ceasefire is holding.

There were concerns earlier this week as fighting continued in east Ukraine

According to Mr Poroshenko, Russia has moved 70% of its forces "back across the border" from where they were based in eastern Ukraine.

"This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects," he said.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has claimed it has evidence that both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes.

At a press conference in Moscow, the group's Secretary General, Salil Shetty, warned that some separatists, along with Ukraine's Aidar battalion, were responsible for human rights abuses seen during the crisis.

"Amnesty International has called the conflict in Ukraine an international conflict, and Russia a party to that conflict," he added.

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Colorado Woman, 19, 'Helped Islamic State'

A 19-year-old woman from Denver, Colorado, is expected to plead guilty to helping the militant group Islamic State (IS).

Shannon Conley has been charged with trying to assist a terrorist organisation and could face up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

She was arrested as she attempted to board a flight at Denver International Airport, from where she hoped to get to Syria, authorities said.

According to court documents, the trained nurse told FBI agents if she could not fight she aimed to use her skills to help the militant extremists, who are currently waging war in Syria and Iraq.

Details of the agreement she has struck with prosecutors have not been made public.

Before her arrest, court documents reveal the FBI spent eight months repeatedly trying to dissuade Conley from developing links with militants by suggesting she carry out humanitarian work instead.

American Islamic State fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain died in Syria

The documents said agents became aware of her growing interest in extremism in November 2013.

She had alarmed workers at a suburban Denver church by wandering around and taking notes on the layout. 

After they began interviewing her, the Muslim convert told the agents she planned to marry a Tunisian suitor she had met online, who she believed was fighting with IS.

Her parents were asked to intervene and convince her to follow more moderate beliefs.

Her father apparently told her he would not allow her to marry her suitor.

But he then discovered a one-way airline ticket to Turkey with her name on it, which led to her arrest.

The authorities say they have not been able to identify how Conley became interested in jihad, or holy war. 

Islamic State are thought to have recuited hundreds of foreign fighters

After her arrest, CDs containing recordings of the US-born radical cleric Anwar al Awlaki were found among her belongings.

Al Qaeda local leader Awlaki was educated in Colorado and lived in San Diego before being killed in a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011.

The Little Rock recruitment office and Fort Hood shootings in 2009, and the 2010 Times Square attempted bombing are among several terrorist acts linked to Awlaki.

During a visit to the FBI's field office in Denver in August, the organisation's Director James Comey said targeting people who become radicalised via the Internet is a top priority for the agency.

The number of people across the US who have been targeted by Islamic extremists is not known.

Conley's hearing comes just weeks after a Minnesota man recruited to fight for the Islamic State group was killed in Syria.

Five years before, the man's high school friend had died fighting for terror group al-Shabab in Somalia.

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Obama To Set Out Plans To Tackle IS Threat

President Barack Obama is due to set out his strategy for combating Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria in a nationally televised speech.

The highly anticipated address will be broadcast from the State Floor of the White House at 9pm (local time), timed to coincide with primetime TV.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday to meet with Iraq's new leaders including Prime Minister Haider al Abadi.

Mr Kerry pledged the United States' continued support for eliminating the extremist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The killings of Steven Sotloff and James Foley have hardened US opinions

He did not reveal details of Mr Obama's plan, but did announce that the US will provide another $48m (£29.8m) to UN agencies and other aid organisations to help ease the suffering of 1.8 million people who have been displaced by IS militants.

"The United States and the world will simply not stand by and watch as ISIL's evil spreads," Mr Kerry said.

IS has been on the warpath in Iraq and Syria, taking large swathes of territory and putting US lives at risk, according the White House.

In the last few weeks, IS has released videos of its militants beheading kidnapped American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Until recently, Mr Obama has been accused of not having a clear plan about how to deal with the militants.

President Obama met senior Republicans to discuss strategy on IS

The president has already ruled out "boots on the ground", but it has been hinted that special forces could be used and airstrikes could be intensified.

The US has already conducted more than 150 airstrikes in northern and western Iraq in the last month at the request of the Iraqi government.

One of the key questions that remains is whether Mr Obama is prepared to launch airstrikes within Syrian territory.

The US supports a change of government in Syria and there are many uncertainties over the consequences of launching military action in a country that is not allied to America.

On Tuesday, the president met congressional leaders in a bid to arrange a united front.

Sky's US Correspondent Dominic Waghorn said: "The president's officials have been shuttling between the White House and Capitol Hill in the days ahead of this announcement trying to keep Congress informed and on side."

Islamic State have taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria

"They can be far more confident of congressional support this time around and there's been a dramatic shift in public opinion too with opinion polls showing that more than two thirds of Americans support more airstrikes."

In an interview broadcast on Sunday as part of NBC's Meet The Press, Mr Obama said that he preferred not to go after IS alone and was making efforts to build an international coalition.

To that end, Mr Kerry met with officials in Jordan on Tuesday and is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia after his stop in Iraq for a meeting with leaders from across the Middle East.

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