Oz Jihadist's Son, 9, Poses With Severed Head

Australia's prime minister has slammed a "barbaric" photo which apparently shows the nine-year-old son of a terrorist holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.

Khaled Sharrouf - who travelled from Sydney to the Middle East to join Islamist extremists fighting jihad in the region - posted the picture on Twitter last week with the caption "That's My Boy!", The Australian newspaper reported.

The graphic image shows the youngster - wearing blue checked shorts and a blue "Polo For Kids" T-shirt - struggling to hold the victim's head by the hair.

A Twitter account linked to Khaled Sharrouf has been suspended after it was used to post a series of messages and photos promoting the campaign being waged by Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS.

Sharrouf posted a photo apparently showing his son with a severed head

Another of the images shows Sharouf posing in front of a black Islamic State flag with his three sons, all of them dressed in military fatigues and brandishing guns.  

Tony Abbott said the "hideous" images demonstrated the brutality of Islamic State fighters, who have gained control of a large swathe of Syria and Iraq.

He told ABC radio: "There are more photographs in newspapers in Australia today of the kind of hideous atrocities that this group is capable of.

"Islamic State - as they're now calling themselves - it's not just a terrorist group, it's a terrorist army and they're seeking not just a terrorist enclave but effectively a terrorist state, a terrorist nation.

Tony Abbott said ISIS is seeking a 'terrorist state'

"This does pose extraordinary problems — extraordinary problems, not just for the people of the Middle East, but for the wider world and we see more and more evidence of just how barbaric this particular entity is."

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel - currently visiting Australia - said the photograph showed the threat Islamic State (known as ISIL in the US) poses to the Western societies.

He said: "ISIL is a threat to the civilised world, certainly to the United States, to our interests, as it is to Europe, it is to Australia."

Sharrouf was among nine men accused of stockpiling bomb-making materials and plotting terrorist attacks in Sydney and Melbourne in 2007.

He pleaded guilty to terrorism offences and was jailed for four years in 2009.

He was banned from leaving Australia due to the terrorist threat he posed, but managed to escape with his wife and three sons last year by using his brother's passport.

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PM Urged To Recall Parliament Over Iraq Crisis

David Cameron has been urged to recall Parliament from its summer recess to address the growing crisis in Iraq.

The world has watched images from the war-torn country in horror amid reports of the displacement and slaughter of minority Christians and Yazidis by Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in northern Iraq.

A Downing Street source told Sky News the focus is entirely on humanitarian support, with no plans to recall MPs. In recent times, a recall has only been used when military options were on the table.

"The key priority is getting support to people in desperate need," the source said.

Displaced people from the Yazidi sect fleeing the violence in Iraq

The source added Mr Cameron, who is currently on a family summer holiday in Portugal, was "in constant contact with senior ministers and officials" via phone calls and other means.

The Prime Minister is expected to return from the seaside town of Cascais later this week.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will later chair an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Iraq.

The UK has been airdropping aid including tents, food and water in northern Iraq to help tens of thousands of displaced people across the region.

A British place prepared to airdrop aid over Iraq

However, Tory backbencher Conor Burns said the Government's action of airdropping supplies in affected areas was "not strong enough" - and asserted the UK should join the US in airstrikes.

He said he was not advocating a ground war, but believed special forces should be involved.

The Bournemouth West MP said: "I have been following this really closely for the last couple of weeks but having seen some of the images earlier I was quite seriously overcome.

"These are brother and sister Christians, and this is happening to them in no small part because of our record in Iraq.

The US has been carrying out targeted airstrikes in Iraq

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

"I think we should be answering positively requests from the Kurds to arm them. I think we should be looking at asylum."

His comments came as senior US officials announced the Obama administration has begun directly providing Kurdish forces with weapons to defend themselves against attacks by ISIS.

Meanwhile, it has been reported a Portsmouth man who went to Syria last October to fight with Islamic State militants has been killed.

Muhammad Hamidur Rahamn has reportedly been killed in Syria. Pic: Facebook

Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, a 25-year-old former Primark supervisor, was reportedly part of a group of six jihadists from the British coastal city who went to fight President Bashar al Assad's forces.

The UK government has said up to 400 British Muslims have travelled to Syria and Iraq and been recruited by extremists.

ACPO anti-terrorism chief Sir Peter Fahy has put the figure at 500, while Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood has previously told Sky News more than 1,500 young Britons may have joined forces with Islamic State fighters.

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Extremists Beaten Back After Iraq Airstrikes

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

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

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

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

But closer to Baghdad, the Sunni militants captured Jalawla, a town 70 miles (115km) northeast of the Iraqi capital, after weeks of clashes with Kurdish fighters. 

As the violence continued, embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki appeared on TV  to accuse the new president of violating the constitution.

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

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

Speaking in Australia, US Secretary of State John Kerry backed President Masum and warned Mr al Maliki not to obstruct efforts to form a new government.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is chairing a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee, after a No 10 source told Sky News there were "no plans" to recall parliament to discuss the crisis.

Yazidi refugees approach the food bundles on the ground

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

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

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

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

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

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

Refugees flee the extremists carving a bloody path through northern Iraq

As the world watched the images from Iraq in horror, a Downing Street source told Sky News David Cameron has no plans for a recall of parliament - despite calls for MPs to discuss the crisis.

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

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

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

David Cameron has been urged to recall Parliament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The jihadists have also kidnapped 300 women as slaves.

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Nascar Driver Killed In Track Rage Row Video

A Nascar driver has died after being struck by a competitor's car during a row on a race track in New York.

Video shows Kevin Ward Jr's car hitting a wall after colliding with three-time Nascar champion Tony Stewart's vehicle at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old, wearing a black firesuit on the dimly lit track, got out to confront Stewart and was hit by his car, catapulting him 50ft through the air.

Emergency services were quickly on the scene

Paramedics tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital later that night.

Police said they are not investigating the incident as a criminal matter.

Stewart, 42, was "'fully cooperative" while being questioned and later released, they said.

Tony Stewart was questioned by police and released

Officials immediately stopped the race and posted a message on social media encouraging fans to "pray for the entire racing community of fans, drivers, and families."

"People that witnessed it were horrified," said Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero Povero. "They were extremely shocked."

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Palestinian Boy Killed As Peace Talks On Brink

An 11-year-old Palestinian boy has reportedly been shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank as talks aimed at ending the violence in Gaza are on the verge of collapsing.

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

The Israeli military said it was investigating reports the youngster was shot by one of its soldiers.

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

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

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

Israel - whose delegation left Cairo after a 72-hour truce ended in bloodshed on Friday - has said it will not take part in talks while Hamas rocket attacks continue.

"Israel will not negotiate under fire," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting today.

"At no stage did we declare (Israel's military offensive) was over. The operation will continue until its objective - the restoration of quiet over a protracted period - is achieved."

A man sits amid the ruins of his home in Gaza

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

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

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

The leaders called on Israel to exercise "restraint".

Abu Marzouk says the Palestinian delegation is ready to walk away

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

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

A boy surrounded by rumble in a bombed out Gaza street

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

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

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

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Iraqi Militants Kill 500: Mass Grave Found

Iraq militants have killed 500 people - burying women and children alive in a mass grave, the human rights minister has said.

Hundreds of bodies of Yazidis, ethnic minority Kurds, were discovered in the north of the country, where the Islamic State fighters, formerly known as ISIS, have staged a major offensive.

The militants have driven as many as 150,000 Yazidis from their homes into the Sinjar mountains were they are cut off from food and water and struggling to survive. Hundreds are already reported to have died.

Yazidis flee as the jihadists carve a bloody trail through northern Iraq

Human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Islamic State fighters had also kidnapped 300 women as slaves as they advanced, leaving a bloody trail of death in their wake.

He said there was evidence the militants had buried some of their victims, including women and children alive.

Officials said at least 20,000 of those trapped in the mountains had managed to escaped into Syria and been escorted by Kurdish fighters back into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Thousands are hiding in the Sinjar mountains but face starvation

An RAF plane made the first British aid drop across northern Iraq on Sunday morning delivering reusable filtration containers, tents, and solar lights which can also recharge mobile phones.

It comes after the US launched a fresh round of strikes in an attempt to stop the jihadists' advance across the country following a warning from Barack Obama that he was ready for a protracted campaign.

Humanitarian aid drops from the back of an RAF plane

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

During a press conference on Saturday Mr Obama accepted there would be no quick fix for the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country and vowed to continue strikes for weeks or months if necessary.

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

Aid parcels are loaded on to the plane

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

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

Kurdish fighters try to protect the Yazidis

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

Mr Obama also said US action aimed to prevent Islamic State fighters from attacking Irbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish region, where the US has a diplomatic mission.

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

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Don't Drink Two Days In A Row, Government Says

People should only drink alcohol every other day to avoid health problems like cancer, heart attacks and liver disease, government officials are warning.

The new guidelines drawn up by Public Health England, a government quango promoting healthy living, will recommend drinkers follow a "one day on, one day off" rule.

The 92-page paper says: "Daily drinking is a key contributor to increased risk, so it is possible that promoting a simple approach such as never drinking two days in a row would have a positive impact."

However, the advice has been criticised as "nannying" and experts questioned whether it would decrease health risks and encourage heavy drinkers to cut back.

"Giving up alcohol on alternate days is not something most doctors would recognise as a helpful strategy to curb excessive drinking," GP Martin Scurr told the Daily Mail.

"It's hard to see how this plan from Public Health England will persuade excessive drinkers to rein back."

Conservative MP and former minister Gerald Howarth said the advice was "completely unrealistic" and an example of the "nanny state".

"People have the common sense to know how to look after themselves," he told the Mail.

The Public Health England strategy said changes to alcohol pricing as well as the availability and strength of alcohol are more likely to have "immediate positive impacts" and it would continue to work on those areas.

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Hundreds Of Women Captured By ISIS Fighters

Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by Islamist militants, Iraq's government has said.

Kamil Amin, a spokesman for the country's human rights ministry, said the women were kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) fighters.

He added that some of the women are being held in schools in Iraq's second city Mosul, and that the ministry learned of the kidnappings from the victims' families.

"We think that the terrorists by now consider them slaves and they have vicious plans for them," Mr Amin said.

"We think that these women are going to be used in demeaning ways by those terrorists to satisfy their animalistic urges in a way that contradicts all the human and Islamic values."

The aftermath of US airstrikes near Irbil, seen from the Khazer Checkpoint

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said IS militants kidnapped the women so they could be sold or married off to extremist fighters.

Some 50,000 residents from the ancient Yazidi community fled the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar after IS militants overwhelmed Kurdish forces this month.

Many Yazidis are trapped on Mount Sinjar without food or water and are at risk of starvation as militants surround the base.

Kurdish media has reported that Peshmerga forces have rescued 11,000 of those trapped in the mountains.

The US has been carrying out airstrikes against the militants in the north of the country.

An F/A-18C Hornet aboard the USS George HW Bush on August 8

Two F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500lb laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near Irbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Later on Friday, two further strikes were carried out near Irbil, targeting mortar positions and a convoy of IS vehicles.

On Thursday, the US also dropped thousands of gallons of drinking water and 8,000 packaged meals to Yazidis.

President Barack Obama said the airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government as IS fighters tightened their grip on northern Iraq.

In his remarks late Thursday, he mentioned "chilling reports" of fighters with the group "rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yazidi women".

IS believes the Yazidis, who are followers of a religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are "devil worshippers".

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US Planes Bomb Jihadists As Food Aid Dropped

US warplanes have bombed Islamist fighters in northern Iraq for a second time - as 30,000 meals were dropped for refugees.

Aircraft launched a second round of strikes on Islamic State (IS) - formerly known as ISIS - targets in northern Iraq after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent "genocide".

In his weekly address on Saturday, Mr Obama vowed to continue the action against jihadists if necessary.

He stressed US combat troops would not be "dragged into fighting another war in Iraq", but added the US "can't just look away".

Water bundles loaded onto a plane for a humanitarian drop to refugees

"We will protect our citizens. We will work with the international community to address this humanitarian crisis. We'll help prevent these terrorists from having a permanent safe haven from which to attack America," he said.

Islamic State fighters, who have beheaded and crucified captives, have advanced to within a half an hour of Irbil, Iraq's Kurdish capital and a hub for US oil companies.

They have also seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, which could allow them to flood cities and cut off vital water and electricity supplies.

Iraq's government says hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by fighters for IS, formerly known as ISIS.

The rough outline of the desired IS caliphate

The Pentagon said two  F/A-18 aircraft from a carrier in the Gulf had dropped laser-guided 500-pound bombs on the fighters' artillery.

Other airstrikes targeted mortar positions and an Islamic State convoy.

For the second night, the US also dropped relief supplies to members of the ancient Yazidi sect.

Tens of thousands of them are massed on a desert mountaintop seeking shelter from fighters who have ordered them to convert or die.

Iraqi military personnel distribute water to Shiite Iraqi Kurds

Three cargo planes escorted by two F/A-18 combat jets dropped the supplies - including 72 bundles which contained 28,224 individually packaged meals. Another 16 bundles contained 1,522 gallons of fresh drinking water.

"The Iraqi men, women and children who fled to that mountain were starving and dying of thirst. The food and water we airdropped will help them survive," said Mr Obama.

"I've also approved targeted American airstrikes to help Iraqi forces break the siege and rescue these families."

Mr Obama has authorised the first US airstrikes on Iraq since he pulled all troops out in 2011.

A rally in support of Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki in Baghdad

The action is aimed at halting the Islamist advance, protecting hundreds of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities who have fled for their lives.

A British cargo plane is also on its way to Iraq to drop supplies including tents, blankets, food, water and solar lanterns - which also charge mobile phones.

UK ministers will be attending a Cobra meeting later to discuss the situation in Iraq which will be chaired by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

In the hours after the airstrikes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned all US civilian flights over Iraq.

Warplanes launched a second wave of airstrikes in northern Iraq overnight

British Airways also decided to stop flying over the war-torn region.

Other international airlines including Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have halted their flights to Irbil until Monday.

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Oscar Pistorius Lawyers Sum-Up Defence

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10:42am UK, Friday 08 August 2014

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