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Stigma Of Sierra Leone's 'Ebola Orphans' Remains

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 20 Desember 2014 | 15.00

By David Bowden, Senior News Correspondent

Sierra Leone is now at the forefront of the fight against Ebola in West Africa, with more reported cases - over 8,000 - than any other country, a rising number of deaths and many children left orphaned.

But the impact of the disease goes far beyond the victims themselves.

There are thousands of so-called "Ebola orphans", young children who have lost one or both parents to the disease and many have seen their close family wiped out by the virus too.

In Sierra Leone there are estimated to be more than 4,500 children in this situation and caring for them is a growing problem.

Before the Ebola outbreak the St George Foundation - founded by Unicef just outside Freetown after the civil war in Sierra Leone a decade ago - cared for street urchins and child prostitutes, but not anymore.

Now the youngsters here, aged from just one and a half to 17 years old, are without their loved ones because of Ebola.

For founder Justina Conteh and her staff it is heartbreaking to have to explain to ones so young that they are alone in the world. All deal with it differently.

She said: "For the boys, give them one week and they are ok, but for the girls you really see them in the corners in a sulky way sitting down thinking, holding their heads.

"For the girls it really takes time for them to get over the psychological problems."

There are 35 children being looked after at St George's, but as the others tuck into their lunch, two remain apart behind a sagging nylon rope marking the boundary of the quarantined area.

This is where Haja and Fatima live for now. Haja, who is 17, has lost 10 members of her family to Ebola including her mother, seven of her sisters and two brothers. Her father died five years ago.

Haja, too, was infected but survived.

She explained what happened in hospital: "So two to three days and I didn't die. After I don't die they transferred me to Hastings (an Ebola treatment centre). I stay there for about two weeks and they discharge me."

She has been at the orphanage ever since, acting as an unpaid nanny to other orphans who are suspected of having Ebola.

Her survival has given her hope for immunity from the virus a second time.

At the moment she only has one charge, nine-year-old Fatima, whose mother died from the disease, but who so far is showing no signs of being infected herself.

An 11-month-old baby boy who had been in quarantine has just died from Ebola, though Kadija, 10, recently left Haja's care after she tested negative for the virus.

The ordeal for these youngsters is not over yet, finding them new homes is proving very difficult because of the stigma of Ebola.

No one, not even extended family, seems to want anything to do with a child who has been so close to the killer virus.

:: You can watch an extended special report on the Ebola crisis at 4.30pm today.


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Israel Launches Gaza Airstrike On Hamas Site

Israel has said it has carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on what it called a "Hamas terror infrastructure site".

It was in response to a rocket fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday, the military said.

Residents reported hearing two explosions early this morning in the southern Khan Yunis region, an area that contains training sites for Palestinian militants.

No injuries have been immediately reported.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the military "will not permit any attempt to undermine the security and jeopardise the well being of the civilians of Israel".

"The Hamas terrorist organisation is responsible and accountable for today's attack against Israel," he added.

It was the first strike on the Palestinian territory since this summer's conflict.

Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza, fought a 50-day war between July and August.

Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza fired thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

During the course of Operation Protective Edge, nearly 2,200 Palestinians died.

UN figures suggest at least 1,523 of those killed were civilians.

Six Israeli civilians and 66 Israeli soldiers also died.

On Friday, fierce clashes erupted in the West Bank between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at a military checkpoint and near the village of Turmus Aya. No injuries were reported.

The village was the site of a Palestinian-Israeli scuffle earlier this month during which Palestinian Cabinet minister Ziad Abu Ein collapsed. He later died en route to hospital.

In other developments, the Israeli military has begun relaxing travel restrictions for Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Christmas holiday season, saying it granted 700 permits for Gazans to travel to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

Israel said it was also allowing West Bank Christians to travel to Israel, permitting 500 of them to visit their families in Gaza, subject to security checks.


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Sony: 'We Had No Choice' But To Cancel Film

Sony has defended its decision to cancel a film mocking the North Korean regime after the studio suffered a damaging cyber-attack.

In a statement, the company said it had "no choice" but to pull The Interview, because cinema chains across the US had backed away from showing the film, which depicts a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The decision was made after the group claiming responsibility for the cyber-attack made terrorist threats against US cinemas if they showed the movie, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco.

President Barack Obama strongly criticised the move, saying he believed the studio had "made a mistake".

Celebrities and film-makers have also slammed the decision, which was made earlier this week.

Mr Obama said: "I wish they had spoken to me first.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictatorship someplace can start imposing censorship."

"Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day," Sony said in response.

"We had no choice."

It insists it has only cancelled the Christmas Day release and it has been "actively surveying alternatives" to release the film on another platform.

"It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so," Sony said.

Sony's chief executive, Michael Lynton, has also defended the company's actions, telling CNN: "We experienced the worst cyber-attack in American history.

"We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down.

"We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie."

Mr Lynton said the President, the media and the public "are mistaken as to what actually happened" and added he had personally talked to senior advisers at the White House, who were "certainly aware of the situation".

The FBI revealed on Friday it believed North Korea was behind the cyber-attack on Sony, something Pyongyang has denied.

However, a North Korean diplomat did say the film "defamed the image of our country".

The FBI called the attack, which led to a series of embarrassing leaks, an unacceptable act of state-sponsored "intimidation".

The agency said technical analysis of malware used in the attack found links to malware that "North Korean actors" had developed and found a "significant overlap" with "other malicious cyber activity" previously tied to Pyongyang.

The group claiming responsibility for the attack, who call themselves Guardians of Peace, praised the decision to cancel the film's release in a statement provided to CNN on Friday.

:: Watch a special report about people who have fled from North Korea on Sky News, Tuesday at 7.30pm.

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  1. Gallery: 'The Interview' Film Pulled: Hollywood Takes to Twitter

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Eight Children Stabbed To Death In Cairns

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 19 Desember 2014 | 15.00

Eight children have been found stabbed to death at a house in Cairns, Australia.

The children are reportedly aged between 18 months and 15 years old.

Police were called to a property in the suburb of Manoora following reports of a woman with serious injuries.

During the search of the house the bodies of the children were discovered.

The 34-year-old woman is reportedly the mother of seven of the children. The eighth child is thought to be a family member.

The mother is said to be in a stable condition at a hospital where she is being questioned by police.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said: "As it stands at the moment, there's no need for the public to be concerned about this other than the fact that it's a tragic, tragic event.

"The situation is well controlled."

Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the woman's cousin, said another sibling, a 20-year-old man, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.

She said: "We're a big family... I just can't believe it."

Cairns Post reporter Scott Forbes, at the scene, told Sky News: "I've spoken to some of the family members and they say the woman, who is the biological mother, actually has more children but the other kids weren't at home at the time. So of the children she does have, eight of them are now dead.

"Many of the people here are actually connected to the family or relatives of the family. They are very shocked. They said they were a happy family and were enthusiastic about Christmas.

"They've said she was a very proud mother who was very protective of her children, so everyone lining the streets here is reeling right now."

The street is in lock down and a crime scene will remain in place for at least another day, police said.

Cairns MP Michael Trout told Sky News the close-knit community was in shock over the "dreadful tragedy".

"How can anyone harm innocent children is on everyone's lips at this moment," he said.

Media outlets reported that the neighbourhood was predominantly inhabited by indigenous Aboriginal Australians, and was known by residents to have a high crime rate.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the events in Cairns "heartbreaking" and acknowledged that these were "trying days" for Australia.

The deaths come as Australia is still feeling the shock of the deadly siege in a Sydney cafe earlier this week.


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Russia's Crumbling Economy Faces Fresh Sanctions

Russia's crumbling economy could be hit further after the EU agreed on more santions over its intervention in Ukraine.

Fresh punitive measures - banning investment in Crimea to target Russian Black Sea oil and gas exploration - were agreed at the end of the European Council summit in Brussels.

New EU president Donald Tusk said they needed to create a long-term strategy to stop Russia President Vladimir Putin's defiance of the West.

"We need to be realistic, we have to treat this as a long-term game. We must go beyond being reactive and defensive."

He called on Europeans to "regain our self-confidence and realise our own strength" when dealing with Russia.

David Cameron warned Mr Putin that Russia's economy was in "serious" trouble after being hit by a slump in oil prices and sanctions from the EU and US.

"I think that something very important is being made clear here, which is that if you want to have full access to the international capital markets you cannot behave in a way that flies in the face of the international rules and how to behave towards other countries.

"If it takes Russian troops out of Ukraine, and it obeys all the strictures of the Minsk agreement, these sanctions can go.

"But until that happens these sanctions should not go and there was a very clear and unanimous and unified view in the EU tonight."

Speaking at his annual end-of-year media conference, Mr Putin hit back saying the sanctions have not had a big effect and accused the West of behaving like "an empire".

He also accused the West of trying to "chain" the Russian bear.

"Probably our bear should just relax and sit quietly and just eat honey instead of hunting animals. Maybe then they will leave the bear in peace.

"But they will not.  What they are trying to do is chain the bear and when they manage to chain the bear they will just take out its fangs and claws."


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Falling Oil Prices Could Spell Serious Trouble

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

Paul Kenworthy has been an oilman for more than two decades. He's the owner of 10 wells near Midland West Texas and has seen good times and bad come and go, several times over.

But the precipitous drop in oil prices on what they called Black Friday last month has been painful all the same. Like everyone else he's seen the value of the black gold his pumps pull out of the Texas dirt go down by 40%.

He blames OPEC and the Saudis who have refused to cut production despite falling demand in Asia and Europe. But he says he understands what they're doing.

"To use a line from The Godfather, 'It's business it's not personal'," he told Sky News. "They're trying to maintain market share and they're going to do what it takes to maintain that market share."

OPEC, he says, is responding to a massive increase in US oil production because of the revolution in fracking. 

Hydraulic fracking has brought boom times to places like Midland not witnessed since the 80s. The average income in the town is the fastest growing in the country, and currently stands at $82,000 a year.

It's not just the oil industry that's been booming.

Mark Pearce is a homebuilder and says it's been impossible to keep up with demand from people flooding in to take advantage of the oil money.

'It's been really all you can get and nobody has been able to keep up. Early it was how much can you sell now it's just how much can you build to meet demand."

But fracking is expensive and not profitable if the price of oil goes below a certain level.

From cities like Dallas and Houston they are watching nervously asking the multibillion dollar question: how low will the price go and for how long?

The answer is important for people far beyond America. Its economy is the only one that's showing signs of a sustainable recovery currently. Much of that recovery has been driven by the oil boom.

Lower oil prices can help that further. They give people more money in their pocket - between $500 to $1,000 a year, according to current estimates. That should drive consumption and lower fuel prices make production cheaper too.

But if the price stays too low, the oil industry could be in serious trouble. That would threaten the wider economic recovery here and because what happens in America spreads to Europe, including the UK.

Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute in Dallas, says it's a Goldilocks question. The oil price can't be allowed to get too high or two low.

"If it were to rebound up to $65 or $70 a barrel, I think on balance it will help the economic recovery. If it were to drop further I think it will harm the recovery. There's a lot at stake here for America and for the rest of the world."

Something worth bearing in mind before getting too excited by plunging prices at the pump.


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Terrorists 'Plotting To Bomb School Buses'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 18 Desember 2014 | 15.00

Pakistani police have issued a warning that terrorists are planning to plant magnetic bombs on school buses.

Authorities in Islamabad issued a letter calling on schools to increase security and to check underneath buses and other vehicles.

It comes after seven Taliban gunmen burst into an army-run school in Peshawar and massacred more than 130 children and nine teachers on Tuesday.

The country's army chief General Raheel Sharif and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) have flown to Afghanistan to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss tackling Taliban militants in both countries.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said: "We are hoping that we will see strong action from the Afghan side in the coming days."

Relations between the two countries have been tense, with both sides blaming the other for covertly supporting anti-government insurgents.

And as the country began three days of mourning in the wake of the school attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reinstated the death penalty in terrorism cases.

Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said: "It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved.

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  1. Gallery: Bloody Aftermath Of School Attack

    A Taliban massacre that killed 141 teachers and children at an army-run school in Pakistan has left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation

Blood is seen still splattered on the floor and the stairs as local media are allowed inside the school a day after the attack

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Prisoner Exchange Sparks US-Cuba Policy Shift

By Sky News US Team

The United States and Cuba have moved to end decades of hostilities following an exchange of prisoners, including US government contractor Alan Gross.

Barack Obama outlined a "policy of engagement" on Wednesday that included re-establishing diplomatic relations, easing a decades-old trade embargo and relaxing travel restrictions.

The President said ending the "outdated approach" to Cuba was necessary to normalise relations with the communist-ruled island.

"These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked," Mr Obama said. "It's time for a new approach."

The announcement came after Mr Gross, who was held in a Cuban prison for five years, arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Cuba also released an unidentified "intelligence agent" as part of a prisoner exchange that included three Cubans imprisoned in Florida for spying.

Mr Obama said Pope Francis played a key role in helping both sides reach the agreement.

Cuban President Raul Castro, addressing Cuban citizens on state television, said he welcomed the restoration of relations with the United States, but stressed profound differences remained.

He said both countries would have to learn to live with their differences "in a civilised manner".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the "very positive" announcement and thanked the leaders from both countries "for taking this very important step".

Cuba and the US have been ideological foes since soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Mr Castro's older brother, Fidel Castro, to power.

Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 1961.

In recent years, Mr Gross' imprisonment served as a major sticking point to improving ties.

Mr Obama's decision to move ahead with the prisoner swap was met with criticism from some members of Congress.

US Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, said the President's "actions have vindicated the brutal behaviour of the Cuban government".

"Trading Mr Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent," he said in a news release.

Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida, told Fox News the exchange "puts a price on Americans abroad".

He promised to block any nominee to an ambassador post in Cuba.

Mr Obama said Secretary of State John Kerry would immediately begin re-establishing diplomatic relations, including the opening of a US embassy in Havana.

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  1. Gallery: A History Of US-Cuba Relations In Pictures

    1 January 1959: Fidel Castro's rebels - under the command of Che Guevara (R) - sweep into Havana. Dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had strong relations with the American mafia and large US corporations, flees Cuba. The US soon recognises the new government

June-October 1960: Castro announces the nationalisation of nearly all US businesses - and American-owned oil refineries, after they refuse to process Soviet oil

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Sierra Leone Braced For More Ebola Cases

By David Bowden, Senior Correspondent, In Freetown

Sierra Leone, caught in the grip of the Ebola crisis, is bracing itself for a sharp increase in cases of the killer disease over the Christmas period.

The Government is so worried about the situation it has outlawed any seasonal public celebrations and soldiers are being put on the streets to make sure no one disobeys the directive.

The outbreak of the virus, which began a year ago in neighbouring Guinea and quickly spread to Liberia, is now dominating the lives of everyone in Sierra Leone.

The western part of the country, including the capital Freetown where around a third of the population of more than six million lives, is bearing the brunt of the current upturn in cases.

Authorities have instigated what they call the "Western Surge" to redouble efforts to try to keep the virus at bay.

Eunice Peacock, of the District Ebola Response Centre (DERC), admits they are "running to catch up" with the rate of the spread of the disease and would not be drawn on when it would be brought under control.

One of the biggest problems is a refusal by what some claim is up to 80% of the population, a figure disputed by the government, to even acknowledge Ebola is real.

One of the scores of operators at the UK-funded 117 Ebola telephone reporting line said many of the calls she takes are pranks or abusive.

"They will use abusive language on you, they'll say Ebola is lie, lie, you're just taking money, most of them that is what they say," she said.

"They don't believe. Most of the people they don't believe in the Ebola stuff."

The genuine calls get pushed on to the DERC where they are followed up either as live cases or burials.

One of the burial units is run by the Red Cross and again funded by the UK.

It aims to get everybody reported to it collected and buried in the central Ebola cemetery within 24 hours.

Even those who have not died from the virus are collected and treated as if they had the disease, which means getting accurate figures for the number of Ebola deaths is difficult.

We went out with Burial Team 7 into the Wellington area of Freetown - up steep, winding tracks where even four-wheel-drive vehicles struggled to pass.

There, we went to the home of Alie Kamara, a 63-year-old father of 16, who had died on the morning we arrived. He had been ill for some time.

His family said they had a certificate saying he was free of Ebola - but the body retrieval team still put on their protective suits to salvage Alie's remains before disinfecting the house.

His body was put into two sealed bags after a short Muslim blessing before being lifted on to the back of a truck to be taken to the graveyard.

The team moved on to the next body. Here, Marie - the daughter of 70-year old Allieu Koroma - was hysterically throwing herself to the ground.

Again there was no suggestion of Ebola, though there were raised eyebrows when the dead man's wife suggested he too had a medical certificate proving he was free of Ebola, but that "rats had eaten it".

As with Alie, Allieu's body was swabbed, double bagged and put on to the back of the truck.

The bodies of two confirmed Ebola victims were then picked up from a hospital before the team travelled on to a graveyard.

The World War II cemetery has been disused for years, but is now Freetown's central Ebola burial site.

There is row after row of freshly filled graves, side by side with row after row of empty ones awaiting a body.

No sooner had Burial Team 7 placed Alie and Allieu into their respective final resting places, another group from a different aid organisation turned up to do the same for their Ebola dead.

Moments later, the graves were covered by a team of grubby, well-muscled diggers who are never short of work at the moment.


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Pakistan Taliban's History Of Bloody Attacks

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 17 Desember 2014 | 15.00

Described as a "national tragedy" by prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani Taliban's massacre at a Peshawar school is the group's latest brutal attack.

The organisation said the killings at the military-run school were "revenge" for a widespread military operation in the North Waziristan tribal area earlier this year.

The group, called Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was formed in 2007, in the aftermath of the siege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

The group's first leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US missile attack in August 2009.

TTP is an umbrella for militant groups, united in fighting the Pakistani military.

It aims to impose a strict interpretation of the Koran throughout the country.

Here are just some of the attacks they have been linked to in recent years:

:: Benazir Bhutto Assassination 2007

Pakistan's government accused TTP of involvement in the assassination of the former prime minister in December 2007, although the group denies it.

:: Marriott Hotel Bombing 2008

A Taliban-linked group claimed responsibility for the September 2008 truck bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed 53 people.

:: Times Square Plot 2010

Baitullah Mehsud was succeeded by Hakimullah Mehsud, who pledged to use suicide bombers in the US. He was behind the failed truck bomb attack in New York's Times Square in May 2010.

The US Department of State formally declared the group a terrorist organisation in September 2010, with the UK and Canada following suit in 2011.

:: Malala Yousafzai Shooting 2012

In October 2012 the Taliban shot the schoolgirl in the head outside her school in Swat Valley for daring to speak about girls' rights.

She survived, and went on the win the Nobel Peace Prize.

:: Karachi Airport Attack 2014

After peace talks with the Pakistan government in June 2014 failed, the Taliban attacked Karachi Airport, killing 26 people.

A week later the Pakistan military began a major military offensive, Operation Zarb e Azb in the Waziristan region, which has seen hundreds of militants killed.


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Exclusive: Death Pact Of IS-Fighting Britons

Exclusive: Death Pact Of IS-Fighting Britons

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Two Britons who went to Syria to fight IS have told of their battles on the front line - and how they vowed to kill each other rather than get captured.

Jamie Read and James Hughes told how they dodged bullets during chaotic patrols with Kurdish forces after recording a "goodbye" video for their families in case they died.

They described spending hours lying in the "pitch black" in no-man's land, in conditions they said were reminiscent of World War One.

On one occasion, it was so cold that a young Kurdish comrade collapsed with hypothermia - "body-popping" on the ground next to them.

In an exclusive Sky News interview after their return to the UK, the pair also revealed how panic alarms have been installed in their homes, amid fears they could be targets for IS supporters.

They strongly denied being mercenaries, telling how they had sold possessions to fund their flights and had returned to the UK to "mounting debts and bills".

They had not been paid "a penny" for their exploits, though they had been "treated like royalty" by some of the Kurdish troops, the men said.

And the former soldiers gave a detailed account of their time in Iraq and Syria, explaining that they had travelled to fight IS militants because they had "zero tolerance for terrorism".

Describing what had prompted them to travel, Mr Read said the beheading of British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning had been the final straw.

"Alan Henning - aid worker, British - put him on his hands and knees and cut his head off, you know what I mean," Mr Read said.

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  1. Gallery: British Pair Joined Fight Against Islamic State

    James Hughes and Jamie Read gave an exclusive interview to Sky News

James Hughes from Worcestershire is a former soldier who served three tours in Afghanistan

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Jamie Read from Lanarkshire, Scotland, spent time training with the French army

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He said that he had 'zero tolerance' for terrorism

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The men joined Kurdish fighters in Syria battling IS

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Exclusive: Death Pact Of IS-Fighting Britons

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Two Britons who went to Syria to fight IS have told of their battles on the front line - and how they vowed to kill each other rather than get captured.

Jamie Read and James Hughes told how they dodged bullets during chaotic patrols with Kurdish forces after recording a "goodbye" video for their families in case they died.

They described spending hours lying in the "pitch black" in no-man's land, in conditions they said were reminiscent of World War One.

On one occasion, it was so cold that a young Kurdish comrade collapsed with hypothermia - "body-popping" on the ground next to them.

In an exclusive Sky News interview after their return to the UK, the pair also revealed how panic alarms have been installed in their homes, amid fears they could be targets for IS supporters.

They strongly denied being mercenaries, telling how they had sold possessions to fund their flights and had returned to the UK to "mounting debts and bills".

They had not been paid "a penny" for their exploits, though they had been "treated like royalty" by some of the Kurdish troops, the men said.

And the former soldiers gave a detailed account of their time in Iraq and Syria, explaining that they had travelled to fight IS militants because they had "zero tolerance for terrorism".

Describing what had prompted them to travel, Mr Read said the beheading of British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning had been the final straw.

"Alan Henning - aid worker, British - put him on his hands and knees and cut his head off, you know what I mean," Mr Read said.

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  1. Gallery: British Pair Joined Fight Against Islamic State

    James Hughes and Jamie Read gave an exclusive interview to Sky News

James Hughes from Worcestershire is a former soldier who served three tours in Afghanistan

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Jamie Read from Lanarkshire, Scotland, spent time training with the French army

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He said that he had 'zero tolerance' for terrorism

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The men joined Kurdish fighters in Syria battling IS

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Pakistan Lifts Death Penalty Ban After Massacre

Pakistan Lifts Death Penalty Ban After Massacre

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The Pakistani Prime Minister has lifted a ban on the death penalty in terrorism cases after Taliban gunmen killed 132 children and nine teachers at a school in Peshawar.

Three days of mourning have begun after the country suffered its deadliest terror attack which saw nine men storm the army-run school while around 500 children and teachers were believed to be inside.

Tehreek-e-Taliban insurgents moved from room to room during the eight hour attack in what is believed to have been an act of revenge for a major military offensive in the region.

In the wake of the mass shooting, a drone strike in Afghanistan is reported to have killed 11 militants including four Pakistan Taliban.

Meanwhile, a suicide attack and gunfight are ongoing at a bank branch in Helmand.

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  1. Gallery: Taliban Gunmen Kill 132 Children In Northern Pakistan City

    Militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar on Wednesday

They killed 141 people, 132 of whom were children

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Students told stories of gunmen entering classrooms and firing at random

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Swipe through for more pictures..

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Pakistan Lifts Death Penalty Ban After Massacre

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

The Pakistani Prime Minister has lifted a ban on the death penalty in terrorism cases after Taliban gunmen killed 132 children and nine teachers at a school in Peshawar.

Three days of mourning have begun after the country suffered its deadliest terror attack which saw nine men storm the army-run school while around 500 children and teachers were believed to be inside.

Tehreek-e-Taliban insurgents moved from room to room during the eight hour attack in what is believed to have been an act of revenge for a major military offensive in the region.

In the wake of the mass shooting, a drone strike in Afghanistan is reported to have killed 11 militants including four Pakistan Taliban.

Meanwhile, a suicide attack and gunfight are ongoing at a bank branch in Helmand.

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  1. Gallery: Taliban Gunmen Kill 132 Children In Northern Pakistan City

    Militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar on Wednesday

They killed 141 people, 132 of whom were children

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Students told stories of gunmen entering classrooms and firing at random

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Swipe through for more pictures..

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Sydney Siege Victim 'Shielded Pregnant Friend'

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 16 Desember 2014 | 14.59

A female barrister who died in the Sydney siege has been hailed a hero amid reports she was killed shielding her pregnant friend from gunfire.

Katrina Dawson died along with cafe manager Tori Johnson, who was praised for trying to grab the gun off hostage-taker Man Haron Monis at the end of the 16-hour siege.

Tributes were paid to the victims at a memorial service, as questions were raised over why the self-styled sheikh had been granted bail after a string of alleged sex attacks and involvement in a murder.

As Sydney struggled to come to terms with the shock of the siege, a video also emerged showing some of the hostages inside the cafe, filmed by their captor.

In the video, uploaded by the gunman, three hostages are pictured describing demands made by the gunman - including that he be brought an Islamic State flag.

Television news footage also emerged of the moment when a TV reporter broke down in tears live on air as she read out the name of Ms Dawson - realising that she knew her.

Huge piles of flowers were laid outside the Lindt café in Sydney's financial district, as more details about the victims and the gunman began to emerge.

At a prayer service in St Mary's Cathedral about 500 metres from the cafe, Archbishop Anthony Fisher spoke of how the "heart of our city is broken by the deaths of two innocents".

"Reports have emerged this morning of the heroism of the male victim of this siege," Archbishop Fisher said.

"Apparently seeing an opportunity Tori Johnson grabbed the gun - tragically it went off killing him.

"But it triggered the response of the police and eventual freedom for most of the hostages.

"Reports have also emerged that Katrina Dawson was shielding her pregnant friend from gunfire. These heroes were willing to lay down their lives so others might live."

Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn could not confirm reports of Mr Johnson's tussle with the gunman, adding that investigators were still compiling the chain of events that led to the siege ending.

But the police chief admitted that Monis, 50, had a "serious history of criminal offences and a history of violence".

"This was a man that we do believe had some extremist views and we also believe that he was unstable," she added.

Questions have been raised as to why Monis was on bail at all - after it emerged he was accused of a string of sex attacks and implicated in a murder.

He was also convicted of sending offensive letters to the grieving relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq.

NSW Premier Mike Baird told a press conference this morning that he was "outraged" that Monis was out on the streets.

His comments were further echoed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Speaking at the same conference, Mr Abbott said he had asked himself "how can someone who has had such long and dangerous history not be on the appropriate watch-lists?"

He added: "And how can someone like that be entirely large in the community? These are questions we need to look at clearly, calmly and methodically to learn the right lessons."

As well as Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson, three female hostages were also shot in the attack and are being treated in hospital. They are in a stable condition.

A police officer who was shot in the face during the shoot-out had been released from hospital.

"I spoke to the police officer as he was going home. His only words to me were 'I'll be back at work tomorrow'," Ms Burn said.

Ms Dawson was having a cup of coffee with a colleague at the café when the gunman rounded up 17 hostages yesterday morning.  

A statement from the New South Wales Bar Association said: "Katrina was one of our best and brightest barristers who will be greatly missed by her colleagues and friends at the NSW Bar.

"She was a devoted mother of three children, and a valued member of her floor and of our bar community."

Mr Johnson's parents, in a statement shared via Sydney broadcast journalist Ben Fordham, praised their "beautiful boy" and called for everyone to "pray for peace on Earth".

"We are so proud of our beautiful boy Tori, gone from this earth but forever in our memories as the most amazing life partner, son and brother we could ever wish for," the statement said.

Flags were lowered to half-staff on the landmark Harbour Bridge as Australians awakened to the surreal conclusion of the crisis.

The siege ended in dramatic scenes, as a group of panicked hostages ran from the building into the arms of waiting police in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time.

Specialist police then swooped on the gunman, who was armed with a pump-action shotgun.

A series of loud explosions were heard at the scene before glass shattered onto the pavement from a nearby window.

Monis was shot dead when specialist officers threw flash grenades into the building in the Martin Place premises at around 2.10am local time.

Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore told Sky News the police acted "incredibly bravely" and said the situation had been managed "calmly and professionally".

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  1. Gallery: Sydney Mourns Cafe Siege Victims

    A man sobs as he lays flowers in Sydney, near to the scene

Dozens of bouquets of flowers were laid at the scene

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Hostages Called Media With Gunman's Demands

The mother of a hostage who was trapped in the Sydney cafe where a man was brandishing what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun, has told how she got a text message from her son.

Speaking to a radio station in Australia, she said: "My heart just dropped… and I sent back a text message and said what's going on, are you okay? And he just sent me back a message saying 'I'm okay mum, can't talk.'

"And… left it at that and I haven't heard anything since then."

Many of the hostages were forced to use social media to relay the gunman's list of demands, and others called news outlets with the requests.

Channel 9 reporter Mark Burrows told Sky News he took a call from two female hostages, one who stayed calm and asked him to contact her husband, and a second who sounded panicked.

He said: "They were replaying the gunman's demands so I could hear him talking and then the ladies were relaying those demands to me."

He added: "One woman was remarkably calm and cool. She said she'd had food and water and she was relatively okay.

"She asked me to pass on a message to her husband and I called him and said I can't believe your partner is so relaxed and calm in all this and he said 'Well, she's like that, she's calm in a crisis'.

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  1. Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

    A bomb disposal robot moves towards Sydney's Lindt Cafe after armed police moved in to end the seige in a barrage of gunfire.

A woman is carried out of the cafe after armed police stormed the building where a gunman was holding up to 20 hostages

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Cafe Gunman Was Not On Terror Watchlist

The gunman at the centre of the siege at a Sydney cafe was not on a terrorism watchlist, Australia's prime minister has said.

Three people died after the 16-hour siege, which came to a dramatic end just after 2am local time when armed police stormed the building.

One was the 50-year-old "lone gunman", Iranian refugee Man Horan Monis, who was pronounced dead in hospital.

The others have been named as Katrina Dawson, 38, a barrister and mother of two who worked in Sydney's central business district, and Lindt Chocolate Cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34.

Four people were taken to hospital following the siege, including a police officer with facial wounds from gunshot pellets.

Shortly after laying flowers near the scene, prime minister Tony Abbott labelled radical group Islamic State a "death cult" and said there were questions to be answered over why Monis had been was freed on bail.

He said: "This has been an absolutely appalling and ugly incident - that's the only way to describe it. Our hearts go out to the families of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson. These were decent ordinary people who were going about their ordinary lives.

"Decent, innocent people who were caught up in the sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual."

He added Monis had "certainly had been well known to the Australian Federal Police... but I don't believe that he was on a terror watch list at this time."

Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters today the gunman was "unstable".

She said: "He was on bail and in terms of that matter, his movements will form part of the critical investigation.

"He has clearly made some statements. This is a man who had a serious history of offences and a history of violence. A man we do believe had some extremist views and we also believe he was unstable.

"We will clearly have a look at all the things we can find out about him so we can determine what might have triggered anything."

She refused to speculate on the actions of the cafe manager, when asked if he had acted heroically.

"I'm not going to talk about individual actions at all. This will all come out in time but can I just say every single one of the hostages, every single one of those victims was courageous," she added.

Earlier, police commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters that 17 hostages had been accounted for in total, including five who escaped early in the attack.

He added the Lindt cafe had been secured and no explosive devices were found.

Describing the incident as "isolated", Mr Scipione urged people not to "speculate" about what had happened, adding police believed more lives could have been lost had they not taken action.

"Events that were unfolding inside the premises led them to the belief that now was the time to actually deploy, and they did," he said.

"I understand there were a number of gunshots that were heard, which caused officers to move towards an emergency action plan."


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Australia PM Urges 'Business As Usual'

Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 Desember 2014 | 14.59

Australia's Prime Minister has said there are "some indications" that the siege at a Sydney cafe could be politically motivated.

However, he added that the exact motivation is yet to be established.

Speaking at a news conference in Canberra, Tony Abbott said: "We have to appreciate that even in a society such as ours there are people who would wish to do us harm.

"That's why we have police and security organisations of the utmost professionalism that are ready and able to respond to a whole range of situations and contingencies including the situation that we are now seeing in Sydney.

"The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves. Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that is why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual.

"Of course if anyone does have any suspicions of untoward activity, there is the national security hotline, 1800-123-400, which I would urge them to call."

He added: "Our thoughts and prayers must above all go out to the individuals who are caught up in this.

"I can think of almost nothing more distressing or terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation, and our hearts go out to those people."

New South Wales Police also urged people to "go about their daily business as usual".

"The message at the moment is that you should continue your business as usual. If you had plans to go into the city you should go about your plans as usual," said deputy commissioner Catherine Burn.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron gave his reaction on Twitter, saying: "I was briefed overnight on the siege in Sydney. It's deeply concerning and my thoughts are with all those caught up in it."

Several hours before armed officers surrounded the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place, police announced a man had been arrested in the city as part of investigations into the planning of an attack in Australia.

They said the 25-year-old was seized as part of "continuing investigations into the planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil and the facilitation of travel of Australian citizens to Syria to engage in armed combat".

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  1. Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

    Two hostages run for cover behind a policeman during a hostage siege in the central business district of Sydney

A woman runs for freedom from Sydney's Lindt chocolate shop and cafe in Martin Place

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