Winter Temperatures Behind Battery Glitch that Downed Boeing 787 Dreamliner Fleet

All Nippon Airways' 787 Dreamliner plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo

The battery glitch in an ANA Holdings Inc-owned Boeing 787 Dreamliner which led to the grounding of the entire fleet for more than three months in 2013 was partly due to cold winter temperatures.

Asahi newspaper, citing conclusions of local investigators, reported that cold winter temperatures played a role in the meltdown of a lithium ion battery in the aircraft.

Due to the issue, the ANA flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Japan. The incident came less than two weeks after another Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines was found to have an overheating battery while it was parked at Boston airport.

Low temperatures can reportedly cause a lithium ion battery to deteriorate, leading to the risk of a short circuit.

The Japan Transport Safety Board is expected to release the final report on its findings as early as September, the Asahi said.

Since its first flight in December 2009, Boeing's flagship Dreamliner aircraft, largely made of carbon-fibre composite, suffered from a number of problems, damaging the aircraft maker's reputation across the globe.

The entire global fleet of 50 Dreamliners was grounded in January 2013 following the battery issue. Boeing modified the batteries and flights resumed in April. However, further problems surfaced throughout last year, putting passenger safety at risk.

Most recently, a Dreamliner operated by Air India was grounded in Sydney due to a problem with the aircraft's landing gear.

The Dreamliner 787 is Boeing's state-of-the-art plane, with reduced weight and improved fuel efficiency.

Gaza Strip: Israel Announces Total Pullout of IDF Troops Following Destruction of Terror Tunnels

An Israeli soldier from the Givati brigade carries his gear after returning to Israel from GazaBaz Ratner/Reuters

Israel has announced it is redeploying all its troops to "defensive positions" outside the Gaza Strip as its main objective of destroying terror tunnels has been achieved.

"The Israel Defence Forces [IDF] will be redeployed in defensive positions outside the Gaza Strip and we will maintain those defensive positions," Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters.

The announcement has come just a few hours before the proposed 72-hour ceasefire comes into effect.

The IDF earlier said they have destroyed all the sophisticated terror tunnels which were allegedly being used by Hamas fighters to enter Israel, as the international community welcomed the 72-hour ceasefire urging restraint from both sides.

According to a senior IDF source, cited by the Times of Israel, 32 tunnels have been destroyed in the month-long conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Operation Protective Edge has claimed at least 900 Hamas fighters in Gaza and more than 4,800 insurgent targets have been hit.

The Gaza health ministry puts the Palestinian death toll at 1,900 and most them are said to be civilians including many women and children.

Despite both sides agreeing to adhere to a three-day humanitarian truce, tensions still persist, according to reports.

The US and the UN have welcomed the Egypt-brokered initiative and counselled calm.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon exhorted Israel and Hamas to show "utmost restraint".

A UN statement said Ban urged the rivals to "commence, as soon as possible, talks in Cairo on a durable ceasefire and the underlying issues. In this regard, he welcomes the proactive engagement of the Palestinian delegation under the leadership of President Abbas."

He also pledged the UN's full support to resolve the conflict.

US puts onus on Hamas

The US said the onus is on Hamas to prove they uphold the truce deal.

"This is a real opportunity. We strongly support the initiative. Israel has achieved its core objectives in Gaza. It's dealt with the tunnels. It's able to deal with the rockets outside Gaza if it has to," said deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken in an interview with CNN.

"The burden is on Hamas, I think, to demonstrate it will live up to the ceasefire. Then there's an opportunity to get to a more durable ceasefire and deal with some of the underlying issues. It has to start with Israel's security, dealing much more definitively with the rockets, with the tunnels over time, but also with the development of Gaza, so that people can live under different conditions."

TV Presenter Causes Outrage after Appearing on State Owned Saudi TV without a Head Scarf

The British presenter appeared without the traditional head covering.Al Ekhbariya

A newsreader is at the centre of a controversy, after appearing on a state owned Saudi TV channel without a traditional head scarf.

The presenter was broadcasting a bulletin from the London studio of Al Ekhbariya news channel.

While women often appear on Saudi TV without the traditional head coverings, the appearance is thought to be the first by a newsreader on a government-owned station.

The unconventional bulletin provoked strong reactions from the public on Twitter after the clip was shared on several Arabic language news sites. It was viewed tens of thousands of times.

A Twitter hashtag in Arabic was also circulated which translated roughly as #NewsEncouragesAdornments with one user, @HoNABIL, branding the channel 'Zionist enemies of religion'.

“She was not in a studio inside Saudi Arabia and we do not tolerate any transgression of our values and the country's systems.”

- Saleh Al Mughailif

Another, @maysaaX, remarked that it was a 'psychological jolt' for the conservative country.

Other users welcomed the move as a progressive step forward for personal freedom and women's rights.

While it was initially seen as a sign that the channel was becoming more liberal, they swiftly responded to the furore, pledging that the incident will not happen again.

Spokesman Saleh Al Mughailif issued a statement on behalf of the channel stating: "She was not in a studio inside Saudi Arabia and we do not tolerate any transgression of our values and the country's systems."

He also attempted to play down the significance of the incident, emphasising the newsreader was simply "a correspondent reading the news from a studio in Britain."

Al Ekhbariya launched in January 2004. Its first ever bulletin made headlines by featuring the Islamic state's first female newsreader, who wore Western clothes with a hijab headscarf.

The clip is the latest chapter in the long battle for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, which in October saw a landmark demonstration over its law preventing any woman from driving a car.

Dozens of women got behind the wheel in full-face veils to protest in Riyadh, where the TV station is based.

14-Year-Old Spanish Girl Held on Suspicion of Trying to Join Islamic State Isis

Fauzia Allal Mohamed was detained by Spanish police along with a 14-year-old minor.

Spanish police have detained a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old woman suspected of trying to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams. (Isis)

The teenagers were stopped by security forces as they tried to enter Morocco. The 19-year-old woman was named as Fauzia Allal Mohamed. The girl cannot be identified because she is a minor. Both are Spanish citizens.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Interior Ministry said: "The detention of two women recruited for jihad is a remarkable and unprecedented event in Spain. Both were trying to cross the border to Morocco with the aim of contacting the network which would move them immediately to a conflict zone between Syria and Iraq.

"Their intention was to join one of the cells of the terrorist the organisation of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, " the Spanish ministry added.

Video footage released by the Spanish authorities showed the pair, both wearing black niqabs, being led away from a small propeller plane, each flanked by balaclava-clad security men.

They were detained at the Beni Enzar border crossing in Melilla, one of two tiny Spanish territories on the North African coast, which share a border with Morocco.

Islamic State was declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq on 30 June. Since then they have sought to recruit as many foreign fighters as possible, luring them via jihadist websites and forums and arranging their transfer to warzones.

"The two women detained in this police operation are a clear example of this," the interior ministry said. "Their radicalisation, recruitment and later dispatch as combatants were perfectly planned and organised by a network that operates across North Africa and has as its main goal getting the maximum number of unquestioning combatants."

The ministry said that the recruitment of a minor was evidence that the network had no regard for its targets' age or circumstance.

The Spanish government has said it fears that battle-hardened Islamist fighters may return to Spain from Syria and other conflict zones under the influence of al-Qaida-inspired groups, posing a threat of attacks.

Spanish security forces have led at least three significant raids on jihadist recruitment cells this year, arresting more than 20 people.

This year Spain marked the 10th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings. 191 people died in the bombings on 11 March 2004.

Since then, more than 470 suspected Islamist extremists have been arrested in Spain.

It was recently reported that a blind Isis militant fighting in Syria was urging others to join the group. The Dutch national identified as Taymullah al-Somali said disability was no obstacle to supporting the militant group.

Ebola Outbreak: Liberia Begins Cremation of Victims as Plane Arrives to Transport Second Infected American

Medical staff put on protective gear in Kenema Government Hospital before taking a sample from a suspected Ebola patient.(Reuters)

The Liberian government has announced that it is to begin burning the bodies of Ebola victims as the plane to transport the second American medical official with the virus arrives in the capital, Monrovia.

"We have decided to burn the bodies," Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown told local media.

The decision comes after residents of several communities protested against the burial of Ebola victims in their areas for fear of catching the virus.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf also told health ministry officials to consider the cremation of Ebola victims.

"Cremation will take place in Marshall beginning today," said Brown, speaking of the town in Margibi County, a region affected by the tropical disease.

"It [the Liberian government] has been slow to collect bodies because of the refusal and the resistance by communities," he said.

As Sirleaf's administration takes steps to ensure the safety of its population, a chartered evacuation plane has landed in the country to transport the second American medical worker with the Ebola back to the United States.

It is scheduled to leave Liberia early Tuesday morning with Nancy Writebol, a missionary from North Carolina, on board. She is to be treated at the same medical facility where American doctor Kent Brantly has been taken.

Writebol's family said that she "is still struggling" but "there seems to be improvement" amid optimism that she will recover from the deadly virus.

A second case of Ebola was reported in Nigeria on Monday, heightening fears that the disease could spread even further across the region.

The tropical virus has killed at least 887 people across four West African countries - Senegal, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) described the outbreak as the worst in the disease's history.

China Earthquake: Rescue Workers Dig Survivors out of Debris in Yunnan Province

A powerful earthquake hit southern China, killing at least 398 people and injuring more than 1,800. About 12,000 homes and a school collapsed when the quake struck around 370 kilometres northeast of Yunnan province's capital, Kunming.

Collapsed buildings are seen after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Longtoushan town, Ludian county, Zhaotong, Yunnan province, China(Reuters)

Rescuers pay their respects to people who were killed during an earthquake in Longtoushan township, Ludian county, Yunnan province(Reuters)

A paramilitary policeman carries a baby in his arms after an earthquake hit Ludian county(Reuters)

An injured man looks up as he walks past earthquake debris(Reuters)

The epicentre of the 6.3 magnitude quake was Longtoushan town in the province's mountainous Ludian county.

Rescuers have found at least 32 survivors as they dig through the wreckage of shattered homes. A five-year-old boy was dug out of the debris by hand, alive but with leg injuries.

Rescue workers use their hands to dig a boy out from debris of a collapsed house(Reuters)

Rescue workers evacuate a boy they dug out from under debris of a collapsed house in Longtoushan(Reuters)

More than 2,500 troops have been dispatched to the disaster region, along with tents, quilts, sleeping bags and other emergency supplies.

Liu Jiali places the body of his child onto a sheet after an earthquake killed his wife and two children(Reuters)

Rescuers search for survivors among collapsed buildings after an earthquake hit Ludian county(Reuters)

A paramilitary policeman carries an elderly man on his back(Reuters)

Yang Hongshun, 9, is seen at a hospital after he was injured in the earthquake in Ludian county(Reuters)

Rescuers carry an injured man on a makeshift stretcher down the stairs of a bridge(Reuters)

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Gaza Crisis: British Aid Worker 'Killed in Rafah Air Strike'

Palestinians evacuate a wounded man following what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.Reuters

The Foreign Office is "urgently" investigating reports that a British national has been killed in Israel's 'Operation Protective Edge' in Gaza.

The man, believed to be Kadir Islam from the Lancashire town of Rochdale, reportedly died in an Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza town of Rafah yesterday while carrying medical supplies to a nearby hospital.

"We are aware of the reports of the death of a British national in Rafah and are urgently looking into them," said a spokesman for the department.

There has been no official confirmation of a British aid worker's death as the Foreign Office investigation continues.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had earlier said that the rising death toll caused by Israel's ground and air offensive had become "intolerable".

Hammond, recently promoted to the Foreign Office to replace the outgoing William Hague, said that there must be a humanitarian ceasefire between both sides.

"It's a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels deeply, deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television screens, coming out of Gaza.

"The British public has a strong sense that the situation in Gaza is simply intolerable and must be addressed - and we agree with them.

"There must be a humanitarian ceasefire that is without conditions. We have to get the killing to stop."

More to follow...

China Reiterates Pledge to Boost Investment and Expedite Reforms

China reiterates pledge to boost investment and expedite reforms.Reuters

China will step up investment in areas including the real estate sector and give a push to wide-ranging economic reforms such as changing the fiscal and pricing systems, the country's powerful economic planning agency has said.

The remarks from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) were a reiteration of existing government policies, Reuters reported.

ANZ Research said in a note to clients: "We are optimistic about China's economic outlook in the remainder of this year, as the growth momentum is picking up while the inflation remains mild. We maintain our forecast that China's economy will achieve the growth target of 7.5% this year."

Home Prices

China's home prices fell further in July 2014 over the previous month, two private surveys showed on 1 August.

Falling prices have discouraged housing construction and purchases, according to Bill Adams, senior international economist at PNC Financial Services.

Prices of new homes in 288 cities fell 0.1% in July from June, the fourth straight drop on a monthly basis, a poll by real estate services firm E-House China Holdings showed.

But home prices in July were still up 4.3% when compared to a year ago.

A separate poll by China Real Estate Index System (CREIS) showed average prices in 100 of the biggest cities fell 0.8% in July from June, the third successive monthly drop.

However, prices were still up 4.7% in July when compared to a year ago, CREIS said.

Realty and Reforms

Weakness in China's property sector posed near-term risks for the economy despite signs of steadying, Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the IMF's Asia Pacific Department and the fund's mission chief for China, said in July.

Such near-term risks in the economy remained controllable owing to the Communist regime's policy buffers, but Beijing must drive reforms as the current path of growth is unsustainable, Rodlauer added.

The world's second largest economy expanded slightly faster than expected in the second quarter of 2014, at 7.5%, supported by an increase in government stimulus.

India's Central Bank Unlikely to Cut Policy Rate Amid Caution Over Inflation

India's central bank unlikely to cut policy rate on 5 August.Reuters

India's central bank is unlikely to lower interest rates at its policy review on 5 August as it awaits more evidence that stubbornly elevated inflation in Asia's third largest economy is finally easing.

While retail price and wholesale price inflation eased in June, economists said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will probably wait for more proof before it considers trimming interest rates needed to boost growth in the subcontinent, which is suffering its worst slowdown in over 25 years

Fourteen of the 15 economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan will leave the bank's key policy rate unchanged at 8%.

Just one economist predicted a quarter-percentage-point cut to 7.75%.

Standard Chartered said in a note to clients: "We believe the [RBI] will maintain its repo rate at 8% in the 5 August monetary policy meeting. Over and above the rate decision, the markets will look for clues to the RBI's monetary policy stance for the rest of FY15."

"With softer inflation in Q1-FY15 and a higher probability of CPI staying below 8% in Q4-FY15 - the RBI targets January CPI at 8% - market expectation of a rate cut in FY15 has increased.

"A reiteration of June's statement – if disinflation, adjusted for base effects, is faster than currently anticipated, it will provide headroom for an easing of the policy stance - could firm up expectations of a rate cut.

"However, we believe the RBI will strike a cautious note amid an improving but still deficient monsoon and more concrete action from the government to address structural supply bottlenecks."

Inflation Cooling

India's retail inflation eased to 7.31% in June from 8.28% in May 2014 as food inflation moderated. Wholesale price inflation slowed down to 5.43% in June from 6.01% in May 2014 after prices of cereals and pulses eased.

Rajan on 3 June left the RBI's main lending rate unchanged at 8%, as was widely expected.

But he reduced the amount banks need to invest in government securities -- called the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) -- by half a percentage point to 22.5% of deposits starting in mid-June.

US Company Admits Buying Kurdish Crude Oil Before Iraq Lawsuit

Still image from video taken by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft shows the oil tanker United Kalavyrta.(Reuters/US Coast Guard)

US-based asphalt maker Axeon has confirmed it imported a cargo of Iraqi crude oil in June.

The company told Reuters news agency it received the Kurdish Shaikan cargo at its Paulsboro refinery in New Jersey just weeks before Iraq's central government filed a lawsuit over Kurdistan's oil sales.

"We purchased this cargo on a delivered Paulsboro, New Jersey, basis from a reputable supplier," a company official said, as quoted by Reuters.

A different cargo of Kurdish crude was heading for the US state of New Jersey in early August aboard the Minerva Joy tanker, but the company did not say whether it will purchase the shipment which is due to arrive on 11 August.

Baghdad has launched a lawsuit against Turkey, accusing Ankara of assisting the Kurds to smuggle oil out of Iraq. It has threatened to pursue legal action against governments if they assist the Kurds with selling the oil.

Reuters reported that two earlier shipments of Kurdish crude went to the LyondellBasell refinery in Houston, Texas.

A further tanker had looked set to deliver a shipment to Texas, but stopped short of the shoreline amid a legal challenge from Baghdad.

The United Kalavrvta tanker, thought to be carrying around 1 million barrels of crude, has remained anchored off the coast in international waters.

LyondellBasell told Reuters that it had purchased some "modest quantities" of "Iraqi crudes" but that it would not make any more purchases in light of the legal dispute.

Baghdad has clashed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the right to sell oil on international markets.

The semi-autonomous region has sought to boost its autonomy from Baghdad by selling oil independently of Iraq's central government.

Gaza Crisis: 130 Palestinians Killed in Israel's 'Hannibal Directive' Rescue Operation for Hadar Goldin

A Palestinian man carries his disabled son as they flee their house during what witnesses said was heavy Israeli shelling, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.(Reuters)

More than 130 Palestinians were killed during the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) execution of the controversial "Hannibal Directive" to rescue captured soldier Hadar Goldin, according to Palestinian sources.

The protocol orders the use of any force necessary to rescue a captured soldier, even if it means endangering the life of the soldier himself.

Following Goldin's suspected capture in a tunnel operation conducted in the Rafah area, the IDF launched a bombardment of the Rafah area to prevent his captors' escape.

A senior officer told Haaretz that "a great deal of fire was used in the area, and targets were attacked" following the incident. Palestinian reports claim that the Israeli strikes targeted vehicles, including ambulances, heading for Rafah hospital.

The IDF source confirmed that all firepower in the southern Gaza Strip was sent to the Rafah area to carry out the directive. Heavy fire came from tank shelling, artillery bombardments and air strikes to isolate the area where Goldin was suspected to be held, according to Haaretz.

The IDF has admitted that innocents were killed as a result of the huge use of force and now claims that Goldin was killed in the tunnel operation and not whisked away to Rafah.

Smoke rises following what witnesses said were Israeli air strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.(Reuters)

Over an hour into an agreed ceasefire, the IDF claims that the Givati Brigade undertaking the tunnel operation came under intense fire, killing two officers. Hamas said that the attempted capture of Goldin in the tunnel operation took place before the morning ceasefire began.

The protocol is founded on a fear that any captive Israeli will be used as a bargaining chip, like Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006 and held for five years before being released in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

The directive - named after the Carthaginian general who killed himself with poison rather than be captured by the Romans - is founded on the belief that a soldier is better dead than in captivity, a view elucidated by Shaul Mofaz, former IDF chief of staff.

"In certain senses, with all the pain that saying this entails, an abducted soldier, in contrast to a soldier who has been killed, is a national problem," he told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Gaza health officials said that over 1,800 Palestinians - mostly civilians - have been killed in the IDF's 'Operation Protective Edge' with more than 9,000 injured. The Israeli military confirmed that 64 soldiers had been killed in the conflict as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai national.

Hot Shots Photos of the Day: Whale Shark, Kissing Contest, Kylie Stage Invasion

A fisherman transports a dead whale shark that was caught in fishermen's net, in Yangzhi county, Fujian province, China(Reuters)

A rainbow spans over a valley between the Hohes Goell and Schneibstein mountains near the Carl-von-Stahl-Haus Alpine Club hut in the Berchtesgaden, Bavaria(Reuters)

A woman showers in a mud pit near the main stage at the Woodstock Festival in Kostrzyn-upon-Odra, close to the Polish-German border(Reuters)

Kylie Minogue performs during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park in Glasgow(Reuters)

Australian steeplechase runner Genevieve Lacaze invades the stage during the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony(Getty)

Young wrestlers gather during a traditional fair in Xilingol League, in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(Reuters)

People compete in a kissing contest during the Qixi Festival (known as Chinese Valentine's Day) in Kunming, Yunnan province(Getty)

Corporal Temur Dadiani, 22, a double amputee military serviceman from Georgia, attempts to set a planche push-ups world record, at the Ministry of Defence in Tbilisi. Dadiani was injured after stepping on a improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2011. Planche push-ups are performed using only the hands.(AFP)

A man dressed as a Viking drinks local red wine during an annual Viking festival of Catoira in north-western Spain. The festival re-enacts past Viking raids in the area and is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of August(Reuters)

Volunteers continue to assemble an installation entitled 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' by artist Paul Cummins, made up of 888,246 ceramic poppies in the moat of the Tower of London, to commemorate the First World War(Getty)

A Palestinian man salvages items from the ruins of buildings destroyed by what police said were Israeli air strikes and shelling in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip(Reuters)

Palestinians try to evacuate a wounded boy from under the rubble of a house that was destroyed in an Israeli air strike that killed at least nine members from the al-Ghol family, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip(Reuters)

Palestinians carry a wounded a boy who was rescued from under the rubble of a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip(Reuters)

Israeli soldiers stand next to the grave of their comrade Lieutenant Hadar Goldin during his funeral in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv(Reuters)

Ukrainian servicemen take cover after firing a cannon during a military operation against pro-Russian separatists near Pervomaisk, Luhansk region(Reuters)

Children react beside a dead body under rubble at a site hit by what activists said were two airstrikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Douma in eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus(Reuters)

Volunteers prepare a funeral pyre for the mass cremation of landslide victims in Malin, Pune district in the western Indian state of Maharashtra(AFP)

Three members of the militant group Al Shabaab, found guilty by a Somali military court of killing civilians and masterminding a recent attack on the Presidential Palace, stand tied to poles shortly before they were executed by a firing squad in Mogadishu(AFP)

Bangladesh Ferry Disaster: Two Bodies Recovered and 100 Rescued

People look on from an overcrowded passenger boat navigating through the Buriganga River in DhakaAndrew Biraj/Reuters file photo

The bodies of two women have been recovered after a ferry carrying more than 250 people capsized in the river Padma in Bangladesh.

At least 100 people have been rescued so far while the others are still missing.

Many passengers are thought to have been travelling atop the ferry when it capsized.

Most of the passengers were returning to Dhaka after celebrating Eid-al Fitr.

The MV Pinak-6 sank in strong currents in the middle of the river near Munshinganj district, about 30km from the capital Dhaka.

A rescue vessel which was pressed into service is looking for victims of the ferry disaster.

Local reports quoted survivors as saying that there were no life boats or life jackets.

"Divers of the fire service and Navy are on their way as well. I came to know that Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan has also started for Munshignaj," local government official Saiful Islam told the BDNews24.

Ferry accidents in Bangladesh which has a vast river network are not uncommon due to overcrowding and poor condition of vessels.

Snowden Documents Show 'Constant and Lavish' US Support for Israel Facilitating Gaza Attacks

An explosion from an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip is pictured from the Israeli border(Reuters)

Newly disclosed documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed the extent of the role the US government plays in directly enabling military assaults by Israel on Gaza.

The documents, published by investigative news outlet The Intercept, outline the relationship between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU), and also expose the significant levels of money, arms and surveillance provided by the US government.

"NSA maintains a far-reaching technical and analytic relationship with the ISNU sharing information on access, intercept, targeting, language, analysis and reporting," state the documents, dated 19 April, 2013.

"This SIGINT relationship has increasingly been the catalyst for a broader intelligence relationship between the United States and Israel. Significant changes in the way NSA and ISNU have traditionally approached SIGINT have prompted an expansion to include other Israeli and US intelligence organisations such as CIA, Mossad, and Special Operation Division (SOD)."

These revelations are at direct odds with the long-established US stance that it plays no greater role than that of a concerned bystander in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

In a press conference last week, President Obama said: "I want to see everything possible done to make sure that Palestinian civilians are not being killed, and it is heartbreaking to see what's happening there."

'Constant, lavish support'

Formal ties between the NSA and ISNU date as far back as 1968, when an intelligence-sharing agreement was reached by US President Lyndon Johnson and Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. However, cooperation between the two has grown significantly in recent years.

Glenn Greenwald, editor of the Intercept and confidante of Snowden, believes that the relationship is crucial to enabling the current Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

"The new Snowden documents illustrate a crucial fact," Greenwald wrote in an article accompanying the documents. "Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the US government, which is anything but a neutral, peace-brokering party in these attacks."

One illustration of this support provided by the documents is that of the NSA's provisions to counter "Palestinian terrorism".

The documents state: "The Israeli side enjoys the benefits of expanded geographic access to world-class NSA cryptanalytic and SIGINT engineering expertise, and also gains controlled access to advanced US technology and equipment via accomodation buys and foreign military sales."

Panasonic Farms Vegetables Indoors in Land-Scarce Singapore

Panasonic's indoor vegetable farm in SingaporePanasonic

Japanese electronics major Panasonic has begun growing and selling vegetables in land-scarce South East Asian city-state of Singapore, which is almost entirely reliant on imports for its food needs.

A unit of the conglomerate has started the first licensed indoor vegetable farm in Singapore and started selling produce to a chain of Japanese restaurants in the island state.

"We foresee agriculture to be a potential growth portfolio, given the global shortage of arable land, climate change and increasing demand for quality food as well as stable food supply," Hideki Baba, managing director of Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific.

"Combining Panasonic's technological and manufacturing expertise, these premium Japanese crops are grown in optimum conditions, where temperature, humidity and CO2 levels are monitored and controlled, ensuring stable, high-quality production throughout the year."

The 248-square-metre indoor farm has a production capacity of 3.6 tonnes per year. It produces 10 types of vegetables such as mini red radishes and baby spinach under LED lights amid carefully controlled levels of temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide.

The company plans to grow 30 more vegetable varieties at the facility by March 2017, and account for about 5% of local vegetable production. It aims to sell the items at half the price of those imported from Japan.

Densely-populated Singapore currently imports more than 90% of its food.

Singapore produced nearly 22,000 tonnes of vegetables in 2013, while it imported 514,574 tonnes, according to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.

Singapore's government is supporting companies in vertical farming, and in aeroponics or hydroponics that grow plants without soil.

Panasonic Factory Solution Asia Pacific's First Indoor Vegetable Farm in Singapore.YouTube/Channel Panasonic - Official

Iraq Isis Crisis: Sunni Insurgents Seize Country's Biggest Dam in Mosul

A view of the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) northwest of BaghdadReuters file photo

The Sunni extremists in Iraq who have established the Islamic State have taken control of the war-torn country's biggest dam in Mosul giving them the ability to flood major cities or halt water supply to farmlands.

The militants, who called themselves Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), before setting up the caliphate, have also captured three key towns and an oil field overrunning unopposed Kurdish security forces.

"The terrorist gangs of the Islamic State have taken control of Mosul dam after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces without a fight," Iraqi state television reported.

The encounter between the militants and the forces did not last long. The capture of the power-generating dam could prove vital for the Sunni insurgents in their ongoing onslaught against the Shiite-led Baghdad administration headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"Hundreds fled leaving vehicles and a huge number of weapons and munitions, and the brothers control many areas. The fighters arrived in the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Turkey," said the Islamist group.

Thousands of residents in the towns of Zumar and Sinar, located near Mosul, have fled the area fearing further attacks on the autonomous Kurdish region.

The insurgents warned the residents of nearby villages in the region bordering Syria to evacuate as they are planning to mount a large-scale offensive.

"A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar," said UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov.

The militants have also taken control of the Ain Zalah oil field bringing the number of insurgents-held fields to four.