Iraq Crisis: IS Threatens to 'Drown' Americans in Blood

A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) holds an Isis flag and a weapon on a street in the city of MosulReuters file photo

The Iraqi Islamic State militant group has threatened to "drown" Americans in blood.

In a video message, the Sunni insurgents vowed to launch attacks on US interests "in any place" if Washington presses ahead with its airstrikes in Iraq, according to a Reuters report.

The video also showed a photograph of an American national who was beheaded by Islamists during the Iraq war.

The message has come when US President Barack Obama hailed the American intervention in the latest conflict in support of Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

"This operation [to recapture Mosul Dam] demonstrates that Iraqi and Kurdish forces are capable of working together and taking the fight to Isis. If they continue to do so, they will have the strong support of the United State of America," Obama, who is back from his vacation, said.

"If that dam was breached, it could have proven catastrophic, with floods that would've threatened the lives of thousands of civilians and endanger our embassy compound in Baghdad," he said, adding that the militants pose a serious threat not only to Iraq but also to the entire region.

Obama said US attacks on militants and humanitarian aid to civilians will continue.

US military aircraft have conducted at least 35 airstrikes in Iraq destroying more than 90 targets since the operation began.

"In all, we destroyed over 90 targets including a range of vehicles, equipment and fighting positions. Iraqi forces have cleared the dam and are working to further expand their area of control," said the Pentagon.

Youth Olympic Games 2014 in Nanjing: Photos of the Spectacular Opening Ceremony

The 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony.

Symbolising "building the dream" – one of the key themes of Nanjing 2014 – a gravity- defying human tower reached into the sky, before the acrobats, all suspended on wires, broke into a beautifully choreographed mid-air ballet.

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The ceremony include a segment on the history of China. Explorer Zheng He's expeditionary voyages to the west and the development of the Silk Road were represented by a fleet of red boats.

A huge astronomical telescope at one end of the stadium – a symbol of reaching for the stars – transformed into the five interlaced Olympic rings.

A sea of white dancers formed concentric circles that then morphed into the colours of the Olympic rings.

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After the Olympic cauldron was lit by diver Chen Ruolin who won gold at London 2012, the sky above the stadium exploded in a blaze of pyrotechnics.

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Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Set For Three-Way Talks on Controversial Nile Dam

Labourers work at the Grand Renaissance dam in Guba Woreda, Ethiopia(Reuters)

Sudan is set to host three-way talks with Egypt and Ethiopia over the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.

The talks will address the findings of an international study into the human and economic impact of the dam, which is being built on a stretch of the Blue Nile.

Egypt is concerned the project could damage the flow of water from the river Nile. Citing treaties dating back to 1929 and 1959, Cairo says it retains its historic rights over the river.

Those treaties, agreed with the UK and Sudan, gave two-thirds of the Nile's water to Egypt, as well as the right to veto projects that could affect the river.

Egypt has accused its southern neighbour of launching a water war, which could lead to a nationwide water shortage that could lead to crop failures, electricity shortages and political instability.

"It's impossible to undertake a project on this scale without environmental impact studies to assess the consequences for downstream countries," said Mohamed Ghoneim, Egypt's representative to the African Union, as quoted by the UK's Guardian newspaper.

For its part, Ethiopia has pressed ahead with the project regardless of old agreements. Analysts have said Addis Ababa is capitalising on Egypt's relative weakness to push through the dam project.

"These treaties are now obsolete. We are entitled to build the dam," said Alemayehu Tegenu, Ethiopia's minister of water.

The dam project is expected to cost more than $4bn in total. Ethiopian officials have stressed the water will be used to generate electricity rather than irrigate fields, meaning it would eventually

reach Egypt.

Egypt's leadership remains unconvinced by those kinds of assurances and will press its concerns in at the meeting set for August 25 and 26.

Ebola Outbreak: WHO Calls on Affected African Countries to 'Exit Screen' All Leaving by Land, Air and Sea

A female immigration officer uses an infra-red laser thermometer to examine a passenger at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria(Reuters)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged all countries affected by Ebola to conduct "exit screening" of individuals at all international airports, seaports and major land crossings.

"Affected countries are requested to conduct exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaports and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection," a WHO statement on travel and transport in relation to the deadly virus said.

"Any person with an illness consistent with Ebola virus disease (EVD) should not be allowed to travel unless the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation. There should be no international travel of Ebola contacts or cases, unless the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation."

The countries affected by the disease include Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

Liberia has the highest death toll from the disease with approximately 400 citizens killed. So far, at least 1,145 people have died from the disease, which has been described as the worst ever outbreak of the virus.

The Kenyan government announced this week that it will ban entry into the country from travellers arriving from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone as it is a major transport hub. The WHO said the high numbers of people travelling through Kenya puts it at "high risk" from the virus.

The highly contagious disease is one of the deadliest in the world and does not yet have a known cure.

The symptoms of the virus include fever, sore throat, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding, with a 90% fatality rate.

Israel: Far-Right Protesters Shout 'Death to Arabs' During Jewish-Muslim Wedding

Far-right Israeli protesters shouted "death to the Arabs" as they tried to disrupt the wedding of a Jewish woman and Muslim man in Jaffa, Tel Aviv.

Protesters from the right-wing Organisation for Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land (LEHAVA) demonstrate outside the wedding hall(AFP)

Protesters hold up a sign reading: "Assimilation is the genocide of the Jewish people"(AFP)

Mahmoud Mansour and his bride Maral Malka celebrate before their wedding in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv. More than 200 far-right Israeli protesters tried to disrupt the wedding of a Jewish woman and a Muslim man(Reuters)

Police formed human chains to keep the protesters from the wedding hall's gates. A lawyer for the couple, Maral Malka, 23, and Mahmoud Mansour, 26, had unsuccessfully sought a court order to bar the protest. He obtained backing for police to keep protesters 200m from the wedding venue.

The protest highlighted a rise in tensions between Jews and Arabs in Israel during the conflict in Gaza and the kidnap and slaying of three Israeli teens in June.

A group called Lehava, whose Hebrew initials stand for Preventing Assimilation in the Holy Land, published the couple's wedding invitation on Facebook and called for people to disrupt their union.

Lehava has harassed Jewish-Arab couples in the past, often citing religious grounds for their objections to intermarriage, but it has rarely protested at the site of a wedding.

Protesters, many of them young men wearing black shirts, denounced Malka, who was born Jewish and converted to Islam before the wedding, as a "traitor against the Jewish state" and shouted epithets of hatred toward Arabs including "death to the Arabs". They sang a song with the phrase "may your village burn down".

Protesters scuffle with police during a demonstration outside the wedding venue(AFP)

Police arrest a right-wing protester outside the wedding venue(AFP)

Malka's father, Yoram Malka, said on Israeli television he objected to the wedding, calling it "a very sad event". He said he was angry his daughter had converted to Islam. Of his now son-in-law, he said: "My problem with him is that he is an Arab."

Maral Malka, 23, celebrates with friends and family before her wedding to Mahmoud Mansour, 26(Reuters)

Mahmoud Mansour celebrates with friends and family before his wedding to Maral Malka(Reuters)

Friends and family surround the happy couple during their wedding(Reuters)

A few dozen left-wing Israelis held a counter-protest nearby holding flowers, balloons and a sign that read "love conquers all".

Israelis show their support for the Jewish-Muslim wedding(AFP)

Israelis hold signs in support of the wedding of Mahmoud Mansour and Maral Malka(AFP)

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Kurdish Crude Exports Going Ahead as Seventh Tanker Loaded in Turkey

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

Turkey's energy minister has said exports of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil are ongoing from the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which has already seen 6.5 million barrels of oil shipped out since May.

A seventh oil tanker was being loaded at the port, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Monday, while crude flow on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline had stopped on Monday for maintenance repairs.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been involved in a long-running dispute with Baghdad over its right to export oil independently of the capital. Both sides insist that the Iraqi constitution gives them the right to export oil produced in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Baghdad has launched legal action against Turkey and also threatened legal and diplomatic action against any buyers of Kurdish crude oil, which it says has been smuggled out of the country illegally.

While buyers were initially reluctant to purchase the shipments, an increasing number of cargoes have been sold in recent weeks.

A tanker carrying crude from Iraqi Kurdistan arrived at Croatia's Adriatic sea port of Omisalj on Sunday, in what was reported as the fourth major sale of Kurdish crude.

"A tanker with 80,000 cubic metres of crude oil arrived at the Omisalj terminal and it should be unloaded on Sunday," Reuters reported, citing a report in local media.

Meanwhile, two tankers remain stranded off the US coast, awaiting a US decision about their controversial cargo. The US has prohibited direct purchases of Kurdish oil.

US and South Korea Begin Joint Drill as North Korea Warns of 'Pre-emptive Strike Anytime'

South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill in SeoulKim Hong-Ji/Reuters

The US and South Korea have embarked on their annual two-week joint military exercise as rival North Korea issued a stern warning that a "merciless pre-emptive strike will start anytime chosen by us".

More than 50,000 South Korean and 30,000 American personnel have been mobilised for the mostly computer-simulated drill, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG).

The exercise is aimed at strengthening the coordinated defensive measures by both countries against increasing threats from Pyongyang.

International monitors from Switzerland and Sweden will be observing the exercise.

For the first time, Washington and Seoul intend to come up with a tailor-made deterrence strategy against North Korea's nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction.

Although such drills are often criticised by North Korea, its reaction this year appears to be harsher.

A statement from North Korea's General Staff of the Korean People's Army, carried by the state-run mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency (KCNA, read: "Now that the US imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces declared a war against the DPRK by announcing their plan to apply the "tailored deterrence strategy" to an actual war, we re-clarify that the Korean-style most powerful and advanced merciless pre-emptive strike will start any time chosen by us."

"If we strike the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces, they should be hit hard without any excuse and if we are determined, large and small bases for aggression will be reduced to a sea in flames and ashes."

North Korea's foreign ministry has also issued a similar statement condemning the exercise.

South Korean and the US forces are on heightened alert for the drill in the backdrop of the fresh North Korean belligerence.

China's Foreign Investment Falls Amid Fears of Economic Slowdown

Foreign direct investment in China fell for first time in 17 months(Reuters)

Foreign investment in mainland China fell for the first time in 17 months, as companies from Japan, Europe and the United States slashed spending in the manufacturing sector.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from January to July fell compared to the same period the year before, as a range of other indicators pointed to a slowdown in China's economy.

Falling investment was described as an anomaly by Chinese officials but figures for lending, output and investment suggest economic growth had weakened across the country.

Officials said the decline in foreign firms investing in China was unrelated to the state's crackdown on foreign companies alleged to be engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

Probes into the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been the subject of a long-running anti-corruption probe, while investigations into foreign car manufacturers have been widened.

However, officials have insisted that recent investigations would not scare global investors away from China.

"Such thing will never happen that foreign investors are to be scared away by only a few anti-trust investigations," said Shen Danyang, spokesman for the commerce ministry, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

Shen said the Chinese government would continue to protect foreign firms' legitimate interests as it seeks to establish a more transparent and efficient market for foreign companies.

China drew $71.1bn in FDI from January to July, down 0.4% on the same period in 2013. The drop marked the first decline in foreign capital inflow since February 2013, the commerce ministry said.

FDI in July reached $7.8bn, the lowest in the past two years, but Chinese officials stressed the figures did not represent a downward trend.

"While we are pushing for structural reforms in the economy, it is quite normal for FDI inflows to fluctuate between months," Shen said, as quoted by Reuters.

"We expect foreign investment to keep a steady growth (pace) in the coming years and total FDI in 2014 to remain at a similar level with last year."

Recent increases in Chinese wages and operating costs have not significantly slowed FDI inflows in China, which reached a record high of $118bn in 2013.

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Indonesia Boat Sinks: Tourists 'Drank Urine and Swam for Six Hours' to Survive

Two people still missing after tourist boat sank off east coast of Indonesia(Getty)

A group of 10 tourists, including two Britons, were forced to drink their own urine and swim for more than six hours after their boat sank in rough seas in Indonesia.

Two foreign tourists are still missing after the boat carrying 25 people, including 13 crew members, sank as it travelled between Lombok and Komodo just off the east coast of Indonesia.

All those who were rescued are currently being treated in hospital for severe dehydration and trauma.

An initial group of 10 people, including the two British tourists, were rescued after swimming three miles to a nearby island, only to find it contained an active volcano.

French survivor Bertrand Homassel said the group, believed to have also consisted of tourists from New Zealand, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, swam for six hours to get to the island.

Once there, they survived by drinking their own urine until they managed to attract the attention of a passing boat the next day.

Homassel said the group had to start swimming because there was not enough room on the lifeboat. Speaking from a hotel in Bima on Sumbawa, he said they had to keep afloat for around 12 hours before talking the decision to swim ashore.

He added: "Six people were in the lifeboat. The others climbed on to the roof of the boat, which had not completely sunk.

"We waited until midday on Saturday. We were five kilometres (three miles) from the coast - there were many big waves separating us from the coast.

"People started to panic... Everyone took the decision to swim to the closest island, five kilometres away, where there was an erupting volcano."

The Foreign Office confirmed two British nationals had been admitted to hospital following the incident.

A spokesperson added: "We are aware that two British nationals have been hospitalised following an incident in West Nusa Tenggara, Eastern Indonesia, on 17 August. We are providing consular assistance.

"We are in contact with the local authorities about the incident and stand ready to offer consular assistance to any other British nationals who may be involved."

Gaza Strip: Zoo Animals Killed In Crossfire Latest Victims in Middle East Turmoil

One harrowing image shows a baboon in the Gaza zoo sitting next to a decomposed monkey.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

Shocking new images emerging from Gaza show zoo animals are the latest innocent victims in the battle raging between Israel and Hamas.

Fighting in the Palestinian territories has caused devastation in recent months with thousands of human fatalities. But this weekend photographs revealed that rockets fired by the Israel Defence Forces struck a Gaza zoo, killing hundreds of trapped animals in the crossfire.

Lions appear to have been deserted and are trapped in cages damaged by falling rubble.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

A number of disturbing images show deserted lions in cages damaged by rubble. Another shows a baboon standing over the decomposed remains of another monkey.

It is understood that eight monkeys and an ostrich were killed when Israel launched an air campaign over Gaza in early July that resulted in rockets falling on the zoo and smashing open animals' cages.

The zoo, in Al-Bisan City, was built by the Hamas government in 2008 as a tourist village to give Gazans relief from life in the Gaza Strip.

Animals are the latest innocent victims in the Israel-Hamas fighting, the new images show.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

Animals were smuggled through tunnels connecting Egypt to Gaza in order to lift the spirits of those living nearby. The tunnels were shut when Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was ousted last year.

Before the conflict began, the zoo was reported to be a "lush" area filled with greenery and palm trees.

An Israeli army spokesman said the military is looking into allegations it fired missiles in Al-Bisan park.