Obama Backs Troops To Tackle Child Migrants

Barack Obama is supporting calls to mobilise National Guard troops to deal with thousands of Central American children trying to cross the border.

The President met with Texas Governor Rick Perry to discuss a growing humanitarian problem, with 57,000 children caught crossing the border since October 1, 2013.

Most of the children are from Central American countries such as Guatemala and Honduras and cross without their parents.

Thousands of children are being held at detention centres in the US

During the same time, immigration officials have arrested more than 39,000 immigrants, mostly mothers and children, travelling as family groups.

The sheer number of children has overwhelmed the government's ability to respond and thousands of children are now being held at US detention centres.

After meeting Mr Perry, the President said he was open to suggestions from the governor and others that he dispatch National Guard troops to the border.

Many of the children head over the border without their parents

But he warned such a solution would only work temporarily.

And he said any such action was being held up by Congress' delay in approving his request for extra funding - the White House has asked for $3.7bn (£2.2bn).

"Congress has the capacity to work with all parties concerned to directly address this situation," Mr Obama told reporters.

Mr Obama resisted calls to visit the border during his Texas trip, prompting criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats.

However, White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended Mr Obama's decision, saying the President has "sufficient visibility to the problems".

Some Republicans made it clear that Mr Obama's budget request would be a hard sell.

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Aunt Of Young Gaza Victim: 'Enough Is Enough'

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, Gaza City

Shayma was walking with her family in the Bait Hanoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza on Wednesday when an airstrike hit a house near them.

She ran.

Then another strike hit.

She cannot tell this story for herself. She is four-years-old, and is still unconscious after shrapnel from the second blast tore into her stomach.

She does not yet know that her mother, father and sister were killed in that moment.

Instead her aunt, now her closest living family member and carer, tells this story for her.

Sameh Fayeg Al Masri sits next to her bed in the Al Shiffa hospital in Gaza City, stroking the child's forehead.

She watches her chest raise and fall fitfully - the only sign this otherwise pale, still, shredded body is alive.

Doctors believe she has a chance to recover, but she has a long way to go.

For now Shayma will lie in the children's ward.

Her aunt Sameh, holding back tears with an emotional strength that is as common in Gaza as emotional trauma, tells me enough is enough.

"We have to stop shooting rockets, and they have to stop shooting at us," she said.

"Only innocent children are paying the price. What did this child do to deserve this?"

For some in Gaza such words would be seen as surrender.

But for Sameh, staring at the child lying in front of her, it is the only answer.

"Only God knows if she is going to live or die," she said.

"Pieces of bomb are still inside her. These things should stop. From both sides. It is forbidden to do this."

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Kim Jong-Un Pictured Watching Rocket Launch

Photographs of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un at a rocket firing drill have been released by the secretive state.

The country's state-run television station KRT broadcast the stills showing Mr Kim speaking to military officials.

Mr Kim called on troops to prepare for both words and actions, stressing to keep up combat readiness, KRT said.

The drills took place on the western border

The exact date and location of the visit on the western border are not known.

The images emerged a day after the North launched short-range missiles into its eastern waters.

The missiles, which an official of the South Korean joint chiefs of staff said appeared to be ballistic Scud-class, were launched from a province in western North Korea and flew about 500km (310 miles) before falling into waters to the northeast.

South Korea condemned the launch as a "serious provocation" that threatened stability on the peninsula.

Mr Kim appears in good spirits with military officials

UN resolutions bar the North from conducting any ballistic missile tests.

Wednesday's test was "unusual", ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said, because the missiles were fired from a sensitive location close to the demilitarised zone (DMZ) which has bisected the peninsula since the Korean war ended in a fragile armistice.

"It appeared to be aimed at delivering a message ... that South Korea could be the target of surprise attacks by North Korean ballistic missiles anytime and from any place," he said.

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GoPro Dad Films Son's Birth At Hospital Doors

Footage shot by a dad-to-be shows his dramatic rush to the hospital with his wife in labour and her delivery of a baby boy outside the hospital entrance.

Kristin Dickerson of Rosenberg, Texas, went into labour at 42 weeks pregnant in the middle of the night on June 28.

Her husband, Troy Dickerson, was wearing a GoPro camera on his head throughout the entire ordeal as he sped 95mph (150kph) toward the hospital.

Mr Dickerson thought he could make it to the hospital. Pic: YouTube

"I can't make it! I can't make it," Ms Dickerson says between screams in the 10-minute video.

"We need to stop!"

The couple eventually do make it to the hospital but before Ms Dickerson can sit on a wheelchair and go inside, the baby is born.

Ms Dickerson minutes before delivering the baby. Pic: YouTube

Ms Dickerson, who works as a childbirth educator, delivered the baby kerbside, with nurses rushing to assist and her husband comforting her and trying to calm her down.

"She had gotten out of the car and she had just frozen, like stood there. And me and the valet guy were like, 'Sit down! Sit down in the wheelchair!'" Mr Dickerson told local TV KPRC.

The baby boy was named Truett.

"I'm thrilled to have the footage," Ms Dickerson later told ABC News.

Truett was born at 2.05am. Pic: YouTube

"I'm more hesitant to send it to people, because it's such an intimate moment for us, but as a birth educator, it's really cool to let people see that our bodies know what to do."

It is the third baby for the Texas couple and Mr Dickerson also filmed the births of the first two children, ABC said.

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Ukrainian 'Turning Point' As Rebels Flee City

Ukrainian government forces have re-gained control of the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk, a flashpoint city in the fighting between Kiev's troops and pro-Russian insurgents.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry said Ukrainian soldiers hoisted the national flag in the eastern town after pushing out the pro-Russian insurgents.

"...The Ukrainian national flag was raised over the Slavyansk city council before a line-up of Ukrainian soldiers," said a statement posted on the Ukrainian administration's website, citing Defence Minister Valeriy Geletey.

Mr Geletey later visited the town, pledging that three planes loaded with food and other supplies would follow.

Government forces at a checkpoint near Slavyansk on Friday

Slavyansk had been in rebel hands since early April when they seized key administrative buildings in the city of some 120,000 people.

Government soldiers could be seen carrying stockpiles of weapons out of police and council buildings.

The recapture of Slavyansk marks a major victory for the government which renewed an offensive against the rebels earlier this week.

Slavyansk has been ravaged by heavy fighting

President Petro Poroshenko said it was "the start of a turning point" in the three-month conflict that has claimed more than 400 lives.

The rebels reportedly fled in the face of sustained fire from Ukrainian forces, who one source close to the rebels said had outnumbered them 50 to one.

Aleksandr Borodai, a leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: "The punitive forces of Ukraine ... moved into a large-scale offensive.

Ukraine launched its first major assault nearly three months ago

"Given the disproportionate numerical superiority of the enemy troops, units of the armed forces of the Donetsk People's Republic were forced to leave their previous positions on the northern sector of the front."

The insurgents have pledged to regroup elsewhere and fight on.

This week, Ukraine's ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists expired and Mr Poroshenko said his forces would go on the offensive against the rebels.

But, amid increasing violence, Mr Poroshenko on Friday called for immediate crisis talks with rebel commanders and Russia.

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Funerals In Gaza As Hamas And Israel Trade Fire

The Calculus Of Conflict For Hamas

Updated: 3:54pm UK, Wednesday 09 July 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

In the morbid calculus of conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants, both sides are drawing satisfaction from the recent bout of violence.

Hamas and its allies will be delighted to know that some 3.5 million Israelis have been added to their potential target list with the launching of long-range rockets which have landed close to Haifa, over 100 miles north.

The Israelis have mobilised 40,000 troops and are systematically smashing Hamas' military infrastructure with scores of air raids and naval bombardments every day.

It's clear this is now seen as the opportunity for Israel to rid the region of Hamas.

Mark Regev, the Israeli spokesman, told Sky News: "Our strategic goal is ultimately defensive. We want to end rocket attacks not just on southern Israel (as) rockets hit further north."

He added: "Over the last few years, Hamas has built up, in Gaza, a formidable terrorist machine. We're now acting to dismantle that machine".

Mr Regev went on to confirm there were no realistic diplomatic avenues to explore and that Israel was escalating its military operations to "once and for all" destroy Hamas' military capabilities.

Hamas will take a nihilistic satisfaction from this explicit threat.

It is opposed to the existence of the Jewish State.

It recently agreed to form a technocratic government with the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, which includes no Hamas members but is a 'technocratic administration'.

Facing declining popularity and economic ruin in Gaza, Hamas will now claim that an attack on it is an attack on all Palestinians.

So a ground invasion is just what a movement, which specialises in suicide attacks, most relishes.

It would be an opportunity for volunteers to ascend to paradise while taking enemy soldiers to "hell".

Israel must know that a ground assault might offer it the opportunity to destroy Hamas, blow up its honeycomb of tunnels beneath Gaza and blow up the vast stockpiles of missiles the militant group is believed to have.

But there is a risk of counter attack from the rear.

The West Bank is already close to a third uprising against Israel.

There were already fears that Israel's mass arrests, house demolitions and the killings of several Palestinians following the murder of three Jewish settler youths near Hebron would trigger a new intifada.

So far, the Palestinian Authority has managed to keep a lid on a wider insurrection but at the cost of being seen as collaborating with Israel in an occupation which shows no sign of ending after the collapse of peace talks earlier this year.

If Israel makes good on its threat to "dismantle" Hamas, Palestinians on the West Bank may rise up.

Or, less likely but now conceivable, the Palestinian Authority may seize a moment of Israeli distraction to dissolve itself, forcing Israel to effectively re-occupy the cities handed over to Palestinian control and turn the clock back over 20 years of largely fruitless negotiation.

A move like that would be a gamble and appear a fatal blow to long-term peace.

It could also be seen as the drastic measure needed to focus the calculations of both sides beyond narrow equations in the conflict.

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Recovery Fears Return To World Stock Markets

Stock markets are taking a pounding due to fears over the global economic recovery and a crisis of confidence at Portugal's largest bank.

Weak economic data from Italy and mounting concern about the future of Banco Espirito Santo drove the sell-off, spreading from southern euro nations and across Europe to the United States.

Portugal's PSI was almost 4.5% down by early afternoon trading - with banking stocks worst affected as allegations surfaced that Banco Espirito Santo's parent firm covered up a €1.3bn (£1bn) hole in its accounts.

The Italian MIB and IBEX in Spain had both lost more than 2% - with the DAX in Germany and French CAC shedding 1.5%.

The rush for safe havens, and gold in particular, was also seen in London - the FTSE 100 losing just shy of 1% after bleeding value each day over the course of the week amid fears of a looming correction.

The problems in Portugal were blamed on shares and bonds of Espirito Santo Financial Group, the chief shareholder in Banco Espirito Santo, being suspended over "material difficulties" at the parent firm.

It was reported earlier by the Portuguese newspaper Diaro Economico that Espirito Santo FG was considering filing for controlled insolvency if debt renegotiations with clients failed.

Banco Espirito Santo shares dived more than 17% at one stage despite government assurances the bank was solid.

Trading in the bank's shares was later suspended - pending "an announcement".

Italy's contribution to the sell-off was economic data which showed Italian industrial output posting its steepest monthly fall since
November 2012 in May, casting doubts over the country's economic recovery.

Nerves were already frayed across world stock markets after confirmation the previous evening that the US Federal Reserve would end its quantitative easing programme in October if the US recovery continued on its current course.

The move would effectively cut off the supply of cheap credit the financial markets had grown used to since after the financial crisis - the stimulus being cited as artificially lifting world stock market values - some to record highs in recent months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% in early trading on Wall Street - the jitters in Europe contributing to the risk-off sentiment - with the tech-dominated Nasdaq seeing 1.4% wiped from its value.

Alistair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said of activity on the FTSE 100: "That 6,700 from a psychological point of view was giving it a bit of confidence, and with the 200 day moving average around there as well, we were looking for some support.

"When that didn't transpire and we have broad weakness across Europe, it's a risk off day on the FTSE 100."

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ISIS Seizes 'Low Grade' Nuclear Material

The United Nations atomic agency has asked Iraq for more details about 40kg (88lbs) of poisonous nuclear material taken by Islamic militants.

Iraq informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the seizure from a scientific research facility at a university in Mosul.

It appealed for the agency to help "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad".

The city is part of a large swathe of territory both in Iraq and Syria that is now under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which now refers to itself as the Islamic State.

Militants from IS drove triumphantly into Mosul last month

IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor confirmed the request and said the non-enriched material that had fallen into the hands of insurgents was "low grade" and did not pose a significant security risk.

"On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," Ms Tudor said.

IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi wants a caliphate to include Mosul

"Nevertheless, any loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern."

Former IAEA chief inspector Olli Heinonen said that if the material came from a university it could be laboratory chemicals or radiation shielding, consisting of natural or depleted uranium.

"You cannot make a nuclear explosive from this amount, but all uranium compounds are poisonous," Mr Heinonen said.

UN inspectors failed to find nuclear weapons in Iraq pre-2003

Because radioactive material is less hard to find and the device easier to make, experts say a 'dirty bomb' - which could cause panic and have serious economic and environmental consequences - is a more likely threat than an actual atom bomb.

Dirty bombs are improvised explosive devices in which radioactivity is dissipated to contaminate an area or population.

Meanwhile, authorities in Baghdad have halted cargo flights to the Kurdish cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniya, amid an escalating row between the Shia-led central government and Kurdish leaders.

Kurdish leaders accused Prime Minister Maliki of being "hysterical"

The decision comes as Iraq's Kurdish regional president said Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki was "hysterical" and not fit to run the country.

The worsening political discord comes three days ahead of a planned parliamentary session meant to revive the process of replacing what has effectively been a caretaker government since April elections.

Iraqi forces fled Mosul which allowed militants easy access

Since ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate -  twice the size of Israel -  militants have not made any further significant advances, however they are suspected of murdering more than 50 handcuffed men on the periphery of Baghdad on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile a Russian-made Sukhoi jet of the kind recently delivered by Moscow attacked a market in the rebel-held city of Fallujah, which lies only 35 miles west of the capital.

A local doctor said 35 people were wounded and eight killed in Wednesday's attack, and another 12 were injured, including five children, during airstrikes on Thursday.

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Germany Expels Top US Spy Amid Espionage Row

The German government has asked the top US intelligence official in Berlin to leave the country.

The move comes amid reports of two cases of suspected American espionage in Germany over the past week and a longer dispute over alleged US National Security Agency (NSA) eavesdropping.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Thursday: "The representative of the US intelligence services at the United States embassy has been asked to leave Germany.

"The request occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors as well as the questions that were posed months ago about the activities of US intelligence agencies in Germany.

The NSA eavesdropped on Angela Merkel's phone, it was reported last year

"The government takes the matter very seriously."

Clemens Binninger, head of a parliamentary oversight committee on intelligence, said the move was "a reaction to the long-lacking co-operation in efforts to get to the bottom of this affair".

The US government did not immediately comment directly on the decision.

But White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said German-US security co-operation was essential.

"It keeps Germans and Americans safe," she said.

Shortly before the expulsion was announced, Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that Germany and the US had different approaches to the role of intelligence agencies.

Pedestrians pass the US embassy in Berlin

"I think that in these times, which can be very confusing, very much depends on trust between allies," she said.

Ties have been strained between the two allies since reports emerged last year that the NSA had eavesdropped on Ms Merkel's mobile phone.

But the relationship frayed further over the past week when two German officials fell under suspicion of spying for the US.

Last Friday, a 31-year-old intelligence agency employee was arrested for allegedly selling more than 200 documents to the CIA.

Then on Wednesday police searched the Berlin-area home and office of a German defence ministry official who local media report is suspected of also spying for the US. 

US Ambassador John Emerson has reportedly held a number of meetings with German officials in recent days to discuss the allegations.

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Video Of Narrow Tornado Escape For Sailors

Dramatic footage has been released of two British sailors being washed off the side of a yacht as it is knocked flat by a tornado in the middle of the ocean.

The video shows Sarah Usher and Liz Richards desperately trying to grab hold of the boat as they were swept overboard in the freak weather.

The yacht is blown on to its side

Their 70ft yacht - part of the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race for novice sailors between the ages of 18 and 74 - was blown on to one side, then smashed to the other side as the tornado struck.

It was all over within a minute

Winds of more than 115mph pinned the yacht down for around 60 seconds.

Paul Hardy says the incident was a reminder that the sea 'is boss'

As they eased, the footage shows the boat's crew pulling the pair out of the water and back on board.

In the video, crew member Paul Hardy, a 43-year-old IT consultant from Brighton, is seen describing what happened and how he himself was submerged by the sea.

He said: "All of a sudden the wind picked up and the noise picked up … water started to rise and I knew there was something wrong … I tried to get out of the water and climb up on to the mast and then saw the water spout."

It happened when the team were a week out of Australia heading towards the equator with heavy rain and squalls battering the fleet.

The round-the-world race is described by organisers as the world's longest and toughest ocean race, taking place over 11 months and covering more than 40,000 miles across six continents.

Now in its ninth year, the race comes to an end this Saturday in London.

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