Six In The Morning Thursday August 14

14 August 2014 Last updated at 04:27

Iraq crisis: US says Mount Sinjar evacuation unlikely

The US says it is unlikely to launch a mission to evacuate Iraqis trapped by Islamist fighters on Mount Sinjar.

A Special Forces team flew to the mountain and found fewer people than expected, and those remaining were also in a better condition than feared, the Pentagon said.

The US has sent hundreds of military advisers to Iraq to help people fleeing militant group Islamic State (IS).

IS fighters have seized large swathes of northern Iraq in recent months.

The UN had estimated that tens of thousands of people, most from religious minorities, were besieged on the mountain after being forced to flee their homes.

Members of the Yazidi sect are among those stranded on Mount Sinjar.

Ukraine crisis: Russian 'aid' convoy heads straight for rebels in Luhansk as fears intensify of 'direct invasion'

Moscow orders more than 260 trucks to head straight for rebel-held border - after stopping off at a military base in southern Russia

ADAM WITHNALL 

 

 

Thursday 14 August 2014

A Russian convoy carrying "humanitarian aid" has turned away from its route towards a confrontation with government officials at the Ukrainian border - and is now heading straight for rebel-held areas.

The huge deployment of around 260 trucks towards easternUkraine has sparked international fears of a Trojan Horse-style invasion, as last night the Ukrainian president accused Moscow of potentially planning a "direct invasion of Ukrainian territory under the guise of delivering humanitarian aid".

Moscow said that the column of white spray-painted Kamaz trucks, which left a military depot outside the Russian capital early on Tuesday morning, was full of vital supplies ranging from baby food to sleeping bags.

Violence and boycotts in the West Bank

The eruption of violence between Israel and Palestinians has moved so rapidly it has been hard to keep up - from Hebron in the West Bank to East Jerusalem to Gaza. Kate Shuttleworth went back to where it all began.

Above sounds of rapid gunfire, stun grenades and tear gas, the words "Ha'ai, ha'ai, ha'ai" are yelled amidst frantic movement.

I follow the jolt of the crowd as they sprint from the corner intersection, jumping for cover inside a corner shop.

The Palestinian protesters, many of them masked, flee in a wave carrying slingshots and rocks, ducking for cover and literally running for their lives.

Inside the shop that offers freshly baked pita bread and cold drinks, I quickly learn from shop owner Mohammed that the warning cries in Arabic mean "live," signaling the bullets being fired have changed from being rubber-coated to live ammunition.

Pope arrives in South Korea for five-day visit

August 14, 2014 - 2:06PM

Seoul: Pope Francis has arrived in Seoul looking to fuel a new era of Catholic growth in Asia - a mission fraught with complex political challenges but huge potential rewards.

His five-day visit to South Korea is recognition for one of Asia's fastest-growing, most devoted and most influential Roman Catholic communities, and will feature a special "reconciliation" Mass with a message for isolated North Korea.

But the real goal is longer-term and much wider-ranging.

The Pope will bring a message about the "future of Asia", and will use his trip to "speak to all the countries on the continent", the Vatican's number two, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in a television interview.

Sierra Leone's Ebola-hit Freetown is a city on edge

13 AUG 2014 13:17 FRANKIE TAGGART

Just a day's drive from the epicentre of the outbreak, it's little wonder Ebola propagates panic quicker than it spreads death in the coastal city.

Death stalks the rain-lashed streets of Sierra Leone’s capital, finally at peace after a decade of civil war but in the grip of a new and equally deadly adversary – the Ebola virus.

Freetown may have been spared the brunt of an epidemic cutting a swathe through West Africa, but the tropical fever is the only topic of conversation in a city festooned with incongruously vibrant banners reminding people of the ever-present threat.

“We are all scared because of the way Ebola is spreading but we are taking all the necessary precautions,” says Waisu Gassama (27), who works in the HIV department of the dilapidated, century-old Connaught Hospital.

Michael Brown Death: Tear Gas, More Arrests in Ferguson, Missouri

BY PHIL HELSEL

Protests in a St. Louis suburb roiled by outrage over the death of an unarmed teen descended into chaos Wednesday night, with riot gear-clad police using tear gas on crowds and officers reportedly coming under attack by thrown bottles.

President Barack Obama was briefed Wednesday night on the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri, which began as a day of demonstrations but turned violent as darkness fell. Police said at least 10 people were arrested over the course of the night, police said bottles were thrown at officers, and a police officer was injured by a brick, NBC station KSDK reported.