The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Militants capture Iraq’s biggest Christian town, trigger exodus Arbil (Iraq), August 7 Islamist militants surged across northern Iraq towards the capital of the Kurdish region on Thursday, sending tens of thousands of Christians fleeing for their lives, in an offensive that has alarmed the Baghdad government and world powers. Photographs showed Islamic State fighters controlling a checkpoint at the border area of the Kurdish region, over 30 minutes’ drive from Arbil, a city of 1.5 million that is headquarters to the Kurdish regional government and of many businesses. Sunni militants earlier captured Iraq’s biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to flee, fearing they would be subjected to the same demands the Sunni militants made in other captured areas — leave, convert to Islam or face death. The Islamic State, which is considered more extreme than Al-Qaida, sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minorities such as Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish ethno-religious community, as infidels. In Rome, Pope Francis appealed to world leaders to help end what the Vatican called "the humanitarian tragedy now under way" in northern Iraq. France called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the terrorist threat in Iraq”. Shares in energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan plummeted on news of the sweeping Islamist advance towards oilfields in the region. The militant group said in a statement on its Twitter account that its fighters had seized 15 towns, the strategic Mosul dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an ongoing offensive that began at the weekend. Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq's biggest. On Thursday, two witnesses told Reuters by telephone that Islamic State fighters had hoisted the group's black flag over the dam, which could allow the militants to flood major cities or cut off significant water supplies and electricity. The Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in the weekend sweep, prompting tens of thousands from the ancient Yazidi community to flee the town of Sinjar for surrounding mountains. — Reuters Car bombs kill 21 Baghdad: Two bomb attacks in Iraq on Thursday killed 21 persons and injured scores of others. Obama mulls airstrikes to help trapped minorities WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is considering airstrikes and emergency relief airdrops to help 40,000 minorities in Iraq who are trapped on a mountaintop after threats by Islamic militants, the New York Times reported on Thursday. — Reuters
	Russia hits back, bans food from West over Ukraine sanctions Moscow, August 7 Russia today banned most food imports from the West in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine, an unexpectedly sweeping move that will cost farmers in North America, Europe and Australia billions of dollars but will also likely lead to empty shelves in Russian cities. The announcement shows that while President Vladimir Putin doesn't appear ready to heed Russian nationalists' calls to send troops into Ukraine, he is prepared to inflict significant damage on his own nation in an economic war with the West. The US and the EU have accused Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March, of supplying arms and expertise to a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, and have sanctioned individuals and companies in Russia in retaliation. Moscow denies supporting the rebels and accuses the West of blocking attempts at a political settlement by encouraging Kiev to use brutal force to crush the insurgency. The ban, announced by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a televised Cabinet meeting, covers all imports of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, milk and milk products from the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway. It will last for one year. — AP NATO, Ukraine discuss alliance support Kiev: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk discussed possible Western alliance support for Ukraine's defensive strength on Thursday, while more of its troops were killed in fresh clashes with separatists. The two men discussed the possibility of a proposed NATO trust fund supporting Kiev's ability in areas including command and control, communications and cyberdefence, the government said in a statement. — AFP
	Dozens die as jihadists storm Syrian army base Beirut, August 7 Islamic State militants stormed one of the Syrian government's last outposts in the northern province of Raqqa in an overnight attack and battled troops holed up in the area on Thursday, killing dozens of soldiers, activists said. A monitoring group said over 40 persons were killed in multiple suicide car bombings carried out by Islamic State fighters and in ensuing clashes. The Islamic State, an Al-Qaida offshoot, has made rapid gains in Syria since it seized northern Iraq's largest city, Mosul, on June 10, and declared an Islamic caliphate on adjoining territory it controls in Syria and Iraq. Raqqa is a major stronghold of the Islamic State, which took control of the provincial capital and expelled rival Syrian rebel groups at the start of the year. The group's hardened fighters — many of them foreign — have been chipping away at government holdouts in the area since last month. Islamic State fighters killed at least 50 soldiers when they took over a base outside Raqqa city about two weeks ago. They also killed around 270 soldiers, guards and staff when they overran a gas field in central Syria about a week before that, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), we announce to the Islamic nation news of the total liberation of the 93rd Brigade (military base)," said a Twitter feed which regularly publishes news from Islamic State in Raqqa province.— Reuters
	Gaza peace deal: Palestinians, Israelis race against time Gaza/Cairo, August 7 Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were holding indirect talks in Cairo on Thursday for a long-term truce in war-torn Gaza as the three-day ceasefire entered its last 24 hours with no breakthrough yet. The clock was ticking on the 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has brought relief to millions on both sides after a month of fighting killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians and 67 persons in Israel, mostly soldiers. Egyptian officials, who brokered the truce that began on Tuesday, were working against the clock to persuade both sides to agree a long-term deal. "Indirect talks are ongoing and we still have today to secure this," an Egyptian official said when asked whether the truce was likely to be extended beyond 0500 GMT tomorrow. "Egypt's aims are to stabilise and extend the truce with the agreement of both sides and to begin negotiations towards a permanent agreement to ceasefire and ease border restrictions," he said, according to the BBC. Israel has agreed to extend a ceasefire that ended a month of fighting in Gaza beyond a Friday deadline, an Israeli official said yesterday. "Israel accepted an unconditional 72-hour ceasefire, and is willing to extend an unconditional ceasefire," Israeli official said. They said the country had offered to extend the three-day ceasefire in Gaza which began on Tuesday. But Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq, denied that there was yet any agreement on the extension of the ceasefire. — PTI No country can tolerate terror attacks on it Washington: Defending US' ally Israel, President Barack Obama has said no country would tolerate launching of rockets and terror attacks on its cities, as he called for the extension of a ceasefire in Gaza. “I have no sympathy for Hamas. I have great sympathy for ordinary people who are struggling within Gaza,” Obama said. — PTI End senseless cycle of suffering United Nations: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to “the senseless cycle of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Israel”. "Do we have to continue like this —build, destroy, and build and destroy? We will build again but this must be the last time — to rebuild. This must stop now,” he said.— IANS Dialogue only option to resolve crisis: India United Nations: India has said the current crisis in Gaza can be resolved through a negotiated political settlement and a dialogue remains the "only viable option" to effectively address issues confronting the region and its people. "We endorse Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's statement on Gaza crisis," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador said.
	King Richard III to be reinterred on March 26 London, August 7 More than 500 years after his death, Richard III, the last Yorkist King of England, will receive an effective state funeral when he is reinterred on March 26 next year at a cost of £2.5 million, it was announced today. The reinterment, which will take place at Leicester Cathedral, has been announced two years after the King's remains were found beneath a car park - making him the only English monarch without a marked grave. A week-long series of events will see the slain king's coffin travel from Bosworth, where he died in battle in 1485, to the city where he was first buried, the BBC reported. The ceremony is estimated to cost £2.5 million. Richard III was the last Yorkist king of England, whose death at the age of 32 in the Battle of Bosworth effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. Richard's grave was lost to later development and then rediscovered under a Leicester council car park in 2012. The remains were confirmed as those of the king, after a series of tests, in February 2013. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Snowden gets three-year Russian residence permit
Moscow: Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by the United States for leaking extensive secrets of its electronic surveillance programmes, has been given a three-year residence permit by Russia, his Russian lawyer told reporters on Thursday. "The decision on the application has been taken and therefore, with effect from August 1, 2014, Edward Snowden has received a three-year residential permit," Anatoly Kucherena said. — Reuters

Honour killing: Man, woman murdered in Pakistan
Islamabad: In yet another case of honour killing in Pakistan, a man allegedly shot dead his sister-in-law and another person in the south-western Balochistan province, the police said on Thursday. The incident occurred on Wednesday in Jaffarabad district when the man shot his sister-in-law and another man. — PTI

3 Pak soldiers, 2 militants killed in Balochistan
Islamabad: At least three paramilitary soldiers and two militants were killed on Thursday in two incidents of violence in the Balochistan province, officials said. Unknown militants attacked the Frontier Corps convoy in the Nasirabad area of Turbat district, killing two soldiers and injuring six others, said a security official. In retaliatory fire, two militants were also killed while the others escaped. — PTI

Indian diplomat's jailed son appeals term in Oz
Melbourne: A paedophile son (34) of an Indian diplomat, who was jailed by an Australian court for over 10 years for a series of sexual offences, today appealed the sentence, claiming the jail term was “manifestly excessive.” Navin Edwin was last year sentenced to 10 years and eight months in jail, with a non-parole period of six and a half years, for offences committed against three girls in 2009 and 2010. — PTI

Indian couple's chapati invention hits US market
Singapore: An Indian couple in Singapore has invented a first-of-its-kind robot to make chapatis which raked in about 5 million Singapore dollars in pre-sale orders from the US. Rishi Israni and his wife Pranoti, took six years to develop the robot, Rotimatic, which can produce about one baked chapati per minute. Priced at $599 each, Rotimatic is the first kitchen device to use robotic technology and awaits US certifications required for such products for the US market. — PTI

Court jails Khmer Rouge leaders for life
Singapore: Two former Khmer Rouge leaders were jailed for life on Thursday after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by Cambodia's UN-backed court, the first-ever sentences for leaders of the murderous regime. Nuon Chea, 88, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, were "guilty of the crimes against humanity," said judge Nil Nonn. — AFP

MH17 search halted as Australia mourns
Melbourne: Australia on Thursday observed a national day of mourning for the victims of the MH17 crash, a day after experts suspended the search operation for body parts due to the deteriorating security situation in rebel-held Ukraine. — PTI

Bearded Sikh woman chosen for portrait exhibition
London: A British Sikh woman, who suffers from a condition that causes facial hair growth, has been selected for a portrait series celebrating 60 of the best beards from all over the world. Harnaam Kaur who decided to keep her beard despite being bullied was chosen for Project 60, which a non-profit organisation seeking to raise awareness about skin cancer. AFP