Massacre 'Likely' If Islamic State Takes Kobani

More than 500 people trapped in Kobani could be "massacred" if Islamic State wins the fierce battle for the Syrian town.

Staffan de Mistura, UN envoy to Syria, made the warning as militants reportedly took more territory and shelled a border crossing to try to isolate the town.

He said 500 to 700 people - many of them elderly - were trapped in Kobani, with only a small area available for a possible escape through the fighting.

Staffan de Mistura says thousands are also trapped near the border

Mr de Mistura said a UN analysis showed 10,000 to 13,000 more people remain stuck near the border.

Since the siege began in mid-September, some 200,000 people have fled the Kurdish-dominated town into Turkey.

Video: Calls For Ground Forces In Kobani

Despite seven more US-led airstrikes, IS fighters could be close to seizing Kobani, according to monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

People still living there "will be most likely massacred" if the town falls, said Mr de Mistura.

The UN envoy urged: "When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not be silent."

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

Calls have been growing louder for Turkey to send ground forces to support the town's defenders but it has ruled out a ground operation on its own.

The US has said the Kurds "continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL".

However, the situation could be approaching tipping point.

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1. Gallery: Protests Rage In Turkey Over IS

   Residents walk through a damaged street in central Diyarbakir following overnight clashes with police

2. Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities, mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters took to the streets to demand more be done to protect Kobani

3. Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish settlement, has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters for three weeks

6. Kurdish protesters set fire to a barricade set up to block the street as they clash with riot police in Diyarbakir

7. Flames are seen near a Turkish police vehicle in Diyarbakir during a demonstration of Kurds to demand more Western intervention against Islamic State militants (IS) in Syria and Iraq

9. Kurdish protesters set fire to a bank

10. The Halkbank branch was set ablaze

13. Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish riot police

14. Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul

17. Smoke rises from the Gaziosmanpasa district in Istanbul

18. A public bus burned by Kurdish protesters is pictured in the Gaziosmanpasa district

UK-based SOHR said IS, also known ISIL or ISIS, now has "at least 40%" of Kobani after winning control of an local government area on Friday.

Deputy head of the Kurdish forces Ocalan Iso gave a different assessment and said IS was still bombarding the town from afar and probably only had 20% control.

Islamic State, which wants to expand its repressive Islamic 'caliphate', has already been accused of massacring minority populations in its push through Iraq.

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

The US State Department warned there was a "an increased likelihood" of reprisal attacks from IS since America and its coalition partners launched military action against the group in Iraq and Syria.

The US wants access to an air base in southern Turkey which could become a strategic stronghold in the battle against the militants.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said US officials have raised the possibility of using the Incirlik air base during discussions this week.

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Airstrikes Missing IS Front Line, Say Fighters

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

We met Abu Ibrahim, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) Commander, and his two friends in a coffee shop in Urfa, Southern Turkey.

They had just returned from the Syrian border town of Kobane, where he told us the FSA had joined forces with Kurdish militias to fight the group calling themselves Islamic State (IS).

It was an uneasy alliance with the Kurds, Abu Ibrahim told us, but they had little choice - they had to unite against their common enemy and help defend the town.

Abu Ibrahim says he left Kobane to help carry injured fighters to hospitals in Turkey.

He and his two friends - an activist and a fighter - say they plan to smuggle back in to Kobane imminently.

Video: First RAF Airstrikes Against IS

They are all originally from Eastern Syria but were forced out of their towns by IS militants. 

They made it to Kobane a few weeks ago but admit they are now running out of ammunition.

"Turkey needs to open the border for us to get ammunition, because now we are trapped between Turkey and IS.

"I was smuggled into Turkey illegally and I will go back the same way."

He continued: "If things stay the same way, frankly we'll have no other option but to fight with knives.

"There's no way to bring in weapons ... we would rather die than leave our land."

Abu Ibrahim also says IS has around 5,000 fighters in Kobane right now and admits his forces and the Kurds are less than half of that.

Abu El Majed has been fighting in Kobane against IS for months and says they are not only outnumbered but also outgunned.

"We have RPGs, machine guns, light weapons like Kalishnikovs ... and that's what we're using against IS who have tanks, canons, heavy weapons," he explained.

For the past few days, US- led airstrikes have focused on hitting the outskirts of Kobane, but the fighters say the strikes are having almost no effect because they're not targeting the IS front line.

Abu Jarrah is an FSA activist who says he watched the coalition strikes from a hilltop.

"I could see IS positions clearly, they had their flags raised, they weren't hiding.

"But the jets would hit a kilometre or two away from the target," he told us, throwing his hands up in disbelief

For these men and thousands like them from the FSA, Kobane is the last hope. 

They've been driven out of towns from Eastern Syria all the way to the Turkish border.

If they lose this battle with IS, they'll have nowhere else to go.

"I'm prepared to fight until the last drop of my blood. I know if I am killed in Kobane, that's it. I can't live in Turkey. So we will fight with everything we have," said Abu Majed.

But that may not be enough. 

US and Arab air power in Syria is not stopping the advance of the militants, while those fighting IS on the ground are being defeated and slowly driven out of their own country.  

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MH17 Passenger Was Wearing Oxygen Mask

One of the passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine was found wearing an oxygen mask, it has emerged.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans made the revelation during a late-night TV interview on Wednesday.

"You know that somebody was discovered wearing an oxygen mask and had time to put it on," he said.

Mr Timmermans gave out the information before some relatives knew

The passenger, an Australian, had the elastic strap of the mask around his neck, said Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office, which is carrying out a criminal investigation into the crash.

It raises the possibility that some passengers knew the plane they were on was doomed.

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1. Gallery: Impact Marks On MH17 Fuselage

   These stills were released by the Dutch Safety Board on September 9, 2014

2. They show clearly visible puncture marks scattered across the fuselage of MH17

3. On July 17, the Malaysia Airlines flight lost all 298 passengers and crew

4. The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur

5. The disaster occurred over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists

6. Crash investigators say it was probably downed by "a large number of high-energy objects"

7. The Dutch Safety Board has ruled out technical fault or human error

After Mr Timmermans made the comments, Dutch prosecutors confirmed it in a letter to the victims' families.

"How and when the mask ended up around the victim's neck is unknown," prosecutors said in the letter, which was published online.

Mr De Bruin said forensic experts investigated the mask "for fingerprints, saliva and DNA and that did not produce any results.

"So it is not known how or when that mask got around the neck of the victim."

He also said he did not know where in the plane the Australian victim was sitting.

None of the other 297 victims of the crash was believed to be wearing an oxygen mask, prosecutors added. Thirty-eight Australian residents and citizens were killed in the disaster

Relatives of the Australian passenger were told about the mask as soon as it was discovered.

But the families of other victims heard about it for the first time when Mr Timmermans mentioned it during the TV interview.

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1. Gallery: The World Mourns For MH17

   Flowers continue to be left outside Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam

2. One of KLM's crews pay their respects

3. They add a bouquet to the growing number of flowers

4. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie attend a memorial at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney

5. Mourners in Australia attend a memorial service held for a family of five killed in the crash

6. Children at the ceremony in Sydney, Australia

7. A photo displayed on a memorial shows teacher, Arnold Huizen who died with his wife Yodricunda Theistiasih Titihalawa and their daughter

8. School children sit together with candles at the Pelita Bangsa school as they remember their teacher Arnold Huizen in Indonesia

9. People light candles during a candle light vigil for the victims of MH17 Kuala Lumpur

Mr Timmermans, the incoming vice-president of the European Commission, later expressed regret for revealing the information.

"The MH17 disaster goes to my heart," he said.

"I should not have made the comment. The last thing I want to do is aggravate the relatives' suffering in any way."

Relatives of victims began calling investigators asking about Mr Timmermans' comments, Mr De Bruin said.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down on July 17 while flying over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.

The findings of an initial report by a Dutch-led team of air crash investigators appear to back up claims that the plane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile.

Kiev and the West have accused Moscow-backed separatists of shooting the down airliner with a surface-to-air BUK missile supplied by Russia.

Moscow denies the charge and has pointed the finger back at Kiev.

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IS Gains Ground In Kobani Despite Airstrikes

Islamic State militants have captured more ground in a Syrian border town despite intensified US-led airstrikes.

IS fighters seized control of a third of Kobani on Thursday as calls grew louder for neighbouring Turkey to send ground forces to support the town's beleaguered Kurdish defenders.

Overnight, a US-led coalition carried out five airstrikes south of Kobani, destroying an IS support building and two vehicles operated by the extremist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

US Central Command said it was continuing to monitor the situation, adding "indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL".

US officials have warned that the airstrikes alone may not be enough stop the IS advance on Turkey's doorstep.

Coalition jets have been targeting IS fighters around Kobani

Barack Obama on Wednesday met with military commanders to discuss the campaign amid fears troops would be needed on the ground.

"Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission," the US president said.

Video: US Warns IS Could Take Kobani

"As I've indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight."

Senior US commanders have warned that the Islamists could take Kobani if more is not done.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: "Airstrikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobani.

"We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again.

"We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that other towns and villages and perhaps Kobani will be taken by IS."

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

Rear Adm Kirby said troops would be needed to defeat IS, adding: "We don't have a force inside Syria that we can co-operate with and work with."

Over the past few days, thousands of IS fighters armed with heavy weapons looted from captured army bases in Iraq and Syria had managed to push into some areas.

The fighting has forced 200,000 residents and villagers to flee and seek shelter across the border in Turkey.

Idriss Nassan, deputy head of Kobani's foreign relations committee, said the town was "still in danger" and more airstrikes were needed.

The Kurdish population, who live in many of the areas IS controls in northern Syria, northern Iraq and parts of southeast Turkey, has been pressuring Ankara to intervene to defend Kobani.

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1. Gallery: Protests Rage In Turkey Over IS

   Residents walk through a damaged street in downtown Diyarbakir following overnight clashes with police

2. Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities, mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters take to the streets to demand more be done to protect Kobani

3. Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish settlement which has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters for three weeks

6. Kurdish protesters set fire to a barricade set up to block the street as they clash with riot police in Diyarbakir

7. Flames are seen near a Turkish police vehicle in Diyarbakir during a demonstration of Kurds to demand more western intervention against Islamic State militants (IS) in Syria and Iraq

9. Kurdish protesters set fire to a public bank

10. A branch of Halkbank is set ablaze

13. Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish riot policemen

14. Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul

17. Smokes rises from the Gaziosmanpasa district in Istanbul

18. A public bus burned by Kurdish protesters is pictured at the Gaziosmanpasa district

But so far, Turkey has ruled out leading a ground operation on its own.

Turkey says it does not want the town to fall and has encouraged the US to set up a no-fly zone and a humanitarian corridor (buffer zone) on the border.

France is backing calls for a buffer zone and the US and Britain said they were willing to "examine" the idea of a safe haven.

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Canada Authorises Airstrikes Against IS In Iraq

By Sky News US Team

Following a request from the US, the Canadian parliament has voted to authorise airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq.

The motion introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party passed 157-134 on Tuesday.

It allows airstrikes in Iraq for up to six months, and explicitly rules out using ground troops in combat operations.

The combat mission includes up to six CF-18 fighter jets, a refuelling tanker aircraft, two surveillance planes and one airlift aircraft.

IS forces launching an assault of Kobani

About 600 airmen and airwomen will be involved.

"The threat posed by ISIL is real," Mr Harper said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State by one of its acronyms.

Video: The Brutal Battle For Kobani

The US has been bombing IS in Syria for more than two weeks with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in Iraq since August.

European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.

It is unclear how effective the airstrikes are in weakening the group.

IS appears close to capturing the strategically important town of Kobani near the border with Syria.

The White House welcomed Canada's deployment.

"Canadians and Americans have fought alongside each other in several major conflicts over the past century, and we are grateful for Canada's further contribution against terrorism," a White House statement said.

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Airstrikes Push Back IS In Syrian Border Town

US-led coalition airstrikes have pushed back Islamic State militants to the edge of a Syrian town near the Turkey border.

The extremist group, which is fighting less well-armed Kurdish forces, had looked like it was set to seize Kobani on Tuesday after a three-week assault.

But the US reported the aerial raids, which destroyed an armoured personnel carrier, armed vehicles and artillery, have helped stop IS from taking over and some fighters have left the area.

However, heavy gunfire was heard from inside Kobani in a sign of fresh clashes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday's strikes targeted IS fighters east of the town.

Video: Turkey Warily Watches IS Advance

The airstrikes have intensified since IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL, hoisted its black flag on the eastern edge of Kobani two days ago.

Activists said the strikes killed at least 45 IS militants since Monday evening, forcing the group to withdraw from parts of the town.

Over the past few days, thousands of IS fighters armed with heavy weapons looted from captured army bases in Iraq and Syria had managed to push into some areas.

The fighting has forced 200,000 residents and villagers to flee and seek shelter across the border in Turkey.

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

Six airstrikes around the town were among nine that have taken place in the country in the last two days by the US and United Arab Emirates.

There were two strikes near Raqqa, IS' self-proclaimed capital in Syria, which hit a training camp and the group's fighters. Another strike near Deir al Zor destroyed a tank.

Idriss Nassan, deputy head of Kobani's foreign relations committee, said Kobani was "still in danger" and more airstrikes were needed.

Activists say more than 400 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed in the fighting around Kobani in recent weeks.

Video: New Strikes Target IS At Border

Despite the apparent gains by the strikes, the US played down the significance of the battle in the long-term American strategy to defeat the insurgents.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said IS may take Kobani or other towns, and while airstrikes were effective, military power alone would not be enough.

"This group is not going to go away tomorrow, and Kobani may fall. We can't predict whether it will or it won't," he said in an interview with CNN.

"There will be other towns that they will threaten, and there will be other towns that they will take. It is going to take a little bit of time."

Video: Turkey Turns Water Cannon On Kurds

Kobani "is not necessarily a strategically significant border town for ISIL because that border is porous already," he added.

Kurds, who live in many of the areas IS controls in northern Syria, northern Iraq and parts of southeast Turkey, have been pressuring Ankara to intervene to defend Kobani.

Turkey says it does not want the town to fall and has encouraged the US to set up a no-fly zone and a humanitarian corridor (buffer zone) on the border.

France is backing calls for a buffer zone and the US and Britain said they were willing to "examine" the idea of a safe haven.

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1. Gallery: Assad's Forces Seize Area From Islamists

   Forces of Syria's President Bashar al Assad carry a Syrian flag as they head towards a spot where a flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is positioned on a hillside in Zor al-Mahruqa village

2. Assad's forces said they had regained control of the area and its surrounding hills, in the Hama countryside

3. The flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is burnt on the hill

5. The Syrian national flag is erected

6. Assad forces inspect military equipment, which they said were left behind by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

7. An abandoned base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

10. Assad forces inspect an underground base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in the nearby al-Hareeqa village

12. A Polish army member hods the German flag in front of an Eurofighter aircraft during a visit of new NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway (not pictured) at Lask air base

13. NATO will stand by member state Turkey if it comes under attack as a result of the fighting in neighboring Syria, alliance Secretary-General Stoltenberg said

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Ebola: Seven Facts About The Deadly Disease

Ebola is a virulent virus that has killed thousands during the latest outbreak and is notorious for its low survival rate among sufferers of the full-blown disease. Here we explain what it is.

What is ebola?

Ebola is a virus that can develop into a full-blown disease known as ebola haemorrhagic fever (ebola HF) or ebola viral disease (EVD), which in some patients leads to massive internal and external bleeding.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not flesh-eating, but destroys living tissue cells, which leads to the haemorrhaging, or bleeding.

Is it always fatal?

Video: Deadly Plague: In Ebola Country

The average fatality rate is 50% but case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% of people who contract the full-blown disease. It is not known why others survive.

Around 70% of those who have contracted ebola during the latest outbreak have died.

How is it transferred?

Ebola is transferred from person to person through contact with the blood or secretions of other bodily fluids of infected people.

It can also be caught from infected animals or during burial ceremonies in which mourners come into contact with dead victims.

Video: Ebola Outbreak: On The Front Line

Sufferers who are recovering after surviving the infection are known to have passed on the virus through sexual intercourse.

What are the symptoms?

Ebola often starts with a rapidly developing fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.

This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

In some patients death can be very painful, as the disease destroys connective tissue and also attacks skin and internal organs. The time from infection through to appearance of symptoms is between two and 21 days.

Video: Body Retrieval Worker Mark Korvoyan

How can it be prevented or treated?

There is no vaccine for ebola. Besides intensive supportive care to replace lost fluids (eg oral rehydration solution), the only medicine for the illness is ZMapp.

The experimental drug has been credited with saving lives since it was tested on sufferers for the first time this year.

However, it has not yet been subject to randomised clinical trials to establish its safety and whether it works.

Where does it come from?

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

The disease was first identified in Zaire in 1976, in a part of Africa that is now part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is believed that fruit bats may be one of the hosts and is also known to be present in monkeys and apes.

It is thought it may have made the leap from animal to human through the custom of consuming bush meat, which is common in some parts of Africa.

How dangerous is it?

It is classified as a level 4 biohazard, regarded as the most dangerous and requiring decontamination for those who work with it.

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Ebola Outbreak: Dozens Monitored In Spain

A Madrid nurse who became the first person to contract ebola outside of Africa is being treated with antibodies from survivors of the illness, hospital officials have revealed.

Four people, also including her husband, were placed in quarantine at the hospital over fears they may also have the deadly virus, although one of those individuals has now tested negative.

The nurse was part of a medical team at the city's La Paz-Carlos III hospital that treated two Spanish missionaries who died shortly after returning from Africa with the disease.

A second nurse who also helped treat an infected priest was among the four initially being monitored by health workers, as was a man who arrived on a flight from Nigeria displaying symptoms.

Spain's health authorities said they had been in touch with a total of 22 people who are thought to have been in contact with the 40-year-old nurse, whose name has not been released.

Video: UK Ebola Risk 'Remains Low'

They are also monitoring around 30 other members of the health care team that treated one of the missionaries.

Officials added that although the nurse began a holiday after one of the missionaries she had been caring for died on 25 September, she did not leave Madrid during this time.

She began feeling ill on 30 September and was diagnosed with ebola on Monday, but is in a stable condition.

EU countries have demanded an explanation from Spain's health minister as to how the nurse caught the disease, despite all the precautions taken

A spokesman said a letter sent to the health minister sought "to obtain some clarification" from Spanish authorities, adding: "The priority remains to find out what actually happened."

Spain's health minister, Ana Mato, said an emergency protocol is in place and that authorities are working to establish the source of the contagion at the Madrid hospital.

Video: Body Retrieval Worker Mark Korvoyan

"We are working to guarantee the safety of all citizens," she said.

In the US, President Barack Obama says airport screening measures are being stepped up in the country to help identify people who might have the deadly virus.

More than 3,400 people have died in the latest ebola outbreak, which has swept through West African countries Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Prime Minister David Cameron is due to chair a Cobra meeting tomorrow to discuss the UK's response to the crisis.

"This is part of an ongoing series of Cobr meetings to coordinate the UK response that started in late July and has been in the diary for some time," a Downing Street spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the British Army said more than 100 British Army medics were being sent to Sierra Leone to help tackle the ebola crisis within the next few weeks.

Video: Spanish Nurse Contracts Ebola Virus

Personnel from the 22 Field Hospital have been undergoing an extensive training exercise in full protective suits, with simulated casualties in make-up.

They will staff a field hospital set up specifically to treat medics who have caught the disease, not members of the general public.

An Army spokeswoman said: "They are going through all their procedures and getting atuned to wearing their personal protective equipment, working in quite hot temperatures."

Experts say quarantine systems in developed countries including the UK, US and Spain mean the disease is very unlikely to spread to the same extent seen in poor African countries.

But the World Health Organisation's European director Zsuzsanna Jakab said some further infections in Europe are "unavoidable".

"Such imported cases and similar events as have happened in Spain will happen also in the future, most likely," she said.

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

"It is quite unavoidable ... that such incidents will happen in the future because of the extensive travel both from Europe to the affected countries and the other way around."

Travel firms appear to have already suffered amid the outbreak, with shares in airline group IAG, owner of British Airways and Iberia, down 6.5%.

Carnival Cruises are down 5.6%, Easyjet have fallen by 4.7% and Tui Travel by 3.2%.

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Ebola Deaths Hidden As Fear Grips Liberia

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, Monrovia

Liberia's few ebola treatment centres are overwhelmed with the sick and dying - with patients sharing beds and the dead laying near the desperately ill.

The country has accounted for more than half of the world's deaths from the latest ebola outbreak in West Africa and despite assurances from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that it is under control, evidence on the ground seen by Sky News appears to suggest otherwise.

Whole communities are gripped with fear about the virus - and terrified citizens prefer to die alone, unaided because of the stigma attached to admitting to the disease.

Dozens of ebola victims are dying in their homes in Monrovia, increasing the chances of the virus spreading.

And official numbers of victims are almost certainly unrepresentative of the real death count because of the lack of co-ordination and nationwide spread of the disease.

Video: Ebola Outbreak: On The Front Line

Small teams of about half a dozen workers set out daily to retrieve the ebola dead - most of whom have died after suffering in secret.

Their relatives are reluctant to admit ebola has caused the death, as this invariably invites ostracism from their communities and targets them as potential virus carriers.

The body recovery squads - still called "burial teams" despite government orders that all ebola victims be cremated - are doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

Video: Music Protects Against Ebola

They take extreme precautions, wearing multiple protective clothing layers along with goggles, boots, gloves and head coverings to try to stay safe.

Head of Team Three, Mark Korvoyan, told Sky News: "There's no day comes that people don't die in their house. Every day, every blessing day."

There's simply too much work for the recovery teams to do, not enough hours in the day for them to track down the dead.

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

Even as they were picking up the latest corpses from the Elwa Treatment Centre, a young man was sobbing outside.

He cried: "Oh my God, I was just bringing a phone for my sister. Now they say she's died. What am I going to do? She has children..."

George Nyumah, like so many of Liberia's citizens, is frantically worried about catching the virus.

Video: Ebola: A Global Threat

So the five children his sister cares for are left alone to fend for themselves in their one-room, corrugated iron shack home.

The eldest is 16, the youngest just two and they all sleep on the dirty mattress which their sick mother lay on in the days before she was taken into the ebola centre.

Their chances of catching or carrying the virus must be very high.

Video: Spanish Nurse Contracts Ebola Virus

For that reason, their uncle George - and the rest of the extended family - will keep well away for 21 days, just to see if they develop signs of the killer disease.

Even if they survive the virus, they'll have to fight poverty and the community's suspicions in the weeks and months ahead.

:: A Spanish nurse is thought to have become the first person to contract ebola outside of West Africa - after treating a victim in Madrid.

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Obama Signals Tougher Airport Ebola Screening

By Sky News US Team

Barack Obama has said his administration is working on tougher airport screening measures to help identify people who might have ebola.

The President made the announcement after meeting health and security officials who are involved in attempting to prevent an outbreak of the disease in the US.

He told reporters the chance of an outbreak in the US was "extraordinarily low", but that there was not a large margin for error.

He said: "We're also going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening, both at the source and here in the United States."

Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan is in a critical condition in Texas

The White House is not currently proposing a travel ban for West Africa, epicentre of the outbreak.

But Mr Obama said he would step up pressure on wealthy countries to contribute aid to those countries struggling to contain the spread of the disease.

Video: Spanish Nurse Contracts Ebola

In a reminder of the risks facing medical professionals, a nurse who treated an ebola patient in Madrid, Spain, became the first person to contract ebola outside of West Africa.

Earlier on Monday, an NBC News cameraman who contracted ebola in Liberia became the fifth American to return to the US after contracting the disease.

Ashoka Mukpo, 33, who began feeling unwell last week, was flown out of the country and admitted to a hospital isolation unit in Omaha, Nebraska.

Video: NBC Cameraman With Ebola Back In US

Meanwhile, the first patient diagnosed with ebola in the US, a Liberian national, remains in a critical condition at a hospital in Dallas.

Thomas Eric Duncan became ill after arriving in Texas from Liberia two weeks ago.

He is receiving an experimental drug, brincidofovir, which was developed by a North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company.

Video: Body Retrieval Worker Mark Korvoyan

Health officials said they were closely monitoring 10 people who had direct contact with him and another 38 people who potentially had contact with him.

So far none has shown any symptoms, according to the officials.

Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said earlier that officials were looking at all options "to see what we can do to increase safety of all Americans". 

Video: Liberia Gripped By Ebola Virus Fear

He said extra screening might include checking travellers to see if they have a fever, then evaluating them further if they do.

Ebola symptoms, which include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding, generally appear between two and 21 days after infection.

The outbreak is believed to have killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa and has taken the biggest toll in Liberia.

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Ebola: Deaths Hidden As Fear Grips Liberia

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, Monrovia

Liberia's few ebola treatment centres are overwhelmed with the sick and dying - with patients sharing beds and the dead laying near the desperately ill.

The country has accounted for more than half of the world's deaths from the latest ebola outbreak in West Africa and despite assurances from the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that it is under control, evidence on the ground seen by Sky News appears to suggest otherwise.

Whole communities are gripped with fear about the virus - and terrified citizens prefer to die alone, unaided because of the stigma attached to admitting to the disease.

Dozens of ebola victims are dying in their homes in Monrovia, increasing the chances of the virus spreading.

And official numbers of victims are almost certainly unrepresentative of the real death count because of the lack of coordination and nationwide spread of the disease.

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1. Gallery: The Desperate Fight To Contain The Ebola Outbreak

   A man rests outside the clinic.

2. A woman is comforted after medical officials remove her husband, who is suspected of having the disease.

3. Officials try to prevent themselves from spreading the disease.

4. A local who has just brought his brother to the centre. He had to rely on plastic bags tied around his hands to try to protect himself.

5. A man thought to be infected with Ebola waits for treatment.

6. Patients wait to be seen by medical staff.

7. Workers try to decontaminate themselves.

8. A worker with a child who may have caught Ebola.

9. A make-shift hand-washing station in Monrovia.

10. Decontaminated boots of medical staff.

11. The basic conditions make containing the disease very difficult.

Small teams of about half a dozen workers set out daily to retrieve the ebola dead - most of whom have died after suffering in secret.

Their relatives are reluctant to admit ebola has caused the death, as this invariably invites ostracisation from their communities and targets them as potential virus carriers.

The body recovery squads - still called "burial teams" despite government orders that all ebola victims be cremated - are doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

They take extreme precautions, wearing multiple protective clothing layers along with goggles, boots, gloves and head coverings to try to stay safe.

Head of Team Three, Mark Vayowan, told Sky: "There's no day comes that people don't die in their house. Every day, every blessing day."

There's simply too much work for the recovery teams to do, not enough hours in the day for them to track down the dead.

Even as they were picking up the latest corpses from the Elwa Treatment Centre, a young man was sobbing outside.

He cried: "Oh my god, I was just bringing a phone for my sister. Now they say she's died. What am I going to do? She has children ..."

George Nyumah, like so many of Liberia's citizens, is frantically worried about catching the virus.

So the five children his sister cares for are left alone to fend for themselves in their one-room, corrugated iron shack home.

The eldest is 16, the youngest just two and they are all sleep on the dirty mattress which their sick mother lay on in the days before she was taken into the ebola centre.

Their chances of catching or carrying the virus must be very high.

For that reason, their uncle George - and the rest of the extended family - will keep well away for 21 days, just to see if they develop signs of the killer disease.

Even if they survive the virus, they'll have to fight poverty and the community's suspicions in the weeks and months ahead.

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HK Protesters Let Workers Return To Work

By Jonathan Samuels, Sky News Correspondent in Hong Kong

A deadline to clear the streets set by Hong Kong's chief executive has passed with protesters in the city's financial district allowing government workers into their offices.

The streets were far quieter than they have been in recent days with numbers of pro-democracy demonstrators down. Those still camped out looked exhausted, with many asleep on the road.

Hundreds of workers streamed along a footbridge and into the Central Government Offices complex in the harbourside Tamar district.

Workers seen returning to their offices

Many told Sky News they were pleased to be able to get to their offices.

One man said he was "relieved the situation seemed to be calming down", while a woman said she "supports the protesters and their aims" but still needs to get to work.

Video: Crunch Time For Hong Kong Protests

A knot of protesters partially blocked the entrance to the complex with barricades, but kept a narrow section open to allow the officials to pass through.

Many suited commuters were also seen walking down a six-lane road through the city which has been closed for more than a week.

They took pictures of protest signs and demonstrators as they strolled down the normally hectic main highway.

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1. Gallery: Protest Is An Art In Hong Kong

   Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have been keeping their message alive with highly-produced poster art celebrating the 'Umbrella Revolution'. Continue through for more images...

The crowds of protesters have been swelling and subsiding on a daily basis since their campaign began, but dwindled to their lowest point early today, as many had feared the police would use force to clear them.

On Sunday night there appeared to be confusion among the protesters' different factions, with no clear direction as to whether the demonstrators, many of them students, were going to clear streets or remain in place.

The city's embattled leader, Leung Chun-ying, had warned he would "take all necessary actions to restore social order" if key thoroughfares were not cleared for business on Monday.

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1. Gallery: Hong Kong Clashes As Sit-In Drags On

   Pro-democracy protesters gather outside the government offices in Hong Kong

2. The umbrella has become a symbol of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement

3. An anti-protester shouts at pro-democracy demonstrators in an occupied area of Hong Kong

4. Pro-democracy campaigners, mainly students, stand firm

5. Many of the anti-protesters are angry they have not been able to go to work during the protests

6. Police officers try to get a man to let go of a fence guarded by pro-democracy demonstrators

7. The protests are about to enter their second week

But the activists insisted their campaign was not losing steam after a week-long standoff that has at times erupted into violence.

"We're going to be here until we get a response from the government," said 20-year-old student Jurkin Wong who was sitting with friends as they woke from fitful slumber on the streets.

"We have to stay here. It's for our future."

Video: How Protesters Use Social Media

Negotiations about the start of talks between the two sides continues.

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American Hostage's Parents Issue Video Plea

By Sky News US Team

The parents of American hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig, formerly known as Peter, have issued a video plea asking for his safe return.

Mr Kassig appeared at the end of a clip posted online on Friday that showed the killing of British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning by an Islamic State (IS) militant.

Ed and Paula Kassig pleaded with their son's captors to let him go in a video statement released on Saturday.

"We implore those who are holding you to show mercy and use their power to let you go," Mr Kassig's father said.

Mr Kassig converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman

Mrs Kassig, speaking directly to her son, added: "Most of all, know that we love you, and our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom so we can hug you again and then set you free to continue the life you have chosen, the life of service to those in greatest need."

Ed Kassig said his son, who founded an organisation that provides aid to Syrians impacted by the country's civil war, "grew to love and admire the Syrian people and felt at home there".

Video: IS Threatens To Kill US Hostage

Peter Kassig changed his name to Abdul-Rahman after years of humanitarian work in the region "culminated in him embracing Islam", his father added.

A family spokesperson previously said that Mr Kassig's faith "has provided him comfort during his long captivity".

The 26-year-old Indiana native and Iraq War veteran was captured by IS militants on 1 October 2013 while en route to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria.

Video: Henning's Family 'Numb With Grief'

At the end of the video showing Mr Henning's murder, an IS militant spoke directly to President Barack Obama as he threatened to kill Mr Kassig next.

He said: "Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment in Sham. So it's only right we continue to strike the necks of your people."

In the plea for his son's release, Mr Kassig said: "We asked our government to change its actions, but like our son, we have no more control over the US government than you have over the break of dawn."

Video: 'IS Call To Send Ground Troops'

On Friday, Mr Obama condemned Mr Henning's "brutal" murder, saying the US would bring those responsible to justice.

Four IS hostages - two Americans and two Britons - have been killed since the US-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria began on 8 August.

An estimated 15 to 20 hostages are still being held by the extremist group, according to the AP news agency.

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Brazil Presidential Race: Poll Gap Narrows

By Karine Mayer, South America News Editor

The world's seventh largest economy takes to the polls today, yet many Brazilians are still unsure who to vote for.

Although for the last month the race has been between two women - incumbent president Dilma Rousseff and environmentalist Marina Silva - polls show that conservative Aecio Neves has crept into second place just ahead of Ms Silva in the latest polls.

It has been a roller-coaster ride campaign but the latest polls show that 40 percent of Brazilians are likely to vote for the stability of the Worker's Party instead of the sustainable environment of Ms Silva, or a return to the Social Conservative party with candidate Mr Neves.

The three main candidates are known in Brazil just by their Christian names; Dilma, Marina and Aecio.

Brazil's President and Workers' Party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff

Ms Rousseff, 66, Brazil's incumbent president, was imprisoned and tortured by the country's military dictatorship as an armed Marxist guerrilla group in the early 1970s.

But it was due to the former president's support and help that she stepped into the limelight and became the first female president in Brazil.

Despite her tough stance she has failed to weed out corruption, and economic growth has stumbled under her administration.

Ms Silva is the election wild card. She was born to a desperately poor family of rubber tappers in the Amazon and was illiterate until the age of 16.

She then went from working as a maid to environmental activist alongside Chico Mendes, and became Brazil's youngest ever senator in 1994.

She became an official candidate at the end of August when her running mate was killed in a plane crash.

Mr Neves comes from a political family; his grandfather, Tancredo Neves, was the first post-dictatorship elected president in 1984 but died before being sworn in.

He represents the centre-right party. Initially labelled a playboy he has toughened his image in the last few months and attacked Ms Rousseff over the corruption scandal of state run oil company Petrobras which involved some of her colleagues.

A lot still remains to be done in Brazil as the government will have to address health, education, security and urban transport, as well as getting the country's economy growing again, as it experienced its first slowdown following the World Cup.

Some 142 million Brazilians will, by law, have to vote on today as they choose their president, 27 state governors, 513 congressmen, 1069 regional lawmakers, and a third of the Senate.

Then in three weeks' time, should no candidate win more than 50%, the second round will determine the future of the country.

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