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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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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US Says Priority Is IS In Iraq, Not Kobani

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

America is putting the defence of the Iraqi government and the destruction of Islamic State's command structures ahead of defending the embattled Kurdish city of Kobani, a leading member of the Obama administration has admitted.

Tony Blinkin, US Deputy National Security Advisor, said on a visit to London that the focus of the American-led coalition was "in the first instance in Iraq".

He said that Turkey's repeated calls for a humanitarian safe area inside Syria and a no-fly zone in its air space were being considered and the subject of talks with Washington's envoys in Turkey.

"The objective is Isil (IS)," he said. "It is a threat to a country, Iraq, with which we have a partnership.

"It's also a threat to many people in Syria, in a country where we don't have a government we can work with.

Video: Airstrikes 'Missing IS Targets'

"In order to get at Isil and deal with the threat it poses to our people in the region, our interests in the region, and - if left unchecked - to us here in the UK and to the US, we have evolved what I believe is a very comprehensive strategy.

"And it has multiple lines of effort. It has a military line of effort,  which is designed to set Isil back on the ground in the first instance in Iraq … and that's critically important.

"What has been a big part of Isis success is the perception it has created - that it had momentum, that it was 10ft tall and that it was on the march, and on the move and that was attracting foreign fighters in record numbers.

"It's important in the first instance to start to blunt that momentum - start to take it down a few pegs and start to move it from its toes to its heels. And in Iraq that's exactly what we are doing.

"In Syria the principle initial challenge with regard to Isil is to go after the HQ and the command and control ... to go at its ability to supply itself or to resource itself to sustain itself and then to project that into Iraq."

Mr Blinkin is the first western official to admit what has been suspected by Syria's rebels, who have been fighting both the Damascus regime and Islamic State - that they are a lower priority for Washington.

A no-fly zone would deny Damascus the freedom of the skies to bomb rebels and civilian areas.

But this has been resisted by the Western allies while they work out which moderate opposition groups they will arm and train over coming months to provide the boots on the ground that the allies have refused to deploy to the region.

Senior military sources have repeatedly told Sky News that it will take at least a year to train moderate rebels - and that who to train and where to train them has yet to be decided.

Among the groups seen by experts as most reliable are the Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq and the YPG, Kurdish militia in northern Syria currently battling to save Kobani.

The US coalition has stepped up air strikes against the Islamist militants around Kobane - but Mr Blinkin warned that the priority would continue to be to attack IS's infrastructure which reinforced its campaigning in Iraq.

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US Wants To Use Turkey Base In IS Fight

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

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

He said Turkey has valuable military capabilities which would help in the US effort to strike IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Mr Hagel made the comments at the start of a six-day, three-country visit to South America where he is due to stop first in Colombia.

US leaders have urged Ankara to become more involved in the battle against IS, whose militants have spread across Iraq and Syria and taken control of territory near the Turkish border.

Video: Calls For Ground Forces In Kobani

Washington said US forces launched a further nine airstrikes around the embattled town of Kobani on Thursday as the battle for control of the town continued.

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

IS fighters seized control of a third of Kobani on Thursday.

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

US Central Command said it is 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".

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

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

Video: Turkey Warily Watches IS Advance

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

"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.

Video: Why Is Turkey Joining The IS Fight?

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."

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Ebola Could Be 'Next AIDS', Top US Official Says

Urgent action is needed to prevent the ebola outbreak from becoming as deadly and prolific as the AIDS virus, America's top health official has said.

Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said "it's going to be a long fight" to contain a disease that has already killed 3,900 people.

"We have to work now so that it is not the world's next AIDS," he told the heads of the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington.

"I would say that in the 30 years I've been working in public health, the only thing like this has been AIDS."

The scale of the ebola outbreak

Mr Frieden's comments were echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who insisted that the world needs to put 20 times more effort into quashing the ebola virus once and for all.

Their warnings came after Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with ebola in the US, died from the disease at a hospital in Texas.

Video: Fight Against Ebola Is Our War

Meanwhile, a Spanish nurse remains at "serious risk" after she became the first-known patient to contract ebola outside Africa.

Teresa Romero is "very ill and her life is at serious risk as a consequence of the virus", according to the Spanish government.

According to the CDC, the number of ebola cases worldwide could exceed 1.4 million by January if the world's response continues to be slower than the spread of the virus.

Video: How Can The UK Stop Ebola?

In Liberia, officials have had no choice but to postpone nationwide to elect a new senate.

Some three million voters were due to head to polling stations on Tuesday, but the current government believes it would be impossible for "a mass movement, deployment and gathering of people" to go ahead without endangering lives.

In neighbouring Guinea, international aid agencies have warned that their ebola treatment units have been pushed to their "physical limits", after a significant surge in the number of new patients.

Video: Ebola: Five New Cases An Hour

There are growing concerns that the emergence of ebola cases in the US and Europe could lead to the outbreak widening far beyond Africa.

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Malala Yousafzai Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her championing of girls' education rights.

She shares the prize with anti-child slavery activist Kailash Satyarthi.

The Nobel committee praised them "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".

Kailash Satyarthi is the joint winner of the prize

Malala was shot in the head and neck when a gunman got on to her school bus and tried to kill her in Pakistan in October 2012.

She was attacked for criticising the Taliban over its interpretation of Islam, which limits girls' access to education.

Video: 18 October 2013: Malala Meets Queen

The 17-year-old was flown to Birmingham for life-saving treatment and now lives in the city with her mother, father and two brothers.

Her campaigning has included addressing the United Nations and meeting President Obama to ask him to end drone strikes.

In an emotive UN speech last year, the teenager said: "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

"I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him."

Video: 12 July 2013: Malala Addresses UN

Malala was also one of the front runners for last year's award.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the teenager and called her the "pride" of his country.

"She has made her countrymen proud," he said.

"Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment."

Video: 4 February 2013: I Can Talk Again

Indian campaigner Mr Satyarthi shares this year's prize, with the committee saying his Save The Childhood Movement had campaigned hard "on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain".

His work has led to the rescue of tens of thousands of child slaves after he gave up a career in electrical engineering in 1980.

"It's an honour to all my fellow Indians. I am thankful to all those who have been supporting my striving for more than the last 30 years," said Mr Satyarthi.

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US Military: Airstrikes Alone May Not Stop IS

Airstrikes alone may not be able to stop the advance of Islamic State fighters in Syria, US officials have warned.

Barack Obama met military commanders to discuss the campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq amid fears troops would be needed on the ground.

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

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

US-led airstrikes have continued on Kobani - where IS militants have been fighting a fierce battle with Kurdish forces - although senior commanders have warned the Islamists could still take the strategic border town.

Coalition jets have been targeting IS fighters around Kobani

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.

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

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

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."

The US military's Central Command said American-led forces carried out 14 coalition strikes on Wednesday and 19 bombing raids near Kobani since Tuesday, in an attempt to help Kurdish militia.

"Indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL," a statement said.

Video: Airstrikes Target IS In Border Town

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.

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

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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

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.

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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Lego Drops Shell Over Greenpeace Spill Video

Lego has ditched a long-standing partnership with Shell, after a Greenpeace video used its toys to illustrate an Arctic oil spill.

The decision comes after the slick parody video by the environmental group went viral online, garnering more than 5 million YouTube hits, over the oil giant's plan to drill in the Arctic.

Using Lego blocks, the video starts by showing animals in pristine snowy wilderness before moving on to a scene of heavy machinery drilling for oil.

To gentle background music a Shell branded road tanker and petrol station are brought into view - before it zooms in on a pin-striped businessman smoking a cigar on a Shell offshore drilling rig.

The video had a pin-striped businessman smoking a cigar on a Shell oil rig

A crude oil slick then starts spreading before the Arctic 'drowns' in a black morass.

The video ends with two captions: "Shell is polluting our kids' imaginations.

"Tell Lego to end its partnership with Shell".

Lego products are currently sold at Shell petrol stations in more than two dozen countries, in a deal estimated at £68m.

In response to the campaign Lego CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp said the current deal with the Anglo-Dutch Shell, negotiated in 2011, would not be renewed.

"We want to clarify that as things currently stand we will not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell when the present contract ends," the company said in a statement.

Lego said kits should not have been used in the Greenpeace-Shell dispute

"A co-promotion like the one with Shell is one of many ways we are able to bring Lego bricks into the hands of more children and deliver on our promise of creative play."

Lego added: "The Greenpeace campaign uses the Lego brand to target Shell.

"As we have stated before, we firmly believe Greenpeace ought to have a direct conversation with Shell.

"The Lego brand, and everyone who enjoys creative play, should never have become part of Greenpeace's dispute with Shell."

The oil company would not be drawn into the exact business dealings it has with the Danish toy firm.

A Shell spokesman told Sky News: "Our latest co-promotion with Lego has been a great success and will continue to be as we roll it out in more countries across the world.

Greenpeace finished the video by criticising Shell amid a sea of oil

"We don't comment on contractual matters."

Greenpeace said that within the last three months Lego was swamped with more than 1 million complaints.

Its Arctic campaigner Ian Duff said: "This is a major blow to Shell. It desperately needs partners like Lego to help give it respectability and repair the major brand damage it suffered after its last Arctic misadventure.

"Lego's withdrawal from a 50-year relationship with Shell clearly shows that strategy will not work."

Founded in the interwar period, wood-based Lego was replaced by plastic components around 1947.

Petroleum by-products are used as feedstock for plastics and as an energy source in their manufacture.

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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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Putin: Muzhik To Ears Of Ordinary Russians

Beyond the gleaming skyscrapers of the capital, there is another Russia.

This is the Russia of small towns and decaying wooden villages, a countryside strewn with the remains of long abandoned collective farms, untouched by the recent oil wealth.

There are problems with jobs, electricity and water.

So you might expect people out here to be critical of their president.

Not so.

From the first truck stop, where we met a 63-year-old lady washing dishes to supplement her pension, to the babushkas manning markets stalls with pickles and vegetables in the cold in Valdai, we heard a litany of complaints, but none of it apparently Mr Putin's fault.

Men work on a car in a run-down village

Instead they described the Putin they see on the evening (state-controlled) TV news - the strong president striding from one high profile meeting to another, berating officials and travelling the world to stand up for Russia overseas.

"Putin can't solve everything, you know," one lady told us. "He can't personally do everything in the whole of the country to make things happen."

Video: Sky News Special Report: Putin

The implication was clearly that if he could, he would.

A retired tractor driver used the Russian word "muzhik" to describe Mr Putin.

It comes from the Russian for peasant, but means something more - a "manly man", a man of strength and integrity, a "salt of the earth" type who can be trusted.

The rouble has just hit an all-time low, capital flight for the year is expected to top $120bn, and inflation is more than 8%.

The oil and gas-dependent economy is stalling.

Video: How Popular Is Putin In Russia?

But domestically, Mr Putin is flying.

Pumped up by the patriotic fervour whipped up by the national media, Mr Putin's approval rating is at 86%.

Whilst some of that could be the product of a population long-schooled in telling those in authority what they want to hear, the people we spoke to seemed genuinely happy with their president - he brings stability.

The older generation remembers the collapse of communism, and the painful transition to democracy.

Revolution in Russia tends to be followed by violence and uncertainty - and history says it doesn't end well.

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1. Gallery: Vladimir Putin - Man Of Action

   Vladimir Putin has earned a reputation as something of an action man. Here in 2013 he is seen shaking hands with a walrus on a visit to the under-construction Primorsky Aquarium.

2. Seemingly always keen to be seen with members of the animal kingdom, he was also pictured touching a dolphin during his trip to the new attraction on the Russky Island, in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

3. Here, at a Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, he shows off his judo skills.

4. He joined a group of scientists in the Arctic to help tag endangered polar bears.

5. In the Siberian mountains, he rode bare-chested on a horse.

6. Mr Putin walks along the Khemchik River in southern Siberia's Tuva region.

7. The Russian leader with a big catch from a fishing trip in Siberia ...

8. ... during which he was also photographed getting familiar with some other wild animals.

9. On a trip to Chkalov island, Mr Putin attached a satellite tracking tag to a Beluga whale.

10. He has taken to the skies...

12. Here, the president rolls in the snow with excitable dogs.

13. During a dive to an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula, he returned to the surface with a precious artefact - but it later emerged that it had been planted in advance.

14. Mr Putin also made a grand entrance on a Harley Davidson at a biker festival in the town of Novorossiysk.

15. Mr Putin sits in a car from the Renault Formula One team before test driving it at a racing track in Leningrad Region.

Some of the ladies in Valdai said they had seen Mr Putin flying over in his helicopter, on his way to his private residence.

But they didn't seem to resent it, or the millions of roubles, rather they seemed to find it reassuring - that he was acting as a president should.

Russia is a vast country, and, so the logic goes, it needs a strong hand to hold it together.

Mr Putin is still the 'muzhik' out here.

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Putin Stronger Than Ever As He Turns 62

By Katie Stallard, north west Russia

Since his last birthday Vladimir Putin has annexed part of another country, hosted a Winter Olympics, weathered a storm of international criticism, and been kicked out of the G8.

A number of his close friends have been sanctioned, and the economy has stalled.

But the latest opinion poll puts Mr Putin's approval rating at 86%, close to his highest ever as he marks his 62nd birthday.

A fervour of patriotic sentiment, whipped up by state-controlled media, seems to be shielding the president from criticism at home.

But we wanted to find out whether that support extends beyond Moscow, and its gleaming skyscrapers.

By the side of the main road from Moscow to St Petersburg, the concrete suburbs give way to wooden villages in various stages of decay.

Alexei Alexeyevich talks to Sky's Katie Stallard

We met 75-year-old Alexei Alexeyevich, selling his apples by the side of the road.

He stands out here all day, making about £1.50 a bucket to supplement his pension, but he loves Vladimir Putin.

Video: Russian Views On Putin

"He is a great man, he's a real man!" he said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"He gets everything done, he says what he thinks, and he does us good."

Further north, the landscape is beautiful, but life is tough.

A few kilometres off the main road, we passed the ruins of the long-abandoned collective farm that would once have been the main employer here.

Tatyana Smirnova, 53, has been told she will lose her job as a cleaner at the local community centre next month - there just aren't enough people to keep it open.

She said she would sell honey from her beehives. Her husband has multiple sclerosis, so where else would they go?

Video: Sky News Special Report: Putin

But still, she thinks Mr Putin is doing a good job.

"I think there is more order under his rule," she said.

"If you look at him, he goes around the country, and goes to other countries as well.

"He improves things everywhere."

When the power and water go off in the village, people here might be angry with the government - particularly the local government - but they don't seem to blame the man at the top.

In the forests of Valdai we found the gleaming golden domes of the Iversky monastery - restored at huge cost, reportedly with help from state-controlled companies.

1/15

1. Gallery: Vladimir Putin - Man Of Action

   Vladimir Putin has earned a reputation as something of an action man. Here in 2013 he is seen shaking hands with a walrus on a visit to the under-construction Primorsky Aquarium.

2. Seemingly always keen to be seen with members of the animal kingdom, he was also pictured touching a dolphin during his trip to the new attraction on the Russky Island, in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

3. Here, at a Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, he shows off his judo skills.

4. He joined a group of scientists in the Arctic to help tag endangered polar bears.

5. In the Siberian mountains, he rode bare-chested on a horse.

6. Mr Putin walks along the Khemchik River in southern Siberia's Tuva region.

7. The Russian leader with a big catch from a fishing trip in Siberia ...

8. ... during which he was also photographed getting familiar with some other wild animals.

9. On a trip to Chkalov island, Mr Putin attached a satellite tracking tag to a Beluga whale.

10. He has taken to the skies...

12. Here, the president rolls in the snow with excitable dogs.

13. During a dive to an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula, he returned to the surface with a precious artefact - but it later emerged that it had been planted in advance.

14. Mr Putin also made a grand entrance on a Harley Davidson at a biker festival in the town of Novorossiysk.

15. Mr Putin sits in a car from the Renault Formula One team before test driving it at a racing track in Leningrad Region.

The president is said to have a private residence nearby.

Quite a contrast to the old Soviet housing blocks in the town, and the babushkas selling vegetables and pickles in the bitter cold.

Sixty-seven-year-old Klaudia Mikhailovna's pension is not enough to live, but she's grateful for it and to Mr Putin.

"Under him we started getting our pensions and salaries on time - compared to Yeltsin there is a huge difference," she said.

The people we spoke to were frightened of chaos in Ukraine but they would rather have what they see as the stability of Mr Putin's rule - at pretty much any price.

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IS Militants Targeted In Kobani Airstrikes

Islamic State militants attacking a Syrian town on the border with Turkey have been targeted in new airstrikes.

Two black plumes of smoke billowed into the air over Kobani after the attack, believed to have been launched by the US-led coalition.

The latest airstrikes came after IS fighters raised their black flag over two buildings in the key border town on Monday.

The militants were reported to have moved into the southwest of Kobani overnight, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions on two sides of the town.

Kobani is just over a mile from Turkey

"They are about 50 metres inside the southwest of the city," said Rami Abdulrahman from the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Fierce fighting raged in the area over the weekend as local Kurdish fighters struggled to hold out against rocket and mortar attacks - despite support from another three US strikes.

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1. Gallery: IS Attacks Town Near Turkish Border

   Turkish army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa Province

2. Kurdish fighters vowed not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery

3. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defence of the town

4. An IS fighter walks near a black flag belonging to the Islamic State near Kobani

14. Kurdish refugees from Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc

15. Islamic State is trying to seize Kobani, which is predominantly Kurdish, and has ramped up its offensive in recent days despite being targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at halting its progress

16. Turkish Kurds look at Kobani as they stand on top of a house near Mursitpinar border crossing. Continue through for more pictures

At least 400 people - fighters from both sides and civilians - have been killed during three weeks of fighting around the town, according to SOHR.

It said it had documented the deaths from sources on the ground but added the real figure could be double.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the Kurds were angry that they had not been getting enough air support.

Video: Firework Attacks In Istanbul Unrest

"If (Kobani) falls then symbolically and strategically it will send a message to the Kurds that the coalition is not going to come to their aid."

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, prompting weeks of street battles and forcing around 160,000 people to flee into Turkey.

The group - who last week murdered British hostage Alan Henning - controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and wants more territory for its 'caliphate'.

Video: Turkey Turns Water Cannon On Kurds

Turkey, meanwhile, has massed a line of tanks close to the border in a show of force should IS cross the line in its territory.

Violent clashes were reported overnight in Istanbul and other cities as hundreds of demonstrators angered at the IS advance clashed with police.

Protesters set up barricades, threw stones, fireworks and petrol bombs at police in some Istanbul neighbourhoods, said the country's Dogan news agency.

Video: Desperate Help Needed In Kobani

Police also reportedly used tear gas and water cannon on protesters in the Kurdish-dominated cities of Diyarbakir, Batman, Van, Sirnak, Sanliurfa and Hakkari.

Tensions in Turkey - a member of the NATO alliance - are rising after its parliament last week authorised military action if necessary.

The order allows incursions into Syria and Iraq to counter the threat "from all terrorist groups" and also means NATO powers could use the country as a base for airstrikes.

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Face-To-Face With The Dying In An Ebola Centre

By Garwen McLuckie, Sky News Cameraman

Before filming inside the high-risk zone, we were told that all or equipment would have to be either disinfected or incinerated.

I had prepared hard - bringing tailor-made plastic sealed containers for the small DSLR camera I would be using and rigging up microphones for Sky News Correspondent Alex Crawford to carry under her clothing, or in a waterproof "dry sack".

In the end, none of them worked, but we were saved by our DSLR camera mike, which provided astonishing sound quality despite being smothered in plastic.

On arrival at the unit, we were first taken to a wooden shed so we could change into medical scrubs.

I felt confident, even excited about the challenge ahead as we moved to a small room be prepped for the high-risk area.

Each person was assigned a nurse to help us dress and to make sure we were properly covered.

First we had to put on large plastic socks which went up to our calves and white plastic boots.

Health workers secure protective body suits with duct tape

Then there was a hairnet, followed by a plastic PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) onesie which zipped right up to my neck and had a double sticky seal down the zip.

The first of three latex gloves went on and were sealed on to the onesie by duct tape round my wrist.

The onesie had its own hood which I pulled over my head, followed by a surgical mask over my mouth and nose.

I was then given another separate hood which went over my head and shoulders, covering my forehead, chin and neck. By this stage I was really feeling the heat and the humidity.

Alex Crawford with extra equipment used for filming in the virus zone

A huge yellow plastic apron was draped over me before my face was finally sealed by goggles. Not even a millimetre of my skin was exposed under these three layers of protection.

Almost immediately I was struggling with the heat and an extreme claustrophobic sensation which I had never experienced before - I wondered how long I would last.

Within a very short time, perspiration was filling my face mask, covering my nose and mouth and I could feel the bubbling of my own sweat as I kept trying to suck in air.

There didn't seem to be much of it.

Alex Crawford speaks to an ebola survivor in a quarantine area

At one stage while Alex was talking to one of the ebola victims I had to close my eyes whilst filming to try to calm myself.

I kept thinking: "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

After filming for an hour, it took a painstaking 10 to 15 minutes to strip off each layer and be carefully disinfected each time.

The doctor could see I was anxious to get everything off but it was essential to observe all the health protocols.

My upbringing means I always give way to women, letting them through doors first and so on.

But in this case I think I would have rugby-tackled Alex to the ground if she hadn't let me go through the disrobing procedure before her.

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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.

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

Video: Music Protects Against Ebola

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.

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..."

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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.

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 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: Ebola: A Global Threat

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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IS Militants Close On Town Near Turkey Border

Islamic State has seized a strategic hill overlooking a Syrian border town despite airstrikes from the US and its Arab allies.

Kurdish fighters have been battling IS militants around Kobani after a nearly three-week siege of the town.

Idris Nahsen, a Kobani official, said the militants were less than a mile from the town, which was hit by rockets and mortars during the fighting.

The US carried out three airstrikes in Syria over the weekend on IS positions.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed at least 33 IS militants and 23 Kurdish defenders were killed during the fighting.

One shell was fired from inside Syria and hit a house in the Turkish village of Buyuk Kendirci, injuring four people.

The US targeted IS positions around the town over the weekend

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, forcing around 186,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey.

It has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq after declaring an Islamic caliphate in June, including a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

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1. Gallery: IS Oil Refineries Hit By US Airstrikes

   A man inspects damage at an oil refinery that was targeted by what activists said were US-led air strikes at al-Khaboura village, near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad of Raqqa governate

2. Three makeshift oil refineries in Syria's Raqqa province were hit as part of an assault to weaken Islamic State (IS) militants

3. The United States has been carrying out strikes in Iraq against the Islamic State since July and more recently in Syria with the help of allies

4. It aims to damage and destroy the bases and forces of the al Qaeda offshoot which has captured large areas of both countries

5. Street vendors selling diesel and gasoline wait for customers along a street in the Islamic State's stronghold of Raqqa

6. Activists said that the price of the diesel and gasoline has increased since the beginning of the US air raids. Continue through for more pictures

The Turkish parliament authorised involvement in the campaign against IS last week, but no military operations have been announced.

It comes after a masked IS militant was filmed murdering British aid worker Alan Henning and threatening US hostage Peter Kassig in a video released on Friday.

The 47-year-old former taxi driver, from Eccles in Greater Manchester, was captured as he drove an ambulance full of aid supplies into Syria on 27 December last year.

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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 urged 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 affected 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 - the latest polls show that conservative Aecio Neves has crept into second place just ahead of Ms Silva.

It has been a roller-coaster ride campaign, but the latest polls show that 40% of Brazilians are likely to vote for the stability of the Workers' Party instead of the sustainable environment of Ms Silva, or a return to the Social Democracy 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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F1 Driver Suffers Severe Head Injury In GP Crash

Formula One driver Jules Bianchi is undergoing surgery after suffering a severe head injury in a crash at a wet Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi's Marussia car was apparently in a collision with a recovery vehicle that was removing Adrian Sutil's Sauber which had come off at the same turn a lap earlier and skidded into a wall.

Frenchman Bianchi, 25, was unconscious as he was transferred to hospital by road in an ambulance because the medical helicopter could not fly because of heavy rain from Typhoon Phanfone.

Jules Bianchi was unconscious as he was taken to hospital

The driver is in a critical condition and has been operated on, according to his father, French media reported.

Typhoon rains had been forecast for the race which began behind the Safety Car - and the drivers were called back to the pits minutes later.

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1. Gallery: Profile Of Racer Jules Bianchi

   Frenchman Jules Bianchi is the grandson of three-time GT World Champion Mauro Bianchi

2. The 25-year-old graduated from karting in 2007 and performed in senior Formula Three races

3. He drove in the GP2 Series for ART, taking two pole positions

4. In 2010 he suffered a back injury after spinning off the track and being struck head-on by another car

5. He began his F1 career as a test and reserve driver at Ferrari in 2011

6. Bianchi's Marussia debut was in 2013 when he finished 15th in the opening race in Australia

7. His best result in the 2013 season was 13th at the Malaysian GP, beating teammate Max Chilton

8. In 2014 he overcame the odds to score both his, and his team's first points in F1, in Monaco

9. In Japan, Bianchi's car collided with a crane which was removing Adrian Sutil's car

The Safety Car came out again after 44 laps following Bianchi's crash at turn seven and the race was suspended two laps later with the rain getting heavier and the light rapidly deteriorating at Suzuka.

Sutil, who was not hurt in his accident, told Sky Sports F1: "The yellow flags were out after I aquaplaned at the corner as the rain got more and more.

"And one lap later with waved yellow flags Jules came around and had the same spin there.

"It was more or less the same crash, but just the outcome was a bit different."

Sutil said he felt the Safety Car should have been deployed after he crashed due to the risk of another driver going off at the corner.

"With respect to this corner I think everyone knows this is one of the most tricky corners and when it is getting late and the rain increases.

"Let's say when you have an accident there you should probably think about a Safety Car."

FIA head of communications Matteo Bonciani told reporters: "The driver (Bianchi) is not conscious and has been sent to the hospital by the ambulance because the helicopter cannot fly in these conditions."

The grand prix was won by Britain's Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes with German team-mate Nico Rosberg second.

Hamilton said: "Our first thoughts go to Jules - it overshadows everything else when one of our colleagues is injured and we are praying for him. Next to this, the race result doesn't seem significant at all."

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who was third, tweeted: "Our thoughts and prayers are with @Jules_Bianchi... We hope to hear some positive news soon."

After the prizes were presented, no champagne was sprayed on the podium and there were no celebrations.

Marussia is an Anglo-Russian team based in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

More follows...

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