8 IS Suspects Detained In Southern Turkey
Turkey has detained eight suspected IS militants and a child in the town of Kilis, which is close to the Syrian border, the Dogan News Agency is reporting.
The suspects were believed to have crossed into Turkey from Syria and were arrested on January 18, the governor's office in Kilis said.
The arrests come a week after a suicide bomber believed to be a Syrian blew himself up in in Istanbul tourist spot.
New Aid Enters 4 Besieged Syrian towns
Aid convoys have made fresh deliveries of food, medicine and fuel to four besieged Syrian towns.
The United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent said that the deliveries reached Fua, Kefraya, Madaya and Zabadani on January 18.
Fua and Kefraya are Shi'ite towns besieged by rebels.
Madaya and Zabadani are rebel-held towns besieged by government forces.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent tweeted this image of an aid convoy heading to Zabadani and said that it had arrived yesterday.
Norway Jails 3 For Supporting IS In Syria
A court in Norway has sentenced three men to prison terms of almost five years for supporting the IS group in Syria.
Valon Avdyli, 29, was sentenced to four years and nine months and Djibril Bashir, 31, to four years and six months. A third man, Visar Avdyli, 26, was sentenced to eight months for supporting IS by sending clothes and equipment and for violating Norway's weapons law.
IS Group Holding Around 3,500 Slaves In Iraq
An estimated 3,500 people, mostly women and children, are being held as slaves in Iraq by the IS group, the UN has said in its new report published today.
"Those being held are predominantly women and children and come primarily from the Yezidi community, but a number are also from other ethnic and religious minority communities," said the joint report issued in Geneva.
Moscow Student Accused Of Attempting To Join IS To Remain In Custody Until March
Varvara Karaulova, the Moscow student accused of attempting to join the IS group, is to remain remanded in custody until the end of March, after the Moscow City Court ruled that it was lawful to extend her detention.
Karaulova has been scheduled to undergo a psychological-psychiatric evaluation but this has not yet been carried out, Interfax reports.
Karaulova, who has changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, was arrested and remanded in custody on October 28.
The former Moscow State University student left home on in May 2015 and was arrested alongside 12 other Russians in Turkey, allegedly while attempting to cross into Syria. Karaulova was then deported to Russia.
Karaulova was arrested after she allegedly made contact with her recruiter. Her parents have said that the student could not overcome a "pathological love" for her recruiter.
UN Report Documents 'Staggering Civilian Death Toll' In Iraq
A new report by the United Nationals documents the "staggering" number of civilian deaths in Iraq between January 1, 2014 - October 31, 2015.
The report found that at least 18,802 civilians have been killed and another 36,245 wounded.
Another 3.2 million people have been internally displaced since January 2014, including more than a million children of school age.
"The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering. [IS] continues to commit systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law. These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," the report states.
The report says that IS militants killed and abducted scores of civilians, including those who opposed the group's ideology.
It also details numerous killings by IS including in "gruesome public spectacles."
"[IS] continued to subject women and children to sexual violence, particularly in the form of sexual slavery," the report notes.
IS were not the only group to commit abuses, however: the report documents violations by the Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish peshmerga, popular mobilization units and tribal forces.
Libya Announces Unity Government -- As IS Advances
Rival factions in Libya have announced a unity government that aims to quell the chaos that has erupted since the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qaddafi.
The move comes as the IS group continues attempts to advance in Libya, where it has grown in strength and capability.
IS, which controls the city of Sirte, claimed responsibility for a January 8 suicide truck bombing against a police training academy in Zliten that killed at least 47 people.
The same week, militants attacked oil terminals in Libya's oil crescent and setting oil storage tanks on fire. Last week, IS launched a naval attack against the Zueitina terminal.
More Clashes Between IS, Government Troops In Syria's Deir al-Zor
There are reports of fresh clashes this morning between IS militants and Syrian government troops in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, is reporting this morning that there are clashes in the suburbs of Ayash and al-Baghiliya and on the outskirts of the city. SOHR say some 120 government troops have been killed and 70 IS militants.
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency has posted footage it claims shows IS militants fighting in Deir al-Zor. The video below, uploaded by the pro-opposition Orient News, includes some of the Aamaq footage. The authenticity of Aamaq's video cannot be independently confirmed.
Denmark Trains Its Radar On IS In Syria
Denmark says that it has trained its radar located in Iraq on the IS group in Syria, telling the UN on January 11 that it was "taking necessary and proportionate measures" against IS after it pulled out seven F-16s for rest.
In a letter made public today, Denmark's Foreign Ministry wrote that "Denmark had a radar contribution - this can look, of course, into Syria. This was the contribution while we wait for the planes."
Contact Lost With 3 British Schoolgirls Who Traveled to IS-Held Syria
Contact has been lost with three British schoolgirls who traveled to Syria last February to join the IS group, a lawyer for the girls' families has said.
Lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said that he had been in contact with the three girls -- Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase -- in the IS stronghold of Raqqa until a few weeks ago.
But a bombing by the U.S.-led coalition has hindered communications around Raqqa.
Akunjee said Raqqa was "hellishly dangerous" and said "we have no idea what [the girls'] status is at the moment."]