From our news desk:
Iraqis Running Out Of Food, Medicine In Besieged Fallujah
Iraqi officials say tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians are running out of food and medicine in the western city of Fallujah, an Islamic State stronghold under siege by security forces.
Sohaib al-Rawi, the governor of Anbar Province where Fallujah is located, appealed to the U.S.-led coalition combating IS militants to air-drop humanitarian supplies to civilians.
Rawi said it was the only way to deliver aid to Fallujah, located some 50 kilometers from Baghdad, after militants mined the entrances to the city and stopped people leaving.
"No force can enter and secure [the delivery]...There is no option but for airplanes to transport aid," he said in an interview with al-Hadath TV on February 2.
Iraqi media reports have said several people have died due to starvation and poor medical care.
Britain accuses Russia of trying to carve out Alawite state for Assad in Syria
The war of words between Britain and Russia over Syria continues.
Britain says Russia could be trying to carve out an Alawite state in Syria for its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, by bombing his armed opponents rather than IS militants.
The Guardian reports this morning that Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has dismissed Russia's criticism that he was spreading "dangerous disinformation."
“Is Russia really committed to a peace process or is it using the peace process as a fig leaf to try to deliver some kind of military victory for Assad that creates an Alawite mini state in the north-west of Syria?” Hammond told reporters in Rome.
We are now closing the live blog for today. Join us again tomorrow for all the latest news surrounding Islamic State.
Syrian government advances toward rebel-besieged Shi'ite villages
AFP has the latest on the reports that Syrian government forces are advancing in northern Aleppo province towards two government-held Shi'ite villages that are under siege by rebel forces.
A Syrian colonel on the ground has told AFP that government troops were "three kilometers from Nubol and Zahraa" and that they planned to "break the siege" on the villages and "cut the only remaining rebel supply route between Aleppo city and the north of the province."
Canada won't act in Libya until unity government in place: Foreign Affairs Minister
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion has said that his country would not act in Libya -- which is under threat from IS militants -- until a single government recognized by the West is in place.
The Globe and Mail reports from Rome where Dion made his comments on the sidelines of a meeting of 23 nations involved in the fight against IS.
"We certainly have an obligation to help the people of Libya,” [Dion] said Tuesday on the sidelines of the Rome meeting of the U.S-led coalition against Islamic State extremists.
"The way to do is something we need to consider with our allies, not alone, and the first step is to have a government that will be our interlocutor."
Kerry dubs IS 'apostates'
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has branded the IS group "apostates" in a news conference in Rome this afternoon, AFP reports.
Kerry said IS was "nothing more than a mixture of killers, of kidnappers, of criminals, of thugs, of adventurers, of smugglers and thieves...And they are also above all apostates, people who have hijacked a great religion and lie about its real meaning," Kerry said.
IS claims to have founded its "caliphate" based on Sharia law. The group itself is known for calling Muslims who disagree with its interpretation of Sharia or who oppose it as "apostates."
As AFP points out, the United States does not consider apostasy to be a crime.
At least 40 Swedish children living with IS: report
At least 40 Swedish children under the age of 10 are living in IS-controlled territory in Syria or Iraq after their parents traveled there to join the militant group, according to Yassin Ekdahl of Sweden's national coordinator against violent extremism.
Ekdahl said that the figure of 40 was "a low estimate, I could imagine that there are many, many more."
More children are believed to have been born in IS-controlled areas to mothers who married militants there, according to TheLocal.se news website.
"[The children] look at killing as a part of daily life, they experience bombs and learn the justification of killing people of a different faith. There are also cases where mothers have been the victims of rape where the child has been there to see and hear everything," he said.
Syrian government delegation presents demands to de Mistura
The Syrian government's delegation to the peace talks in Geneva has presented a "three point demand" to UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, Syrian state news agency SANA reports.
According to SANA one of the demands was that the Saudi-backed opposition delegation issue a "clear statement of condemnation" against suicide attacks that took place near the Sayyida Zeinab shrine in Damascus on Feb. 1 in which 71 people died. The attack was claimed by the IS group.
The government delegation also said that it wanted a list of the opposition figures who would be included in the opposition delegation at the indirect talks.
U.S.-led coalition aims to recapture IS-held Mosul this year
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group aims to recapture the IS stronghold of Mosul in Iraq this year, and to drive the militants out of their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, Reuters reports, citing Arab and Western officials.
“The plan is to hit them in Raqqa in Syria and in Iraq at Mosul, to crush their capitals,” said an Iraqi official with knowledge of the strategy. “I think there is some speed and urgency by the coalition, by the U.S. administration and by us to end this year with the regaining of control over all territory.”
IS has lost territory in Iraq, having been driven out of Sinjar and Tikrit in the north as well as the oil refinery town of Baiji in central Iraq -- where the group suffered heavy losses.
More recently, IS has been driven out of Ramadi in western Iraq.
IS has also lost territory in Syria to the U.S.-allied Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) including in Kobani and Tel Abyad.