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Men greet each other in front of Turkish flag and picture of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Istanbul Ataturk airport, Turkey, following yesterday's blast June 29, 2016. . (photo credit:REUTERS)

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotoveli told Israel's Reshet Bet radio on Monday that the Iranian blogger who was offered asylum in Israel was delayed from coming to the country because of "personal reasons" and would be arriving in "the coming days."

Hotoveli also said that the Israeli consulate was in touch with her.

Israel's foreign ministry was looking into reports that the Turkey-based Iranian blogger who was offered asylum in Israel was arrested at Istanbul Airport Monday morning, according to Reshet Bet radio station. The blogger, Neda Amin was reportedly en route to Tel Aviv.

Times of Israel Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz who's online publication featured Amin's blogs tweeted that the report was false.

Neda Amin faced forcible deportation to Iran, where she would be at risk given her work as a Persian-language blogger at an Israeli news site, before Israel offered her asylum on Sunday. Amin left Iran in 2014 for Turkey, according to The Times of Israel. She has been in a court battle to prevent her repatriation and has sought other countries that might take her in as a refugee, the site said.

Iranians are generally not admitted to Israel, due to hostility between the two countries.

But following appeals by Israel's journalist federations, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said he would issue 32-year-old Amin with a special visa on Sunday.

"This is a journalist whose life is in real danger," Deri said in a statement. "Given the clear humanitarian circumstances, I authorized her entry without delay."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Deputy FM says Israel is in touch with Iranian blogger seeking asylum - The Jerusalem Post

Footage has emerged showing the capture of a German schoolgirl who joined Isis being captured in the ruins of Mosul.

Linda Wenzel, 16, ran away from the small town of Pulsnitz, near Dresen, to join the militants after she was groomed online by an Isis recruiter.

She then flew to Istanbul, where she was smuggled into Iraq. There, she married a Chechen fighter who was killed during the fight for Mosul.

In the film, she can be heard screaming and crying as she is dragged byIraqi soldiers.

She appears to stumble several times as she is escorted away.

It was reported she had suffered a gunshot wound to her left thigh and another injury to her right knee during a helicopter attack.

Wenzelcould theoretically face the death sentence under Iraq's counter-terrorism laws.

However, even if she were sentenced to death she would not be executed before the age of 22.

German authorities are trying to determine whether Wenzel and three other German women detainedin Iraq on allegations of sympathising with Isiscan return home.

Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

A spokesman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said diplomats recently visited two of the women in Baghdad and determined they were "doing well given the circumstances."

Martin Schaefer Germany is obliged to provide the women with consular assistance and wants to "find a good solution that corresponds to their interests" including return home if they wish.

But he added that "we have to ensure that no threat is posed by the four after a possible return to Germany."

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German Isis bride's capture footage emerges as she now faces death penalty in Iraq - The Independent

On February 26, we fled Mosul because the fighting had reached our district and our house was near the front line," explains Hossam's father, Anis. "We were displaced several times in the city before we decided to leave, because life was just too hard. We took refuge in Qayyarah camp, to the south of Mosul. Life certainly wasnt easy there either, but at least we were safe. Until one day, Hossam was out playing with his friends at the camp and part of a wall fell on him and broke his leg.

Ten-year-old Hossam was rushed to the citys hospital, where he was operated on. A few days later, he met Khaled, one of Handicap Internationals physical therapists, but was still too weak to start rehabilitation sessions at that time. They transferred my son to a hospital in Hamdaniya. This hospital mainly treats people who need a lot of post-operative care. My son started his physical therapy sessions here with HI.

Stretched out on his hospital bed, time seems to pass by slowly for Hossam. He has lost interest in the coloring books and large ball that had kept him amused when he arrived three months ago. Curious and energetic by nature, the only thing Hossam is in a hurry to do is get out of his room so that he can run around outside and play with his friends. He also says hes looking forward to going back to school one of the things he misses most about what he calls his old life. The heavy plaster cast around his right leg makes that impossible, at least for now.

In the meantime, Hossam says he does his exercises every day. I really like doing them, it helps pass the time, he tells Mouna, a physical therapist with Handicap International. As the session comes to an end, Mouna asks Hossam what hed like to be when he grows up. The boy is silent for a few seconds and then replies enthusiastically: I think Id like to be an engineer, like my dad! Looking fondly at his son, Anis replies: All of that is a long way off yet. All we want to do right now is return home. I want to work again and rebuild my house. We want to pick up life where we left off.

MOSUL EMERGENCY

Fighting between armed groups and government forces in Iraq in recent years has displaced more than three million people. An estimated 11 million civilians already need humanitarian assistance in the country. The Mosul offensive has presented international organizations with an unprecedented challenge. More than 485,000 people have fled the city since last October.

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL AND THE IRAQI CRISIS

More than 200,000 people have benefited from Handicap Internationals actions since the launch of its emergency operations in Iraq in 2014. Our actions are regularly reviewed to take into account a highly volatile situation across the whole of Iraqi territory. Handicap International currently organizes population protection activities, raises awareness of the risk from mines and conventional weapons, conducts non-technical surveys and clears potentially hazardous areas, provides physical and functional rehabilitation and psychosocial support, supports health centers, organizes training and advocacy, and provides technical support to partners to enhance the inclusion of vulnerable people (people with disabilities, casualties, older people, and others) within their services.

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We want to pick up where we left off - Reliefweb

The Libyan coastguard recovered more than 1000 migrants floating in wooden and rubber boats in the Mediterranean Sea over the past few days and returned them to the Libyan coast.

Since Friday, 1124 people have been saved, the International Organization for Migration said on Monday.

The Italian government decided in July to launch a naval mission providing technical and logistical support to the Libyan coastguard, a move seen as a potential game changer in Europe's quest to stop sea migration from North Africa.

In the latest rescue mission, 155 people, including 18 women and 10 children, were rescued on Monday morning near the capital city of Tripoli.

The migrants came from several countries, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Sudan as well as sub-Saharan Africa and Syria, according to Italian media reports.

Libya has been in disarray since the NATO-backed ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Lawlessness in the former Italian colony has been a major factor in fuelling the migrant trafficking trade.

Around 114,000 migrants have landed in southern Europe since the start of the year, and about 82 per cent ended up in Italy, according to data from the IOM last month. Nearly all of them set sail from Libya.

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More than 1000 migrants sent back to Libya - NEWS.com.au

BENGHAZI, Libya/TUNIS (Reuters) - Residents of Derna in east Libya say they are facing critical shortages after Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) tightened its longstanding siege around the city last week.

Haftar's eastern-based LNA, one of a number of factions that have vied for power in Libya since a 2011 uprising ended Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule, is waging a military campaign against a coalition of Islamist militants and ex-rebels known as the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC) that controls Derna.

Attention has shifted to the coastal city after Haftar announced victory in a three-year military campaign against a similar coalition in Benghazi, 350 km (210 miles) to the west, a month ago.

The LNA launches occasional air strikes over Derna and at the end of July, one of its fighter jets was shot down. The pilot was killed. The LNA subsequently reinforced its siege.

"The situation is extremely bad. Everything is stopped, the supplies are depleted and nothing is getting into the city," one resident told Reuters by telephone.

"There is a total blockade with no entry or exit. They only allow you to leave as a displaced person."

Another resident said most bakeries had closed because of a shortage of fuel, and that petrol stations had been shut for eight months. There was an acute shortage of medicine, he said, though some oxygen tanks were delivered to a hospital in Derna on Monday.

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Libya has expressed concern over reports of "severe shortages of basic necessities, including life saving medical supplies" in Derna, while the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli called on all sides to "facilitate ways to provide for all the needs of the citizens".

The LNA is aligned with a parliament and government based in the eastern Libya that has spurned the GNA.

Haftar and the head of the GNA met in Paris in late July amid efforts to broker a peace settlement for Libya. A ceasefire was announced, though it excluded "counter-terrorism" operations. The LNA commonly brands its rivals as terrorists.

Derna has a history of militancy. It was occupied by Islamic State militants in late 2014, but they were later ousted by the DMSC. Since then, forces loyal to the LNA have bolstered their blockade. Supplies of food, cash and medicine were disrupted or confiscated even before the latest tightening of the siege.

The LNA says it has been hitting militant targets that it has identified on the outskirts of in Derna, including ammunition stores. It says it is preparing to use further strikes if peace efforts with local leaders fail.

In May, the city was also a target of Egyptian air strikes. Egypt said it was responding to an attack against Coptic Christians on its territory, though that attack was claimed by Islamic State.

Haftar, a figure many believe is seeking national power in Libya, has enjoyed strong backing from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as the United Arab Emirates.

Western envoys have met Haftar frequently in recent months, and say he has to be part of any solution to Libya's conflict.

Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Robin Pomeroy

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East Libyan city suffers as military forces tighten siege - Reuters