New US strikes in Iraq after IS Foley video

US Navy fighters and drones provided air cover for Kurdish and Iraqi forces battling IS near the city of Mosul.
On Tuesday IS released a video showing the beheading of journalist James Foley. In it, the militants threatened to kill another American reporter.
The US attorney general says a criminal investigation will look into his death.
In the UK, police and security services are trying to identify the jihadist who appeared in footage of Mr Foley's killing.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the man - who has an English accent - is from London or south-east England.
Vital dam In its video of Mr Foley, IS said it was killing him in revenge for US air strikes.
Since the video was released, American forces have conducted 14 new strikes near the strategically important Mosul dam, a key facility recaptured from IS militants earlier this week.
The raids provided air cover as Kurdish and Iraqi government forces pushed into the hills south-west of the site, Kurdish sources said. US officials said they had successfully destroyed vehicles and other targets belonging to IS.
The US has been carrying out strikes against IS - which has been seizing large parts of Syria and Iraq - since 8 August.

Failed rescue

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama called Mr Foley's killing "an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world".
Also on Wednesday, the Pentagon said the US had "attempted a rescue operation recently to free a number of American hostages held in Syria".
It said the operation had "involved air and ground components".

"Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."
It was the first time the US government had acknowledged that its forces had operated in Syria since the country's civil war began in 2011.
The New York Times newspaper quoted unnamed US officials as saying the raid occurred at an oil refinery in the north.