Hackers Target Online Gaming Networks; ISIS Overtakes Syrian Airbase
AMARA WALKER, HOST: I'm Amara Walker at CNN Center, welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet. As Syria loses more ground to ISIS, the government calls for an international effort to repel militants. Hackers target the Playstation Network and other gaming services and may have even caused the diversion of a flight. And an incredible escape: a boy in China is run over by an SUV, but walks away. We begin in Syria where the government has called for a coordinated international effort to defeat the advance of ISIS. The country's foreign minister says Syria is ready to work with other countries, including the U.S. Syrian government forces suffered a key loss to ISIS over the weekend, when militants took control of the al-Tabqa air base in the north. This footage from social media appears to show the aftermath of the fighting, though CNN cannot verify its authenticity. In Iraq, American warplanes hit more ISIS targets near the Mosul dam and Irbil over the weekend, bringing the total number of U.S. airstrikes to 96. Anna Coren is live in Irbil, Iraq with the very latest -- Anna.</s>ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Yeah, Amara, I just want to bring you up to date first on a deadly bombing, suicide bombing, in Baghdad just a few hours ago. Police officials telling us that a Shiite mosque was targeted during noon prayers killing eight people, injuring dozens. Now it is thought that this could be payback for that deadly bombing of a Sunni mosque several days ago, which killed 70 worshippers. No one has claimed responsibility for today's attack, however it does really have the hallmarks of Sunni extremists, possibly ISIS militants if not ISIS sympathizers. But definitely, Amara, they are having to change their tactics on the battlefield, so we could well be seeing more suicide attacks, more car bombings in the coming week. The reason being is that ISIS is under pressure because of U.S. airstrikes. Let's take a look.</s>COREN: With lightning quick advances across much of Iraq, the marauding bloodthirsty militants with their black insignia appear to be an undefeatable force on a mission to terrorize the country. But when ISIS suddenly turned its attention towards Kurdistan, northern Iraq it underestimated the opposition. From the skies, the United States pounded enemy positions, helping Kurdish and Iraqi forces on the ground to drive back the Islamic extremists. Recapturing Mosul dam, a turning point. According to senior Kurdish official, ISIS is now on the back foot.</s>MARSOUR BARZANI, KURDISTAN REGIONAL SECUIRTY COUNCIL: They have changed their tactics for sure. Now they are not moving in long convoys, they're trying to avoid airstrikes by using civilian vehicles.</s>COREN: While they may control one-third of Iraq, ISIS is overstretched, fighting on multiple fronts in dozens of towns and cities, calling in reinforcements from areas they already control to help in battle. (on camera): While ISIS propaganda would have us believe they're a conquering force expanding their so-called caliphate, senior officials here say that is not the case. From the militants that they have captured and interrogated, they admit morale has taken a direct hit ever since U.S. airstrikes began more than two weeks ago. (voice-over): And for that reason, the Kurds are calling for an ongoing U.S. air campaign, hinting at the possibility of striking ISIS targets in Syria, its safe haven.</s>BARZANI: Airstrikes, expanding airstrikes, and authorizing them to target the leadership of ISIS, or to expand the geographical areas of the airstrikes is going to also be very effective.</s>COREN: But no one here is pretending this war will be over in a couple of months. ISIS, now thought to have a force of at least 40,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq, is in for the long haul.</s>BARZANI: Mosul to them is very important, so they will probably fight to death to keep Mosul. And there are some key areas that are very important to them. That doesn't mean that they have given up attacking new areas.</s>COREN: A harsh reality, but one these fighters say they are prepared for.</s>COREN: Now Amara, whilst they might be hurting here in Iraq, they're certainly making gains in Syria overnight claiming Tabqa military base, which of course is the last stronghold for the Assad regime in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa, which of course is the headquarters, if you like, for ISIS in Syria of a bloody battle, we understand, that soldiers from the Syrian army were massacred and beheaded. ISIS, obviously, parading their achievements on the battlefield. But certainly this a massive blow for the Assad regime, losing control of that province now entirely.</s>WALKER: Yeah, clearly, as you say, it will be a complex and lengthy battle against ISIS. Anna Coren with the latest details there. Anna, thank you. Well, another extremist group in Syria, the al Nusra Front, has released an American journalist it held hostage for nearly two years. Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to UN peacekeepers in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights on Sunday. Nick Paton Walsh has the details.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a week of horror, finally some good news, an American held hostage in Syria by Islamist rebels for nearly two years is free. The 45-year-old peter Theo Curtis, a freelance author and journalist released Sunday after being held by a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda. His family thanking the government of the U.S. and Qatar for their efforts. While the U.S. is has denied any involvement and details about his release remain unclear. Curtis was handed over to United Nations peacekeepers in the Golan Height then released him to U.S. government officials. These videos show Curtis during his last few months in captivity. In this video a rebel points a gun at his head while Curtis speaks rapidly as if under duress. Curtis was captured near the Syrian-Turkey border in October 2012. And held in Aleppo with American journalist, Matthew Schener, the two locked up for months before planning their escape. Schener breaking free through a window with Curtis' help. Curtis however got stuck trying to escape.</s>MATTHEW SCHNER, FREELANCE PHOTOJOURNALIST KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA: I'm pulling him and pulling him as hard as I could. We weren't making any headway and we were making too much noise. The windows were open and the lights were above me and the sun was coming up.</s>PATON (on camera): You must have known then you had to leave him ?</s>SCHENER: Yes. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I'm not going to have closure until he is home.</s>WALSH (voice-over): Curtis' release comes just five days after ISIS released a video of one of its militants beheading American journalist, James Foley. On Sunday his parents releasing a letter on Facebook that they say he composed on captivity. He talked about sharing one cell with 17 others and playing games made up of scraps they found. Foley had a fellow hostage memorize the letter dictating it to his family upon release. British officials close to identifying the ISIS militant responsible for the beheading. Experts say he speaks with a distinctly British accent. Investigators making headway using clues in the video to pinpoint the killer out of hundreds of British Muslims who joined</s>ISIS. PETER WESTMACOTT, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: We put a great deal of resource into identifying this person. I think we're not far away from that.</s>WALSH: Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.</s>WALKER: And still to come here on News Stream, the violence in Gaza escalates. We will get the latest on the ground from our correspondent when we return. And take a look at this crazy incident caught on tape in China. We'll show you what happened to this lucky little boy. Also, if you were trying to play online with your Playstation and you were having trouble, you weren't alone. The details of the attack later on in the show.