As the battle over Tikrit continues, further concerns are being raised about citizens trapped in the city.
The leader of Iraq's National Coalition is encouraging Kurdish groups to join the National Front, a new anti-sectarian parliamentary coalition.
The new front inside the Iraqi parliament is an attempt to establish a non-sectarian political bloc.
Analysis: The armed Kurdish Peshmerga movement says it will not join a new touted Iraqi "national guard", which would bring militias and tribes under control of central government.
