Iraq's prime minister has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul and much of its province of Nineveh.
Nouri Maliki said "vital areas" of the city had been seized; some 150,000 people are believed to have fled. Troops fled Mosul as hundreds of jihadists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) overran it. The US has said ISIS threatens not just Iraq, but the entire region.