Residents of Madaya surviving on grass, cats and dogs

Residents of a besieged Syrian town of Madaya, situated just 15 miles from Damascus, and less than seven miles from the border with Lebanon, have no other go but to eat cats and dogs and grass to survive even as thousands of people face starving to death. The city of Madaya was, once upon a time, a popular holiday resort for Syrians. It is now under siege by forces who are loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 7 January 2016.

Thousands of people who are trapped have no food, water or electricity. Rice is sold in grammes because one kilogramme can cost up to £170 which they cannot afford. It has been confirmed by an unnamed aid worker that some residents were eating cats and dogs to survive, while others ate leaves and grass and drank water flavored with jam or spices.
Dr Mohamad Youssef, who acts as the manager of the medical council in Madaya, has informed that every day, there are two or three starvation deaths. Such deaths are mostly the elderly, the women and children.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hopes that it can get aid to all three villages in the next few days. It may be recalled that in mid-October, more than 20 lorries were allowed to deliver medical and humanitarian supplies but, since then, the situation has worsened.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has revealed that 10 people had died because of lack of food in recent weeks while 13 others had been shot by pro-government forces or blown up by mines while trying to find food. In the opinion of the UN, the apparent use of siege warfare has been used in clear breach of international laws.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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British Parliament voted 524 to 43 and granted gave approval for Britain to join the US-led coalition in the Middle East news.sky.com. The vote came after Prime Minister David Cameron said in no uncertain terms that the IS militants nothing but psychopathic terrorists trying to kill the British.
Accordingly, British fighter jets Tornados could begin airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq in no time since British MPs have overwhelmingly backed such action.
Britain has six Tornado GR4 fighter bombers positioned in Cyprus and are ready to strike northern Iraq – this small number of aircraft would make the UK's military contribution more of less a symbolic gesture.
The planes have been in RAF Akrotiri for the past six weeks and had been carrying out surveillance missions in the Middle East and could begin airstrikes over the weekend.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has commented that the US-led airstrikes had already worsened a dire humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria.