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A British man has reportedly died fighting with Kurdish forces against so-called Islamic State in Syria.

Dean Carl Evans, 22, from Reading, died on 21 July during fighting in the city of Manbij, Kurdish reports suggest. His father, John, posted a statement on social media confirming the death and added: “He was loved and will be missed by all his family and friends”.

The Foreign Office is looking into reports of the death – the second involving a Briton fighting against IS.

In a second post, Mr Evans, who lives in Oxford, said: “I would like to say a massive big thank you to all my friends and family who sent their condolence for the loss of my son. “He would have been very proud and would have regarded you all as his brothers and sisters, thank you again.”

Mr Evans was one of many foreign volunteers who joined the People’s Defence Units (YPG) – the Kurdish military force fighting in northern Syria.

Dean Carl Evans has become the second British man to die in the fight against IS with the Kurds in Syria. The first UK casualty, Erik ‘Kosta’ Scurfield, died during fighting to take back the strategic Til Hamis town in the Hasakah province in north-eastern Syria. Mr Evans died fighting for another strategic town, called Manbij, in north-western Syria.

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The United States has carried out air strikes on positions of so-called Islamic State (IS) in Libya, following a request by the UN-backed government there, the Pentagon says.

The strikes targeted positions in the port city of Sirte, an IS stronghold.

Libyan PM Fayez Sarraj, in a televised address, said the strikes caused “heavy losses”. Western powers have become increasingly concerned at IS’s growing presence in Libya. The air strikes are the first such US military intervention co-ordinated with the Libyan unity government.

There have been two previous US attacks on IS targets in Libya – last February and in November.

The Pentagon said Monday’s strikes, authorised by President Barack Obama, were in support of government forces currently fighting IS militants. “These actions and those we have taken previously will help deny ISIL a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and our allies,” the Pentagon statement continued, using another term for IS.

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Police have arrested one of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone’s helicopter pilots on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping of Mr Ecclestone’s mother-in-law.

Aparecida Schunck, 67, the mother of Mr Ecclestone’s wife Fabiana Flosi, was abducted from her home in Sao Paulo on 22 July, but was rescued on Saturday.

A $36.5m (£28m) ransom was demanded for her release but none was paid.

Pilot Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria is one of three people seized by police. Mr Silva Faria is the alleged mastermind of the attack.

Ms Schunck was freed after being traced to a house near Sao Paulo after investigators monitored phone calls between the kidnappers and her family. Shortly after she was freed, Ms Schunck told Brazilian media: “I only ask for these bandits to be jailed so they can’t abduct anyone else in Sao Paulo.”

Mr Ecclestone had wanted to come to Brazil to help with the investigation and had even offered the services of a private security company to deal with the kidnappers. Mr Ecclestone, 85, is one of the most powerful men in sport and is worth an estimated $3.1bn (£2.3bn). He married Ms Flosi, 38, in 2012, three years after meeting her at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Five Russians on board a military helicopter were killed when it was shot down by rebels in northern Syria, Russia has said.

The Mi-8 transporter came down in Idlib province. It was carrying three crew and two officers, Russia’s defence ministry said. The helicopter was returning from delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Aleppo, it said. It is not clear which group brought the helicopter down.

An alliance of rebel groups, including hardline jihadist factions, is the dominant power in Idlib.

Pictures on social media purportedly of the latest Russian helicopter downing showed burning wreckage and bodies, with armed men milling around. Footage showed at least one body being dragged away. Another is seen apparently being trampled on.

This is the single worst loss of life for Russia since it launched its air offensive in Syria in support of President Assad towards the end of last year. Moscow says the helicopter was not involved in a military mission, but was delivering humanitarian aid. That claim may be open to question as Russia has mostly used its air power to back military offensives by pro-government forces in Aleppo and elsewhere. But it will further inflame feelings in Russia against rebels in Syria. Moscow has repeatedly said it sees little distinction between the rebels in terms of brutality and extremism.

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A man who attacked Tube passengers with a knife in London and tried to behead one of them has been jailed for life.

Muhiddin Mire, 30, targeted people at random during the attack inspired by so-called Islamic State at Leytonstone station on 5 December. He grabbed musician Lyle Zimmerman, 56, and attempted to murder him in the ticket hall by cutting his throat.

A man shouted: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv” after Mire said he would “spill blood” for his “Syrian brothers”. The attack was caught on CCTV and mobile phone footage was taken by a passer-by who carried on filming as Mire, who lived alone in Sansom Road, Stratford, lunged at him.

Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said while he accepted Mire was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence, he also believed he had been motivated by events in Syria. He continued: “In other words, because Muslims were being bombed in Syria, he was going to attack civilians here. “That was designed to intimidate a section of the public, and it was to advance an extreme cause.”

Judge Hilliard said Mire’s “brazen” actions were ” …an attempt to to kill an innocent member of the public for ideological reasons by cutting his throat in plain sight for maximum impact.”