17 June 2014 Last updated at 07:54
Short film competition, organsed by anti-trafficking charity Unchosen, aims to raise awareness of widespread human trafficking, and consumers' complicity in it
After a short, intense chase, two Philippine police gunboats catch up with an illegal fishing vessel and circle it like menacing sharks, their armed commandos poised to rappel onboard.
Iraq conflict: Clashes on approaches to Baghdad
Iraqi government forces are engaged in heavy clashes with Sunni Islamist militants who have made major advances in the past week.
Reports say parts of the city of Baquba - just 60km (37 miles) from Baghdad - have been taken over by the rebels.
The US is deploying up to 275 military personnel to protect staff at its huge embassy in the capital.
The prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has told the BBC he thinks Iraq may not stay together.
He said it would be very hard for Iraq to return to the situation that existed before the Sunni militants, led by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), took control of the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit in a rapid advance last week, and Tal Afar on Monday.
Film competition to highlight dark reality of forced labour
Short film competition, organsed by anti-trafficking charity Unchosen, aims to raise awareness of widespread human trafficking, and consumers' complicity in it
Children who work long hours in garment factories in Bangladesh and in mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; men enslaved on farms and in factories; and women tricked into domestic servitude in the UK, are among the case studies presented as inspiration for the Unchosen Modern Day Slavery Short Film Competition 2014: Forced Labour!
The competition, now in its second year, hopes to bring the human stories behind trafficking, exploitation and their associated causes in communities across the UK and Ireland to the fore through the medium of film.
Entrants have until 13 August to submit their films. The judging panel, which includes the legendary director Ken Loach; the editorial director for Film4, Catherine Bray; director Justin Chadwick, whose most recent work is the Bafta-nominated Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; and the Guardian Global development's editor, Lucy Lamble, will be judging the shortlisted selection in time for an awards ceremony in London in October. This will be followed by a roadshow of the shortlisted films.
Hooked in Iran, where addiction rates are world’s highest
The UN drug office estimates that 2.2% of the population are addicts
Lara Marlowe
It’s been three hours since Amir’s last fix, and he’s still high as a kite. The 28-year-old has been addicted to heroin and Iranian-made crystal methamphetamine, known asshisheh, for a decade. He lives in Darvazeh Ghar park, along with hundreds of other addicts, in poor south Tehran.
Amir’s saunter, permanent grin and easy laugh betray his drugged condition. His clothes are grimy, his shirt soaked in sweat. I ask how he survives. “Sometimes I do construction work. I sell things that the scavengers bring from north Tehran. The rich people throw out vacuum cleaners and appliances. We believe the one who gave us teeth will give us food as well.”
HIV battle: Uganda tests out rubber band circumcision
With trousers around his ankles, Justin Igalla awaits a tight rubber band for his foreskin, an innovative non-surgical technique rolling out in several African nations to encourage circumcision and cut HIV infection rates.
The simple device -- two plastic rings and an elastic band -- cuts off blood supply to the foreskin, which then shrivels and is removed with the band after a week.
"I felt nothing, not even a little discomfort," Igalla said after a procedure taking just minutes, noting there was no blood -- unlike traditional circumcision where the foreskin is sliced off by knife --thus reducing the risk of infection.
Igalla, a father of two, said he opted to have his foreskin taken off for "health reasons".
Scientists have found that male circumcision can significantly reduce the chances of HIV infection because the foreskin has a higher concentration of HIV-receptors than the rest of the penis and is prone to tears during intercourse, providing HIV an entry point.
Philippine boat police anger China in fishing fight
By Cecil Morella3 hours ago
After a short, intense chase, two Philippine police gunboats catch up with an illegal fishing vessel and circle it like menacing sharks, their armed commandos poised to rappel onboard.
"Their first reaction is to flee, but they stop once they realise they cannot out-run us," boat captain John Rey Zumarraga told AFP during a training exercise in Honda Bay off the Philippines' most western island of Palawan.
With top speeds of 83 kilometres an hour (45 knots), modern radar systems and elite marine officers, the 10-metre (33-foot) Special Boat Unit vessels are bad news for illegal fishermen.
Accused South Korea ferry crew say rescue was coastguard's job
GWANGJU South Korea
The surviving crew of a South Korean ferry that sank in April killing more than 300 people and sparking a nationwide outpouring of grief argued on Tuesday that it was up to the coastguard to rescue the passengers, not them.
Lawyers for the 15, who face charges ranging from homicide to negligence, said that once coastguard rescuers had reached the sharply listing vessel, the crew's job was over.
"The crew share the belief that they thought the coastguard should be fully capable of the rescue because there was a distress call and they arrived and they were the ones with professional skills and equipment," lawyer Im Ju-young told the court on the second day of the trial in Gwangju, the closest city to the scene of the disaster.
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