'Yazidis facing humanitarian catastrophe'
"Islamic State" militants have seized the Iraqi city of Sinjar, one of the main settlements of the minority Yazidi community. Telim Tolan, chairman of the Central Council of Yazidis in Germany, has warned of genocide.
DW: What news have you heard from your Yazidi brethren in northern Iraq?
Telim Tolan: The situation on the ground is disastrous. We are not facing a humanitarian disaster, but are in the midst of one. After the terrorist group "Islamic State" took over the town of Sinjar [ earlier this week] they fled in all directions. They have no food, and many are now scattered in the mountains without adequate supplies.
Where is this all happening?
In northern Iraq, around the town of Sinjar. The area lies near the Syrian border. About 80 percent of the Yazidis in Iraq live in the region, approximately 500,000 people. The Yazidis are native to this area and make up about 80 to 90 percent of the population.
What have you heard about the violence?
We have information that there have been executions, that Yazidis have been forced to convert to Islam. If they refuse, they are publicly executed. We have heard of women and girls who have been abducted and are now being sold at bazaars. There have been rapes. The whole thing is very worrying. Approximately 200,000 of the 500,000 Yazidis in the region are on the run, a number confirmed by the UN.
Ebola outbreak: Deadly epidemic declared international public health emergency by WHO
World Health Organisation takes stand as experts predict it will take ‘three to six months’ months to end outbreak
8 August 2014 Last updated at 08:33
Israel air strikes resume in Gaza amid rockets
Israel says it has resumed air strikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets following the end of a three-day truce on Friday morning.
The Israeli army called the renewed rocket attacks "unacceptable, intolerable and short-sighted".
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, earlier rejected any extension of the truce, saying Israel had failed to meet its demands.
Some 1,940 lives have been claimed in four weeks of fighting in Gaza.
At least 1,890 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died, according to latest United Nations figures.
Israel's government says 64 soldiers have been killed, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai national. It also claims that about 900 Palestinian militants have died in the violence.
Netherlands to scrap asylum hurdle for Russian gays
Under new rules, members of the Russian LGBT community would no longer have to prove that they had sought police protection
The Dutch government is to make it substantially easier for gay people in Russian to apply for political asylum in the Netherlands, warning that they still face “a high degree of prejudice and intolerance” from all levels of government and even from the public in their own country.
In a move likely to annoy Moscow, the ministry for justice said yesterday it planned to scrap the single most difficult asylum hurdle for members of Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community – “softening” their immigration requirements immediately.
In a briefing to parliament, junior justice minister Fred Teeven said the members of the Russian LGBT community who had faced discrimination would no longer have to prove that they had sought and failed to secure the protection of the Russian police.
China frees religious-freedom campaigner Gao Zhisheng
August 8, 2014 - 5:20AM
Philip Wen
China correspondent for Fairfax Media
Beijing: After more than three years since they last spoke, Gao Zhisheng’s telephone exchange with his wife after being released from jail was frantically brief.
“He asked me, ‘how is your health?’” Mr Gao’s wife, Geng He, said. “I said, ‘how is your health?’”
“My teeth are no good,” he responded. And then, amid commotion in the background, the phone was handed to Ms Geng’s sister who explained there was “someone coming”. The reunion, lasting a matter of seconds, was over.
Gao Zhisheng, a 50-year-old firebrand human rights lawyer whose activism had seen him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, has spent much of the past eight years in detention, including spells of “forced disappearances” where he was held incommunicado for so long he was even feared dead.
Storms rage over Filipino forecaster exodus |
Five senior meteorologists in the Philippines have just resigned to work abroad, highlighting a worrying trend.
Jason GutierrezLast updated: 08 Aug 2014 07:31
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Manila, Philippines - Inside the Philippines' state weather bureau, forecasters huddled around large monitors tracking powerful Typhoon Halong as it swirled menacingly to the east of the country this week, dumping heavy rains across large parts of the country's densely populated Luzon Island.
Satellite images flashed green across screens, but it became clear the country had avoided a direct hit. The scientists were relieved, but another kind of storm has been raging among their ranks - one that could also exact a heavy toll.
Five of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration's (PAGASA) most senior meteorologists had just resigned to work abroad, highlighting a worrying trend of skilled professionals leaving the country for better opportunities.
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