24 December 2014 Last updated at 09:14
After he fled from this tiny northern Iraqi hamlet four months ago, Hayder Khalef got panicked phone calls from his relatives who had remained behind. They were at that moment being led by Islamic State group gunmen toward a checkpoint on the edge of town.
Islamic State 'shoots down coalition plane in Syria'
Islamic State (IS) militants have shot down a US-led coalition warplane over northern Syria, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft, believed to be from an Arab state, went down near Raqqa.
The UK-based group said the fate of the pilot was unknown, but IS supporters published photos they said showed a Jordanian airman surrounded by gunmen.
Jordan is one of four Arab countries whose aircraft have been bombing IS positions in Syria since September.
Christmas Day truce 1914: Letter from trenches shows football match through soldier's eyes for first time
Peshawar survivor: 'Attackers deserve worst punishment'
Baqar Ali, a survivor of the Peshawar attack, told DW how the assault on his school changed his life forever. The 14-year-old lost his mother and many friends in the Taliban attack, but refuses to give up on education.
"I went to the school a little late that day. After three lectures, the school administration told us to go to the main auditorium to receive information on first aid," says Baqar Ali, a 14-year-old ninth-grade student of the Peshawar-based Army Public School. "That is when the gunmen stormed the hall and started firing. One militant said to the other in Persian, 'Don't spare anyone.'"
On December 16, over 130 children were killed in a militant attack on the army-run school in the capital city of Pakistan's restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
"Then one of them shot me and I became unconscious," Ali told DW. "The militants thought I was dead. When I regained consciousness after around thirty minutes, I dragged myself to the other part of the school. I was told by other children and the school staff hiding in a room that the troops were on the way. The security forces came after two hours. That was the most difficult and painful time of my life."
Orphaned by Boxing Day tsunami, flip-flop kings repay Sri Lankan kindness
December 24, 2014 - 4:46AM
London: A decade after being orphaned by the Asian tsunami, British brothers Rob and Paul Forkan are successful entrepreneurs who are giving back to the Sri Lankans who helped them by building an orphanage.
The brothers, their two younger siblings as well as their parents Kevin and Sandra were relaxing in their hotel complex on December 26, 2004, when the giant wave crashed through their bungalows.
Rob and Paul managed to climb on the roof and clung on as the water rushed by.
When the wave subsided, Rob saw his brother Mattie perched on a tree, his face covered in blood.
A little later the brothers located their badly wounded sister Rosie, placed in a tree by their parents moments before they disappeared.
Ten years on from the Indian Ocean tsunami -- are we safer now?
December 24, 2014 -- Updated 0254 GMT (1054 HKT)
December 24, 2014 -- Updated 0254 GMT (1054 HKT)
Most of us can clearly recall where we were on December 26, 2004, when a massive earthquake off the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a deadly tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 226,000 people and causing massive destruction along coastal areas of 14 countries.
The tsunami caused one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory, as its full horror unfolded on TV screens around the world.
Ten years on, it is important to reflect on what the tsunami has taught us and whether these communities are any safer from such disasters.
One clear lesson reinforced by the tsunami has been the importance of investing in disaster risk reduction (DRR) at both global and local levels.
Grisly finds in Iraqi Yazidi village wrested from militants
By DALTON BENNETT1 hour ago
After he fled from this tiny northern Iraqi hamlet four months ago, Hayder Khalef got panicked phone calls from his relatives who had remained behind. They were at that moment being led by Islamic State group gunmen toward a checkpoint on the edge of town.
"If you don't hear from us, you'll find our bodies near the checkpoint," Khalef said they told him in the calls.
He is back in his hometown for the first time since, after Iraqi Kurdish fighters last week drove out the extremists holding the village. Khalef and a few other residents who escaped followed the Kurds in, hoping to discover what happened to hundreds of their relatives and neighbors who vanished after the jihadis overran Hardan in early August.
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