BofA in $16.5 billion deal with U.S. over mortgage bonds: source

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp is expected to pay more than $16.5 billion to end investigations into mortgage securities that the bank and its units sold in the run-up to the financial crisis, in a deal that could be announced as early as Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said.
The bank has been hammering out the final details of the record-breaking accord with the U.S. Department of Justice and is expected to pay around $9 billion in cash and the rest in assistance to struggling homeowners.
A $16.5 billion payout would be the largest in a series of soaring penalties against banks for a range of misconduct, including violating U.S. sanctions and inappropriately marketing mortgage securities.
An agreement in principle was reached earlier this month after a phone call between the bank's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, and Attorney General Eric Holder.
The negotiations have been driven by an investigation into securities sold by Merrill Lynch, which the bank agreed to acquire in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, people familiar with the matter have said.
Representatives of the Justice Department and Bank of America declined comment.

Obama condemns killing of reporter, U.S. hits militants in Iraq

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama expressed revulsion on Wednesday at the beheading of an American journalist by Islamist militants and vowed the United States would do what it must to protect its citizens as international condemnation of the insurgents grew.
Not long after Obama called Islamic State a "cancer" with a bankrupt ideology, the Pentagon said U.S. aircraft conducted 14 air strikes in the vicinity of Iraq's Mosul Dam, destroying or damaging militants' Humvees, trucks and explosives.
Islamic State posted a video on Tuesday that purported to show the beheading of journalist James Foley in revenge for U.S. air strikes in Iraq. It prompted widespread horror that could push Western powers into further action against the group.
Britain's prime minister cut short his vacation as UK intelligence tried to identify Foley's killer, while France called for international coordination against the Islamist militants fighting in Syria and Iraq.
U.S. officials said on Wednesday that intelligence analysts had concluded that the Islamic State video, titled "A Message to America," was authentic. It also showed images of another U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff, whose fate the group said depends on how the United States acts in Iraq.
The gruesome video presented Obama with bleak options that could define American involvement in Iraq and the public reaction to it, potentially dragging him further into a conflict he built much of his presidency on ending.
Obama called the beheading of Foley "an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world" and said the militants had killed innocent civilians, subjected women and children to torture, rape and slavery and targeted Muslims, Christians and religious minorities.
"So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day," Obama said in brief comments to reporters in Edgartown, Massachusetts, where he has been vacationing. He said he had spoken with Foley's family.
"ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would "never back down in the face of such evil.
"ISIL and the wickedness it represents must be destroyed, and those responsible for this heinous, vicious atrocity will be held accountable," Kerry said in a statement.
INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
British anti-terrorist police began an investigation of the video, in which Foley's killer spoke with a London accent.
Apparently a British national, the killer is just one of hundreds of European Muslims drawn to join Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, who authorities say pose a security threat to U.S. and European interests if they return home from the Middle East.
The video showed a high level of technical proficiency and the use of a British voice may have been intended to make its contents clear to audiences in the United States, Islamic State's declared enemy.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was not surprised to hear the British accent and that large numbers of British nationals were fighting in Iraq and Syria.
"Our intelligence services will be looking very carefully on both sides of the Atlantic at this video to establish its authenticity, to try to identify the individual concerned and then we will work together to try to locate him," Hammond told Sky news.
France said it wanted the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and regional countries, including Arab states and Iran, to coordinate action against Islamic State. President Francois Hollande called for an international conference to discuss how to tackle the group.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned "the horrific murder of journalist James Foley, an abominable crime that underscores the campaign of terror the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continues to wage against the people of Iraq and Syria," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari urged the world to back his country against Islamic State, which he described as a threat to the world, not just to the minority ethnic groups whose members it has killed in Iraq.
Germany and Italy said they were ready to send arms to bolster the military capabilities of Iraqi Kurds fighting Islamic State in northern Iraq.
Sending arms into conflict zones is a major departure for Germany, which has often shied away from direct involvement in military conflicts since World War Two due to its Nazi past.
The video's message was unambiguous, warning of greater retaliation to come against Americans following nearly two weeks of U.S. air strikes that have pounded militant positions and halted the advance of Islamic State, which until this month had captured a third of Iraq with little resistance.
Foley, 40, was kidnapped on Nov. 22, 2012, in northern Syria, according to GlobalPost. He had earlier been kidnapped and released in Libya.
Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while reporting in July 2013. He has written for TIME among other news organizations.
On Facebook, Foley's mother, Diane Foley, said: "We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.
"We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world."
The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq this month for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.
U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican, said Foley's death should serve as a turning point for Obama in his deliberations over how to deal with Islamic State. "First of all, you've got to dramatically increase the air strikes. And those air strikes have to be devoted to Syria as well," McCain said in a telephone interview.
ISLAMIC STATE
Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in the parts of Iraq and Syria it controls, opened the video with a clip of Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.
The words "Obama authorizes military operations against the Islamic State effectively placing America upon a slippery slope towards a new war front against Muslims" appeared in English and Arabic on the screen.
It showed black and white aerial footage of air strikes with text saying: "American aggression against the Islamic State."
A man identified as Foley, head shaven and dressed in an orange outfit similar to uniforms worn by prisoners at the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, is seen kneeling in the desert next to a man holding a knife and clad head to toe in black.
"I call on my friends, family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the U.S. government, for what will happen to me is only a result of their complacency and criminality," the kneeling man says.
The man next to him, in a black mask, speaks in a British accent and says, "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen, of your country. As a government, you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State."
ISLAMIC ARMY
"Today your military air force is attacking us daily in Iraq. Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency. We are an Islamic army, and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide."
Following his statement, he beheads the kneeling man. At the end of the video, words on the side of the screen say, "Steven Joel Sotloff," as another prisoner in an orange jumpsuit is shown on screen. "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," the masked man says.
University of Virginia political scholar Larry Sabato said the killing was like the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002. He said it could help bolster a perception among Americans that the United States will have to be more aggressive in dealing with Islamic State militants.
Syria has been the most dangerous country for journalists for more than two years. At least 69 other journalists have been killed covering the conflict there and more than 80 journalists have been kidnapped in Syria.
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that approximately 20 journalists are currently missing in Syria. Many of them are believed to be held by Islamic State.
As well as taking territory, Islamic State has seized a number of oil wells in northern Iraq. The government in Baghdad said it was troubled by reports that Islamic State was smuggling oil to export markets and warned that the purchase of such supplies could help the group fund its operations.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Oliver Holmes and Tom Perry in Beirut, Sabine Siebold in Berlin, Costas Pitas and William James in London, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Giles Elgood and Jim Loney; Editing by David Stamp and Dan Grebler)

At least 32 dead as Japan landslides engulf homes

Huge landslides in western Japan killed at least 32 people and left another nine missing Wednesday, authorities said, after waves of mud engulfed homes in a suffocating sludge.
Dozens of houses were buried when hillsides collapsed after torrential downpours in Hiroshima, television pictures showed, leaving rescuers to pick through the devastation for any signs of life.
A spokesman for Hiroshima Police told AFP the death toll was still climbing.
"The figures may change as the rescue efforts continue," he warned.
The number of dead had risen rapidly from an initial four, which included a two-year-old boy.
Among the dead was a 53-year-old rescuer, who was killed by a secondary landslide after he had pulled five people to safety, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
Aerial footage showed several houses buried in thick slurry, their wooden frames splintered by the weight of the mud.
Torrents of brown water raced off the mountains behind the homes and through the wrecked buildings, hampering rescuers' efforts as they searched for anyone still trapped.
Emergency workers were seen climbing up to the second floor and roofs of half-collapsed houses -- some of which were floating -- to try to reach any survivors.
Pictures showed there had been at least five different landslides. Some uprooted trees and carried rocks down the hillside into the tightly-packed houses that sit on the edge of a commuter belt, in an area where town gives way to farmland.
One man, gesturing to the mud-covered remains of a house, told NHK: "My house is over there, flattened."
Pointing elsewhere, he said: "A leg was seen (sticking out of the mud) and they are trying to confirm if the person is alive. The first thing we have to do is to help that person."
Another man told reporters he had seen everything he owned swept away.
"We could hear the earth rumbling and all of a sudden, things roared past us," he said.
A woman spoke of how she had escaped death because of where she had been at the time the disaster struck.
"I was able to survive as I stayed in the middle of the house. Both sides were destroyed."
- Troops deployed -
Troops were deployed to help in the rescue after a request from the local government.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who abandoned a golfing holiday to deal with the disaster, said considerable resources were pressed into action.
"I have ordered (government officials) to carry out the rescue operation in an integrated manner, aware of the possibility of further rain," he told reporters in Tokyo.
"I also ordered them to raise the number of Self-Defense Force (military) personnel to several hundred in order to strengthen rescue operations," he said.
Japan's weather agency warned more heavy rain was on the way to the area, raising the risk of further landslides in places where tonnes of mud have already been displaced.
The archipelago has been battered in recent weeks by unusually heavy rain that has sparked a number of smaller landslides and several floods, some of which have proved fatal.
Despite widespread concreting to shore up hillsides, mountainous and densely populated Japan is prone to this kind of disaster.
In October last year, dozens of people were killed when the torrential rains of a passing typhoon triggered large landslides on the island of Oshima, south of Tokyo.
Hiroshima is no stranger to tragedy like this.
In 1999 more than 320 landslides hit the city, including the area affected on Wednesday, killing more than 30 people.
Around 32,000 places in the locality are designated as at risk from landslides.
Experts said many of the hills are composed of fragmented granite, which can become unstable when waterlogged.

Police say 47 arrested in latest Ferguson protest

Police said Wednesday they had arrested 47 people during a night of protests in Ferguson, the Missouri town rocked by violence over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said protesters threw bottles of water and urine at police towards the end of Tuesday night's protest in the St Louis suburb, prompting officers to intervene after an otherwise peaceful night.
"As of 1:00 am we have 47 arrests," he told a press confe
rence, adding that police had also seized three guns from demonstrators.
Johnson stressed that unlike a protest Monday night, protesters did not fire guns at police and police refrained from using tear gas to break up the rally.
"Tonight we saw a different dynamic," he said.
Fears that another police shooting involving a knife-wielding male might renew tension failed to materialize, after successive nights of clashes with police in the town of Ferguson.
Ferguson has been ground zero of a renewed debate about race and strong-armed law enforcement in America since the August 9 fatal shooting in broad daylight of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer.
US Attorney General Eric Holder is to visit Ferguson on Wednesday amid an ongoing federal investigation into possible civil rights violations.
A grand jury is meanwhile to begin Wednesday hearing witnesses to Brown's killing, amid calls for the police officer, Darren Wilson, to be put on trial for murder.
In another development, Brown's family is undertaking preparations for his funeral, which their lawyer said would take place on Monday.
Several hundred people returned to West Florissant Avenue on Tuesday, not far from where Brown fell, expressing their outrage and demanding that justice be done.
"Hands up, don't shoot!" they chanted with their hands up in the air, in what has become the signature slogan of Ferguson's frustration with its overwhelmingly white police department.
- 'Peace train'-
The unexpected arrival of a "peace train" from a children's amusement park, blaring "What's Going On" and other Marvin Gaye classics, lent the protest a carnival flavor.
But in contrast to previous nights, rather than firing tear gas head-on into the crowd, police with riot shields and armored vehicles kept a lower profile.
They finally intervened around midnight (0500 GMT), pushing the remaining crowd -- without the use of tear gas -- towards a newly designated public assembly area in a former car dealership.
"I want the good people to have the ability to voice their opinions," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, the African-American officer tasked with restoring order in this town of 21,000, earlier in the evening.
Mingling with citizens at the outset of the march, who insisted on their right to protest, Johnson denounced what he called "criminal elements" who, after dark on Sunday and Monday, had ignored police orders to disperse.
"Cowards hide in the dark, and it's time for that to stop," he told reporters.
Ferguson civic leaders had earlier Tuesday called for "night-time quiet and reconciliation" while promising to undertake sweeping reforms to the local police force.
Earlier Tuesday, a few miles (kilometers) away in St. Louis proper, officers shot dead an agitated man who yelled "kill me now" as he rushed at them, wielding a knife during an apparent convenience store robbery.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Captain Ed Kuntz told reporters at the scene that an investigation had been launched, but, based on what he had heard, "it seems reasonable to say it was justifiable."
Police have identified the white police officer who shot Brown in broad daylight on a residential street as Darren Wilson, 28, a police officer for six years.
- Wants murder charges -
Brown's family wants Wilson -- who reportedly has been granted leave from his duties -- charged with murder for "executing" their son.
In an op-ed column in the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper Wednesday, Holder pledged what he called a full, fair and independent investigation.
"And beyond the investigation itself, we will work with the police, civil rights leaders, and members of the public to ensure that this tragedy can give rise to new understanding ? and robust action ? aimed at bridging persistent gaps between law enforcement officials and the communities we serve," he said.
Police contend that Brown was rushing at the officer, but other witnesses say the teenager -- who was about to start vocational college -- had his hands up, ready to surrender.
Brown was fatally shot less than half an hour after the theft of a box of cigars from a liquor store. Police fingered Brown on Friday as the suspect in that case, taking local anger to a new level.
A forensic pathologist retained by Brown's family said that the teen was shot at least six times -- twice in the head.
Three separate autopsies of Brown's remains are taking place -- by local authorities, by the family and by the Justice Department.
Federal law enforcement officials said that a military medical examiner who conducted the federal autopsy also concluded that Brown had six gunshot wounds, The Los Angeles Times reported, citing an unnamed government source.
US National Guard troops have been deployed to Ferguson to help control the unrest, amid criticism of the distrusted local force's handling of the protests, with even President Barack Obama saying there was no excuse for local police to use "excessive force."
But their role so far has been limited to guarding a command post in a shopping center away from the nightly protests.

Gaza fighting resumes as truce collapses

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 20 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire negotiations collapsed Tuesday midnight, according to Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra.

The renewed Israeli attacks first targeted the house of Hamas military figure Muhammed Dief on Tuesday night, killing Dief’s wife and child, Hamas spokesman Musa Abu Marzouk said on Wednesday.

Commenting on the failed negotiations, Abu Marzouk said: “Surely, the Israeli stalling and shuffling did not give a chance for the negotiations to succeed, there is no progress worth mentioning.”

Israel recalled its negotiators from Cairo on Tuesday after accusing Hamas of breaking the ceasefire eight hours before it was due to expire.

The Palestinian negotiators later recalled its negotiators on Wednesday morning, and said this was due to the “arrogance” of the Israeli delegation. They accused the Israeli delegation of refusing to respond to all proposals made through the Egyptian mediators.

Head of the Palestinian delegation Azzam Al-Ahmed said: “It is clear that Netanyahu does not want peace, and all of Israel’s actions during the negotiations confirm from the first day that it is not serious in reaching a comprehensive agreement with the Palestinian delegation.”

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson, Israel’s Operation Protective Edge has killed around 2028 people and wounded 10,302 others throughout its entire 45 days. A total of 67 Israelis were killed, 64 of whom were soldiers.

“Since the ceasefire was breached by Hamas, over 70 rockets were launched at Israel. In response, the IDF targeted some 60 terror sites across the Gaza Strip,” the Israel Defense Force’s spokesperson unit said.

Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the Palestinian delegation, said he believes there is a “real blockage” in the negotiations and that Israel continued to evade the Palestinian delegations’ demands.

“Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for the breach of the truce and the escalation against our unarmed people,” Al-Rishq said. “Israel will not enjoy security as long as our own Palestinian people do not feel [secure].”

An Israeli strike targeted the Al-Dalou family home in Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood late Tuesday. Israel previously attacked the Al-Dalou family’s home in its 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, killing 12 members of the family at the time.

Civil defence rescue teams recovered the bodies of two Al-Dalou family members, a woman and a child, from the rubble in the aftermath of the more recent Israeli attack.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said: “Lieberman’s call to Netanyahu to continue the war until Hamas surrenders is stupid and foolish.”

In a statement they released on Tuesday, the Al-Qassam Brigades stated Hamas rockets came “in the framework of the enemy’s breaching of the ceasefire, and the massacres committed against our people, especially the bombardment of the Al-Dalou family home.”

“By breaching the truce and attacking the Al-Dalou family’s home, [Israel] has opened on itself the gates of hell,” the Al-Qassam statement read.

The group also took responsibility for firing rockets at Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ben Gurion airport, Beersheva, and other cities after the ceasefire broke.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Egypt expresses “deep sorrow” over the end of the ceasefire, and “the renewed shelling between Israel and the Gaza Strip”.

It stated that Egypt will continue “bilateral contacts with both the Palestinian and Israeli sides to urge renewed commitment to a ceasefire”.

The statement added that this “would open the door for communicating an agreement to guarantee permanent ceasefire and achieving the interests of the Palestinian people, especially in relation to matters pertaining to opening the crossings and reconstruction.”

According to the UN’s Gaza situation report, there are currently around 380,000 people hosted in UNRWA shelters. Over 100,000 people will be “long-term displaced due to destruction/severe damage to their homes,” even in the event of a lasting ceasefire.

Islamic State fighters halt Iraqi offensive to recapture Saddam's home town

(Reuters) - Iraqi forces halted a short-lived offensive on Tuesday to recapture Tikrit, home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, due to fierce resistance from Islamic state fighters who have also threatened to attack Americans "in any place".
In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency announced a major aid operation to get supplies to more than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.
Buoyed by an operation to recapture a strategic dam from the jihadists after two months of setbacks, Iraqi army units backed by Shi'ite militias launched their offensive shortly after dawn on Tikrit, a city 130 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad which is a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim minority.
But officers in the Iraqi forces' operations room said by mid afternoon that the advance had stopped.
South of Tikrit, the government side came under heavy machinegun and mortar fire from the militants, a group of Arab and foreign fighters hardened by battle both in Iraq and over the border in Syria's civil war, the officers told Reuters.
To the west, landmines and snipers frustrated efforts to get closer to the city center in the latest in a series of attempts to drive out the militants. Residents of central Tikrit said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were firmly in control of their positions and patrolling the main streets.
Sunni Muslim fighters led by the Islamic State swept through much of northern and western Iraq in June, capturing the Sunni cities of Tikrit and Mosul as well as the Mosul dam, a fragile structure which controls water and power supplies to millions of people down the Tigris river valley.
However, on Monday fighters from Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region said they had regained control of the hydro electric dam with the help of U.S. air strikes. U.S. President Barack Obama also announced that the dam had been retaken.
The Islamic State has concentrated on taking territory for its self-proclaimed caliphate both in Syria, where it is also fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, and in Iraq. Unlike al Qaeda, the movement from which it split, it has so far steered clear of attacking Western targets in or outside the region.
However, a video posted on the Internet warned Americans, in English, that "we will drown all of you in blood" if U.S. air strikes hit Islamic State fighters. The video also showed a photograph of an American who was beheaded during the U.S. occupation of Iraq that followed Saddam's overthrow in 2003.
MAJOR AID PUSH
The UNHCR refugee agency said a four-day airlift of tents and other goods would begin on Wednesday to Arbil, capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, from the Jordanian port of Aqaba. This would be followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan and sea shipments from Dubai via Iran over the next 10 days, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
"This is a very, very significant aid push and certainly one of the largest I can recall in quite a while," he told a news briefing in Geneva. "This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster. It continues to affect many people."
Coinciding with the Kurdish advances, Damascus government forces have stepped up air strikes on Islamic State positions in and around the city of Raqqa – its stronghold in eastern Syria.
Analysts believe Assad - who is firmly in control in the capital more than three years into the civil war - is seizing the moment to show his potential value to Western states that backed the uprising against him but are now increasingly concerned by the Islamic State threat.
"The Syrians are meeting the Americans, or the West, halfway in the question of fighting terrorism, and are presenting themselves as a partner in combating terrorism,” said Salem Zahran, a Lebanese journalist with close ties to the Syrian government.
The Islamic State added new fighters in Syria at a record rate in July, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict. About 6,300 men – 80 percent of them Syrian and the rest foreigners – joined last month, Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Observatory, told Reuters.
TRYING TO TURN THE TIDE
Iraqi government forces put up little serious resistance when Islamic State staged their June offensive, while Kurdish fighters also suffered setbacks until Obama ordered the U.S. air strikes earlier this month.
Obama said he acted to protect Americans and prevent a genocide in a conflict that has forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to flee their homes, including from the Yazidi and Christian religious minorities.
The stalled Tikrit offensive marked a setback in Baghdad's attempts to turn the tide after the Kurds said they had taken the dam, easing fears that the militants could cut off electricity and water supplies, or even breach the structure, causing huge loss of life and damage down the Tigris.
The Islamic State's successes since June have alarmed governments both in the West and in the region.
Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the highest religious authority in the country, said on Tuesday that the Islamic State and al Qaeda were "enemy number one of Islam" and not in any way part of the faith.
Efforts are underway in Baghdad to form a new government that will unite the majority Shi'ites with the Sunnis and Kurds in halting the Islamic State insurgency that threatened to tear the country apart.

West Africa Ebola toll passes 1,200, quarantine victims to get food: WHO

Cases in West Africa's Ebola outbreak this year have risen to 2,240, including 1,229 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, reporting the toll in four countries including Nigeria.

 

The WHO said it was working with the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) to ensure food delivery to 1 million people living in Ebola quarantine zones in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

 

"Food has been delivered to hospitalized patients and people under quarantine who are not able to leave their homes to purchase food. Providing regular food supplies is a potent means of limiting unnecessary movement," the WHO said in a statement.

 

The WFP is stepping up emergency food deliveries to the quarantined areas, which include severely-affected cities such as Gueckedou in Guinea, Kenema and Kailahun in Sierra Leone and Foya in Liberia.

 

While Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and No. 1 oil producer, appears to be containing its smaller outbreak, Liberia and Sierra Leone are struggling to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus among their populations.

 

On Friday, these small two West African nations and a medical charity chided the WHO for its slow response, saying more action was needed to save victims threatened by the disease and hunger.

National Guard called in after second night of chaos in Ferguson, Missouri

Missouri's governor said on Monday he would send the National Guard into the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson to restore calm after authorities forcibly dispersed a crowd protesting last week's fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by police.

 

Gov. Jay Nixon signed an executive order deploying the US state militia, saying demonstrators had thrown Molotov cocktails and shot at police as well as a civilian, a description of the night's events diverging widely from some eyewitness accounts.

 

“Tonight, a day of hope, prayers, and peaceful protests was marred by the violent criminal acts of an organized and growing number of individuals, many from outside the community and state, whose actions are putting the residents and businesses of Ferguson at risk," Nixon said in a statement on his website.

 

A midnight curfew was imposed for the second night in the tense St. Louis suburb hit by racially charged demonstrations, violence and looting since Michael Brown, 18, was shot to death on Aug. 9 by white police officer Darren Wilson.

 

At around dusk on Sunday, hundreds of protesters in Ferguson including families with young children fled to safety after police wearing gas masks and body armor fired tear gas and smoke canisters to scatter them hours ahead of the curfew.

 

"The smoke bombs were completely unprovoked," said Anthony Ellis, 45. "It (the protest) was led by kids on bikes. Next you know they're saying, 'Go home, Go home!'"

 

The Missouri Highway Patrol said "aggressors" were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post and that armored vehicles were deployed to ensure public safety.

 

"We ordered them back. We ordered them back again. After several attempts, we utilized the smoke to disperse these individuals," said Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Wheetley.

 

State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson told a late night news briefing: "Molotov cocktails were thrown, there were shootings, looting, vandalism and other acts of violence that clearly appear not to have been spontaneous."

 

He was explaining the police tactics against what he said had to that point been a peaceful demonstration.

 

"Coordinated acts" by a few in the crowd were "premeditated criminal acts designed ... to provoke a response," Johnson said. "I had no alternative but to elevate the level of our response."

 

He noted most of the protesters were peaceful and blamed the trouble on "a few people bent on violence and destruction."

 

Johnson said the trouble began after police responded to the shooting of a civilian at 8.25 p.m., which was followed by gunfire directed towards police and Molotov cocktails being thrown. At least one other person was shot and several were arrested. No police were injured.

 

Officials said Ferguson schools would be closed on Monday.

 

PRIVATE, FEDERAL AUTOPSIES

 

A preliminary private autopsy, asked for by Brown's family, showed the teenager was shot at least six times, the New York Times reported on Sunday night.

 

Quoting Michael M. Baden, former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, the newspaper reported that Brown was shot twice in the head, and that the bullets that hit him did not appear to have been fired from very close range because no gunpowder was detected on his body.

 

Brown's family was set to appear with Baden on Monday morning in St. Louis to address the autopsy's findings.

 

Earlier on Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal autopsy of Brown's body, seeking to assure the family and community there will be a thorough investigation.

 

Police say Brown was asked by Wilson to move off the road and onto a sidewalk and that Brown reached into a patrol car and struggled with Wilson for his service gun and was shot.

 

A friend of Brown's, Dorian Johnson, 22, and at least one other witness said Wilson reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and the teenager was trying to get away when shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender but Wilson got out of his patrol car and shot Brown several times, they said.

 

Police in Ferguson have come under strong criticism for Brown's death and their handling of the aftermath.

 

On Saturday night they also used smoke canisters and tear gas to drive away protesters who refused to leave the area when the midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew began. Seven protesters were arrested after failing to disperse.

 

As disturbances continued in Missouri, 500 people protested outside police headquarters in Los Angeles on Sunday over the shooting death of an unarmed black man in California a week ago.

 

That rally was peaceful, with many holding up signs reading, "Hands up, don't shoot," in reference to witness reports that Brown had his hands up when he was shot in Ferguson.

Saudi beheaded for murder as Amnesty urges halt to executions

A Saudi national convicted of murder was decapitated by the sword in the southwest of the Gulf kingdom on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

 

Wail al-Shehri, convicted of shooting dead Meshaal Assiri during an argument, was executed on Tuesday in Abha, capital of Assir province, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

 

The beheading by sword raises to 33 the number of executions announced in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP tally.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Monday denounced in a statement what it called a "disturbing surge" in the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

 

"The Saudi Arabian authorities must halt all executions," it said after two sets of brothers were beheaded on Monday after being convicted of drug smuggling.

 

Amnesty said the convictions of the four men came "reportedly on the basis of forced confessions extracted through torture".

 

The rights group said Monday's beheadings "bring the number of state killings in Saudi Arabia in the past two weeks to 17 -- a rate of more than one execution per day".

 

"The recent increase in executions in Saudi Arabia is a deeply disturbing deterioration. The authorities must act immediately to halt this cruel practice," Amnesty's Said Boumedouha said.

 

Last year, there were 78 executions in Saudi Arabia and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced a "sharp increase in the use of capital punishment".

 

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Ukraine separatist leader says rebels getting tanks and reinforcements

Reuters

Ukrainian rebels are receiving new armoured vehicles and fighters trained in Russia, with which they plan to launch a major counter-offensive against government forces, a separatist leader said in a video released on Saturday.

 

The four-month conflict in eastern Ukraine has reached a critical phase, with Kiev and Western governments watching nervously to see if Russia will intervene in support of the increasingly besieged rebels - an intention Moscow denies.

 

Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said the rebels were in the process of receiving some 150 armoured vehicles, including 30 tanks, and 1,200 fighters who he said had spent four months training in Russia.

 

"They are joining at the most crucial moment," he said in a video recorded on Friday. He did not specify where the vehicles would come from.

 

Moscow has come under heavy Western sanctions over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and accusations it is supporting separatists in east Ukraine with fighters, arms and funds. Russia denies those charges.

 

In a sign of concern at the latest rebel comments, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone call on Saturday that deliveries of weapons to separatists in Ukraine must stop and a ceasefire must be achieved, a German government spokesman said.

 

The risk of outright war between the two most powerful former Soviet states was highlighted on Friday when Ukraine said it partially destroyed an armoured column that had crossed the border from Russia. The report triggered a sell-off in global shares.

 

But Moscow made no threat of retaliation, instead saying it was a "fantasy" that its armoured vehicles had entered its neighbour's territory.

 

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also spoke to Poroshenko on Saturday, and the White House said: "The two leaders agreed that Russia's sending military columns across the border into Ukraine and its continued provision of advanced weapons to the separatists was inconsistent with any desire to improve the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine."

 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin called on NATO to provide military support for Ukrainian troops.

 

The rebels, who have ceded ground to government forces in recent weeks, have been promising a counter-offensive for several days but have yet to launch one.

 

Ukrainian native Zakharchenko took over from Russian citizen Alexander Borodai last week and his combative comments will probably dash hopes that changes at the top of the rebel leadership might signal willingness to end hostilities.

 

CONVOY WAITS

 

Adding to the tensions, Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads for days over a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying water, food and medicine, which remained about 20 km (12 miles) from the Ukrainian border, unmoved since Friday.

 

Officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross said most procedures had been agreed by Russia and Ukraine but the two sides still needed to figure out how to provide security before the convoy moves ahead under the ICRC's aegis. It was not clear when a deal on security could be agreed.

 

Russia says it is a purely humanitarian mission in support of civilians in areas hit by the conflict, but Ukraine is concerned it could serve as a Trojan Horse to infiltrate military supplies or create a pretext for armed intervention.

 

The crisis has dragged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War and set off a round of trade restrictions that are hurting struggling economies in both Russia and Europe. The United Nations said this week that an estimated 2,086 people had been killed, with nearly 5,000 wounded.

 

The Finnish President, Sauli Niinisto, held talks in Kiev with Poroshenko, a day after discussing how to settle the crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

"I do not see a great risk of an outright war," Niinisto said. "My hopefulness is based on the fact that communication is open, at least by a crack."

 

France said a meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French foreign ministers scheduled in Berlin on Sunday could be a first step towards a peace summit.

 

A rebel Internet news outlet said on Saturday that separatist fighters had killed 30 members of a Ukrainian government battalion in fighting in Luhansk province, a rebel-held area of eastern Ukraine adjacent to the Russian border.

 

A Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, contradicted the rebel assertions. He said three Ukrainian servicemen had been killed over the past 24 hours. Ukrainian security forces had spotted Russian drones and a helicopter crossing illegally into Ukraine's airspace, Lysenko told a news briefing.

 

He denied Kiev's forces were firing artillery on Donetsk, one of two rebel strongholds in the east, where a Reuters reporter said explosions were audible in the city centre on Saturday. The Donetsk city administration said four people were killed in shelling that destroyed homes and set several buildings on fire.

 

MOMENTUM WITH THE ARMY

 

The momentum on the ground is with the Ukrainian forces, who have pushed the separatists out of large swathes of territory and nearly encircled them in Donetsk and Luhansk. Kiev says it now controls the road linking the two cities.

 

Russia says the Ukrainian offensive is causing a humanitarian catastrophe for the civilian population in the two cities. It accuses Kiev's forces of indiscriminately using heavy weapons in residential areas, an allegation Ukraine denies.

 

In the past week, three senior rebel leaders have been removed from their posts, pointing to mounting disagreement over how to turn the tide of the fighting back in their favour.

 

Lysenko, the Ukrainian military spokesman, said he had reports of rebel fighters abandoning their posts in Luhansk, and preparing to leave Donetsk and seek safe haven in Russia.

 

"A mood of panic is spreading and rebels are trying to leave through the small gaps that remain," he said.

 

In Donetsk, the red, blue and black flag of separatists was flying on a pole in front of the headquarters. Ten people armed with Kalashnikov rifles were standing on guard outside the main entrance in mismatched camouflage.

 

"Why should we flee? People are still coming and filling our ranks. Those who have lost their houses to Ukrainian shelling, what else would they do but fight back?," said a fighter who gave his name as Communist.

Israel: Undeterred by Hamas warnings

Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday any deal on Gaza's future at truce talks in Cairo must be contingent on Israel's security needs, cautioning Hamas against carrying out its threat of a long war if Palestinian demands are not met.

 

With a five-day ceasefire due to expire late on Monday, negotiators were to reconvene in the Egyptian capital to seek an end to five weeks of hostilities that have killed more than 2,000 people.

 

Both sides say gaps remain in reaching a long-term deal that would keep the peace between Israel and militant groups in the Hamas Islamist-dominated Gaza Strip, and open the way for reconstruction aid to reach the battered enclave.

 

Hamas wants Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the Gaza Strip lifted, as well as the establishment of a seaport and airport, as part of any enduring halt to violence.

 

Israel, which launched its offensive on July 8 after a surge in cross-border Hamas rocket attacks, has shown scant interest in making sweeping concessions, and has called for the disarming of militant groups in the territory of 1.8 million people.

 

Netanyahu, in public remarks to his cabinet, said Hamas should not underestimate Israel's resolve to battle on.

 

"Only if there is a clear response to our security needs will we agree to reach understandings," he said.

 

"If Hamas thinks that through continued intermittent firing it will cause us to make concessions, it is mistaken. For as long as quiet does not return, Hamas will continue to absorb very harsh strikes."

 

The Gaza offensive has had broad public support in Israel, where militants' rockets, many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, have disrupted everyday life but caused little damage and few casualties.

 

Commenting on Netanyahu's remarks, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "The only way to achieve security is to afford security to the Palestinians first and to lift the blockade and to agree to their demands."

 

On Saturday, Osama Hamdan, the head of Hamas's foreign affairs, said on Facebook: "Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war."

 

Egypt, which is mediating between the sides and, like Israel, views Hamas as a security threat, has given little detail on any progress in the talks.

 

"As of now, Israel has not agreed to any proposals," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

 

DESTRUCTION

 

The United Nations said 425,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the war. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave says 1,980 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

 

On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

 

Egyptian and Palestinian sources have said that at the Cairo talks Israel had tentatively agreed to relax curbs on the movement of people and goods across the border, subject to certain conditions.

 

Israeli Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said Israel was examining the Egyptian proposal as a whole and had yet to make any final decision.

 

"There are sections that are problematic as far as Israel is concerned," Erdan said on Israel Radio, without elaborating.

 

The Palestinian demand for a Gaza sea port and reconstruction of an airport destroyed in previous conflicts with Israel has been a stumbling block, with Israel citing security reasons for opposing their operation.

 

Israel and Hamas have not met face-to-face in Cairo: Israel regards Hamas, which advocates its destruction, as a terrorist group. The Palestinian delegation includes representatives of Hamas and U.S.-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who brought his former Islamist rivals into a unity government in April.

Israel destroys homes of Palestinians suspected of killing Israeli teens

Reuters

(Reuters) - Israeli troops on Monday demolished the homes of two Palestinians it suspects of the abduction and killing of three teenagers in the occupied West Bank in June, the army said.

 

Troops set charges to destroy the homes of Hussam Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha in the southern West Bank before dawn and sealed off the home of a third suspect, Marwan Kawasme, the army said.

 

Israel accuses Hamas Islamist militants of the abduction and killing of Jewish seminary students Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, who went missing on June 12 and were discovered dead a couple of weeks later in the West Bank.

 

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the accusations.

 

Hussam Kawasme, a 40-year-old resident of Hebron, was arrested on July 11 but the other two suspects remained at large, the army said.

 

The killings set off a cycle of violence that led to a month-long offensive between Israel and militants in Hamas-dominated Gaza.

 

Israel carried out air strikes and a ground offensive in the enclave to counter militant rocket fire and to blow up a network of tunnels dug under the border to infiltrate the Jewish state.

 

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says 1,980 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict. On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

 

A ceasefire that brought fighting to a halt is due to expire later on Monday and Egyptian-mediated talks to end the conflict are not certain to succeed, according to Palestinian delegates participating in the talks in Cairo.

 

Hussam Kawasme's arrest was made public for the first time earlier this month in a document from a court case over whether houses belonging to him and two other suspects should be destroyed as a punitive measure.

 

It said Kawasme had admitted helping to organize the kidnapping - securing funding from Hamas and buying weapons which he passed on to the two other suspects who carried out the attack.

 

He also helped to bury the bodies of the teenagers in a plot of land he had bought a few months earlier, it said.

 

The military statement said Israel's supreme court had affirmed the military's wish to demolish the homes and had rejected three appeals by the suspects' families against their destruction.

Russia says agreement reached on aid to Ukraine but not on ceasefire

Reuters

Russia on Monday said all objections to it sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine had been resolved but said no progress had been made in Berlin talks toward a ceasefire between government and rebel forces in the east of the country.

 

Following the talks between Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "finally, all questions have been resolved ... related to the Russian initiative to send 300 trucks with humanitarian aid."

 

"Everything has been agreed with Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross," he said at a news conference in Berlin.

 

Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads over a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying water, food and medicine.

 

It has been parked for days in Russia near the border amid objections from Kiev, which believes the convoy could be a Trojan Horse for Russia to get weapons to the rebels - a notion that Moscow has dismissed as absurd.

 

Lavrov described the situation in east Ukraine as a "humanitarian catastrophe" and said a ceasefire was needed as civilians had been under bombardment from the Ukrainian advance.

 

"We are not able to report on positive results on reaching a ceasefire and on (a start to) the political process (to resolve the conflict)," he told journalists.

 

The four-month-old conflict in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east has reached a critical phase, with Kiev and Western governments watching nervously to see if Russia will use troops massed along its border to intervene in support of the increasingly besieged pro-Russian rebels.

 

Russian has repeatedly said it has no plans to invade and Lavrov again denied Moscow is helping the rebels. He defended the military buildup on Russia's border, saying: "We must be alert ... when several kilometers from our border a real war is underway."

Palestinians, Israelis return to Cairo for Gaza talks

Palestinian and Israel delegations returned to Cairo on Sunday to resume indirect talks on the situation in the Gaza Strip as the deadline for a five-day ceasefire looms.
The cross-faction delegation put together by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had all arrived back in Cairo by Sunday to participate in the talks, said a Palestinian official with the delegation. He confirmed that the talks are set to start on Sunday and continue into Monday, after which the current ceasefire agreement is expected to expire.
Osama Hamdan, a member of Hamas’ political bureau and head of foreign relations, said on Saturday that unless Israel accepts the Palestinians’ demands it would “face a long war of attrition”. The Palestinian official said that Hamdan’s words are his personal view and not to be taken as the view of the delegation, stressing that “all [delegation members] are committed to one position”.
Ahead of the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting: “Only if there is a clear response to our security needs will we agree to reach understandings.” He stressed that Israel’s security is the priority for the Israeli delegation in Cairo. Netanyahu added: “As long as quiet is not restored, Hamas will continue to take very harsh blows. If it thinks that we cannot stand it, it is mistaken.”
The latest militarised phase of the decades old conflict began on 8 July, escalating to an Israeli ground offensive launched on 17 July, three days after Hamas declined to participate in an Egyptian ceasefire initiative saying that it was not formally approached to do so. At the start of August, Egypt managed to broker a 72-hour ceasefire, which included indirect talks in Cairo. Last week it seemed that the talks had collapsed after the Israeli delegation left Cairo following an incursion of the ceasefire agreement just hours before it was due to expire without incident. The Palestinians said that if the Israeli delegation did not commit to returning to talks that it too would leave Cairo. Egypt was able to broker another 72-hour ceasefire and the five-day extension was secured on 13 August.
The conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people, and in Gaza 1,417 of those killed were civilians, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Of the 67 Israeli deaths, three were civilians including one foreign national.

Robin Williams: His advice still matters

(CNN) -- Robin Williams gave a lot of advice. Whether in character or as himself, he was universally perceived as someone who knew things the rest of us had somehow missed. He often suggested reaching out for help, and from what we know, he took his own advice more than once. Whether on reaching out or fighting indifference, his words carry as much power now as they ever did.

In 2013, Williams participated in a question a

nd answer session on the social media site Reddit. He spoke on a variety of topics, from the kind of animal he would be (a dolphin) to his recipe for success.

Q: Robin, your movie "Good Morning Vietnam' inspired me to become a broadcaster. Any advice you would give to my fellow radio hosts and myself?

A: Enjoy the time! If your intent is to pursue this once you get out of the service, see if you keep going once you get out. And know that you mean something.

Q: What do you believe is the key to life?

A: Once again: family and friends. And a good pet. For pure loyalty there is nothing like a pug.

Q: What is, in your opinion, the recipe to success?

A: Truly loving what you do. Because there will be good days and bad days.

Q: College tips for a freshman?

A: Eat ramen, and also, don't wait until the day before the final to cram for the test (which is what I did for my economics final).

Q: Any advice out there for people like me who may be going through bad times themselves, for whatever reasons?

A: Reach out to friends. They're out there. And know that you are loved.

Spoiler alert: Video clips below may reveal key plot points.

'Good Will Hunting'

As a therapist in "Good Will Hunting," Williams plays a psychologist helping a brilliant but troubled young man find his identity.

In this scene, Williams and his client, played by Matt Damon, speak about the myth of perfection in a scene that had even the cameraman laughing.

"People call these things imperfections. But they're not. That's the good stuff. And then we get to choose who we let in to our weird little worlds. You're not perfect, sport. And let me save you the suspense. This girl you met, she's isn't perfect either. But the question is whether you're perfect for each other. That's the whole deal. That's what intimacy is all about."

Watch: http://youtu.be/z8mn3nLPSMY

Another moment occurs as Williams' and Damon's characters speak about the experience of love vs. the idea of love.

"If I ever asked you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked a woman and been totally vulnerable," and later when speaking about his wife who died of cancer, "You don't know about real loss, because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much."

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc

'Dead Poets Society'

In this scene from "Dead Poets Society," Williams, playing an unconventional English professor at an exclusive boys' school, dares his students to think independently and embrace the power of the poetry they're studying.

"No matter what anybody else tells you, words and ideas can change the world. We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

Watch: http://youtu.be/-VUV2Yl8gsI

In the same film, he offers this advice on finding a voice:

"We must constantly look at things in a different way. ... You must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all."

Watch: http://youtu.be/Ba7MVmzQicY

'The Fisher King'

In this scene from "The Fisher King," Williams plays a homeless "knight" intent on saving and comforting the forgotten. His speech is aimed at two youths beating up a troubled character played by Jeff Bridges.

"There's three things in this world you need: Respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis and a navy blazer. One more thing: Never take your eye off the ball."

Watch: http://youtu.be/tgyLooq4qpk

'Awakenings'

Williams plays a doctor who has, at least temporarily, helped patients come out of decades-long catatonic states. Far from viewing the experiment as a failure, in this scene, he summarizes what he and his patients learned.

"That the human spirit is more powerful than any drug. And that is what needs to be nourished. Work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter. This is what we've forgotten."

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKLyhUgAA58

'Patch Adams'

This scene not only contains a bonus appearance by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, it features an impassioned Williams speaking about empowering patients and being a doctor who offers treatment and comfort.

"What's wrong with death, sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency and, God forbid, maybe even humor. Death is not the enemy, gentlemen. If we're going to fight a disease, let's fight the most terrible of all, indifference. Now, I've sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference and professional distance. Transference is inevitable, sir. Every human being has an impact on another."

Watch: http://youtu.be/Pr9ruvxA3K4

'Jack'

Jack Powell may be a young man, but his unusual aging disorder will cut his life short. In a graduation speech, he offers this advice.

"Please don't worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky, when the stars are strung across the velvety night, and when shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day, make a wish. Think of me. Make your life spectacular. I know I did."

Yazidi refugees braced for life in exile

(CNN) -- They are the faces of an entire community on the run.

Singled out, threatened, chased at gunpoint from their homes.

Pursued purely because they are members of an ethnic and religious minority.

Iraq's Yazidi Kurds are no strangers to persecution. Their faith teaches them that throughout history, they have been subjected to 72 genocides. Many world leaders fear they are on the brink of a 73rd massacre, this time at the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which calls itself the Islamic State.

Iraqi refugees fleeing ISIS

Terrifying moments after Yazidi rescue

Every tent holds a horror story

ISIS: We've taken Yazidi women, children

Kurdish photographer Warzer Jaff spent a week documenting the exodus of the Yazidis from their ancient homeland. What is immediately striking in his portraits are their piercing eyes.

"I am fascinated with the deep sadness in their eyes," Jaff says. "You don't see one single happy face."

There is little room for joy when one has been made instantly homeless.

In the weeks since ISIS militants overran cities and towns in northern Iraq, the Yazidis joined a modern-day exodus of hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis. Most of those fleeing come from the many other ethnic and religious minorities that make up the mosaic of the region, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Turcomen, Shi'ites, Shabbak, Kurds.

Instantly made homeless, tens of thousands of these families have sought shelter in Iraqi Kurdistan. Driving through this region, one can see families squatting under bridges, camping in derelict buildings, unfinished construction sites, churches, youth centers, open fields.

Each refugee shares horrifying stories of abduction and murder. Even more disturbing, the frequent refrain that "our neighbors did this to us."

Their claims that Arab tribesmen joined in the looting and kidnapping of these defenseless minorities suggests there is little hope these communities will one day live side by side together again in peace. As one senior Kurdish official put it, "the social fabric has been torn."

"I don't want to live with Arabs anymore, they take our land, they kidnap our women, and they kill us, why should I live with them?" asked Ali Khalid, 75, a Yazidi.

He wandered amid the tents of a brand new refugee camp leaning on a cane; his long white mustache, a proud symbol for Yazidi men, drooping over his mouth. Like nearly every other displaced Iraqi we met over the last week, Khalid urged Western governments to grant his people asylum in Europe or North America.

Not far away, a grieving mother showed a laminated identity card. It belonged to her 20-year old daughter, Baran. She was fatally wounded by shrapnel two weeks ago, Khokhe Namir said, while racing out into the backyard to pull a child back to safety.

"I buried her with my own hands," Namir said, scraping at the dirt with her fingers, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Amid the grief and despair, there are still moments of childlike innocence. In a refugee camp for Iraqis that sprouted up in a Kurdish-controlled enclave in Syria, a red-haired girl picked through a pile of second-hand clothes donated by local Kurds.

"I like the bright colors and the flowers," she said, after eyeing a long dress decorated with pink flowers.

Last Friday, Jaff wandered up from a tent in a refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan visibly shaken. "There's a newborn baby who was born on the mountain, I'm afraid she's going to die," he said.

In the tent, the parents of the 6-day-old girl had bound their infant in a sheet and laid her on the dirt, atop a pile of blankets and cushions. They didn't have a cradle for the child.

The girl was born on Sinjar Mountain. Tens of thousands of Yazidis sought refuge on its heights as they fled ISIS fighters, only to find themselves trapped and surrounded by the militants.

Jaff took the little girl's parents into town and bought them a cradle and extra food for their baby. Across the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria, there have been many similar acts of kindness and generosity from locals toward their less fortunate cousins from farther south.

The baby's parents told me despite the heat, she was eating normally. The girl appeared healthy. Her mother said she was thinking of naming her child Hajar. Loosely translated, that means migrant or as the family interpreted it, "Exile."

Germany tapped John Kerry’s phone, spied on Turkey for years - report

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency eavesdropped at least one telephone conversation of US Secretary of State John Kerry and spied on NATO ally Turkey since 2009, Der Spiegel newspaper revealed on Saturday.
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) picked up the phone call "by accident" in 2013, the weekly newspaper reported in a pre-publication citing unnamed sources. Kerry was discussing the Middle East tensions between Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states in a satellite link, according to Der Spiegel.
The new revelation comes after German media - Daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR – reported on Friday that BND intercepted at least one phone call made by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The date of the call was not given and the media said that it was also picked up “by accident”.
The German media retrieved the information of the hacking from documents that were passed to the CIA by one of its moles inside the BND.
On Saturday Der Spiegel reported that Clinton’s call recorded was intercepted in 2012. Clinton was in talks with former UN chief Kofi Annan, who had just returned from negotiations in Syria and wanted to brief the former Secretary of State.
The NDR added on Friday that Clinton wasn’t the only one spied on as “apparently, phone calls by US politicians and from other friendly nations have been repeatedly recorded and submitted to the respective BND President as instructed”.
“The fact that the recording wasn't deleted immediately was called ‘idiocy’ by a member of the government in Berlin,” NDR reported.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

In another leak, Der Spiegel also learned that BND has been spying on its NATO ally Turkey since 2009. No further details on the scale of surveillance were given. Sources confirmed the wiretapping to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, saying that it was essential for national security as there are many Turkish people living in Germany.
The government in Ankara says it intends to carefully investigate the Der Spiegel report.
"I am of the opinion that this needs to be taken seriously… Definitely, our government and foreign ministry will carry out the necessary research about the allegations in the magazine,” Mehmet Ali Sahin, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was quoted as saying by Agence France Presse.
According to Der Spiegel, the German government reviews its espionage program every four years but did not modify its priorities after the NSA scandal that deeply strained US-German relations last year.
The full version of the report will be published by Der Spiegel on Sunday.
In October, US whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked information that Washington had conducted intensive spying operations including tapping phones of at least 35 heads of state, including Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel called US President Barack Obama over the issue, saying that if the revelations were proven to be true it would be “completely unacceptable” and represent a “grave breach of trust,” Steffen Seibert, a German government spokesman, said at the time.
The issue was brought up again in July when two US agents were unmasked, suspected of acting as double agents within the state security apparatus, and passing secrets to US intelligence contacts. In response to the espionage scandal Germany promptly expelled the Berlin CIA chief.
The new reports may escalate the growing political tension between the two states, key partners in the NATO military alliance.
Last month in an interview to German broadcaster ZDF Germany’s Chancellor said that Washington and Berlin have different perceptions of the role of the intelligence service.
“For me it is a sign that we have fundamentally different conceptions of the work of the intelligence services.”
"I can't say in advance if [the measures we took] will have an effect, of course I hope something will change. But the important thing is to show how we view things... and it is not a co-operative partnership when such things take place."

Syrian rebels call for Iraq-style US airstrikes against ISIS

The Syrian National Coalition has urged the international community, namely the US, to carry out airstrikes against the Islamic State radicals in Syria. According to Al Jazeera sources, Washington advised the Western-backed group to make such a plea.
“We call on the international community to use the American air force, or those of any other country to support the Free Syrian Army,” the opposition coalition said on Saturday, as the Islamic State continues to advance towards rebel-held Allepo, at a time when the US continues to strike ISIS positions in neighboring Iraq.
The leader of SNC Hadi al-Bahra made his heartfelt appeal to the international community at a news conference in Turkey.
“In the name of humanity, I call on the United Nations and all countries which believe in freedom, starting with the United States, to take action in Syria the same way as it did in Iraqi Kurdistan,” he said as cited by AFP.
However, as Al Jazeera has learned from sources inside the opposition, it was US officials who reportedly asked the SNC to appeal to the international community to carry out Iraq-style pinpoint airstrikes on the jihadist positions in Syria.
“The causes are the same, the enemy is the same, and double standards should not apply,” said the leader of the exiled Syrian opposition group.
The US meanwhile is continuing its airstrike campaign in Iraq with at least nine attacks in Iraq’s Kurdistan confirmed by US military on Saturday. Washington perceives its military involvement as a protection of US facilities and personnel in Iraq as well as helping the Iraqi government to deliver humanitarian relief to those who are suffering and to stop IS advancement on Baghdad. At the same time the US and EU are mulling direct arms supplies to Iraqi Kurds.

Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. (Reuters)

In Syria however, the military wing of the SNC in Syria – the Free Syrian Arm –is facing a great armed challenge as Islamic State advances towards the rebel stronghold Aleppo, which is also under assault by the government forces, forcing the rebels to concentrate on both fronts.
“The Syrian Coalition calls for targeted air strikes in Syria. Strikes should be backed up by intensive train and equip programmes for the moderate Syrian opposition forces that have been effectively fighting ISIS for over a year,” the coalition's Special Representative to the UN, Najib Ghadbian, told Al Jazeera, while another source said that SNC was “getting different promises” from Washington.
In Syria, Islamic State fighters have overrun nearly a dozen towns and villages in Aleppo province this week, crushing what little resistance they have encountered. On Saturday radicals advanced to Marea and Aazaz.
“The pressure is now on Marea, militarily,” said activist Abu Omar, spokesman for the town's “revolutionary council.”
“The rebels consider this to be one of the most important battles against the IS... There's no question of losing,” he told AFP, speaking via the Internet.
The plea for US-led strikes in Syria comes as reports emerged of some 700 tribal members in eastern Syria being slaughtered by the jihadists over the past two weeks.
Islamic State executes 700 members of Syrian tribe, mostly civilians - report
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Saturday that the Islamic State carried out the killings in the Deir al-Zor province, after capturing it and declaring it part of the caliphate.