Six In The Morning

Dozens defy Missouri curfew in riot-hit Ferguson

 17 August 2014 Last updated at 07:32

 BBC

US police fired smoke bombs and tear gas at a crowd which defied an overnight curfew in Ferguson, where a black teenager was shot dead by police last week.

About 150 protesters refused to disperse before a midnight (05:00 GMT) deadline in the St Louis suburb.

The governor of Missouri has imposed the curfew until 05:00 (10:00 GMT).

The move comes after a week of violent clashes between heavily armed local police and protesters.

Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead on a street in Ferguson on 9 August.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on the main road in Ferguson in poor weather conditions hours before the curfew was due to go into force on Saturday evening.

On race, America has far to go. Ferguson won’t be the last flash point

The events in Missouri spring from America’s deeply embedded segregation and black economic deprivation

Farai Chideya

The Observer, Sunday 17 August 2014

I spent my very early years in New York, living a very multiracial Sesame Street life, a big swinging bellbottom of a childhood. And then our family moved to Baltimore and the iron curtain of the “colour line” fell. I felt that I had moved from the 1970s through a time warp where black and white were the only two colours and never the twain shall socially meet.

I grew to understand what the 50s were actually like in Baltimore, when my mother, for example, was permitted to buy clothes from the major department store but not try them on. (Heaven forfend some black lady should be in the dressing room, right? You know they leave a residue of blackness on the clothes.)

Iraq crisis: Iraqi minority says massacre of civilians not over yet

Yazidi activist claims President Obama’s statement that a military evacuation of Mount Sinjar was no longer necessary encouraged Isis militants

IAN JOHNSTON , RACHAEL PELLS   Sunday 17 August 2014

A leading Yazidi politician said yesterday that he was preparing to make a last stand in his home village in northern Iraq, as members of the religious minority warned that another massacre of civilians by the extremist militants of the Islamic State (formerly Isis) showed that the crisis was far from over. The United Nations said it was trying to confirm reports of the worst single atrocity against Yazidis since the Islamic State offensive began on 3 August, with two separate sources saying up to 400 men had been executed in the village of Kocho after refusing to convert to Islam.

Last night, Kurdish forces backed by US air strikes were attempting to retake control of the Mosul Dam, which helps power parts of northern Iraq, with some eyewitness reports claiming a ground offensive had been launched as part of the operation.

Ukraine separatists ‘receive recruits trained in Russia’

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine has claimed his own pro-Russian side is in the process of receiving hardware, as well as fighters trained in Russia. A high-level meeting on Ukraine is set to take place in Berlin.



DW

Alexander Zakharchenko – who is prime minister of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” – said on Saturday his side was receiving new armored vehicles, as well as the Russian-trained fighters, at a crucial time in the separatists’ battle with Kyiv.

In a video, Zakharchenko said his side were taking delivery of hardware, as well as welcoming fighters who were trained in Russia. The announcement about reinforcements came as separatists claimed to be making progress against government forces, reestablishing a supply line between the two regions of Donestsk and Luhansk.

China promotes mixed marriages in Tibet as way to achieve ‘unity’

August 17, 2014 – 1:34PM

William Wan

Beijing: During their controversial six-decade-rule of Tibet, China’s Communist Party leaders have been accused by human rights groups of trying to tame the restive region by imprisoning Tibetan political prisoners, keeping in exile their leader, the Dalai Lama, and repressing Tibetan religion and culture.

Now, China has turned to interracial marriage in an apparent attempt to assimilate Tibetans and stamp out rebellious impulses.

In recent weeks, Chinese officials in charge of the Tibetan Autonomous Region have ordered a run of stories in local newspapers promoting mixed marriages. And according to newly published government reports, the government has adopted a series of policies in recent years favourable to interracial couples.

New restrictions in Kenya for travelers amid Ebola fears



 By Lillian Leposo, CNN

Kenya Airways will suspend flight operations to Liberia and Sierra Leone, the latest airline to curb flights because of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The suspension is temporary, and the airline will continue operating flights to Nigeria and Ghana, Kenya Airways said.

The Kenyan government announced other restrictions, saying it is temporarily suspending entry into Kenya of passengers who have passed through Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Health professionals and Kenyan citizens returning home from those countries will be the exceptions, but will have to undergo extensive screening and close monitoring, said James Macharia, Cabinet secretary of the Kenya Ministry of Health.