Islamic State militants are kidnapping thousands of people to use as human shields —  TULUL AL-NASIR, Iraq — Islamic State militants have rounded up thousands of villagers at gunpoint to use as human shields as they retreat toward their stronghold of Mosul, the latest brutal war tactic inflicted on civilians in areas the group controls. Military officials and some who escaped said that the vast majority of people in more than half a dozen villages were forced to walk north toward the city as the army advanced from the south, and that those who refused were shot. Some villagers said they ran and hid in the desert to avoid being captured, sleeping out in the open for days. Others said they were taken but later managed to flee. Villagers also described mass executions of former policemen and army officers as the militants become increasingly paranoid about spies and collaborators. The kidnappings and killings compound fears about the plight of civilians as Iraqi forces advance toward the northern city of Mosul, a prize the militants don’t appear ready to give up without a hard fight. Humanitarian organizations have said they have grave concerns that civilians are at risk of being caught in crossfire, trapped between fighting or used as human shields. Holding civilian populations hostage is among the tactics the militants use to waylay advancing forces and complicate the U.S.-led airstrikes that support them. They also have set fire to oil wells and a sulfur plant south of the city, sending noxious fumes over hundreds of miles. Before launching the offensive for Mosul last week, Iraqi officials estimated that as many as 1.8 million residents were still in the city, with expectations of an exodus as forces advanced. But residents of Tulul al-Nasir, a gray, cinder-block settlement about 25 miles south of the city, said they were forced to flee the other way. [Signs of panic in the heart of Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate] “They told us on the loudspeakers that whoever stays will be killed,” said Mohammed Ali, 45. They were ordered by the militants to walk about 15 miles north to Hamam al-Ali, a larger village that is still under Islamic State control. As he spoke, men crowded around him to list their family members who are missing. Some said dozens had been taken, with families divided in the confusion. More than 90 percent of the village’s 5,000 residents were kidnapped, said Iraqi army Col. Faisal Ali Abdellatif. “When they retreat from every village, they take the civilians with them to use as human shields,” he said. At her house in Tulul al-Nasir, Bushra Hussein recalled how two armed militants came by one recent day. “They said we had to gather on the road and that if they came back in 30 minutes and found us here, they’d kill us,” she said. With thousands of her neighbors, she was marched north, pushing her disabled 26-year-old son in his wheelchair, which broke after several days. Unable to move him, she was allowed to stay by the side of the road with him, where she remained until security forces advanced. Her husband, three other sons, three daughters and grandchildren were all forced to move on with the militants, she said. They called her briefly two days earlier to say they were in Mosul. “Thousands of families have been taken,” she said. “No one wanted to go.” [Sunnis fleeing Islamic State rule in Mosul brace for revenge] For those who refused to leave, the punishment was swift. On the outskirts of the village, Moyad Atallah, 40, was attending a funeral for his three brothers, who were shot after protesting. Eight Islamic State fighters in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns had arrived at their house at sundown to round them up, he said. One brother refused. “They shot him just there,” said Atallah, pointing at the dust outside his home. When his two other brothers then fought back, they were also killed, he said. The militants took their money and the family car, then kidnapped another brother and said they would return. The rest of the family fled and hid in an abandoned house nearby, including 11 now-orphaned children. The Islamic State’s utter disregard for the safety of civilians and its apparently deliberate use of human shields is putting people trapped in areas of active conflict at even greater risk as Iraqi forces advance, said Lynn Maalouf, a Beirut-based researcher for Amnesty International. Iraqi security forces have slowly won back villages and towns outside Mosul, but the militants have shown little sign that they will give up ground easily, and Iraqi and U.S. military officials say they expect the fight to get tougher as they near the city’s outskirts. As the militants are gradually squeezed, they have stepped up their savagery against local populations, residents have said. Abdulrahim al-Shammiri, the chairman of the human rights committee in the Iraqi parliament, said that 190 civilians were executed in Hamam al-Ali on Wednesday after being “kidnapped” from surrounding areas. Those who escaped said that former police or army officers were separated from their families and executed. “They killed 20 people in front of me,” said one 19-year-old from the village of Safina, who was held for three days in Hamam al-Ali before his family escaped at night, walking for days before reaching the Iraqi security forces. The family members were separated during their escape, and militants on motorbikes recaptured some of them while others watched from a ditch. Those who escaped were shot at as they fled; one woman was hit in the abdomen and is receiving treatment in Irbil. The family members declined to give their names because of concerns about the security of 30 relatives who are still missing. “All of us were against them, but they dragged us with them, all the village,” said his aunt, whose husband, four sons and three daughters are missing. Mustafa Salim contributed to this report.

I'm starting to feel like these militants dont represent that whole religion as a whole. I feel like they are twist to the religion that is out to give them a bad name., Kidnapping children is just too low even for the hardest of criminals. WE must do something to stop this and that is hurting their finances and freezing all of their bank accounts.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 38 years old. The person has a postgraduate / professional degree. The person earns 42000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 3.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 6.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 6.5 in stability.

Wow, hearing about things like this really makes me so grateful to be an American.  I'm very happy to live in this beautiful country and I wish people would stop complaining so much about everything they think is wrong here.  Just be grateful you're not being used as a human shield.  Some of the things going on over there are just atrocious, and as bad as people think it is here it doesn't even hold a candle to that.  I am saddened to hear about these families and children being harmed so maliciously.


The person is male. Racially, the person is black / african american. The person is 37 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 40000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.5 in agreeableness, and 6.0 in stability.

I feel sad for all the people who are being turned into human shields in Iraq. The article made me think about how good we have it in the United States and things that are happening to these people are only seen in movies.  To be shot dead on the spot for protesting or have more than half of your family missing because they were kidnapped would be horrible.


The person is male. Racially, the person is hispanic / latino. The person is 23 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 70000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 4.0 in conscientiousness, 6.5 in extraversion, 3.5 in agreeableness, and 5.0 in stability.

Have you been reading about what is happening in Iraq, militants taking control of villages and just rounding up thousands of them for executions. It is absolutely horrible and disgusting that people are capable of doing something like that to each other and seeing each other as less than human. Over 5000 people kidnapped it really makes me feel for their families and hope that change occurs over there.


The person is male. Racially, the person is asian / pacific islander. The person is 29 years old. The person has a high school degree or diploma. The person earns 44000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 5.0 in stability.

Dear friend,                                                  I have just read an article about Islamic militants who are kidnapping innocent people and using them as human shields. They shoot anyone who refuses to help. The story has made me upset to read. There is so much evil and suffering in the world, I wish it would end.


A humanitarian crisis looms in Afghanistan as the number of displaced climbs —  KABUL — Abdulhalim fled the northern city of Kunduz this month after militants and security forces had been clashing for days. Now he’s 200 miles away in Kabul, sleeping in a tent and living on aid. He is part of a looming humanitarian crisis aid agencies here are struggling to contain. Before the current crisis, more than a million people had already been uprooted last year. This year, at least another million Afghans are “on the move” inside Afghanistan and across its borders, in what the United Nations warns is an alarming new wave of displaced people. Many, like Abdulhalim, fled violence or conflict; others escaped hardships such as poverty or drought. Still others were forced to return from Pakistan and Iran. Even as the numbers grew, Afghanistan agreed to accept Afghan asylum seekers deported from the European Union. The deal, signed in October, could lead the E.U. to construct a separate terminal for deportees at Kabul’s international airport, and as many as 100,000 Afghans could return. “This sudden increase [in the displaced] has put a lot of pressure on Afghanistan, which has had 30 years of war,” said Nader Farhad, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency in Kabul. “It’s not easy to put together the infrastructure, to provide the services that are required,” he said, adding that the displaced need everything from food and blankets to jobs and health care. “To the European countries, we say: Instead of investing in the return of Afghans to Afghanistan, tackle the root causes,” Farhad said. If the United Nations and other aid agencies fail to provide emergency assistance, “it will be a humanitarian crisis,” he said. Massive displacement has plagued Afghanistan for years, beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979. That conflict kindled two decades of war. When the United States invaded in 2001, some 4 million Afghans were living in Pakistan and Iran. [Europe pressing harder on countries to take back deported migrants] Many of those refugees later returned, driven by hopes for stability and peace. But now, Afghanistan is witnessing some of its worst violence since the United States helped to topple the Taliban. More than 1,600 civilians were killed in the first six months of 2016, according to a U.N. report released in July. That was the highest number of civilian casualties in the first half of a year since the United Nations began keeping track in 2009. The violence has been driven by Taliban assaults on Afghan cities, putting more civilians in the crosshairs. And the clashes have pushed even more people from their homes. “The fighting was intense. There was artillery, rockets, aerial bombardment,” Abdulhalim, 38, said of this month’s days-long battle between Afghan and Taliban forces in Kunduz city. Insurgents briefly seized the city at the same time last year. “My children were screaming, our neighbors’ houses destroyed,” said Abdulhalim, who like many Afghans goes by one name. “We had no option but to leave.” In Helmand province, in the restive south, more than 60,000 people have been displaced this year, according to the United Nations, and militants have fought pitched battles in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. At least 5,000 of those displaced in Helmand were forced out only in the past two months, the United Nations says, and thousands more have fled to neighboring provinces and beyond. “In some provinces, the [armed] groups have more power there, and the government, it is very difficult for us to reach” the affected population, said Sayed Rohullah Hashemi, an adviser to the minister of refugees and repatriation. “We don’t have the capacity to do so, especially in our ministry. The government cannot reach everyone on its own.” In a dusty lot east of Kabul, the U.N. refugee agency has erected a center for the hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees arriving from Pakistan. At least 5,000 refugees cross the border from Pakistan every day. The United Nations gives them a small stipend and vaccinates the children against measles and polio. [Afghan refugees, settled in Pakistan for decades, are being ordered to leave] The influx began after Pakistani authorities announced a deadline for Afghan refugees — of which there were 1.7 million registered with the United Nations — to leave. Many of the refugees had lived in Pakistan for decades, or were even born there after their parents had fled Afghanistan. Jumauddin, 27, was born in Pakistan to Afghan parents. Now he is heading to Kunduz province, to the Khanabad district, where Taliban fighters hold sway. He says he has no choice. “Kabul is too expensive, and maybe in Kunduz I can plow a plot of land,” Jumauddin said. “I know that there was fighting there even last week, but I have no other option.” The government is worried about the return of refugees to areas where insurgents are active. But right now, the Taliban controls more territory than at any time since 2001. “We are facing the return of tens of thousands of Afghans each month. . . . This will add very much to the vicious cycle of insecurity and joblessness,” said Bashir Bezhen, an Afghan analyst and political commentator. Reports have already surfaced of returning refugees clashing with locals over resources and land. The displaced are often rejected, or pushed into squalid camps. They also face the threat of forced eviction and rarely have access to clean water or food. “They are the poorest of the poor. They often live in open air,” the U.N.’s Farhad said. “But they should go back [to their homes] when they feel secure. It has to be voluntary and of their own accord.” In the area where Abdulhalim took shelter, the displaced worried that the government would force them out. The fighting in Kunduz city had subsided, but they couldn’t just pack up and go home. “They want us gone from here, but we don’t have anything, not even the money to get back,” Abdulhalim said. He first fled Kunduz on foot, with his children and the clothes on his back. Bezhen said that the government “is incapable of creating jobs for these people or of improving the economy in the remote places where they live.” He said criminal and terrorist networks will seek out the jobless and displaced youths. “It will push Afghanistan into deeper crisis,” Bezhen said. Sayed Salahuddin contributed to this report.

I found it a little hard to relate to this situation.  It seems so far away and I can't really connect with any of the people involved.  I'm really sad for these families and their children.  It seems like they are in a difficult position without much option or anything they can do about it.  I hope they are able to find some resolution or some solution, but it doesn't seem like much is going to change there anytime soon.  I don't think this is the problem of the United States and we should remain uninvolved.


Dear friend,                                                                                I have just read an article about all of the displaced people in Afghanistan. It is truly saddening. There are over a million people who were forced to leave their homes just in the past year alone. They have no other options, I feel terrible for them.


I feel sorry for the people living in that region. I hate that children have to go through that and have a life of war and no hope. I hope the UN helps the people with root of the problem and helps them get jobs,food, shelter, and healthcare. I hope the European countries allow some of the people to stay to take the pressure off their home countries.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 29 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 85000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.75 in openness, 6.75 in conscientiousness, 6.75 in extraversion, 6.75 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

My overall reaction is that i felt really bad for the people in that country. They are nothing but innocent civilians but they have to be the ones that suffer the wrath of war and issues in the government. it's terrifying to not know where your home is and sleep whereever you can. These people are basically just wandering around hoping they can find a safe place.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 47 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 110000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

This article is about Afghans that are moving back around Afghanistan and really are having a hard time finding anywhere safe and good to live. Some of them have moved to other places but are not able to be successful there and are moving back to Afghanistan even with fighting happening there. I feel so sad for anyone who has to live like this.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 34 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 68000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 5.5 in extraversion, 5.0 in agreeableness, and 6.5 in stability.

Aleppo residents get warning by text message: You have 24 hours to leave —  Residents in war-ravaged eastern Aleppo received a dire warning early Sunday: Prepare for your city to be bombed and evacuate in the next 24 hours.   The warning came via text message, urging the sick and wounded to flee before a "strategically planned assault using high precision weapons occurs within 24 hours." Rebels were also given an ultimatum to lay down their arms and renounce their leadership, or be killed. The message was likely sent by the Syrian government as the regime is likely the only party capable of sending a mass text to the entire population. While there were no reports of a bombardment by Monday afternoon, witnesses told CNN that fighter jets had been spotted in the city, as deadly skirmishes were reported all over Aleppo. Who is left in Aleppo? Russian warplanes have since September last year backed the regime with airstrikes over rebel-held positions, pounding eastern Aleppo, where schools and hospitals have been crushed. The text message warning is seen as a response to Syrian rebels launching an offensive last month to break the regime's siege on eastern Aleppo. Assad: Go back to Turkey, or die Russia is the most powerful sponsor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and its air power has been a key factor in helping the government solidify its control over the city. What would make you care about Aleppo? Assad has insisted that he has no option but to "to clean" Aleppo and press on with the offensive. "You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey ... to go back to where they come from, or to kill them," he said. "It's going to be the springboard, as a big city, to move to other areas, to liberate other areas from the terrorists. This is the importance of Aleppo now." Fresh clashes broke out Sunday, with regime shelling killing at least 11 people in the al-Salehin neighborhood, according to the Aleppo Media Center activist group. Several other neighborhoods were shelled by ground artillery and heavy machine gunfire from helicopters, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. Rebel factions targeted army positions on the northern front line, causing casualties among Syrian troops, the SOHR said. The Syrian Army accuses rebels in eastern Aleppo -- who they call terrorists -- of using civilians as human shields. Humanitarian crisis The UN warned last week that eastern Aleppo was on the brink of starvation ahead of a "killer" winter. Residents there told CNN that their food stocks were running out, and that markets that once sold fruit and vegetables were now empty. A kilogram of meat, they said, costs around $40, a price that most in Aleppo simply cannot pay. The last significant aid delivery was in July, and the area is extremely low on medicine and much-needed fuel to run hospital generators and ambulances. The city has seen considerable death and destruction wrought by the civil war that has raged for more than five years. About 1.5 million people still live in the regime-held parts of Aleppo, while 250,000-275,000 residents are in the devastated rebel-held east, according to the UN. In July, about 200,000 people fled the city over a two days, according to a UN official, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Turkey eyes Kurdish-held city Turkey has been carrying out airstrikes in northern Syria to back the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is currently moving in on the ISIS-held city of al-Bab. The city lies strategically between Aleppo and the ISIS heartland of Raqqa. The Turkish Army said it hit 15 targets on Sunday, including two ISIS "headquarter" buildings, an ammunition storage and 10 defense fronts. Ankara has said once the city is liberated, it plans to move on to Manbij, stirring sectarian tensions that complicates internationally backed operations to free Syrian cities from ISIS control. Manbij was in August freed from ISIS rule by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab groups. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month said Ankara would not allow the Kurds to hold any territory west of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Manbij is just 40 kilometers south of the Turkish border. Turkey considers some of the Kurdish militia groups in the alliance as terrorists, including the YPG. But the SDF is supported and armed by the US, further complicating the conflict, which has already put Washington at loggerheads with Moscow. The former Cold War enemies, both of which are carrying out airstrikes in Syria, have long feuded over which groups should be targeted. The US supports and arms groups that it considers "moderate rebels," while Russia calls any rebel group that is opposed to the regime "terrorists."

there are so many problems over there. syria is a war zone and will probably never recover. terrorism has destroyed that wonderful country. so many people are forced to flee for their lives. what can be done about it though? not much really. too much pain and suffering in the area. i wish them all well.


Dear friend,                                                               I have just read an article about the citizens of Aleppo being warned to leave via text message. It is very sad and hard to imagine what it must be like to live in a country like that, where you may be forced to leave at any moment due to acts of violence and war.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 41 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 28000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.0 in openness, 2.5 in conscientiousness, 1.5 in extraversion, 2.0 in agreeableness, and 1.0 in stability.

I'm gonna be honest: I just don't care about this stuff anymore.  We're exposed to so many stories of trouble and heartache and loss and danger that I feel like I can't be responsible for it anymore.  Not financially, morally, emotionally, practically, whatever.  I just don't care.  Syria is an absolute mess and millions of people are suffering and I feel like I don't care because it's not my problem.  Either way its' not my problem but if it were smaller and I could do something about it, maybe I wouldn't feel so disinterested.  But we're just bombarded with this shit constantly to the point I just stop giving a damn.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 29 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 39000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 5.5 in stability.

I just read about a situation in Aleppo where the government sent a mass text to all citizens giving them 24 hours to evacuate before they were potentially targeted by deadly weapons. The thought of receiving a warning like that while you are sitting with your family is just mind boggling to me. What would you do? Where would you go? It's hard to believe people have been living with such violence for such an extended period of time.


After reading the article, you really can't help but feel bad for all the people that are required to leave the area. It feels as though there is always war and people will never feel safe. They always are on the lookout and can never live a stable and happy life like others do. I feel really bad for them and i hope that their future is better than it is now.


Hate crimes against Muslims hit highest mark since 2001 —  Hate crimes against Muslims spiked last year to their highest level in more than a decade - an increase experts and advocates say was fueled by anger over terrorist attacks and anti-Islam rhetoric on the campaign trail.   Law enforcement agencies across the country reported 257 anti-Islamic incidents in 2015, up nearly 67 percent from the year before, according to FBI data released Monday.   That is significant in its own right, but even more so in historical context. The last time the FBI saw more than 160 anti-Islamic incidents was in 2001, when it reported 481. That was the year that radical Islamist terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, killing thousands and sparking a wave of anti-Muslim incidents.   Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that he believed that the anti-Muslim rhetoric that came out of the presidential campaign was to blame and that he feared there will be more hate crimes this year. "Whenever you have one of the nation's leading public figures in the person of Donald Trump mainstreaming and empowering Islamophobia in the nation, it's the inevitable result," he said.   A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.   Hate crimes overall increased about 6.7 percent from 2014 to 2015, but that increase still left such incidents below what they were a decade earlier. Anti-black incidents rose by about 7.6 percent, anti-Jewish incidents rose by about 9 percent, and incidents based on sexual orientation rose by about 3.5 percent during that time frame.   Before and after Trump's election, there were reports of hateful acts across the country. The Southern Poverty Law Center, drawing on news accounts, social media postings and direct reports, said it had tallied 201 incidents of election-related harassment and intimidation as of Friday. Last week, a Muslim student at San Diego State University reported that she was robbed by two men who made comments about Trump. Police believe she was targeted because she was wearing a hijab. The week before the election, a black church in Mississippi was burned and spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump." During his campaign, Trump vowed to have law enforcement conduct surveillance at mosques and called for at least a temporary ban on Muslims immigrating to the United States, measures that he suggested might prevent terrorist attacks. Asked on "60 Minutes" about reports of supporters harassing Latinos and Muslims, he said: "I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, 'Stop it.' "   Notably, the data from 2015 does not show an increase in anti-Latino incidents from the year before. Still, advocates say Trump's rhetoric is at least partly to blame for the spike in other incidents.   "I don't think there's any question at all that the Trump campaign contributed and contributed mightily to these numbers," said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center.   The data available is somewhat limited, analysts say, because law enforcement agencies provide numbers voluntarily to the FBI, and many did not report hate crimes. Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys show a far greater number of hate crimes than what is reported - hundreds of thousands each year.   The data largely confirms the findings of Brian Levin, a professor at California State University at San Bernardino, who wrote earlier this year about a surge in crimes against Muslims. In an interview Monday, Levin said he attributed the spike to three factors - anger after terrorist attacks like those in San Bernardino, Calif., and Paris; a generally elevated level of prejudice against Muslims; and "the coalescence of a sociopolitical movement that labels Muslims as an enemy."   Levin said he found a spate of anti-Muslim incidents in the weeks immediately following the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. After Paris, for example, a Florida man threatened violence at two mosques in two anti-Islamic diatribes.   But Levin said he did not expect that those would make 2015 an anomaly. Based on 2016 data in places such as Ohio, Texas, Delaware and New York, he estimated that anti-Muslim hate crimes are "either at or above the levels of 2015."

I just read an article about the islamaphobia resulting from the election of Donald Trump. The man has lowered the bar so far and affected our country so negatively for years to come due to his voracious appetite for appointing judges. I sincerely hope that more people will pay attention to the corruption and need for a radical restructuring of American politics due to his administration.


I'm sorry for the hate crimes happening against Muslims and others, but to blame this on Trump is absurd.  It's more of the left wing media trying to pin things on him.  There have been hate crimes going on for a long time, and even the article said they were at the same level they were in 2015 before he was even elected.  I would blame social media and the way people spread information now.  Plus a general anger that has entered society and people feel it is acceptable to take it out in violence against others.


The person is male. Racially, the person is hispanic / latino. The person is 32 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 35000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.0 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 2.0 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

these hate crimes have been rising lately and i feel it is due to more than just terrorists. These hate crimes have not only risen in muslims but also other minorities if you look closely at the news. I feel like more needs to be done to fix this. The fact that we haven't fixed things yet is quite scary and we need to do the right thing and take steps to clean up the problem.


Dear friend,                                                       I have just finished reading an article about hate crimes against muslims and how they are significantly increasing in recent years. The article was very eye-opening and it made me think. I just wish that everyone could get along with each other.


After reading the article, you can't help but feel bad for all the Muslims that are currently living in America. You feel bad for them because of what they are going through and all the discrimination they are facing. It's unfair that the ones that are innocent are being stereotyped as well and lumped into the same group as the terrorists when not everyone is like that.


Venezuelan children fainting in school because they are hungry —  Klaireth Díaz is a 1st-grade teacher at Elías Toro School, one of the biggest public schools in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.   Last year, she says, attendance was painfully low. Every day, of a class of 30 children at least 10 would be absent.   “The reason was always lack of food,” she told Fox News Latino.   She said she had a student who skipped class every single Thursday and when she asked his mother about it, she explained that Thursday was the day of the week assigned to her family to buy food at government-regulated prices – which involves standing in line starting sometimes as early as 3 a.m.   “She told me she couldn’t leave the child alone at home and didn’t have anybody to bring him to school,” Díaz said.   Diaz also once saw a child faint during a cultural event. Across the country, teachers have said they have seen children faint or fall asleep because they haven't had enough to eat.   “When he came to he told me that he had only eaten an arepa (cornbread) at 10 a.m. It was 3 p.m.,” she said.   As the school year progressed last year, Diaz said, she noticed more and more kids had stopped bringing lunch.   “At the beginning of the school year every children bring their lunch. At the end they didn’t. They said their mom didn’t have money to buy food,” she said.   Elías Toro School used to provide lunch through a feeding program, but it stopped years ago.   According to Miguel Pizarro, a lawmaker from the opposition, the government spends barely 5 bolivars per meal in public schools -- 5 bolivars are $0.007 at the official rate.   “A child who does not eat well does not learn well. Some children fall asleep and when you investigate what’s going on you find out it is because they don’t eat. When we see that a child does not bring lunch we have them share; we handle the situation so that they do not feel affected,” Diaz said. “Children are supportive in that regard.”   Congressman Pizarro called out the government of Nicolas Maduro for spending millions of dollars on weapons, not food. “Instead of fighting invented wars, we must fight hunger. With less than 2 percent of the national budget we could ensure that no schoolchild goes to bed on an empty stomach,” he wrote on Twitter.   According to a poll conducted last month by More Consulting among 2,000 respondents in Caracas, in 48 percent of the times children do not attend school, the cause is related to the food. Either they are feeling too weak for lack of nutrition, or their parents rather use the transport money to buy food, or they are in the food lines with their parents.   The poll revealed that 36.5 percent of children eat only twice a day and 10.2 percent just once. For 11.9 percent of the children, which means 964,737 kids, the 5-bolivars school lunch is their only meal of the day.   While currently almost 30 percent of people surveyed said their children attended private school, 17.5 percent of them stated they were going to change them to a public school.   Five percent of the parents surveyed were considering taking their children out of school altogether.   Additionally, a vast majority of public school are facing the new academic years with infrastructure problems. Carmen Teresa Marquez, secretary of Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, said that in many schools computers and desks were stolen during the summer period.   “That adds up to the fact that school supplies are impossible to pay for. People have to decide between buying a notebook or buy food,” Márquez told Fox News Latino.   The tag price for a list of supplies for a child from elementary school comes up to 111,577.33 bolivars ($17.7, and almost five times the monthly minimum wage), according to the Center for Documentation and Analysis for Workers.

This is so sad. I can't even imagine living and trying to raise my family in a situation like this. These poor people can't even send their kids to school because they have to get up so early and stand in food lines. Or else the kids are too weak and sick from not eating, they can't go to school. Also, the school supplies are so expensive, they can't buy them because they need to buy food.


I do feel for the people in the country, especially the starving kids, who presumably don't understand what's going on except for the fact that they're hungry.  But I also feel angry and disgusted about the situation.  Venezuela is extremely wealthy due to their oil reserves.  Their country should be vibrant and prosperous.  But it's not because of communist corruption.  Why do people want government to have more control over the things that people rely on to live?  Why centralize everything so that only a small group of corrupt people can ruin everything for everyone else, as opposed to separating things so no one group can ruin it all?  Who will watch the watchmen?  It's easier to do that when the watchmen are split up and separate.  But now Venezuela's problem becomes our problem.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 25 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 55000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 5.5 in conscientiousness, 3.5 in extraversion, 4.5 in agreeableness, and 4.0 in stability.

You would never even realize how relevant world hunger is until you read articles like this. We are so lucky in the US to not have to worry about kids going hungry. Most schools are starting to offer free lunches to kids too here in the US that they are really trying to combat it but we aren't doing much for other countries. There isn't always a whole lot we can do for other countries but there could be some things done to improve world hunger.


I just read a story about school children in Venezuela that are apparently starving due to the lack of government investment in food programs. The image of school children falling asleep or fainting due to lack of nutrition is just absolutely heart breaking. I can't imagine what the parents must feel having to send their children to school where they will not eat at all. A child can't learn without appropriate nutrition.


This breaks my heart because no children should have to go through this! I really want to help these kids not go hungry and will look into how I can help after this. I feel like to be honest it is our duty and should be mandatory that we help these kids. It is the best thing overall because no one seems to be helping them.


Man kills two sons, himself, police say —  A man shot his two young sons and then killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide on Saturday, police said.   The father, identified as Christopher Cadenbach, said St. Louis County Police Department's Deputy Chief Kenneth Cox. He was wanted for domestic violence in Franklin County, Missouri, Cox said. As a result, the St. Louis County police had been looking for him. On Saturday afternoon, Cadenbach, 43, visited his mother and his two children. Amber Alert leads police to dad His mother became worried after hearing him say that he wasn't going to be taken alive, Cox said. She alerted police, who then issued an Amber Alert for his two abducted sons, Ethan, 5, and Owen, 4. Later that evening, a park ranger spotted a 2006 Ford Focus matching the Amber Alert description in a local park and alerted police. As soon as the officers arrived, shots rang out, Cox said. "He was apparently shooting his children. We tried to engage him and it appears he took his own life."

Dear friend,                                                                        I have just read a story about another police officer shooting. These seem to be happening all the time now and it is very upsetting. I hope that one day something can be done about all of this. It is sad to think about .


Just read a story about a father who abducted and then murdered his two sons after being on the run from police. The article didn't give a whole lot of detail, so one has to wonder what drove him to take such drastic action against people who were so close to him. The suspect committed suicide afterward, so I think that it would be considered a crime of passion? Anyway, horribly tragic.


After reading this article, i felt really disturbed. I just couldn't believe that there is someone out there that can kill his own children. I wonder what kind of mental illness the man had because nobody in their right mind can just kill their own children. I felt really bad for the mother as well who is left alone iwth nobody now and can only suffer.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 27 years old. The person has a went to technical / vocational school. The person earns 25000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.0 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 6.0 in extraversion, 6.0 in agreeableness, and 6.0 in stability.

How can your heart just not break reading this article. These children had there life cut way to short for no reason. This father was just pure evil. He needed serious mental help and I can't believe no one saw this coming. There is always signs that people should take serious so it doesnt come to this. I would like to know the motive was it because he felt overwhelmed or because he wanted to get back at someone. The mother should have taken the threat seriosuly and I wonder if the rangers had found the car sooner if those kids would have been alive. They were probably so afraid in that car and it is horrible that was there last memories alive.


BREAKING NEWS: Angry Villagers Attack Anti-Poaching Unit Rangers In Mozambique —  Three anti-poaching rangers, two South Africans and a Mozambican, were hospitalized after being beaten by villagers after they apprehended a a poacher.   Sean van Niekerk, of Limpopo, and two colleagues were whipped, stabbed and pelted with rocks by a mob in a small Mozambican town near South Africa’s Komatipoort border.   Van Niekerk, 25, was discharged from Nelspruit Medi-Clinic on Thursday, where he was treated for a minor skull fracture, stab wounds and injuries to his face and back. He said it would not stop him returning to the field to help save wildlife. Van Niekerk said they were called last weekend to assist a ranger who had caught a poacher near Sabi river.   “My colleagues and I, with four Mozambican police officers, were transporting the poacher to the station, which was about 30km away, when he escaped from the vehicle. I chased after the poacher and caught him. I handed him back to the police officer. Suddenly, a mob from the community started moving towards us,” said Van Niekerk. The police officers who were with them ran away.   “We, the rangers, were the targets. I called for help. We were boxed in. We had no weapons so we had to fight back to stay alive until the helicopter arrived. We were hit by about 10 people, who were armed with blunt machetes. I was stabbed with a bottle, stoned and whipped,” he said.   He said it was only when the helicopter arrived that the mob backed off.   Would you please kindly share this and make it go viral, so the incompetent, corrupt police officers are exposed. Thank you.

Have you heard what has been happening to anti poaching rangers in africa. Some of them who have been trying to do their job and ensure the safety of the endangered animals are  being attacked and boxed in by mobs when they try to aprehend poachers. It is a shame how corrupt the local governments are within the continent that allow poaching.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 30 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 55000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 5.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 2.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

I had no idea that people that are trying to arrest poachers are being attacked by people that live in the town. It is also so sad that the police act like cowards and do not arrest the poachers who are making certain animals extinct from the planet for selfish reasons. It's so sad that people that are trying to do the right thing are risking losing their life.


This one is hard for me to think about. I can see both sides of this one. One, the two anti poachers are trying to save the animals, which I think is a good thing. The other people are trying to make a living in a harsh environment and the rest of the world is based on capitalism where resources are used to make as much money as possible.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 31 years old. The person has a two year associate degree. The person earns 82000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.5 in openness, 3.5 in conscientiousness, 2.0 in extraversion, 4.5 in agreeableness, and 5.0 in stability.

I feel really bad that this is happening to people out there trying to protect the wildlife.  i'm not sure exactly what happened, but it seems like these poachers are paying off the policemen, and the locals to protect their livelihood.  It is unfortunate that the people can't protect their own area, but they are probably poor, and consider the money necessary.


I feel for both sides on this one. The police and people are trying to protect the sacred wild life and beings but also the village is probably needing the meat of the animal or the money from selling it as they are a very poor country. I can see being so desperate in a third world country that this would seem like the police are cutting off or taking your only source of livlihood. These poor guys however they are just trying to protect and do what is right they do not deserve to be so violently attacked im suprised they were able to live through such a brutal beating. I hope more is done to help the police but also the village


Operation killed Afghan civilians, US military says —  The US military acknowledged Saturday that civilians were likely killed in a joint Afghan-US operation in the northern district of Kunduz Thursday.   Besides the 30 civilians, two US service members were killed in the operation that targeted Taliban leaders planning additional attacks in Kunduz city. "I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives, regardless of the circumstances," Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement Saturday. "The loss of innocent life is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the families. We will work with our Afghan partners to investigate and determine the facts and we will work with the government of Afghanistan to provide assistance." Afghan forces, advised by the US military, conducted the operation Thursday in the village of Boz in Kunduz district, the statement said. It targeted Taliban leaders planning attacks in the city of Kunduz. "During the course of the operation, friendly forces encountered significant enemy fire from multiple locations and defended themselves with ground fire and US air-to-ground engagements," the US military statement said. "Initial reports indicate that several Taliban leaders and Taliban members were killed in the engagement." Civilians, troops killed At least 30 Afghan civilians were killed and 25 others injured in an air-and-ground operation launched in an area known as Bohd Qhandahari, said Sayed Mahmood Danish, a Kunduz provincial spokesman. Four members of Afghan special forces were also killed and six others injured, Danish said. Twenty-six insurgents were killed and 10 others were wounded, he added. The Pentagon identified the dead US service members as Capt. Andrew D. Byers, 30, of Rolesville, North Carolina, and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan A. Gloyer, 34, of Greenville, Pennsylvania. They were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colorado. The troops came under fire during what the US military said this week was a mission to train, advise and assist its Afghan partners in clearing a Taliban position and disrupting the organization's operations in Kunduz district. "On behalf of all of US Forces-Afghanistan, today's loss is heartbreaking and we offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of our service members who lost their lives today," Nicholson said in a statement Thursday. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was saddened by the casualties. "Our service members were doing their part to help the Afghans secure their own country while protecting our homeland from those who would do us harm," he said in a statement. "We will honor their sacrifice by finishing our important mission in Afghanistan." Taliban attack The deaths occurred on the same day that a Taliban mortar attack killed at least seven people attending a wedding party in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, provincial police spokesman Kareem Youresh said. At least 13 people were wounded. In April, the Pentagon announced that 16 military personnel would be disciplined over a fatal US strike on a Kunduz hospital in October 2015. But the military maintained the strike was not a war crime because it resulted from unintentional human error and equipment failure. The Pentagon said some personnel involved in the bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital "failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict."

To me this is very disturbing.  55 civilians were killed?  I mean I get that they killed some bad guys too, but to me it is not worth sacrificing so many innocent lives just to kill a few bad guys.  U.S. troops were killed too.  This whole thing is just terrible and tragic in my opinion.  IT sounded like some protocol was not followed either, which makes it even worse.  I think we need to mind our own business and get out of there honestly.  We have enough issues with our own country to be over there contributing to issues in others.


Did you see what happened with the US and Afghan training mission in Afghanistan. It's such a shame that in an area where we are trying to do good and improve things for the people there is being sabotaged by opposing efforts. I feel terrible for the lives lost as they gave their lives to help protect people and to be killed like that is heartbreaking.


I feel very sorry of the Afghan civilians that were killed by our military. This is why I hate war. I know some people will say war is war, which is true, but that does not make it any better.  I feel like this type of thing is what makes more terrorist. I know I would want to get revenge on the people who killed my family.


Wow, this is very sad.  All these poor people who lost their lives because of this ongoing conflict.  I must say, this whole area just constantly seems caught up in some terrible conflict, tension, war, and violence.  I don't understand what is going on over there, but I know it is very sad to hear about innocent people being killed as a result.  I also feel sad for the U.S. Soldiers who lost their lives.  Their families must be grieving terribly.  So the whole thing is a tragedy, and it all just seems so unnecesary to me.  All this senseless killing.


The treatment of Calais camp children isn’t just neglectful – it’s abusive —  The Calais camp lies in limbo, with most of its inhabitants long gone. Those who remain face hardship beyond anything the camp has previously known. Before, there was shelter – now hundreds sleep on the fringes of its dirt tracks. Before, there was at least some sense of ease – now shocked and abandoned refugees live in a state of constant tension. Fire is a constant threat, and the bulldozers are coming.   Volunteers grapple not only with the urgency of the situation, but also with the knowledge that it should – and easily could – have been prevented.     When the French authorities began the registration and resettlement of refugees, those of us involved felt an initial sense of relief. But after three days of relatively smooth action the warehouse where the registration took place closed its doors. It did not open them again. This was despite previous assurances that all refugees would be accommodated. Those left behind had no chance of safely reaching asylum centres. Most minors, registered separately, were confined to a fenced-in yard and housed in shipping containers. The rest were left homeless alongside the adult population of the camp.   Despite being provided with up-to-date and detailed census information from my organisation, Help Refugees, and the local charity, l’Auberge des Migrants, the authorities chose not to take heed of these estimates. The 50-person, four-day census operation identified exact numbers of men, women, and children within the camp, and put the total population at 10,188. Though promised over 12,000 spaces in accommodation centres throughout France, almost 2,000 refugees have been abandoned once again by an uncaring government, and are left behind in the ruins of the Calais camp.   Over two weeks ago Help Refugees warned authorities at a local tribunal in Lille that housing minors in the “container camp” would be tantamount to exposing them to fire, violence, and extreme trauma. My colleague’s words went unheeded, and now seem almost prophetic. There are now approximately 1,500 children subjected to these conditions.   Children housed in the containers report choking on the smoke that blows in from their burning former homes. They say there is no drinking water, that the toilets are never cleaned and the showers are not working. Food is served only from 3pm to 5pm, and there is only one meal a day.   There is no drinking water. The toilets are never cleaned. The showers are not working. There is only one meal a day The authorities have utterly failed to safeguard these young people, and show little to no regard for their wellbeing, health, or mental states. The children in this camp are starved of care and attention, and are in constant danger. Their treatment is not just neglectful – it’s abuse.   The lack of organisation has permeated every aspect of these children’s lives. The crippling hunger pangs reported by many are alleviated only when groups of volunteers are allowed to distribute food. Without an identification wristband, children are not permitted to use the few still-working shower facilities – a fact made worse by the decision of the authorities to register some children without providing wristbands.     The stories you need to read, in one handy email  Read more Arbitrary security measures mean that services such as the Refugee Info Bus – founded by long-term volunteers to provide refugees with WiFi and legal services – are barred from approaching the container camp, cutting the children off from means of communication and legal assistance. With this, and the recent banning of human rights lawyers acting as observers from entry into the camp, it is feared that the mistreatment of the camp’s children will go unchecked.   Volunteers are banned from putting up tents to house the homeless adult and child refugees outside the container camps, in yet another example of the restrictions that serve only to further endanger refugees’ lives. With a large portion of the camp in flames, many are sleeping on the dunes surrounding the camp, exposed to the rain, the cold, and the people smugglers.   Despite desperate conditions and daily heartbreak, the volunteers of Help Refugees and other organisations continue to provide food, water, and some comfort to the refugees who are left. Many volunteers are from the UK, and express their devastation that their country is not answering France’s calls and the refugee children it is failing – at present, it seems unlikely that the UK will take in more than the 274 children it already has. Many other volunteers are French, and must bear witness, distraught, to their nation’s mistreatment of refugees already so weakened by months of subsistence in the camp.   On 1 November charities operating within the camp received notice from the French authorities promising that all children in the container camp would be transferred by bus to accommodation centres across France this week. A representative from the UK Home Office on each bus will ensure that any children legally eligible for asylum within the UK are able to apply for transfer to the UK. It is unknown how long this legal process will take.   This is a testament to the work of the volunteers and legal workers in the camp, and presents an opportunity for these children to leave behind the trauma and misery of life in a refugee camp. However, there are no guarantees, and charities must continue to work to ensure that refugees throughout France are given a far better standard of care than was provided for the children of the Calais container camp.

I have very little sympathy for refugees of any type.  They go to another country and expect to be accommodated.  A country and government's first priority should be to its own people.  These other people have no inherent rights to be taken care of or even allowed to enter the country.  We exist in a world of borders and law--for the better.  These people come from countries that are hellholes they must flee, and they are complicit in that.  How anyone can bang on the door of another country and expect anything is beyond me.  They have no right to that.  This refugee issue is going to get more problematic and I think it behooves non crappy countries to decide, well in advance, what they're going to do about mass refugee groups, how many they'll take, etc.  you can't wait until they're ther


The article did not give much information about where the refugees were from.  I had to google to learn they were mainly from Syria.  I thought this was very sad, although it is one of those problems without an easy solution.  Who is supposed to be paying for these people to be cared for?  Taxes?  Whose taxes?  I don't see a simple fix here.  It's easy to sit there and judge and say this is unfair, but also what is everyone supposed to do?  AT least they are being given asylum from the dangerous place they came from I guess.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 21 years old. The person has a high school degree or diploma. The person earns 20000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 3.0 in openness, 5.0 in conscientiousness, 5.0 in extraversion, 4.0 in agreeableness, and 3.5 in stability.

I never really think about immigration outside of the US, but the more I hear and think about it, the more I realize  just what an issue it is globally. People all over the world are being effected by it on both ends. Both ends being the people immigrating, and the other being the people living in the countries that people are immigrating to


After reading the article, i can't help but feel bad for the people and children in the camps. I feel bad for them because nobody should have to be living in those type of conditions. Everyone should be able to have shelter, food, and a nice place to sleep on. I feel like these people are almost being treated like dirt and it's very unfair.


Why is the rest of the world just sitting around watching this go on. It disgusts me that we are sitting idly by watching these children get abused. I understand it is not America's problem but it is all our problem when children are being hurt . We must stand up and fix this, its the right thing to do no matter what.


This Is What It’s Like on the Front Lines of Nigeria’s Unseen Hunger Crisis —  Millions of Nigerians survived Boko Haram, but now a humanitarian catastrophe is putting their lives at risk again. ABUJA, Nigeria ― After her father died two years ago during a Boko Haram raid on her village in Yobe, Nigeria, 16-year-old Zulyatu, her younger siblings and their mother fled to Biu, a town in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state. A year ago their mother left for another town to get treatment for high blood pressure from a traditional healer, leaving Zulyatu alone to care for her siblings, 12-year-old Abubakar and 8-year-old Amira. Zulyatu said hunger affects every part of their lives. They only eat once or twice a day, and they often feel dizzy from hunger. In their home village, before Boko Haram came, their father was a butcher, so the family always had enough meat to eat. The hunger makes her long for her father, and Zulyatu said that if he were still alive they wouldn’t be having this experience. The focus on their struggle for food also leaves the siblings with little time or access for education. Before they came to Biu, Zulyatu was interested in studying to become a doctor, but they have been unable to attend school since the move. Sadly, experiences of hunger and desperation, like those of Zulyatu and her siblings, are the rule rather than the exception in conflict-weary Nigeria and in the greater Lake Chad Basin area. The hunger has become so strong, that one woman recently told us that she had become so desperate to feed her children that she took to boiling grass. The militant group Boko Haram emerged in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, in 2002, but much of the world first became familiar with the terrorist group when it kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in 2014. Years of violence and destruction, combined with widespread and underestimated drought conditions, have created an ongoing crisis here. But as the Nigerian army retakes territory held by Boko Haram, another problem has emerged in the country ― a horrific and massive humanitarian crisis is revealing itself. More than 4 million people are food insecure, not knowing from where their next meal will come. In August, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that in Borno state, where Zulyatu lives, nearly a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished, and one in five will die if they aren’t treated. Mercy Corps, the global organization I work for, is one of the organizations mounting a response to this urgent and largely overlooked humanitarian situation. Our team has accessed remote villages and towns in south Borno state, where regular army checkpoints serve as a reminder of the serious threat Boko Haram still poses. But despite efforts from aid organizations like ours, there are still 2.2 million people living in unreachable areas in northeast Nigeria, with no contact to the outside world ― and no guarantee of safe passage for aid workers. We don’t yet know the full extent of the crisis ― the Nigerian military and humanitarian organizations like Mercy Corps are still trying to push into these parts of the country ― but based on what we’ve seen so far, we fear the worst.  “The carnage becomes more glaring as we gain access to newer areas, and it has become a struggle for those of us in the forefront to comprehend how to help the thousands we come across who need our support,” said Michael Mu’azu, our humanitarian projects manager. “What keeps me going is the fact that I can contribute to making a difference, and because I work with an amazing team of men and women who have dedicated their lives to providing lifesaving assistance, I wake up every day and go to work knowing more people will get to smile.” For now though, many of the people we come across are not smiling. “When I see the people in these communities, I see hunger and suffering in their faces,” Umar Shuaibu, our operations officer, said. In our internal assessments this past July, we found that in the area of Damboa more than 80 percent of shelters were destroyed or partially destroyed, with no roof or doors. Of the people we interviewed, 97 percent reported that they could not afford to buy food in the previous four weeks. Because of continued insecurity, many farmers cannot reach the land where they cultivate food to eat and sell. People in these communities survive by selling foraged firewood and begging or laboring for less than the equivalent of $1 per day. Others have resorted to transactional sex.  The Nigerian military must clear and secure new areas before aid can get in, to make sure humanitarian workers have safe passage and aid does not end up in the wrong hands. And we have also not seen the amount of funding needed to mount a response of this size. Right now, less than one-third of current United Nations appeals for the crisis has been funded, a shortfall of $542 million. As a sovereign nation, Nigeria has a duty to provide for its people. It is ultimately responsible for leading the response to this emergency, establishing strong coordination and allowing for safe and organized access to deliver assistance to people in need. But it is also the humanitarian imperative of the international community to help people in crisis. At Mercy Corps, we are working quickly to meet urgent needs. In south Borno state we have been providing financial assistance, such as cash and vouchers that can be exchanged for food in local markets, as well as grants to jump-start businesses. We are repairing water points and latrines to ensure access to clean water and prevent the spread of waterborne illness. We also provide protection for vulnerable civilians, particularly women and children, and mobilize and train community members to recognize and respond to gender-based violence. We know that the needs are massive, and are going unmet, and we are working as quickly as possible to scale up our operations. Already in the past several months we have shifted to new locations and tripled our financial and staffing resources to reach upwards of 100,000 people. But it is a herculean task for any single organization to tackle on its own, and a risky one because insurgents could attack us unexpectantly. All organizations responding to this crisis in Nigeria face stretched capacity and daunting logistics. But we aren’t giving up. Already we see the benefit of one small act. With the e-voucher she received during Mercy Corps’ first distribution, Zulyatu bought a month’s worth of rice and cooking oil in the local market. When asked what she hopes for the future, Zulyatu said, “I just want to see everyone happy. Everyone would have enough to eat and abundance.” We can make that hope possible, if we act urgently.

I think its sad what is happening in Nigeria with the hunger crisis. What happened to Zulyatu and he siblings making the mother flee to Biu is just crazy. I think we should step in as a nation and do the right thing here. It is the correct thing to do honestly and we must get it done as quick as possible.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 25 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 78000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 4.0 in openness, 6.0 in conscientiousness, 4.0 in extraversion, 4.5 in agreeableness, and 4.5 in stability.

The feelings that I have regarding the article is that somethings happen for a reason and they are out of your control sometimes. I think what went wrong in that conflict can be resolved and all that is needed is clear cut communication so that both parties know where each other stands at the end of the day. I personally think that is the best option and that the article itself is something that is worth a read in my opinion.


After reading the article, you can't help but feel bad for these people. We're so far into humanity and we are still seeing people suffer from hunger and thirst. We should not be having these problems today. I think that the world should try to do more to take notice of these situations and try to help out whenever possible because we all have that right.


The person is male. Racially, the person is asian / pacific islander. The person is 33 years old. The person has a went to college but did not get a degree. The person earns 36000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 4.25 in openness, 4.25 in conscientiousness, 4.5 in extraversion, 4.25 in agreeableness, and 3.75 in stability.

It is terrible that these kids have to starve but it was kind of funny that they were boiling grass I mean think about these africans they always have some sort of crisis even when they are rich in oil they still manage to ruin everything they are like monkeys they resemble apes they behave like animals


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 38 years old. The person has a postgraduate / professional degree. The person earns 42000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 3.5 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 6.5 in extraversion, 5.5 in agreeableness, and 6.5 in stability.

I found this to be very sad.  These people obviously don't have many options, and they are trapped in a bad situation without any food and with a lot of violence around them.  I have heard a lot about this area and the bad things going on there.  This is an ongoing situation that shows no signs of improvement, and meanwhile the people continue to suffer and die.  Young people are affected as well as women and many innocent people who have nothing to do with the terrorist groups causing all these problems.


Aleppo’s oldest residents fear they’ll die alone —  BEIRUT — Before the war convulsed his native Syria, Marea Marea relished retirement. He enjoyed leisurely morning walks, played with his grandchildren and took afternoon catnaps. Then the fighting began in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. Airstrikes have pulverized his neighborhood, and a brutal siege has forced him to skimp on food so other members of his family have enough to eat. ADVERTISING Now the 70-year-old feels weak, frightened and helpless. “My entire life has been spent trying to build something for my family,” he said, speaking by Skype from his home in the war-divided city. “I built this home. My body aches from the decades of work that I did to make them a better life. But now this? There’s little dignity in this kind of life.” The war has taken an immense toll on the more than 200,000 people still in eastern Aleppo. Marea and other older residents face especially difficult circumstances, according to aid workers and doctors there. Some choose — or are asked — to make sacrifices for younger family members or are left to cope on their own after their children and grandchildren flee to safety in other countries. “People are being forced to make sacrifices, and this often involves the older people getting neglected,” said Bacry al-Ebeid, who distributes food to residents in rebel areas of Aleppo for Mercy-USA, a Michigan-based charity. [Darkness and fear in Aleppo as the bombs rain down] Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the war, has become perhaps the most important battleground in the conflict, which began in 2011 and has left more than 400,000 dead and millions displaced. Rebels seized the city’s eastern districts in 2012, and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have intensified efforts to take them back. If they do, it would mark a significant victory for the embattled leader. In recent months, warplanes operated by Assad’s government and its ally, Russia, have increasingly bombed hospitals and homes in the city’s opposition-held areas. Food and fuel shortages have worsened because of the siege imposed by pro-government forces, who control the city’s west end. As a result, residents and aid workers in eastern Aleppo say, it has become nearly impossible to find medicine to treat heart disease, diabetes, rheumatism and other conditions most commonly experienced by older people. Overstretched medical facilities must turn away people suffering from such conditions because of the overwhelming number of more-urgent cases, such as people with shrapnel wounds and other war-related injuries. Pablo Marco, Middle East operations manager for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said the situation is so bad that fewer than three dozen doctors are still working in eastern Aleppo. The area has only one functioning dialysis unit left, he said. “If that unit stopped working, then that would mean more deaths,” he said. “The doctors just don’t have the time and facilities to take care of chronic diseases that, if not properly treated, will kill you in a matter of weeks and months.” As some become frail, they might see themselves as a burden on their family, which can fuel anxiety, Ebeid said. Some families have had to take extreme measures and have abandoned older family members, he said. In Arab societies, older people generally live with their children until death. [Syrian regime and Russia may have killed more children in latest bombing] There are no reliable age breakdowns of people living in the city’s besieged eastern areas, but before the war, Aleppo had a population approaching 3 million. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled since the conflict erupted. “In a lot of cases, though, what we see are elderly people who refuse to leave their homes,” Ebeid said. “So that means their families, when they flee to other countries, are forced to leave them behind.” In another neighborhood of eastern Aleppo, 83-year-old Reema Salama lives alone in the home where she raised her children. Most of her family escaped to Turkey last year, but Salama chose to stay put, she said during a recent interview over Skype. Because of the siege, she cannot leave, and her family cannot visit. She receives food from Ebeid’s organization but struggles to cook it, relying on neighbors for help. “I’m all alone! I’m going to die alone here!” she said before abruptly ending the conversation. Marea said he would never leave his home. To pay for it, he worked for years as a freelance farmhand and day laborer. But even if he tried to leave, the government’s siege would prevent him. So he spends most of his time at home feeling isolated and hoping airstrikes do not obliterate him and his family. “I’m afraid our house will get bombed but that we won’t die in the attack,” he said, describing the fate of many people in his area of town. “We’ll just be stuck in the rubble for days and slowly die.” He also thinks constantly about trying to balance what he and his 70-year-old wife, Ajoun, need to survive with the demands of the 10 children and grandchildren living with them. Already, the family struggles to care for one son, 45-year-old Ahmed, whose leg was amputated last year after shrapnel struck it during an attack. “We eat twice — once in the morning and once in the evening — because we are trying to reduce the amount we eat so the kids still have enough,” he said. He fears the effect this could have on his wife, who suffers from high blood pressure and rheumatism. Marea has received unexpected help from another son, Hameed, who was visiting from Turkey and became trapped in the city when the government imposed its siege several weeks ago. Asked whether Hameed intends to return to Turkey, Marea choked up. “No, he can’t go back. The siege. He can’t leave us here,” Marea said. Then, he said, “I’m an old man. I shouldn’t have to think about these kind of things.” Heba Habib in Stockholm and Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.

This is sad as somebody with elderly parents the thought of them dying alone is quite scary. We must be able to fix this and the best way how is to just overall understand that they need help. We must strive to do better. To do better means helping them out. There is little dignity in that kind of life since everyone else flees and leaves them alone.


This article was just heartbreaking. I just pictured my father working his whole life for us just for a warm and horrible people to come in and tear it down. It is pure hell for everyone living in this war torn area I cant imagine. No older people who worked there life so there familys can be better should be worried about war and losing the family. The doctors have even fled as there is no resources to help people anymore. Only once dialysis center left which will probably close soon for fear of people and lack of resources. Anyone with a chronic disease is just out of luck as medicine is few and aid cant even be reached to most of these people anymore. It is just so sad.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 35 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 148000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 4.5 in agreeableness, and 4.0 in stability.

This is a very heartbreaking article. It's hard to read what is happening to people in other parts of the world. I can't believe people would leave their parents and elderly family members behind in a war. It's unimaginable. And to make matters worse, there is hardly any food for them in their homes. They're under constant attack and can't even get basic medications that we take for granted every day here in the US. I truly hope the wars stop and these people can get some assistance rebuilding their lives and homes. More effort needs to go into donating to the charities that help in these areas. I can understand why some would not want to travel and live there, considering there is a high probability of death from an airstrike but the people should at least have basic food items, clothing


Dear friend,                                                                                I just read an article about a 70 year old man living in a war torn city in Syria. The story was very sad and has made me think a lot about life. I feel terrible for the people who have to live in those conditions.


The person is female. Racially, the person is white. The person is 62 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 29000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 2.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 1.0 in extraversion, 6.5 in agreeableness, and 2.0 in stability.

I just read the article about Aleppo and Syria.   It made me extremely sad to see what these people have gone through.   They have worked hard their whole lives for betterment of their family.   Now they just pray bombs or airstrikes doesn't kill their families.   Is war ever going to end?   The answer to that is a simple no.   Humans have been killing humans since they existed.   We never, ever learn.


Sheriff: Police dog dies in hot car in western Arkansas —  HUNTSVILLE, Ark. –  A police dog died after she was left in a hot patrol car by her handler in western Arkansas, officials said. Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan said the dog, named Lina, died Friday. The sheriff said the dog's handler was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. The 5-year-old dog had been with the sheriff's office for three years, and the sheriff said the animal was used in drug investigations. Morgan described the dog's death as a "bad accident." He said the investigation into the dog's death is being handled by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Last month, a police dog in Stephens County, Oklahoma, died after being left for 38 hours in a hot car and its handler was charged with animal cruelty.

Overall, this is a really sad incident.  The poor dog was just helplessly left in the car to suffer, and there's no way it could have let itself out or saved itself.  IT's really sad to me when people are this negligent about pets and other people.  Especially vulnerable populations.  Honestly I think whatever punishment she gets, such as an animal cruelty charge, is definitely deserved and she will just have to take that as it comes.  She should have been more careful with the animal, end of story.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 36 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 40000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 7.0 in openness, 7.0 in conscientiousness, 7.0 in extraversion, 7.0 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

I find this inexcusable, and hope the officer is charged with the death of a police officer (as the K9 unit is considered one). This is really awful, and I'm sure the officer in question feels bad, but we need to make examples out of this case. If we set a precedent, making the punishment fit the crime perfectly, it will deter carelessness.


Hi Nora:   Did you see the article this morning where the handler let his police dog die in a hot car in Arkansas?   The dog's name was Lina and he died Friday.   The Sheriff did put the handler on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.   Lina had been with the sheriff's office for three years and was used in a lot of drug investigations.    Lina was left in that car for 38 hours.  Can you believe this?   This deeply disturbs me.  How do you forget a big police dog and not hear him for 38 hours?  Just unbelievable.   The blatant disregard society has for animals and humans is beyond my capacity to understand.   I think we are up to 82 children that have died this year and too many animals.   It's infuriating.  No way I accept any of the lame answers that are given every day. (


What is with dog owners lately? This isn't the first story I read in the past few months of a dog being left inside a hot car. I believe the owner should be charged and not called an accident! The owner had to know the risks! Its time we hold these people accountable. It is not fair to the dog nor to the people that have to rescue the dog!


An article like this really tears me in half. I can put myself in both of there shopes and see both sides. I feel like because this officers job is to protect and serve the community he shows he has good character and morals and this was not done out of malice. but also this dog provided a service to the community and did not deserve to dye such a long painful death.I think if anything does comes out of it it should be more safety and precautions put in place so these things can not happen again. This handler must feel horrible as i know the dogs become like there actual partners and family. I think the guilt is punishment enough.


After Traveling More Than 700 Miles, A Young Wolf Was Gunned Down By A Government Sniper —  A young male wolf who was in search of a mate and had travelled more than 700 miles, has been gunned down by a government sniper.   This wolf was a member of the Huckleberry pack which is a family that lives in Washington state and had been saved from extermination by the Center for Biological Diversity as well as it’s allies when the wolf was a pup back in 2014.   The wolf was collared in February and began his journey east, surviving the wolf-killing fields in Idaho.   On Septemer 29th, he was gunned down at Judith Gap, Montana near Wildlife Services which is the deadly federal killing program that had wiped out more than 3 million wild animals just last year.   This was a special collared wolf whose journey was well documented and whose life was carelessly taken away at the hands of trigger-happy exterminators who must be held accountable for their actions.   Wolves often leave their pack in search of a mate and new territory when they come of age. Sadly, in states such as Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming and Utah these wandering wolves end up dying brutal deaths due to acts of cruelty and indifference.   For this reason, the Center for Biological Diversity has lawyers, scientists and activists who are in court, congress and on the streets every day fighting for the lives and safety of wolves.

I am sad for the wolf but this didn't have me too torn up.   I imagine the sniper shot the wolf for some reason.  It's too bad the wolf traveled so far looking for a mate just to be killed, but I guess these things happen sometimes.  Perhaps the sniper should have been a little more careful.  A little more background about why they were out there shooting wolves might have been helpful, like maybe there was a valid reason.  Wolves can be harmful creatures.


This is a sad story about one wolf who was being tracked and had traveled more than 700 miles. It was shot and killed in Montana by a sniper. I'm not real sure of the reason for the killing because the article said that it is part of a federal program. I feel bad for the wolf but am not real clear on if the program is necessary or not.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 29 years old. The person has a college or university degree. The person earns 85000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.75 in openness, 6.75 in conscientiousness, 6.75 in extraversion, 6.75 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

After reading the article, i felt really bad for the wolf and animals that get hunted in general. I think that there should definitely be some sort of punishment for people who decide to kill animals, especially endangered species of animals just for fun. I think it is so inhumane and twisted that someone can kill a beautiful animal like that with no type of remorse whatsoever.


so some government people killed a wolf. I feel like most people won't really care about this story too much. im sure this kind of thing happens on a regular basis. I didn't even know there were protected wolves out there. Are they near extinction? Who knows. I know if I was stranded in the wild I wouldn't be upset that a wolf was killed.


After reading something like that, you can't help but feel extremely sad. You feel sad for the wolf and you also feel angry that humans would do such a thing. It's terrible that humans just kill and use animals as they wish. I think that animals have all the right in the world to live as well and we can't just use them as we please.


Americans adopted this South Korean man when he was 3. Now 41, he’s being deported. —  Adam Crapser was born in South Korea, but, when he was 3 years old, an American couple adopted him.   Until recently, he lived in Vancouver, Wash., with his daughters and his pregnant wife. He has a son by an ex-girlfriend. He used to own a barbershop, but decided to become a stay-at-home dad, sometimes playing guitar and ukulele and watching a rescue dog.   But that will all soon change — Crapser is being deported back to South Korea, away from his family, away from the place he’s spent 37 of his 41 years of life.   He’s being held in an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Wash.   “He will be deported as soon as Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes the necessary arrangements,” Crapser’s attorney Lori Walls told the Associated Press. “Adam, his family, and advocates are heartbroken at the outcome.”   [They grew up as American citizens, then learned that they weren’t]   Crapser’s deportation is a sad denouement to a life in the United States that’s been anything but easy.   After being abandoned near Seoul, Crapser and his older sister were adopted by an unnamed couple. All he brought with him across the ocean were a pair of green rubber shoes, a Korean-language Bible and a stuffed dog.   That couple, as the New York Times magazine noted in an extensive profile of Crapser, abandoned the children to the foster system after many episodes in which they forced Crapser to sit in the dark basement as punishment.   He and his sister were split up, and after several foster homes, he found himself adopted by Thomas and Dollar Crapser, who had adopted two other children and were also caring for several other foster children.   According to Crapser, that family was more abusive than the first. They would slam children’s heads on door frames, tape their mouths shut with duct tape and hit them with 2-by-4s. Eventually, they would be convicted in 1992 of several counts of criminal mistreatment and assault.   Before that, though, they kicked Crapser out of the house after an argument. It happened so quickly, he left his Bible and rubber shoes — the last remnants of his birth country — in the house. He was caught breaking into that house, trying to retrieve the items and pleaded guilty to burglary. Twenty-five months in prison followed.   In the years following, Crapser committed a number of infractions. He was found guilty of unlawful firearm possession and, later, assault after getting into a fight with his roommate. In 2013, he called his son by an ex-girlfriend despite a protection order she had taken out against him.   “I made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I’m not proud of it,” Crapser told the New York Times magazine. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way.”   In the past few years, he’d been working to put his life back on track by getting married and focusing on family.   Now, that’s over.   Difficult as his life here has been, he followed the court’s ordered punishment for his crimes. Returning to a country that the AP described as “completely alien to him” was not a punishment handed down from a judge.   But that’s what’s happening.   He ended up on the radar of federal immigration officials after he applied for a green card in 2012. They dug into his background and found a criminal record, which as the AP noted, makes him eligible for deportation.   In fact, it’s a circumstance created by the very parents who adopted, then abandoned, him in the first place. No family that adopted him, nor the adoption agency, ever registered the boy for U.S. citizenship.   Simple paperwork left undone.   Dae Joong Yoon, executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, told the AP this isn’t uncommon — as many as 35,000 intercountry adoptees don’t have U.S. citizenship, through no fault of their own but that of their parents and the agencies that handled their adoptions.   The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 fixed part of this problem by automatically granting citizenship to children adopted by U.S. citizens, but, as NBC noted, it only applied to those under the age of 18 at the time of its passing.   Crapser and many others, thus, were left in their strange limbo. Currently Congress is considering the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2015, which would grant citizenship to all children who have been adopted by U.S. citizens.   But it’ll be too late for Crapser, who still hopes it will pass.   “While I am disappointed in the judge’s ruling and worried about my family’s future, I hope that what has happened to me will further demonstrate the importance of passing the Adoptee Citizenship Act,” Crapser said in a statement obtained by NBC.   Emily Kessel of the Adoptee Rights Campaign finds his deportation “appalling.”   “We do not choose our families,” Kessel told NBC. “But the U.S. does choose to bring adoptees into the U.S. with a promise of placing these children in safe homes to grow up like any other American … Adoptees are not disposable. We urge the community to call members of Congress and underline the need for a legislative fix now.”

The immigration system in this country is terrible there is no other way around it. The fact that this man was raised here since 3 and still not given citizenship? Give me a break. There are far too many stories like this and what angers me the most is that nothing is being done to fix this. We must do better.


I am not sure how I feel about this.  This guy is a lifelong criminal and honestly I don't think people like that deserve citizenship.  His parents messed up when he was young, yes, but he could have taken the responsibility to fix that as an adult.  He should have looked into it instead of spending so much time and energy breaking the law.  So I think he deserves what he is getting and should have been more careful.


i feel like our countries immigration policies are ridiculous. how can you possibly deport someone who has lived her his whole life basically? That just doesn't seem right. We really need to rethink the way we do things in this country. this just isn't fair to anyone to be honest. I'm sure his family is upset.


The person is male. Racially, the person is white. The person is 47 years old. The person has a two year associate degree. The person earns 29000 dollar per year. According to the Big Five personality test, on a scale of 10, the person has scored 6.5 in openness, 6.5 in conscientiousness, 7.0 in extraversion, 7.0 in agreeableness, and 7.0 in stability.

American system is really messed up. We let illegals get away with so many things and yet, this man, who was adopted and lived here almost his entire life, is facing deportation! He has a family of his own and I'm sure spent a good portion of his career paying taxes to the American government and now his life is in jeopardy-he has a family who is facing losing everything if he goes away!