Podcasts about yazidi

Tadifi's legendBook 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Meanwhile, Elsa was quietly amused. It wasn't like I could request the SD to force my House Guard to not do something they had been told to do by someone in my hierarchy. That would lead to chaos, and it was unfair to Juanita."Fine," I decided. "Get us three some water. Elsa and I will be practicing."Now Juanita was stuck. I wasn't asking her to leave the room, just leave me alone. I was technically her leader, respect notwithstanding."It is good to see you have not become drunk with power," Elsa smirked once Juanita had left on her errand."Your mockery is unappreciated," I glared back. I was only kidding. "I haven't seen you around recently. It is good to see you.""It is good to see you too," Elsa said in a voice far softer and compassionate than I would have preferred. After all, she had me drugged, beaten, then beaten me up again in the not so distant past.Of course, I had also sexed her up, bringing her to orgasm with my fingers alone. We had also exchanged a burning French kiss in Katrina's office that Buffy was aware of. Then there was the Buffy-Elsa personal feud and the Elsa-Rhada family feud. Balancing that was Elsa's super-hot body and intriguing personality. Sex with her promised to be memorable, more memorable than normal."What have you been up to? I'd like to say I've been behaving myself, but I don't want to advance our relationship by lying (right now, about this).""You are largely responsible for what I've been up to the past two weeks," she stepped back. She tossed her spear aside and entered her fighting stance. How nice of her to warn me, and get rid of her weapon. How erotically odd of her to give me the illusion of a chance."I deny everything," I rocked back. She was blindingly fast. The fact that I was able to block most of the blow was a testament to how much I had learned in the past two and a half months."Watashi wa nihongo o hanashimasu', 'Wǒ shuō pǔtōnghu ', 'Wǒ shuō guǎngdōng hu ' and 'Aku isa basa jawa'," she lectured me as she maneuvered me into a corner with a series of kicks and feints. She spoke Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Javanese. That was nice to know."Wait," then she kicked me off the mat."Amazons don't have a 'time out'," she smiled. I cautiously worked my way back onto the practice area."What part did you play?" I readied myself. This time, I went on the offensive. I used my greater strength and reach to compensate (rather poorly) for her superior reflexes."Someone had to ride herd on those disparate forces. My status was respected by the Amazons, I had experience dealing with outsiders, plus your person Addison nominated me, and Katrina suggested that you and I were close. That was enough for the Khanate. Your embassy and earlier aid to the Seven Families brought the 9 Clans along.""And you stole the carrier?""It was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to humiliate the Seven Pillars," she grinned. "Riding in a nuclear submarine was interesting, right up there with running around, spray painting translations next to all the markings onboard the captured vessel. Herding regular civilians wasn't nearly as much fun.""In the annals of the SD, that is going to be a victory hard to surpass," I got out right before my legs were swept out from under me. Before I could roll over, she landed on top of me. She didn't go for a pin. Elsa simply sat there, straddling my hips and looking down at me. We were both breathing heavily."I owe you for that," she patted me on my bare chest."Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?""I'll let you figure that out during the Great Hunt," she gave a sliver of a smile."Not you too," I groaned."Who else are you worried about?""You and twenty-nine other Amazons. By name, Rachel. She's pretty upbeat about her chances and believes she has a score to settle.""Rachel will be a tough one," Elsa acknowledged."Comfortable?" Juanita muttered."Yes, I am," Elsa grinned her way. "Thank you for asking." Juanita gave me a look that suggested I do something like protest, or actually try to fight her off."Why are you being nice to me?" I wondered."I've learned to appreciate your numerous qualities," Elsa enlightened me. "I am also honest enough to admit I was completely wrong about you. You make a good Amazon." That was huge praise indeed and more importantly, it was to a public audience. I was double fortunate that no one was close enough to see Elsa's camel toe resting against my lightly covered hard-on."Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?""Aren't you engaged to someone?" Juanita reminded me. What she was really saying was 'don't you know you belong to the maidens of House Ishara?' Trust me, I know these things. Had she meant Hana, she would have said Hana."She has the patience of Job," I reasoned. "Oh, Elsa, Job is a figure in the Old Testament of the Bible." I doubted she knew."Oh. Is he a bloody-handed butcher, raging misogynist, or one of those pacifistic wimps?""He's a nice guy who gets swallowed by a whale.""That's Jonah," Juanita corrected me. "Job is the one who was tested by God. Job accepted God taking away all his family, wealth and health, only to be rewarded for his loyalty to God with more than he ever had before.""Wimp.""I would never turn away from Ishara," Juanita rumbled."Zorja would never feel the need to test my loyalty so," Elsa riposted."Oh look," I thrust my hips up. "I seem to need a shower." Elsa's expression was of superiority and lust combined into a lethal cocktail of my demise."Let's go. You can wash my back," she said as she rose over me. She even offered me a hand up. That was unexpected and accepted warily."Is there some battle wound that makes you incapable of bathing yourself?" Juanita got feisty. Holy Hell, she was my Caribbean Buffy-twin."None," Elsa smugly commented. "I like the feel of his hands on my body. He possesses non-threatening masculinity wed with sisterly solidarity. It is a unique experience that you seem woefully unaware of.""Yippee!" I whispered."You really are a man-whore," Juanita declared under her breath."Check," I gave her a thumbs-up. Sadly, Elsa gave me enough respect to walk at my side, not in front of me (so I could have been mesmerized by her buttocks.) As I was stripping down in the locker room, I noticed Juanita hovering close by. "Are you going to follow me into the shower?""Yes.""Why? I am not going to be in danger in the middle of Havenstone.""I'll be the judge of that," she insisted."You do realize I've had sex with an audience before, don't you?""I've been warned about that and know proper counter-measures.""What? What kind of measures?" I was now naked and, towel in hand, was making my way to the communal showers."Charlie horses, trips, stun-gun if applicable," she informed me with relish."You are threatening to damage my prestige," I enlightened her."Cáel, I was chosen for more than my martial skills. I was selected because I will not wilt before your childish ways.""Are you a lesbian?""No. Why would a woman have to be a lesbian to withstand your wiles?""You'll figure it out eventually," I chuckled. Actually, knowing what a playboy-cad I was turned out to be a counter-intuitive edge for me. Expecting me to be a letch just meant I totally ignored the woman. Then the doubt would set in. 'Why wasn't I hitting on her?' she would think. She'd go through the phase of her not being good enough for me to knowing that wasn't the case, definitely, and would come at me to prove herself right. Wham-bam, another one in the can. Oink.Step One: reduce the amount of time talking to her as a fellow human traveler of life. From here on out, I would address her by her name when I wanted something and otherwise treat her like furniture ~ furniture I was comfortable with. In this case, I treated her like a towel rack. She promptly dropped it. That was okay, I was planning to get dressed wet anyway.I rinsed off my hair quickly as Elsa settled underneath the showerhead beside me. As soon as I finished, she handled me a bottle of (scentless) body soap. It was probably one of those the jaguar will smell me coming ten miles away excuses Amazons used to avoid being girlie. I got my hands all sudsy and began working on her shoulders and neck from behind.Wordlessly, Elsa followed my physical directions, allowing me to wash her arms before working my way down her back in languid, amorous circles. Around the 10th thoracic vertebrae, Elsa gave me a deep, cleansing exhalation. I dug my fingers into her taut back muscles, racking them down to her buttocks, deftly ran them along the sides of her glutes and finished up caressing them along the line between her thighs and ass.I worked her buttocks apart, worked my fingers along her perineum, tickling the back of her labia then up, across her anus and back to her tailbone and the small of her back. A crazy idea came to me: maybe I could talk her into a tramp stamp; something like If you are reading this, know I'll kill you next. That would be so Elsa.I lathered her ass up for another half-minute before working my way down to her thighs, starting with the hip joints and then coaxing of her parted lips. I knelt down so that I was resting on the balls of my feet. Elsa obliged me by parting her legs, standing on her toes with her feet over a foot apart, then placing her hands against the shower stall while arching her back so that her hips were thrust back."Oh, come on," Juanita protested. "What kind of bath is this?""Did you hear something?" Elsa looked down at me."Nope. I was focusing all of my attention on you," I smiled up at her. I was really liking the way her muscles were stressed through her exertions. I couldn't seem to pay enough attention to her robust calves. I didn't pass up the opportunity to plant gentle kisses on each cheek either.Elsa's ankles and feet happened all too fast and the pretense of a bath was complete. She looked at me while she soaped up her breasts then let the water cascade all over her body."Thank you, Cáel," she gave me a regal nod of her damp head, turned and left. "Train harder for the Hunt. You are going to need every edge you can get.""I'm stalking oysters over the weekend. They are cunning and stealthy adversaries," I replied sagely. Elsa snorted, then started toweling off as she left, going toward her own locker. I walked past my soaked towel on the floor without a single glance. Juanita stalked behind me, clearly with a lot on her mind she was now waiting for the proper moment to share. I got dressed."Not going to dry off?" she grumbled."I never use towels," I lied. "I like the rain-washed feel." By ignoring her act of defiance, I really steamed her. I wasn't done. As we headed toward the elevator, I opened up with my next jibe. Buffy really shouldn't challenge me so. I'm a past-master of dealing with clingy, bossy women."Regretting you made that bet?" I mused while we waited."What bet?" she simmered."The bet where you assured Buffy and whomever else was in the room that you wouldn't break down and physically harm me ~ punishing me for my wicked ways?""What? How did," she groused then, "You are playing me.""Yep.""You really are full of yourself," she seared me with her gaze."No, but I know what I'm good at and I'm good at frustrating women. I've been working at it for the past four years and I've got over 200 women who would agree that I'm very good at doing it.""Why are you doing this to me? I'm on your side," she turned all pouty and hurtful."Because if I don't, I'll go mad, Juanita," I enlightened her. "You want to protect me, right?""Yes," she sensed a verbal trap. The elevator opened and we stepped in."See, I don't want to be protected," I started."That's,""Let me finish, please," I stopped her. She gave me the visual 'go-ahead'. "I don't want to live a life where I need to be protected. I don't want to worry that women I hang out with could be cornered by some unsavory types at an eatery because those women happen to know and like me.""I admire what you are doing, I really do. This is not the life I wanted, though. This is not what I wanted to be doing four months after leaving college. I wanted to be some corporate worm, barely scraping by on my work reviews and being, as you said, 'a man-whore'.""You don't have that luxury," she pointed out."Am I not doing my job?" I countered."I guess you are," she grudgingly admitted."Yet you feel you have the right to critique my personal life and how I approach it," I related. "I'm not beating you up by playing the I am Ishara bullshit. I certainly don't expect anyone to be grateful to me for the opportunity to be in a House. I don't because I believe that every member of House Ishara has already proven they belong here before I ever meet them. I believe in you. Sometimes I would appreciate it if my sisters would give me the same respect."She looked away because my harpoon had struck home."Unlike the rest of you, I inherited my place in this madhouse. Unlike every other Amazon here, I am only a part of House Ishara because I am the choice of a thousand ancestors to be our leader. Notice that no one asked me if I wanted to do this. And I don't think I ask too much of you because frankly, there are times when I feel unworthy to be in your company.""You are still Ishara and I must still be your guardian," she held her ground. I glared at her. She glared back. I coughed. She kept glaring."What's my name?""Oh," she shrugged. "Cáel Wakko Ishara.""That may sound silly you to, but I have chosen the designations for myself, my First Ancestor and the Goddess for a good reason."We rode in silence. When we got to the ground floor, we made our way to our bikes and got ready to head home."What is the reason?""To never take ourselves too seriously. The worst thing I can think to befall my House is we become as humorless as the rest of the bitches around here. 'Laugh at Death' should be our motto.""Isn't that a bit childish?""Of course it is," I groaned. "You clearly haven't been paying attention to a damn thing I've been saying. I swear I'm thinking about bringing back 'National Clown Nose Day'.""We had a 'National Clown Nose Day'?" she pedaled to keep up."God help me," I muttered.(Where is my Serge?)"You are not going to let me go through my door first?" I sighed in exasperation. Juanita insisted that she go through every door first, because today was so very different than yesterday, when I had Pamela, perhaps I protest too much."You have a gun," a somewhat familiar voice said from inside my/Timothy's apartment. Oh, fuck. Ya know, because Juanita was as pretty as she was lethal, which is to say 'too much for the given company'."Don't make any sudden moves unless you want to see it," Juanita cautioned her."Oh, it's okay," Odette intervened. "This is Anais Saint-Armour. She's a Mountie.""Oh, she's on the List too," Juanita grumbled. "What has he done wrong this time?""Why don't you tell me who you are first?" Anais growled at Juanita while I pushed my way into the room."I don't like your attitude," Juanita glared."Anais, this is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza; she's my latest bodyguard. Juanita, this is Anais, a good friend of mine who helped save my life in Hungary when the 'terrorists' were closing in," I somewhat exaggerated,, she had helped me catch up with the rest of the team when Pamela and I got sidetracked."Why did he chose you?" Anais fumed. Did I mention she's insanely jealous with an aching need to know why I was marrying anyone else, but her."What list?" Odette proved to be on the ball."He didn't chose me. I volunteered for the spot.""Buffy made an anti-girlfriend list. Elsa is on it too," I mumbled."I bet you did," Anais (responding to Juanita)."It is not like that," I moved to interpose myself between my Mountie and my non-mounted (for now) guardian. "I'm on the board of directors for Havenstone now and,""How did that happen?" Anais turned 'The Force' on me. (That's Canadian for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, really) "You insisted (reference back in the days we were seeing one another) you were impoverished.""I inherited it from my Father,""He's poor too. I ran a background check when we first started dating," Anais kept up the pressure."My Mother?""She's dead.""Okay, it was my Father through a convoluted meandering of genetics," I went back to attempting the truth (shame on me)."Which is it?" she glowered."My Father, but it's too complicated to get into now," I tried to touch her. She recoiled. She was still pissed with me."He's telling the truth this time," Odette rose to my defense."Why didn't you tell me this when you were in Hungary? For that matter, if you are rich, why didn't you use those resources to get yourself out of trouble instead of involving me?" She really was a great cop."I had to make a call to someone I trusted and who couldn't be traced back to me, or Havenstone, or the Irish Embassy," I fibbed."What have you gotten yourself into?" Anais thawed somewhat."I believe I promised you dinner," I reminded her."You did.""Where are we going?" Juanita stressed our lack of privacy."'We' aren't going anywhere. Ms. Anais Saint-Armour and I are going to a restaurant of her choosing. Don't worry about it. She carries a gun.""I'm not carrying a gun," Anais torpedoed my plan."Where are we going?" Juanita repeated herself. I had to switch mental gears quickly to take in the new looks I was getting from Anais. I shouldn't have ignored those cues."I can't get around my personal security service," I sighed. Why did I give in? Anais was all about gathering evidence and then drawing conclusions from the facts in available.I had been involved in some significant bad-assery in Europe that was way beyond anything she would have associated with the old me. Terrorist cells duking it out with me (and others) in a Budapest metro station? A rustic inn being reduced to ashes after a suspected firefight? Bomb threats? A full-scale military operation in Romania?I had been kidnapped with a resultant massive manhunt for me then returned under highly mysterious circumstances. There had been a young girl with me, we were close for reasons not really gone into and I had saved her despite all forms of parenthood had been anathema to me.I was a man who others deemed necessary to protect, thus a man making secretive phone calls, getting snippets of information and being involved in the deaths of way too many people to be the old, playboy me. Who had I become?I therefore might be a man who 'needed' to marry a billionairess due to some unspeakable political reasons, not out of any romantic/sexual desire of my own. Anais knew that I was a commitment-phobe, not a gold-digger. That meant she could be involved with me without it really being cheating. I needed her help, I had reached out to her when I was in crisis and she was in the people-helping business, right?There was clearly more evidence out there for her to discover and she had the good fortune to be able to have me in a spot where I could be interrogated."Where do you want to go?" I disengaged and went to my room. The door was only partially shut as I changed."Eleven Madison West," I was told."Oh," Odette cooed, "that place is expensive.""I know," Anais remarked."Why did you pick it?" Odette inquired."To remind Cáel that meals can be very expensive." That was my 'date' reminded me that I'd cheated with her over the course of a home-cooked meal, cooked not-by-her in someone else's home. I wondered how Maya was doing.Eleven Madison West meant I pulled out one of my Havenstone suits. They were tailored after all and I suspected that getting into this place at this time of night was going to take some charisma and finagling. Dressing as causal-me wouldn't do. When I stepped out, jaws dropped ~ I do look good all gussied up. Odette dispelled the shock by jumping into my arms."You look hot," she squealed. "Too bad I'm not going out with you.""You might want to remember that," Anais griped."We need to stop by Havenstone so I can attempt to dress up for this affair," Juanita stated."How about we call in a replacement? Give you the night off?" I suggested."Who?""Chaz?""You want that British SSR non-commissioned officer to be your personal bodyguard for tonight? You've got balls," Juanita coughed. I took out my phone and got ready to give him a call."Hey, Anais, why didn't you call me to tell me you were coming over?" I carefully avoided the word 'warned' as she would take that the wrong way."I don't have your personal phone number. I called your home phone and got the answering service, last night and again this morning," she narrowed her eyes."Odette, did Timothy get lucky last night?" I looked past the Mountie."No. A good friend of his rolled his motorcycle and he went to the hospital to help him out," Odette shook her head. Poor Timothy. My roomie/fuck-buddy misinterpreted Anais's pique. "Timothy is gay, not a sexual enabler.""Huh?" Juanita wondered."Wingman," I translated. "Sometimes the three of us go to gay clubs where I act as his wingman,""And they feed me to lesbians," Odette sounded enthusiastic. Thanks to me she was hardly a same-sex virgin."If there are three people living here and two bedrooms, who sleeps on the sofa?" Anais skewered Odette with her eyes."If Cáel has company and isn't sharing, I sleep with Timothy," Odette refused to wilt, or cut me some slack with Anais."Isn't sharing?" those ocular death orbs flicked my way."Hmm, if we are going to Elven Madison West, I had better make that call," I evaded. I rang Chaz."Nyilas," he answered. "How are you doing this evening?""I'm good. I have an ex-girlfriend from out of town visiting, she wants to go to a swanky place and Juanita isn't dressed for the detail so,""You want me to double date?""No, I need a bodyguard.""You are assuming I have something appropriate to wear.""You are British!" I protested. "Even your chicks have tuxedos.""Very well. Will this be a personal protection detail, or close support?""Aahhh,""Close support," said Anais."Personal Protection," countered Juanita."The one most likely to save me from being stabbed with a steak knife," I muttered."I am not going to physically attack you," Anais simmered. Yeah, right, I had heard that one before, and not just from her."Personal Protection it is," Chaz informed me."Oh, and she's a Mountie.""Is she armed?""No," I thanked the goddesses."Does she want to be?""Huh? Are you going to arm her?" I panicked."No. You have a NYPD liaison. Give Officer Kutuzov a call and make a formal request. If she is a law enforcement officer in good standing, it shouldn't be a problem.""Oh, I can do that?, I'm not sure that's the best idea," I prevaricated."Man up, Nyilas," he chided me. "You should work on making it so women don't want to shoot you instead of thinking of ways to disarm them.""Spoken like a man who wisely prefers the company of other men," I grumbled."Good use of the word 'wisely'. Next question: what are we using as a means of conveyance?""Umm,""I have my motorcycle," Anais was less than helpful."If you weren't one of the bravest human beings I'd ever met, I would determine at this moment that you are a dolt. Call Havenstone and arrange for one of those Mercedes Armored GL550s. Bring your license. I drive on the correct side of the road and I'm not keen on having a distraught paramour driving into a storefront at 80 kph.""Man, I like the way you speak," I joked."I took advantage of a proper English education.""I was joking with you.""I know.""Can I date your sister?" I didn't know if he had a sister, but he'd hinted there were multiple Tomorrow's out there. Anais' mood didn't improve."Yes. I like you. You are a good bloke.""Does your sister know how to kill people?""Yes. I'd say she's relatively proficient with a variety of small arms and hand-to-hand techniques," he enlightened me."Just checking.""Cáel, every woman you are interested knows how to kill people, or how to have people killed," Chaz reminded me."What about Odette? She's neither well connected nor lethal.""Odette is indeed an enigma. She counters that by being well liked by people who are capable of killing others who hurt her, except where you are concerned. You live a treasured life.""Have you made dinner reservations? If you need me for a black tie event it has to be, what is the American for it, swanky.""That's more of a Cael/Pamela thing," I corrected him. "American's say 'high class', expensive, or 'hot spot'.""Thanks for the update. Make those calls.""O-kay. Will do. I'll meet you at Havenstone in thirty minutes. Does that work for you?""Yes. Make those calls. I'll see you at, 7:52 pm, EDT. Mark.""Huh?""Goodbye Cáel," and he hung up."Who is this 'Chaz' character?" Anais questioned me."He is Color Sergeant Charles Tomorrow of the British Army's Special Reconnaissance Regiment, he's a badass and he's delicious," Odette answered for me."How do you know him, either of you?" came next."He was with," Odette began blabbing 'National Security' stuff."Odette, don't. Anais, he is member of the Joint International Khanate Interim Taskforce along with me. Odette helps out in an auxiliary role," I answered."Cáel, how did you end up doing this kind of work?" she was perplexed. "You were devoid of anything approaching civic responsibility when we were last together. Quite frankly, I didn't think you cared for anyone but yourself.""Hey now," Odette got feisty. She was my friend after all."We can talk about that over dinner?" I suggested. She didn't like that answer, so I lied. "I grew up," which was what she wanted to hear. I was spared any more interrogation at the moment by the necessity of making those three phone calls. Nikita liked hearing from me again, though she was less pleased that it was official business. She did agree to contact the appropriate agency for me, despite me making it for a different female law enforcement agent.I'd wised up about Havenstone. I called Executive services to have the car delivered to my door step. I cautioned the operative that, in my neighborhood, they might be stopped on suspicion of purchasing guns, drugs, and/or a good time. I would have the car in fifteen minutes and agreed to take the delivery driver back to work afterwards. I'd have done it even if I wasn't meeting Chaz.At Eleven Madison West, I got a snooty 'exactly who do you think you are?' followed by 'you will be placed on the waiting list, a spot may open up around 9:50'. Was I going to inform Chaz and Anais of this? Of course not. I planned to beg like a big dog, suggest that while I was a nameless face, I actually knew people, a person, and we'd see how far that got me.While waiting for the S U V to arrive and on the drive back to Havenstone, this is pretty much what followed:"Do you know who was behind your father's murder yet?""Yes, but I can't talk about it.""Was that the reason people are trying to kill you?""Yes. That and other reasons.""What other reasons?""Things I can't talk about.""Why can't you talk about it?""Secret society stuff ~ decoder rings, secret handshakes, writing in cyphers, holding clandestine meetings in public places after dark, and various other things world governments don't want me talking about.""Are you pulling my leg?" I wished I was running my hands over her legs. This wasn't the time for that revelation."No. Most of what I am telling you is the truth.""Were you in a shootout at the Chicago Medical Examiner's morgue?""Yes. I was unarmed at the time.""Was your life in danger?""It depends on what you mean by 'danger'. My allies had guns and were expert shots. I was shot at, but they missed me, so I not sure how much my life was at risk.""Can you please be serious?""I'm trying. You scare me.""You don't need to be afraid of me. I only want to help." That was mostly true. She was a diligent, hard-working incorruptible public servant,well, as long as you overlooked her charging me with bestiality when she was truly pissed with me."I'm not afraid of you hurting me. I'm afraid for you. You are an excellent peace officer and I'm worried that you will learn too much. Then your life will be as screwed up as mine.""I can take care of myself.""The reality that you are going out with me unarmed speaks volumes about what you don't know, Anais.""Don't think this line of questioning is over, Cáel.""Don't worry. I know you are not done.""Very well. How is your aunt?" The crab-fisherwoman, not the Irish menagerie."Happy as a clam, working a real job and living life on her own terms.""Where did you go wrong?" That was a loaded question. I had to tread carefully."A girl humiliated me in high school. I decided to take control of my life and somehow, despite my best intentions to be an unreliable lothario, I've ended up with people closer to me than family,and this constant need for physical protection.""Why are you engaged?" Finally, the real reason she was here. Had she come by to pick up her accoutrements, she would have been gone by the time I came home. She wanted answers, answers that allowed her to be in charge of our relationship again. It was the double-barreled impact of exceptional sex and wondering why she wasn't 'the one'.(Me) "Are you seeing somebody?""You didn't answer my question.""I've answered plenty of your questions. Answer mine.""No. Men expect too much from a career woman." Translation: 'I'm a bitch that, regardless of my dynamite looks and raunchy sex drive, repels men because I'm a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.'"You do put your career first." Translation: 'I've totally forgotten that you are a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.' It was what she wanted to hear."Your turn.""Put on your tin-foil hat. I did it to save lives in Central Asia when the anthrax strikes were going on. I have this friend over there that people listen to.""Who? The Great Khan?"I didn't respond which wasn't the answer she was expecting."How?" as in how could I possibly be good friends with the master of arguably the third or fourth most powerful nation on the face of the Earth"That's one of those things I can't talk about.""Do you love her?""I don't know. I'm lousy at relationships. I get along with her daughter. Her father wants to bury me alive in the Nevada desert. The rest of the family seems to be coming around to the idea that I might be one of them.""That isn't a 'yes'.""No, it isn't.""Do you think you can ever love someone?" If you need translated, sigh, okay, 'why don't you love me?'"Do you mean 'when am I going to stop stumbling from botched relationship to botched relationship and make something constructive of my personal life?'""Yes.""Did I mention that I've discovered I have a grandfather?""No. That isn't answering my question.""It is in a way. Did I mention that Mom had ten sisters I wasn't aware of? I had an uncle, but he died in my arms.""No. My condolences on your uncle. What does this have to do with you becoming more of an adult and becoming accountable for your life?""Did I mention I have an adopted grandmother who is my spiritual twin?""No.""Don't worry about my uncle. He died trying to kill me. My aunts murdered him, though I can never prove it.""Oh.""My grandfather? He was the one who sent those terrorists to kill me. It was his litmus test to see if I was worthy of being in his family. I passed.""Are you serious?""Yes. My spiritual grandma? She's a retired professional assassin. Daily I interact with a half-dozen people who have killed multiple human beings in their lifetimes. You want to know why I'm not behaving responsibly? I am acting responsibly. I'm trying to not get the decent civilians around me killed."She took awhile digesting that. By that time, we had returned to Havenstone and picked up Chaz. I made introductions."So, are you really with the SRR?" she asked him."Yes.""Why are you with Cáel?""My mandate contains multiple answers. Suffice it to say, since my RAF contemporary will not be returning from the UK until tomorrow, I am presently chief liaison officer for Her Majesty's government with JIKIT.""Why are you coming along as Cáel's bodyguard? Don't you have something better to do with your Friday evenings?" Subtle and polite, Anais ain't. Why was I putting up with her? She was a sexual tornado who would try anything once. She was a real prize."First question: Cáel is a friend, his life is in perpetual danger and I consider it my duty to keep him alive. He would do the same for me. Second question: the nature of my present assignment doesn't leave much room for any meaningful romantic associations.""Hmm," I contemplated what wasn't being said. "Chaz, you are nailing one of my security chicks, aren't you?""Yes.""Which one?""A man of character doesn't brag about such things."Chaz was getting some Amazon nookie. I had to find a way to tell him how dangerous that was. She might decide he's make good father material, not a good thing where Amazons were concerned."Are all of his security personnel women?" Anais pressed."Miss Saint-Amour, Havenstone is a corporation that employs over ten thousand people. There are precisely five men currently on their payroll. All their security personnel are woman. Cáel has very limited, if any, input on the matter.""Are you sure about that?""Yes, Miss Saint-Amour. Who would trust a man of Cáel's dubious experience with his own security?" Chaz pointed out."Oh." She hadn't thought of that."Can you tell me why you think his life is in danger?""He is far more likely to be kidnapped than murdered. He possess certain sensitive data that powerful entities would like to access, thus I am his bodyguard tonight. Considering the quality of the women who normally guard him, I consider it an honor.""To guard Cáel, on a date?""He was kidnapped visiting a child at a playground. Yes, we believe his life is in constant peril. The training and experience of his security service is top flight and it has been a pleasure to serve among them.""Were you with him in Budapest and Romania?""The metro station?""Yes.""Yes.""Romania?""Do you mean the counterterrorism action south of Miercurea Ciuc?""Yes.""Yes."Wow, these two were lousy communicators. I could imagine Chaz propositioning one of my Amazons.Chaz: 'You have a superior feminine physique which I find appealing. Want to fuck?'Amazon: 'You look like you have the prerequisite stamina and battle scars to be part of the New Directive. Sure.'"Were you involved in the actual combat? The SRR is normally an intelligence gathering unit.""I was gathering battlefield intelligence, Miss. That required my close proximity to armed and actively hostile enemy aliens (as in they were in Romania illegally, not that they were all supernatural beings). My involvement resulted in two KIA's and one WIA.""Damn Chaz, you rock.""I am a professional.""How many did Pamela gak?""One KIA.""Just one? Whoa, that's so unlike her.""She kept trying to bracket the cell leader (aka Ajax). He had the Devil's Own Luck.""Cáel, why are you making light of all those deaths?" Anais chastised me. "How many terrorists did you wound, or kill?""I wounded one guy.""That is disingenuous," Chaz chided me. "You orchestrated the operation, showed tactical expertise in seizing the most critical terrain feature and engineered the death of the terrorist leader.""My Cáel did that? When I knew him, he was adverse to violence," Anais shook her head."Considering the considerable number of people he's killed, he's still adverse to physical confrontation where his own life is involved. But God help you if you threaten someone he is close to, though. He's the man who can get things done when the team is in a pinch.""Cáel, what happened to you?" she didn't sound upset at all."I learned to care for people beyond my immediate interest, you know, actual long-term relationships," with the unspoken 'as opposed to women I'm currently having sex with'."It took you long enough," she snipped. Reference her being a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.The interrogation was put on hold while we entered the restaurant and,"Mr. Nyilas?" the maytre dee greeted me."Yes.""We will get you a table right away," he nodded obsequiously. What the hell was up with that? Where was my two hour wait time? Oh yeah, I was a minor, fifteen seconds of fame celebrity."Will Ms. Sulkanen be joining you this evening?""No. She had to oversee a packaged Erythrosine-monosaccharides explosion in Boca Raton. Flaming plastic pink flamingo bits were raining down everywhere. I imagine it is taking an Everest-sized load of hush money to keep this out of the media," I replied. I was so eerily sincere, he bought it and a look of horror snuck over his face. I had become the public face of corporate malfeasance."Your table (gulp) is ready, Sir," he began to sweat. He took us to our table for four then beat a hasty retreat. Undoubtedly his civic-mindedness would have him calling up TMZ within a minute. After all, it was unlikely he owned any plastic pink flamingos, or invested in their construction. Once he was gone, Chaz let a thin smile break through his hard-earned military unfazed-ability."What exactly are packaged Erythrosine-monosaccharides?" he inquired."Packaged is self-explanatory. Erythrosine is pink food coloring and monosaccharides are,""Sugar," Anais frowned."Exploding pixie sticks, I have nieces and nephews. You are a genius at misdirection, Mr. Nyilas," he nodded."Thank you, Color Sergeant Tomorrow. It is nice to be appreciated for my bizarre and useless preoccupation," I grinned."You practice lying?" Anais' view of me dimmed."Miss, he excels at extraneous, outrageous utterances. No harm is intended.""Things like I was helping her find her contact lenses?" That had been my excuse when caught coming out of Maya's apartment. Sadly, Anais is highly perceptive and knew the lady didn't wear contacts. The copious female aroma wafting off me certainly hadn't helped."That's unfair," I countered. "Back then, I was a college nitwit suffering from undiagnosed nymphomania. I'd like to think I'm getting better."" tes-vous mieux?" she retorted in French."Je suis assez intelligent pour aller vers vous lorsque des vies  taient sur la ligne." That's right, Anais. When my life and the lives of others were on the line, she was the first one I thought to call. Letting a woman know that you admire her profession, professionalism and reliability never hurts."Are you really a nymphomaniac?" she returned to English. French is the language of sex, as is any derivative of Sanskrit, Farsi and Portuguese. Reference the multitude of Indians, the hotness of Persian women and the outpouring of lust that is Brazil."I had a magnetoencephalography recently. The neuroscientists didn't know what to make of my brain patterns. I appear to be somewhat unique in my madness."She didn't believe me. I didn't blame her. No one really likes hearing a truth they don't want to accept."Here," I leaned forward and pointed to the tiny divot in my forehead. "I was stabbed with a needle in the skull. That is why they looked at me, not because of my sexual malfunction."She touched it to makes sure. We were interrupted by the waiter stopping by to see if we were ready to order yet."We will have three of the most expensive appetizers, dinners, deserts and wines," Anais preempted us. Ugh. I was either a millionaire by the wonders of Havenstone accounting, or broke. I foolishly never looked into such things, never having had much money before. I needed a distraction."Hey Chaz, nice suit," was what came to mind. It was a swell masterpiece of the tailoring arts I hadn't expect from a ground-pounder from a family of ground-pounders serving Queen and Country for generations."Thank you. Pamela picked it out for me, suspecting an event such as this would transpire. She told me you paid for it," Chaz answered."I did?""I made the reasonable deduction that she forged your signature on whatever medium was used for payment," he shrugged, "in the same way she exhibits a criminal tendency toward every other aspect of her life.""What does Pamela look like?" Anais glowered."She's his grandmother," Chaz responded politely. "They make quite the pair. Normally we don't let them alone in the same room. Bad things happen.""Bad things?""Things like that scenic hostel being reduced to ruin," he enlightened her."This is the supposed assassin?""Retired assassin," Chaz corrected her. "So far she's only, what is the term you two use?" he looked at me."Sending a Get-Well card to their next of kin? Pumping up the volume? Making a critical attitude adjustment? Retroactively revoking their lease on life? We have a few.""Yes, those. Pamela has assured the team director that she no longer accepts assignments of a murderous nature. These days she only practices her skills on those we determine are a threat to the greater endeavor," he explained."She murders people? You all murder people?" Anais furrowed her brow. "Cáel, do you engage in these activities?""What? Who? Me? No!" I waved off any conspiratorial associations. "The vast majority of people I've killed was totally by accident.""How do you accidently kill people?" she pierced my soul with her voice."Okay, I let them kill themselves because warning them would have resulted in me and some friends meeting very immediate violent ends," I pleaded."Miss Saint-Amour, I've talked to trustworthy people who were on the scene when this happened. It was a paramilitary action with the lives of children on the line. Cáel acted to save the lives of innocents," Chaz defended me. That is what Anais wanted to believe; that I was basically a decent human being. I was a pig, but a courageous one. I had confronted her after my infidelity, on the other side of the US/Canadian border where her jurisdiction didn't apply.I knew my revelations were hideously hard to believe. In my favor, I had been in dangerous places doing dangerous things. The Metro firefight had been captured on the place's security system (which had been leaked to the public thus leading to some delusional admirers into thinking I would make a great new King of Hungary even though they hadn't had a monarch since 1918 nor was I from the right (Hapsburg) family. In case this whole Havenstone thing came crashing down in flames, I needed to keep my options open).There had been a bomb threat at Mindszent which I had reputable sources call in (and where I had admittedly hung out with a few of the women who saved me from an earlier disaster) and Miercurea Ciuc had made the international news. Well over 100 people had died and some of the terrorists were still at large. The Romanian government declared I had been 'instrumental' in the confrontation without saying what 'instrumental' meant.I was heroically vague, more mature than where we left off and clearly incited pussy-twitching memories. We'd once fucked so continuously hard and long one weekend that neither one of us could stand until an hour after we stopped. Anais was well worth the pain I was contemplating. Sex with her wasn't the pain I was worried about. It was dodging all her calls afterwards. Once again reference her being a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.Oh, how did I know she was reveling in our past coital moments? She hadn't walked out on me yet. She hadn't walked out when she found Odette in my domicile, when she met Juanita, or when she found out that I worked with highly experienced killers as part of my new daily routine.Normally Anais was smarter than this and had a career in law enforcement to contemplate. Lastly, she hadn't asked to be armed, despite getting permission from the NYPD. Had she decided to get a gun, Anais was sure in her hormonally-cascading mindset she would have shot me by now. I incite all kinds of passion in women. It is a curse.The rest of dinner was unremarkable. Anais continued to interrogate Chaz who proved that he was both skilled in counter-interrogation techniques and not willing to spill anymore secrets about what anyone at JIKIT did. However he had provided her with every logical reason to beat feet back across the Canadian border and she hadn't taken the hints about what a disaster sleeping with me could be.We drove Anais back to her motel, then Chaz and I headed home in silence. Despite his earlier declarations, he knew how to drive the 'right' way all along. As he was letting me out in front of my building, he gave me this pleasant warning."I'm not going to lecture you about not going back there, or avoiding the crazy ones. You already know better and are going back by her place anyway. I do advise that whatever you do, don't let her restrict your movements in any way. She's likely to make you pay double for your past indiscretions and take payment out on your cock. Good luck, Mate.""Wait," I stopped him. "Can you help me hotwire her bike? I can use that as an excuse to darken her doorway.""Dolt," he muttered. He helped me anyway because that's what really good friends do ~ assisting you in your self-destruction so we could joke about it later. At least that was what I hoped was going on. Chaz being a closet sadist was an unsettling idea. I didn't get to immediately pursue my plan because,(We work for you, don't we?)At 9 am, the President of the United States of America, after a late night briefing and a good night's sleep, decided that for the sake of world peace he had to intervene in Southeast Asia ~ Thailand to be specific, though he had some vague notion that a summit of regional leaders was in the offing and the US needed to establish some sort of game plan instead of looking impotent and disinterested.Based on carefully selected bits of information supplied to him by us (JIKIT), he ordered two carrier taskforces to move to the Gulf of Thailand to enforce an anticipated UN arms embargo and 'No-Fly Zone'. It would take four days (September 3rd) for Carrier Strike Group Nine (built around the USS Ronald Reagan) and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (2,200 souls) to take up a position in the South China Sea close to the Gulf of Thailand. By fortuitous circumstance, 500 Marines and sailors were already deployed to Malaysia on a joint training mission with the Malaysian Marines.The second one, the USS Carl Vinson's Carrier Strike Group One wouldn't arrive until the 9th, six days later. What the US government wanted to know was what the Khanate and Vietnam would do in those long, lonely six days. The Khanate had as many modern, up-to-date combat aircraft on Woody Island as the Reagan could send up. The Vietnamese could add another 48 planes worth worrying about.There was the added complication that Thailand hadn't asked for help yet. His experts (us again) were suggesting that he was about to wake up one morning and find Khanate tanks rolling down the streets of Bangkok, which

International bestselling author, essayist and activist - Elif Shafak - joins Simon and Matt for a chat about her novel, 'There Are Rivers In The Sky' She talks about her inspirations for this epic tale, why she writes with history in mind and who she is writing for. Here's more on the book: In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. When his brilliant memory earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, the world opens up far beyond the slums and across the seas. In 2014 in Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptized. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon she and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people. In 2018 in London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything. A dazzling feat of storytelling from one of the greatest writers of our time, one that spans centuries and continents, this is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

«Water remembers. It is humans who forget.»A droplet of water finds its way from ancient Mesopotamia to a street urchin in 1840's London and on to a Yazidi family in present day Iraq. Three people's lives and destinies are connected by two rivers – the Thames and the Tigris – and the water which flows through them.In the novel There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak weaves together lost empires, colonial plunder, modern conflicts, and the study of water in a plot stretching from ancient time to the present. With thrill, humour and evocative language, There Are Rivers in the Sky is both enthralling and fascinating, and has been lauded by authors such as Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy and Mary Beard.Turkish-British Elif Shafak is one of the world's foremost writers of historical fiction. Through her fourteen novels, she has explored cultural tensions and socioeconomic inequalities between East and West in historical and contemporary settings. She has also been an active champion of the freedom of speech and of human rights, particularly women's rights, an activism evident in both her fiction and non-fiction. She lives in London in self-imposed exile, after past and continuing threats in Turkey against her work as an author.At the House of Literature, Shafak meets author and journalist Marte Spurkland for a conversation on time, cultural conflicts, and the memory of water. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Northern Iraq, Yazidi women and girls who have been the victims of brutal sexual enslavement and lost swathes of their family and community to genocide at the hands of IS, are finding an unusual way to heal - boxing. Since 2014, when ISIS began targeting Yazidis because of their religious identity, those who survived the genocide have been confined to internally displaced persons camps in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Here conditions are difficult and the women and girls still struggle to process all that has happened to them. So, in 2018, in the face of limited mental health support, Taban Shoresh and her team took a radical approach by offering boxing training to help the women and girls channel their emotions and anger.

“We had a case of a little cell of Christian believers who were all converts from Islam, and they were meeting secretly. And they were infiltrated by a radical terrorist group called Al Shabaab, and they burnt down the house. They captured some of them, they took them onto the beach, and only two of them managed to survive, because they killed the rest of them.”Charmaine Hedding is the founder and president of the Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization that aids, protects, and even rescues persecuted minorities throughout the Middle East and Africa.“In 2014, I watched as the Islamic State swept over Syria and Iraq. And I watched as the Yazidi and the Christian women were taken as sex slaves and sold in the markets of Raqqa and in Turkey and across the Middle East. And I thought to myself, ‘Who's going to do something about this?'” she says. “The greatest struggle in the Middle East and in Africa, at the moment, is this concept of freedom of religion and belief.”Hedding was born and raised in South Africa, where her father and grandfather were outspoken anti-apartheid activists. Because of their activism, they were eventually forced to flee to Jerusalem when Hedding was a child.“By the time I was 12, we were harassed by agents. And we had agents in the church. We were followed,” she says. “The question that I remember asking myself as a child after reading the stories of the Holocaust is: If I was a European, what would I have done? And would I have put myself at risk to save a Jewish family? And that's what motivated me, that question.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Abdassamad El Yazidi ist Nachfolger von Aiman Mazyek - eine schwierige Aufgabe, die viel Fingerspitzengefühl erfordern wird.

Hummel, Ulrike www.deutschlandfunk.de, Tag für Tag

Ten years after the genocide perpetrated against the Yazidis by the Islamic State group in Iraq's Sinjar region, tens of thousands of displaced survivors are returning home. But their homecoming is bittersweet, as the atrocities have left indelible wounds. FRANCE 24's Marie-Charlotte Roupie reports.

Elif Shafak's new novel brings together four stories set in three different centuries: ancient Mesopotamia, 19th century London, a Yazidi village in 2014, and the present day. It connects them through the epic of Gilgamesh, and a single drop of fresh water. Making history come alive is one of Elif's many talents, and today she shares her thoughts on how novels can fill in the gaps in authorised history. She also talks with Lilah about the importance of the unwritten word — and why she looks to oral traditions to make sense of the past.-------As you know, the show is ending in early January – we're still collecting your cultural questions. What's rolling around in your head? How can we help? Email Lilah at lilahrap@ft.com or message her on Instagram @lilahrap.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – Elif Shafak's new novel There are Rivers in the Sky, is out now in the US and the UK– Read the FT's review of the book here: https://on.ft.com/4gC9cWd– Lilah spoke with Elif about her previous novel The Island of Missing Trees and the stories we tell ourselves back in 2020. Listen to that interview hereRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A version of this essay was published by the Deccan Herald at https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/the-depressing-regularity-of-regime-change-operations-3318109This podcast is AI generated by Google NotebookLM: Imagine this scenario: In a certain country, there is someone in power who is not liked by one section of the population. Some global powers support this person; others support the opposition. One fine day there is a coup d'etat, and this person is overthrown and exiled. The opposition takes over amidst scenes of jubilation.Pliant media condemns the former ruler and welcomes the new regime. “Democracy”, they chant.But then shortly thereafter, darker things come to the fore. There are atrocities against certain sections of the population. These may be in violation of the norms of civilized society, and may include rapes, abductions, looting, murders, destruction, ethnic cleansing, and so on. In general, chaos reigns and human suffering is widespread.Bangladesh, did you say? Yes, but I was also thinking of Syria. And then this is a scenario that plays out with depressing, even metronomic, regularity in many other parts of the world. To name a few examples, there were Iraq, Libya, Iran, Afghanistan; and to look outside West Asia, there were Chile, Congo, Guatemala, South Vietnam, Brazil, Ethiopia, Yemen, Cambodia, Laos, Tibet, to name just a few.Yes, it's not just the Americans, but also the Soviets/Russians and the Chinese that have indulged in overthrowing regimes they didn't like. And usually with similar after-effects.It appears that there is a simple playbook. Arm and support particular groups friendly to you or your ideology, get them to overthrow the person you don't like, and then provide covering propaganda fire for the people you installed. This is despite the inevitable mayhem and revenge that the latter inflict on their erstwhile foes as well as the collateral damage on innocent bystanders.It is safe to say that Ukraine's regime-change, infamously attributed to an American diplomat, also did not turn out well for that nation's civilians.It's not clear if these are unintended consequences, or whether the instigators truly don't care about the damage inflicted on civilian populations. Suffice to say that there are losers at the end of the day, especially religious and ethnic minorities.The reports coming out of Bangladesh about the atrocities being committed on Hindus there are horrendous. In effect, the Hindu population looks like it is on the way to being entirely wiped out, which was also the experience in Afghanistan after the latest Taliban takeover. The tragedy is that the rest of the world – including India – does not seem to care. Nor do such entities as the United Nations, nor the grandly-named US Council on International Religious Freedom.In Syria, if there are any Syrian Orthodox Christians left (they are a community that predates the Vatican, has its liturgy in Aramaic, and owes its allegiance to the Patriarch of Antioch, not the Pope) they are surely bearing the brunt of the takeover by radical Islamists. Their forebears are said to have arrived in India around 345 CE, and some people in Kerala still call themselves “Syrian Christians”.In addition, there are populations such as the Alawite sect of Islam, and other ancient groups such as Kurds and Druze either in Syria or in surrounding areas. The Kurds have been fighting for an independent homeland for a long time; the Druze inhabit border areas in Lebanon and have been generally neutral in the many wars there. Given the experiences of another ancient group, the Yazidi, when radicals attacked them ten years ago, things may not look so good for these groups either.The net take-away is that regime-change induced from outside is generally a bad idea for any nation, and can lead to significant human misery. India would be wise to take this lesson to heart, because there is reason to believe there are regime-change operations mounted by, among others, an infamous financier. There is large-scale online propaganda against India, and against Hindus, as well as continuous unrest, large and small (see Manipur).These efforts are supported by certain embedded assets inside the country: the “barbarians within” as in historian Will Durant's words: “...civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within.” (The Story of Civilization: Part 1, Our Oriental Heritage, pp 452, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1952)If there is one strategic position India urgently needs to adopt, that would be to anticipate, forestall and thwart these attempts at regime change. They reflect not the will of the people, but malign interests.760 words, 12 Dec 2024 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I sit down with the brilliant Andrew Collins to dive into his astonishing new book on Karahan Tepe. This ancient site in Turkey has fascinated me for years, and Andrew's research takes its significance to a whole new level. We explore the origins of myths, the symbolism of serpents and birds as depicted at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe, and the potential relationship with the Milky Way. Andrew shares incredible insights from his journeys to Karahan Tepe and nearby sites which are revealing more and more about the sophistication of the ancient people who created them. We also discuss some of the big questions about humanity's past, from the Watchers and Nephilim to the Yazidi black snake and the cosmic serpent myths found across cultures. Andrew ties it all together with his thoughts on cosmic cycles, cataclysmic events, and their influence on spiritual practices. Plus Section:We dive into the historical and mythological significance of the Garden of Eden. Andrew shares his theory that the Garden was a real place located in Eastern Turkey, identifying the four rivers mentioned in the Bible. He recounts local legends about Adam and Eve and connects the story's serpent to the cosmic Milky Way serpent and the stars of Scorpius. We also touch on Andrew's recent experiences in Turkey, including a haunting Jinn encounter at a cave tied to the goddess Ishara. This conversation is packed with extraordinary revelations and thought-provoking ideas. I loved every second of it, and I think you will too. Show Notes:Andrew's website https://www.andrewcollins.com The Book https://books.innertraditions.com/karahan-tepe/Karahan Tepe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karahan_TepeTours https://www.megalithomania.co.uk/turkey.html Jinn image https://www.instagram.com/p/C5T9lWyMXhr/?img_index=1Yazidism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidism#:~:text=Yazidism%2C%20also%20known%20as%20Sharfadin,are%20a%20Kurdish%2Dspeaking%20community.My photos of Göbekli Tepe https://www.darraghmason.com/index/G00004PhxB5.ZTXQMy photos of Harran https://www.darraghmason.com/index/G0000tRVakEIGlNk

Felicity Beckett talks to director Hasan Oswald about his new film Mediha.  Mediha follows the remarkable journey of one girl's fight to find her missing family members, revealing the strength of a young survivor. Mediha, a teenage Yazidi girl, turns her camera on herself to process her trauma after surviving captivity from ISIS. Through her personal video-diaries, she confronts her pain, while also initiating investigations into her captors. Mediha's journey is one of courage and determination as she steps towards a future of justice and healing. If you'd like to send us a voice memo for use in a future episode, please email podcast@picturehouses.co.uk. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Follow us on Spotify. Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with @picturehouses. Find our latest cinema listings at picturehouses.com.  Produced by Stripped Media. Thank you for listening. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends. Vive le Cinema.

Send us a textIn this episode of the Kurdistan in America podcast, brought to you by the KRG Representation in the US, host Delovan Barwari explores the Lincoln-Duhok Sister City initiative. This collaboration through university partnerships focuses on key areas like education, healthcare, cultural exchange, and community development, all while emphasizing the importance of unity within both communities to build a stronger future.Joining Delovan are four members of Lincoln's Yazidi and Kurdish community, all part of the working group: Dr. Falah Rashoka, PhD in Nutrition and Health Sciences; Dr. Hadi Pir, PhD in Education and advocate for community development; Layla Younis, an International Development professional; and Kak Haroon, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Delovan is also part of this working group, helping to advance the initiative.The episode delves into the origins of the UNMC-University of Duhok partnership, efforts to expand collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the impact of this initiative on Yazidi and Kurdish students. It also highlights how this partnership strengthens ties between Duhok and Lincoln.Stay tuned for this inspiring conversation on the power of unity and the importance of partnerships in addressing shared challenges and creating meaningful connections.

In het voorjaar van 1982 liet Hafez al-Assad, vader en voorganger van de huidige Syrische president Bashar al-Assad, de stad Hama met de grond gelijk maken. Zo'n 20.000 burgers werd neergemaaid en in massagraven gegooid, die vervolgens met bulldozers werden geëgaliseerd. Een groot deel van de stad leek op een aantal voetbalvelden, waar hier en daar nog een hand of knie uitstak. Wat hadden de slachtoffers misdreven? Zij waren opstandige soennieten, gelieerd aan de Egyptische Moslimbroederschap. New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman ging er destijds, toen nog als correspondent, kijken en bedacht de term ‘Hama-regels' voor leiders in de Arabische wereld: ‘regeer door middel van angst, plant angst in de harten van je mensen door duidelijk te maken dat je volgens geen enkele regel speelt, zodat ze er nooit, nooit, nooit over peinzen om tegen je te rebelleren'. Assad jr. houdt zich al dertien jaar aan de ‘Hama-regels', sinds hij demonstraties tegen zijn regime keihard neersloeg. De demonstranten, veelal soennieten, maar ook Koerden, Yazidi's, Druzen, Assyriërs en talrijke andere minderheden, voelden zich geïnspireerd door wat toen de Arabische Lente heette. Assad, zelf Aleviet – een liberale sjiitische stroming – die een broze coalitie vormde met de christenen, voelde zich bedreigd en startte een burgeroorlog waarin hij geen middel schuwde, inclusief chemische wapens, en die inmiddels 600.000 mensen het leven heeft gekost. Zijn krijgsmacht stelde niet veel voor, maar bondgenoot Iran stuurde eenheden van de Revolutionaire Gardes en Hezbollah, en bondgenoot Rusland stuurde zijn luchtmacht.  De Russisch-Iraanse actie leidde tot verpulvering van delen van het land, en in het bijzonder de historische stad Aleppo. In 2020 leidde Russisch-Turkse bemiddeling tot een staakt-het-vuren. Omdat Israël de slagkracht van Iran en Hezbollah nu stevig heeft verminderd, durfden rebellen van Tahrir al-Sham, een wat minder fanatiek broertje van Al Qaeda, het aan om een poging te doen de stad te heroveren. Het ziet ernaar uit dat het lukt. De Russische luchtmacht kwam meteen in actie, maar die heeft te weinig materieel en mankracht om tegelijkertijd in Oekraïne en Syrië te vechten. Iraakse pro-Assad-milities zijn ook geen partij voor de rebellen.  Een groot deel van de bevolking van Aleppo is blij met de rebellen  , terwijl Assad het zich niet kan veroorloven om de op één na grootste stad in het land te verliezen en de ‘Hama regels' zal toepassen. En dus kijken we naar de herleving van een conflict dat we een beetje waren vergeten. Politiek en journalistiek doen immers aan selectieve verontwaardiging. Na de Russische invasie in Oekraïne, en zeker sinds het uitbreken van de Gaza- en Libanonoorlogen, is Syrië aan onze aandacht ontsnapt. De Syrische bevolking verdient beter. En het is wel degelijk ook ons probleem, want reken maar op een nieuwe stroom vluchtelingen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Judges at the Supreme Court are today considering how women are defined in law in a landmark case brought by Scottish campaigners. It will address what “sex” means legally, and will set out exactly how the law is meant to treat trans people. BBC Scotland Policital Correspondent, Phil Sim, joins Nuala McGovern to explain more.Song writing partnership Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are making history by becoming the youngest and first female songwriting duo to compose for a Disney feature film in the highly anticipated Moana 2. The Grammy Award-winning pair join Nuala live in the studio to discuss what the songs mean to them, and their career so far.The film Mediha tells the story of a teenage Yazidi girl who was captured by the Islamic State group in the 2014 genocide against the Yazidi people and kept for four years as a sex slave. To help her process her trauma, she has filmed her life and her journey to try and find her missing family members. Mediha herself joins Nuala alongside the director and producer of the film, Hasan Oswald.Following the death of bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, Nuala talks to her publisher, Lynne Drew, and to television presenter and author Fern Britton who was a fan and a friend of Barbara's. They'll discuss Barbara's extraordinary rise from typist to multi-millionaire author and the enduring appeal of her work, including her 1979 smash hit A Woman of Substance.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lottie Garton

Three people have been arrested in the UAE in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli citizen. Countries at the COP29 summit in Baku adopted a $300 billion a year global finance target to help poorer nations cope with impacts of climate change but the deal has been described as “woefully insufficient” by its intended recipients. Australia's push to ban social media for teenagers is facing a critical week as it looks to introduce some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date. Find our recommended read on how Donald Trump Jr is helping his father pick the most controversial cabinet of modern times here. Find our special episode on what Donald Trump's win could mean for Israeli settlers here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to our weekend episode on Iraq's Yazidi religious minority here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A driver in an SUV has crashed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country. Hong Kong's High Court has jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial. Donald Trump and Elon Musk have promised to slash government employees and cut costs but the federal workforce is looking to the incoming Republican-controlled Congress to protect it. Find our recommended read here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to our weekend episode on Iraq's Yazidi religious minority here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden's administration is allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia. President-elect Donald Trump celebrates his election victory at a UFC fight with his cabinet picks. Plus, negotiators struggle to break an impasse over money at the COP29 climate talks. Find our recommended read here and the full investigation here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to our weekend episode on Iraq's Yazidi religious minority here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years after the Islamic State launched a bloody assault on Iraq's Yazidi religious minority, hundreds remain missing. On this weekend episode, our Iraq Bureau Chief Timour Azhari travels through the regions destroyed by ISIS, and speaks with the Yazidis still trying to find their missing loved ones, and bring them home. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years ago, in 2014, militants belonging to the Islamic State group in Iraq killed and captured thousands of Yazidi people in what would later be called a genocide. It's understood that hundreds of women are still missing, and are being held as sex and domestic slaves across the Middle East. One was recently found in Gaza. Since then there have only been a handful of court cases - mostly in European courts - but survivors are still fighting for justice. Caroline Hawley, a BBC diplomatic correspondent, talks us through the detail. We also hear from Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad who, at 21, was abducted into sexual slavery when IS militants surrounded her Yazidi community in the Sinjar region. Since her miraculous escape she has been advocating for survivors of genocide and sexual violence through her organisation Nadia's Initiative. Trigger warning: the material in this episode can be disturbing and quite hard to hear. If you are sensitive to content about physical and sexual violence, or if you believe that you might find the discussion to be triggering, this episode may not be right for you.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Hayley Clarke Editor: Verity Wilde

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We'll start things off with Israel's aggressive assault on Hezbollah, wiping out 50% of its missile stock through airstrikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon. Despite this success, Hezbollah still poses a major threat. We'll explore what remains of its deadly arsenal. Later, Ukraine targets the Russian economy with major strikes on oil depots and shipment hubs, aiming to deal a significant blow to Moscow's finances. Plus, a Pakistani separatist group claims responsibility for a deadly bombing outside Karachi's airport, specifically targeting Chinese nationals, killing two and injuring several others. And in today's Back of the Brief, an incredible story of survival: A Yazidi woman, kidnapped and trafficked by the Islamic State nearly 10 years ago, has been rescued from Gaza in a joint operation by Israel, the U.S., and international forces. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: PDB@TheFirstTV.com.  Patriot Gold: Call 1-888-870-5457 for a free investor guide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia decides to drop the Taliban from its terrorist list, a Yazidi woman is freed from Gaza after a 10-year captivity, Google will block local news in New Zealand if it's forced to pay publishers, the EU votes in favor of extended PRC electric vehicle tariffs, Liz Cheney campaigns with Kamala Harris while Donald Trump prepares to stump with Brian Kemp, the US Supreme Court will weigh Mexico's billion-dollar lawsuit against US gunmakers, US dockworkers end their strike, while US employers reportedly added 254K new jobs in September, the World Health Organization approves the first mpox PCR test, and scientists discover a second asteroid impact crater dating to the time of dinosaurs' demise. Sources: https://www.verity.news/

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said this week that the government's emergency management agency doesn't have enough money for the rest of the hurricane season—after spending nearly $1 billion this year on illegal migrants. 5) White House threatens private drone pilots trying to help Helene disaster relief; 4) Israel vows to retaliate for Iran's missile strike Tuesday; 3) Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon continues; 2) Longshoremen suspend strike at ports on East and Gulf coasts; 1) 21-year-old Yazidi woman sold to Hamas operative in Gaza ten years ago rescued by Israeli soldiers and returned to family in Iraq. FOLLOW US! X: @WatchSkyWatchTV | @Five_In_Ten YouTube: @SkyWatchTelevision | @SimplyHIS | @FiveInTen Rumble: @SkyWatchTV Facebook: @SkyWatchTV | @SimplyHIS | @EdensEssentials SkyWatchTV.com | SkyWatchTVStore.com | EdensEssentials.com | WhisperingPoniesRanch.com

A 21-year-old Yazidi woman kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Iraq a decade ago has been freed from Gaza in a secret operation. Israeli strikes cut off Lebanon's main border crossing with Syria as intense Israeli attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs are thought to be targeting Hezbollah's heir apparent. Reuters has reviewed email exchanges between senior U.S. administration officials in the days after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel which show alarm that a rising death toll in Gaza could violate international law. And a Houthi email campaign indicates the group is casting their net wider and targeting Greek merchant ships in the Red Sea, despite a lack of connection to Israel.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A jovem iraquiana yazidi Fawzia Amin Sido, de 21 anos, voltou a se encontrar com sua família no Iraque após ser resgatada na Faixa de Gaza pelas Forças de Defesa de Israel (FDI).Ela foi sequestrada de sua casa em 2014 quando tinha apenas 11 anos por terroristas do Estado Islâmico. Nesse período, ela foi levada para a Síria, onde foi comprada por um palestino apoiador do Estado Islâmico.Em seguida, foi levada para a Faixa de Gaza e obrigada a cuidar dos filhos do palestino.Felipe Moura Brasil e Duda Teixeira comentam:Você também pode assistir ao Papo Antagonista na BM&C, nos  canais de TV 579 da Vivo, ou 563 da Claro, além do SKY+.  Apoie o jornalismo Vigilante: 10% de desconto para audiência do Papo Antagonista  https://bit.ly/papoantagonista  Acompanhe O Antagonista no canal do WhatsApp.  Boletins diários, conteúdos exclusivos em vídeo e muito mais.   https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va2S...   Ouça O Antagonista | Crusoé quando quiser nos principais aplicativos de podcast.  Leia mais em www.oantagonista.com.br | www.crusoe.com.br 

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Burglar hung out victims washing and unpacked shopping Labour MP in fresh bid to change law on assisted dying GCSE students to continue receiving Covid exam help UK hands sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Lebanon UK nationals tell of life left behind after evacuation Woman who died of cancer was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP Yazidi woman rescued from Gaza after decade in captivity Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina as toll hits 200 Mother guilty over fire deaths of four sons Google introduces new way to search by filming video

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Mother guilty over fire deaths of four sons Lebanon UK nationals tell of life left behind after evacuation Woman who died of cancer was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP Google introduces new way to search by filming video Labour MP in fresh bid to change law on assisted dying Yazidi woman rescued from Gaza after decade in captivity GCSE students to continue receiving Covid exam help Burglar hung out victims washing and unpacked shopping UK hands sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina as toll hits 200

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Labour MP in fresh bid to change law on assisted dying Burglar hung out victims washing and unpacked shopping GCSE students to continue receiving Covid exam help Lebanon UK nationals tell of life left behind after evacuation Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina as toll hits 200 Mother guilty over fire deaths of four sons Yazidi woman rescued from Gaza after decade in captivity Google introduces new way to search by filming video UK hands sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Woman who died of cancer was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv GCSE students to continue receiving Covid exam help UK hands sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Yazidi woman rescued from Gaza after decade in captivity Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina as toll hits 200 Burglar hung out victims washing and unpacked shopping Labour MP in fresh bid to change law on assisted dying Lebanon UK nationals tell of life left behind after evacuation Mother guilty over fire deaths of four sons Woman who died of cancer was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP Google introduces new way to search by filming video

Helene's death toll continues to climb—now to more than 200. North Carolinians have been hit hard, making up more than half of those deaths. An estimated 20 feet of rushing flood waters decimated many of their communities. The storm has also claimed lives in other parts of the South, including in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The port strike reaches day three. There are no signs of progress in negotiations, which means disruptions to major imports, including retail goods, electronics, lumber, and food. Dockworkers want an 80 percent raise across six years alongside commitments to stop automation projects. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris campaigns with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Wisconsin while hoisting the theme of “Country before Party.” Cheney, a Wisconsinite, alongside her father former Vice President Dick Cheney, has endorsed the Democratic candidate. After living as a hostage for 10 years, a Yazidi woman obtains her freedom. A video was released of the 21-year-old reunited with her family after escaping her terrorist captors thanks to a U.S.–Israel rescue operation. In another development, Israeli forces say they've taken down the head of another terrorist group in an airstrike.  ⭕️Watch in-depth videos based on Truth & Tradition at Epoch TV

Helene's death toll continues to climb—now to more than 200. North Carolinians have been hard hit, making up more than half of those deaths. An estimated 20 feet of rushing flood waters decimated many of their communities. The storm has also claimed lives in other parts of the South, including in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.The port strike reaches day three. There are no signs of progress in negotiations, which means disruptions to major imports, including retail goods, electronics, lumber, and food. Dockworkers want an 80 percent raise across six years alongside commitments to stop automation projects.Democratic candidate Kamala Harris campaigns with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Wisconsin while hoisting the theme of "Country before Party." Cheney, a Wisconsinite, alongside her father former Vice President Dick Cheney, have already endorsed the Democratic candidate.After living as a hostage for 10 years, a Yazidi woman obtains her freedom. A video was released of the 21-year-old reunited with her family after escaping her terrorist captors thanks to a U.S.–Israel rescue operation. In another development, Israeli forces say they've taken down the head of another terrorist group in an airstrike.

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The Dahieh in Beirut is burning. Building collapsed. Hezbollah's stronghold is being systematically destroyed. This time it's the Israeli Navy that carried out the attack, not the Air Force.Get the latest news and updates through this link: https://member.bulldozerfaith.com/newsletter/ Join us in standing with Israel and supporting our ministry. Your help is vital, and we invite you to be part of our mission. To contribute, visit: https://member.bulldozerfaith.com/give/ For podcast updates, follow this link: https://feeds.captivate.fm/what-then-shall-we-say/Reports: explosions were heard in western Syria, and the air defense systems were activated. The Syrian radio station "Sham FM" reported that explosions were heard over the Syrian port city of Latakia, in the west of the country. The Lebanese "Al-Mayadeen" network, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that Syria's air defense systems were operating against "hostile objects" in the coastal area, and the sounds of explosions were heard in Latakia and Tartus.A 21-year-old Yazidi girl who was sold as a slave a decade ago and forced to marry a Gazan was rescued from Gaza by the IDF. She is now reunited with her family in Sinjar, Iraq, for the first time after a decade!The project to get her out of Gaza back to Iraq was sponsored by a Jewish philanthropist.Increasing Love for Israel in a Time of WarPsalm 103The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

Episode Description Episode Description Sign up to receive this Unreached of the Day podcast sent to you:  https://unreachedoftheday.org/resources/podcast/ People Group Summary: https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/20455 #PrayforZERO is a podcast Sponsor.         https://prayforzero.com/ Take your place in history! We could be the generation to translate God's Word into every language. YOUR prayers can make this happen.  Take your first step and sign the Prayer Wall to receive the weekly Pray For Zero Journal:  https://prayforzero.com/prayer-wall/#join Pray for the largest Frontier People Groups (FPG): Visit JoshuaProject.net/frontier#podcast provides links to podcast recordings of the prayer guide for the 31 largest FPGs.  Go31.org/FREE provides the printed prayer guide for the largest 31 FPGs along with resources to support those wanting to enlist others in prayer for FPGs

In this episode we sat down with Natia Navrouzov, Executive Director of Yazda. Natia details the crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or Da'esh) against the Yazidi population and other minorities in Iraq from 2014 to 2017. She recounts how the tireless advocacy by victims and survivors helped establish the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD) and explores how UNITAD's investigative and analytical work has been central to advancing justice for the Yazidi genocide. Natia concludes with outlining lessons learned and what the international community must do to revitalize efforts for justice and accountability following the closure of UNITAD on 17 September.

Gavan and Zara talk with Shireen Khero, an ISIS survivor, who discusses how she was taken from her home and the 10 year anniversary of the genocide of the Yazidi people in Syria.Team Taylor is Team Kamala; the international popstar has endorsed the presidential nominee after the first debate.And the Apple Tax Windfall; what will the tax ruling by the EU mean for the upcoming elections? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2016, the Religion and Ethics Report revealed that several Australians who'd gone to join the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria were implicated in sexual violence against Yazidi women. Eight years on, there's been a renewed campaign to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Đã 10 năm trôi qua kể từ vụ thảm sát người Yazidi của nhóm Hồi giáo IS ở Sinjar, miền bắc Iraq. Hơn 3000 người Yazidi đã thiệt mạng trong vụ tấn công năm 2014, chủ yếu là đàn ông và phụ nữ lớn tuổi. Ít nhất 6800 phụ nữ và trẻ em bị phiến quân IS bắt đi, một số làm nô lệ tình dục, buôn người hoặc huấn luyện để chiến đấu cho nhóm IS và khoảng 2800 người vẫn mất tích. Nhưng nhiều người sống sót, bao gồm cả những người trong cộng đồng Yazidi của Úc, vẫn đang chờ đợi công lý cho những gì đã xảy ra với họ.

It's been 10 years since the I-S group's massacre of the Yazidi population in Sinjar in northern Iraq. More than 3000 Yazidi's were killed in the 2014 attack, mostly men and elderly women. At least 6800 women and children taken by IS militants, some for sexual slavery, trafficking or to train to fight for the IS group and approximately 2800 remain missing. And a warning, some listeners may find this story distressing.

Ten years have passed since the I-S-group attacked Sinjar in northern Iraq, killing and enslaving thousands of Yazidis. But many survivors, including those in Australia's Yazidi community, are still waiting for justice for what happened to them. The scale of atrocities perpetrated against the Yazidi community by the Islamic State group include mass executions, forced conversions, abduction, enslavement and systematic sexual violence. Those are acts which bodies such as a commission mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council have called a genocide. And a warning, some people may find this story distressing.

Send us a Text Message.Welcome back to the "Kurdistan in America" podcast, the official podcast of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representation in the United States, hosted by Delovan Barwari, Director of Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives.In this episode, we delve into the harrowing events of 3 August 2014, when ISIS launched a brutal genocidal campaign against the Yezidi community in Sinjar. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Yezidi Genocide, a tragic event that has left deep scars. Around 250,000 Yezidis, nearly half of their community, remain displaced, with about a quarter having fled the country. Over 2,600 Yezidi women are still missing, and many mass graves are yet to be uncovered. The security situation in Sinjar and its surrounding areas remains unstable, with approximately 70 percent of Sinjar's infrastructure in ruins. Additionally, the absence of a special international tribunal for ISIS crimes has resulted in a significant lack of justice and accountability.In this sixth episode of season five, we are honored to welcome Ms. Sozan Safar, President of the DAK Organization for Yazidi Women Development. Based in Sharia, Duhok, DAK has been dedicated to supporting Yezidi women since June 2015, with the overarching goal of empowering and aiding all vulnerable women. Ms. Safar discusses the current situation of the Yezidi community, the unstable security and infrastructure in Sinjar, and the urgent need for justice and accountability.Stay tuned for this insightful and timely conversation with Ms. Suzan Safar.

A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names and voices of people who have died.Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.We take a look at the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral fundraising sensation that took over the internet in 2014. Our guest Professor Sander van der Linden breaks down the psychology behind virality and outlines the challenges facing those who conquered the algorithm. Plus, how one man smuggled punk rock over the Berlin Wall. Also, we meet the man who found a retirement home for Bulgaria's dancing bears.We hear the remarkable story of Australia's Freedom Riders who campaigned against indigenous discrimination.Finally, we relive the mountain top escape of the Yazidi's who were fleeing Islamic State Militants.Contributors: Nancy Frates – Pete Frates mother. Sander van der Linden - Professor of Social Psychology at Cambridge University. Mark Reeder - smuggled punk rock over the Berlin Wall. Dr Amir Khalil – founded the sanctuary for dancing bears. Darce Cassidy and Gary Williams – involved in the Freedom Rides. Mirza Dinnayi - helped evacuate the Yazidi's.(Photo: Ice Bucket Challenge. Credit:Getty Images)

On the 3rd of August 2014 when IS attacked Sinjar, nineteen members of Khalid Taalo's family were captured by them. Until now twelve of them have been back by buying them back and seven members are still missing. - Ji bo Êzidiyan 3'ê Tebaxê tu carî nayê jibîrkirin. Êzîdî li seranserê cîhanê - ne tenê yên li Şengalê vê roja trajîk bi bîr bînin. Deh sal derbas bûn, hîn jî edalet pêk nehatiye dibêje berêz Xalid Teelo ku hîn 7 kes ji malbata wî wunda ne.

August 3 marks the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide in northern Iraq. A large number of them chose to relocate to Lincoln, Nebraska.

When Islamic State (IS) militants took control of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, the entire Yazidi population in Sinjar were immediately in grave danger. The Sunni Muslims of IS believed Yazidis were infidels and should either convert to Islam or be killed. On 3 August 2014, 5,000 Yazidis were killed on the first day of the genocide. For those who survived that night, the only escape route was to climb Mount Sinjar in the blistering heat, with no shelter or food, and pray to be rescued. Mirza Dinnayi convinced Iraq's president to supply three helicopters and began evacuating 50,000 Yazidis, who were stranded on top of the mountain in a race against time. Mirza shares his experience with Sarah Ehrlich. A 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service.(Photo: Yazidi people escape the Sinjar mountains in August 2014. Credit: Emrah Yorulmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Author Karen Kirsten talks to Kelly Wright about her book, “Irena's Gift,” which documents her family's troubling ordeal during the Holocaust. Also, Shireen Alhanto discusses the harrowing nightmare she experienced of being mistreated and held hostage by ISIS terrorists after their brutal attack on the Yazidi people in Iraq. Several members of her family are still missing. Be sure to watch America's Hope with Kelly Wright tonight at 10 p.m. ET. ⭕️Watch in-depth videos based on Truth & Tradition at Epoch TV

Recently a new Yazidi association has been founded in Coffs Harbour, its committee members are from all regions that the Yazidi community has been resettled in such as Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Wagga Wagga and Toowoomba. - Sami Şîbo mirovekî Êzîdî ye ku di sala 2018 de wek penaber hat Australia. Cerku hatiye Australya ew di gelek waran de (mecalan) kar kirîye ku yek ji wan alîkariya penaberên ku nûh tên Australya ye. Lê di van çar mehên dawîn ew û hin kesên ji civaka Êzîdî li Australya bi damezrandina maleke Êzîdiyan de mijûl bû. Armanc ji damezrandina komeleyê ew e ku mîrata çandî, erf û adetên civaka Êzîdî li Australya biparêzin, her weha piştgirî û parêzvanî li ser navê kes û malbatên Êzîdî bikin. berêz Şîbo nuha serkê Mala Êzîdiyan li Australya ye.

Next Friday's poll will be between hardliner Saeed Jalili and rival Masoud Pezeshkian, seen as a reformist, who both failed to secure a majority. Also: the acquittal of all 28 people charged with money laundering following the Panama Papers scandal, and a Yazidi choir of victims of the Islamic State group sing of their memories.

If I could summarize this conversation with one phrase, it would be something Shannon said: “When people meet each other they find out that the other is not so other.”Shannon Stowell is the CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, an organization for travel industry partners that believes travel can be a powerful force for good in the world. Shannon has spent over 30 years working in adventure travel, e-commerce, outdoor retail, and environmental science. Shannon and I met in person on a trip to Jordan this February, and we immediately connected around our shared belief about what travel could be. In this conversation, Shannon takes us to Kurdistan, an autonomous region in Northern Iraq, where Shannon traveled with his son in 2017. You'll learn about the meaning of the Kurdish saying “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains,” and what it feels like to visit the Yazidi sacred village of Lalish. We also discuss Shannon's must-see places for people like me who have already traveled a lot, the tomorrow's air initiative led by ATTA, why Shannon believes travel is a privilege, not a right, and what is a soft ambassador.What you'll learn in this episode:How Shannon defines adventure travelShannon's trip to Kurdistan in 2017What living off the grid in nature is likeWhat Maslow's hierarchy of needs has to do with modern depressionMust-see places for people who've already traveled a lotThe impact of media on destinationsMeeting the current moment: travelers' role in times of strifeThe story of “To kill a white person”What gives Shannon hope right nowFeatured on the show:Learn more about the Adventure Travel Trade AssociationCheck out Explore Mesopotamia tours in Iraqi KurdistanRead The New York Times story about KurdistanCheck out Shannon's book, Riding The Hula Hula to the Arctic OceanLearn more about the Tomorrow's Air initiativeFollow ATTA on InstagramGet more information at: Going Places website Join our Going Places newsletter to get updates on new episodes and Yulia's travel storytelling work. Subscribe at goingplacesmedia.com/newsletter!For more BTS of this podcast follow @goingplacesmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on YouTube!Please head over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to the show. If you enjoy this conversation, please share it with others on social and don't forget to tag us @goingplacesmedia!And show us some love, if you have a minute, by rating Going Places or leaving us a review wherever you listen. You'll be helping us to bend the arc of algorithms towards our community — thank you!Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people

In the conversation, Rachel Miner discusses her organization Bellwether International, which focuses on disrupting the cycle of genocide and creating genocide-resistant societies. She explains their approach of combining top-down systems change with bottom-up grassroots resistance movements, empowering local "bellwethers" to lead peacebuilding efforts. Miner highlights their evidence-based programming, such as trauma healing for Yazidi genocide survivors in Iraq, and their efforts to develop a predictive model using data and machine learning to identify early warning signs of genocide and devise policy interventions. Rachel has a bachelors in economics from Brigham Young University and masters in public administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science and masters in economic and political development from Columbia University. In 2021, Rachel was named a U.S. Truman Scholar. Rachel's research explores the economics of religious freedom and has published in the Journal of Economics, Management, and Religion, and is a regular contributor on BBC Woman's Hour, SiriusXM, and Newsweek. Her research also discusses religious freedom and technology, artificial intelligence, and using complex systems to model genocide. Rachel has presented at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the Global Women's Summit, the Ministerial to advance Religious Freedom, Interfaith G20, International Religious Freedom Summit, among others. https://bellwetherngo.org/ Special Guest: Rachel Miner.