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Vian Ramo, a 30-year-old Yazidi, stands in the camp for displaced people in Duhok. She, along with her husband and children, have been displaced since ISIS drove them out of their hometown of Sinjar in 2014 / credit: Alessandra Bajec

Yazidis In Limbo As Iraqi Forces & Armed Militants Fight in Northern Iraq

Alessandra Bajec July 6, 2022 Alessandra Bajec

For more than two months, residents of Sinjar have protested the presence of armed groups following May’s clashes in Iraq’s Yazidi-majority district. Those clashes triggered—yet again—an exodus of Yazidi minorities seeking shelter in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). This comes as tens of thousands of Yazidis have already dealt with protracted displacement since the ISIS takeover of 2014. Alessandra Bajec reports from Iraqi Kurdistan.

Drueke with his mother, Lois (left) and Drueke's photo from his time in the U.S. Army Reserve, which included two tours in Iraq / credit: New York Post

‘I Regret’ Being a Mercenary in Ukraine: Conversation with U.S. POW Detained in Donbass

Fergie Chambers June 29, 2022 Fergie Chambers

Last week, two U.S. citizens who had traveled to Ukraine to fight for the Ukrainian International Legion were widely reported as having been captured by military forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the breakaway republic in eastern Ukraine that is allied with Russia in the ongoing conflict in the region. The two Alabama residents were apparently captured amid fighting in the outskirts of the Ukrainian oblast of Kharkov and, to this point, had not had any contact with U.S. press. That is, until regular TF contributor Fergie Chambers got a phone call.

Clara Ines Yalanda, 36, in front of the house in an informal settlement in Popayan, Colombia, where she lives with her 4-year-old daughter, Valentina. Fifteen people live in the house, including Ines's parents, her brothers and sisters, and their children / credit: Antonio Acascio

What Petro & Hernández Offer Colombia’s Urban Poor As They Head Off in the Second-Round Presidential Election

Natalia Torres Garzon June 17, 2022 Natalia Torres Garzon

Sunday’s second-round presidential election in Colombia could transform the lives of residents in informal settlements, which make up 65 percent of housing in the country's cities. Former-militant-turned-politician Gustavo Petro and millionaire businessman Rodolfo Hernández approach the country's urban housing crisis and environmental policy in different ways, reports Natalia Torres Garzon with photography by Antonio Cascio.

How the 2021 national strike looked in Buenaventura, Colombia / credit: Black Agenda Report

Threats and Voter Intimidation Hush Colombians In Run-Up to Second-Round Presidential Election Season

Julie Varughese June 6, 2022 Julie Varughese

Observers of the first-round presidential elections in Colombia shared with Toward Freedom irregularities they encountered in Buenaventura, a predominantly Afro-descendant city on the Pacific coast. This comes as it appears a left-wing candidate who faces death threats is surging in a recent poll against his social-media-savvy competitor, reports TF Editor Julie Varughese.