The Yazidi village of Kocho, the site of one of the worst atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq, is to be rebuilt after an order by Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.
The village is to be reconstructed “in fairness to its honourable people and out of a sense of the government's responsibility”, Mr Al Sudani's office said on Tuesday, nine years after the “invasion and destruction” of the village in Iraq's north-western Sinjar district.
ISIS killed almost all the men in Kocho on August 15, 2014, almost two weeks after it had swept through the Yazidi-majority Sinjar district, committing what has been widely recognised as genocide.
Encircling the village, it ordered all inhabitants to assemble at the local school before shooting the men and adolescent boys, and putting women and girls, including Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, on a bus to be sold as slaves in Raqqa and Mosul.
In 2021, 104 residents of the village excavated from mass graves were finally laid to rest in a solemn ceremony attended by Ms Murad.
Many more remains have yet to be formally identified. Local authorities on Tuesday launched a blood drive campaign to help identify DNA matches.
USAID and Nadia's Initiative, headed by Ms Murad, have also pledged to bring life back to the devastated village.
A project announced in 2021 promised to create memorial sites for the victims and build housing for survivors at a nearby site.
“My community of Kocho has experienced some of the worst atrocities known to mankind,” Ms Murad said at the time.
“This project is a critical step toward enabling the dignified return of displaced Kocho community members and facilitating the rebuilding of a dignified life.”
August revives many painful memories for the long-persecuted community, which was singled out by ISIS for genocide.
Monday marked the 16th anniversary of Al Qaeda bombings that killed almost 800 Yazidis in the world's fourth-deadliest terror attack in history.
August 3 marked the ninth anniversary of the ISIS onslaught in 2014, when it the group marched across Sinjar and displaced hundreds of thousand in its attempt to wipe out the ethnoreligious group.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Switching%20sides
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
RESULTS
Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
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Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
Gully Boy
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Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
