Population

New legislation that provides stiffer penalties for individuals and political parties who engage in racism or incite racist violence is to be discussed in Parliament on August 26, following months of delays, it was announced on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Deputy Protector of Citizens Milos Jankovic has said that more than 4,000 migrants from Asian and African countries whose ultimate goal is reaching Western Europe countries expressed intention to seek asylum in Serbia in the first half of this year.

Turkey's relief agency said Aug. 15 it was time for the world to start "sharing the burden" for the 1.2 million Syrian refugees it is hosting, especially those living outside of refugee camps.

A quarter of the world's population will be African within 35 years, the UN children's agency said on Tuesday, as the continent's birth rates continue to rapidly rise.        

Several shops in Basmane, an Ä°zmir neighborhood where illegal refugees from Iraq, Somalia and Syria reside, have included life vests and similar equipment into their inventory, as they attempt to reach Greece.

Locals say the people buying the life vests or similar equipment are refugees who mainly live in Basmane and aim to reach Europe through Greece.

UN rights monitors called Tuesday for the global community to take urgent action to avoid a potential genocide against the Yazidi community in Iraq.
      
Thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority are trapped on a mountain in northwestern Iraq with little food or water after Islamic State jihadists overran the region.
      

Bulgaria’s population decreased further last year, maintaining the rate of decline from 2012, official figures showed on Thursday.

The ageing of the population has also continued, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said.

BELGRADE - The Museum of Genocide Victims in Belgrade prepared an exhibition titled “First Day of Great War” as part of the marking of 100 years since the beginning of World War I.

The European Commission said Tuesday it would release a further 50 million euros ($67 million) in humanitarian aid for Syria as the crisis there deepens.
      

EU and the Balkans co-operate against human trafficking

Germany and France have agreed to establish joint expert working groups with Albania and Serbia.

The EU is engaging Balkan countries to slow the tide of human trafficking from the Middle East, Africa and Asia by providing additional support for refugees who legally arrive in Union states.