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President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive action on immigration protects millions of families in the US but leaves major rights concerns unaddressed. The action still leaves millions subject to harsh treatment at the border, unnecessary detention, and unfair criminal penalties that tear families apart. The Obama administration should work with the new American Congress to come up with an immigration plan that respects the rights of all.
French authorities should bring to justice those responsible for yesterday's brutal attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. But they must also protect French Muslims from backlash and abusive policies in the wake of the murders. Several mosques have already been attacked and it's worth recalling that after the gruesome murder of a British soldier, Lee Rigby, in Woolwich, south London, in May 2013, attacks against Muslims across the UK soared.
As all eyes remain on Paris, however, shocking atrocities have also been committed elsewhere. In Yemen, where yesterday, at least 37 people were killed and 66 others injured by a bomb blast outside a police academy, targeting prospective cadets who had lined up to enroll. And in Nigeria, Boko Haram reportedly killed scores of people and destroyed 16 villages in a new assault in the north-east.
Afghanistan, Burma, and the Central African Republic are the three countries most in need of protecting schools from attack or military use in 2015 and there are many others. 2014 saw some improvements on the right to education and the end to the military use of schools, but much more needs to be done.
More 'too shocking to believe' news from Russia, where transgendered people have been banned from driving. The government claims the reason of the ban to be its goal of reducing the amount of deaths caused by traffic accidents stemming from what it deems as "mental disorders." While it is confusing how the two might relate to one another, what is perfectly clear is that the situation for LGBT people in Russia remains awful.

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