Poland Abortion Protests; Thailand Deports Hong Kong Activist; Syria Strikes: HRW Daily Brief

Good news for women's rights in Poland, as a government-backed legislation seeking a blanket ban on abortions in the country appears to head to sound defeat following waves of protests. Poland's minister of science and higher education said the protests "taught us humility." Tens of thousands of people boycotted work and an estimated 30,000 protested in dismal weather in Warsaw. Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is poised to be the next United Nations Secretary-General. Guterres previously served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and this is a particularly good time to have an effective and outspoken advocate of refugee rights as the UN's head. Internet companies' success is normally tied to user trust, but Yahoo has lost that. New reports suggest the company is scanning users' emails based on a request from the United States government. Though the company denies some of the allegations in the reports, serious questions about the its transparency, and thus credibility, remain unaddressed. From earlier today: Joshua Wong, the student activist who became a global symbol of the fight for democracy in Hong Kong, has been detained upon arrival in Thailand following a request from China, and been deported back to Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch says his arrest "sadly suggests that Bangkok is willing to do Beijing’s bidding". Thousands of Afghan refugee families living in Pakistan have been ordered by the government there to return home. After decades of hosting refugees in return for international funding, Pakistan is now pushing them back - a "controversial and sweeping move" that is "destroying livelihoods, tearing apart marriages, dividing families and violating basic human rights".