Far-Right Populist Defeat in Austria; DR Congo Crisis: HRW Daily Brief

Airstrikes and fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo continue to put civilians at extreme risk. But despite repeated calls for action, little help has materialized for the besieged residents trapped inside. And now Russia and China have vetoed a proposed ceasefire in a United Nations Security Council vote. Enough. It's time to help the Syrian people. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has publicly called for an end to the decades-old ban on women driving, and if Saudi Arabia seeks to strengthen the economy and empower women, it should heed his call and let women take the wheel. NBC news reports that a man threatened and off-duty Muslim police officer allegedly yelling "I will cut your throat" in Bay Ridge, New York. The United States Army has decided not to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under a reservoir on land it controls in North Dakota, in a move decision hailed as "historic" by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. From earlier today: Good news from Austria, where far-right populist candidate Norbert Hofer has lost a re-run of the presidential elections to Alexander Van der Bellen, a former leader of the Green party and son of refugees from Estonia. Still, Hofer, candidate of the Freedom party (FPÖ) which in the 1990s still praised the “proper labor policies” of Adolf Hitler, received over 46 per cent of the votes...