Victory for Afghan girls robotics team; rights problems mean Zika outbreak could hit Brazil again; Malta legalizes gay marriage; petty thieves executed in Rwanda; Hungary in hot water over NGO law; DR Congo rebel leader still at large; free sanitary pads for Kenyan schoolgirls; Iran's Evin prison; ISIS families mistreated in Iraq.

Get the Daily Brief by email.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has died in custody. China’s treatment of this writer and philosopher had been brutal and inhumane, even in his last days. Despite needing urgent medical treatment, Chinese authorities refused to give him what he asked for and deserved – freedom. Liu Xiaobo was a champion of nonviolence and human rights, and his legacy will be remembered in China and throughout the world.
The authorities in Aceh – Indonesia’s only province that implements full Sharia (Islamic law) – clearly feel stung by the international outcry they generated when police publicly flogged two gay men in May. But rather than ending this tortuous form of punishment, they are just going to hide it from the public from now on.
The European Court of Human Rights has struck another blow to women’s autonomy, ruling in favor of bans on full-face veils enacted in 2011 in Belgium. Forcing women to choose between wearing what they want and being able to appear in public is a bad idea.
A court in Moscow has convicted five people in the 2015 murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. But while today may have delivered a verdict, the key masterminds behind the murder are still walking free.
Tomorrow, France celebrates Bastille Day, marking the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War I. US President Trump and French President Macron are meeting in Paris to commemorate the event. But how will Macron stand up to Trump's isolationist and nativist agenda going forward?
There's just one day left to take action and help end Saudi Arabia's abusive male guardianship system. Stand up for women's rights in Saudi Arabia today!
Region / Country