Deadly Blasts Target Afghan Journalists: Daily Brief
Deadly blasts target Afghan journalists; Turkey returns Afghans to worsening violence; UN Security Council to visit Myanmar; the terrible injuries inflicted on Gaza's Palestinian protesters; migrant caravan from Central America stopped at US border; how men are behind most mass shootings; & why India can't solve its rape epidemic with a sex offenders' register...
Last year, two men were flogged more than 80 times in Indonesia, in front of a jeering crowd. Their alleged crime? Same-sex conduct. The public whipping generated an international outcry and condemnation of the draconian punishment. But instead of stopping the abusive practice, authorities just moved the whippings behind closed doors.
In an effort to block the popular messaging service Telegram, the Russian government has restricted millions of IP addresses. This attack on internet freedom is limiting access to information for Internet users across Russia.
Pakistan's Hazara community, a Shia Muslim minority, has suffered its fourth attack this month from unknown assailants. It's clear that the community is under attack, and it's time for the Pakistani government to step in and protect the Hazara from violent militants.
From earlier today: At least 25 people have been killed in two bombings in the Afghan capital Kabul this morning, including several journalists documenting the scene. The journalists were targeted as they rushed to the scene of the first blast, only to fall victims themselves to a second blast. It is feared to have been one of the deadliest days in history for the media in Afghanistan.
Despite the rising civilian death toll in Afghanistan from attacks by insurgent groups, thousands of Afghan asylum seekers have been returned home from Turkey. Turkey claims the returns are "voluntary", but Afghans complain they were forced to sign documents in Turkish that they didn't understand, and that those who refused to sign the return forms were deported anyway.
Representatives from the UN Security Council have visited Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh over the weekend and are today due to visit Myanmar and meet its government, marking the highest-profile diplomatic mission since last year’s military crackdown forced 700,000 Muslim Rohingya from their homes in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
During the past month of demonstrations along the border between Gaza and Israel, at least 17 Palestinians have suffered gunshot wounds that ultimately cost them their legs, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Some 41 people have also been killed.
Dozens of migrants travelling in a caravan to seek asylum in the US have been stopped at the border. US border officials told some 150 people, many travelling with children, that the Mexico-US border crossing near San Diego was already full. It is not immediately clear if the migrants from Central America will be allowed in to seek asylum, or be turned back.
Virtually all mass shootings, be they school shootings or terrorist attacks, are committed by men, but solutions being discussed to end this form of violence all tend to avoid this glaring fact.
And finally, India's plans to bring in a sex offenders' database to protect women and girls from sexual assault is flawed for several reasons.