"Leave No Girl Behind in Africa": Daily Brief
Pregnant girls and young moms kept from school in Africa; breastfeeding infant ripped from mother's arms in US immigration crackdown; South Korea's spy cam protest; Council of Europe gets tough with Azerbaijan; DR Congo activist Luc Nkulula laid to rest; EU leaving people stranded at sea; violent hate attacks on the rise in Ukraine; Iranian activist arrested; & remembering UK's Grenfell Tower disaster...
Tens of thousands of pregnant girls and teenage moms are banned or discouraged from attending school across Africa, HRW said in a new report today, ahead of the Day of the African Child this coming weekend.
In the US, an undocumented migrant mother says federal authorities took away her daughter while she breastfed the child in a detention center, where she was awaiting prosecution for entering the country illegally. Since President Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy to prosecute anyone caught crossing the border illegally, around 500 children have been separated from their parents within the last month alone.
The unprecedented size of a so-called "spy cam" protest in South Korea shows the growing demand for womens's rights reforms in the country.
An "unprecedented and bold" move by the Council of Europe means that Azerbaijan is finally facing consequences for keeping political activist Ilgar Mammadov behind bars.
The funeral of the well-known activist Luc Nkulula has been held in DR Congo today. He died in his home at the weekend in a blaze which may have been deliberately started.
Italy and Malta's refusal to let a search-and-rescue ship carrying more than 600 migrants and asylum seekers dock at their ports not only flouts international maritime laws, but also may put further lives at risk.
Ukraine's authorities have not responded adequately to the growing number of violent attacks and threats promoting hate and discrimination by members of violent radical groups, HRW said today.
Iran's arrest of a prominent female activist, Nasrin Sotoudeh, shows the level of disdain and fear authorities there have for those who seek to protect human rights.
And finally, people in the UK are commemorating the 72 people who perished in London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster one year ago today, a tragedy which shows more strongly than ever the need for justice and safe housing.