LGBT Parents Face Bias In US Adoption Process: Daily Brief
LGBT parents face bias in US adoption process; EU still bars migrant rescue; torture in Azerbaijan goes unpunished; hope for investigations into use of chemical weapons in Syria; migrant kids with mental health problems aren’t supported; voter intimidation in Zimbabwe; protests against 'Title X' gag rule in US; and bloodiest year ever for environmental activists...
US Congress is putting "bigotry ahead of the needs of vulnerable children who need loving families" through a proposed amendment to a bill. If passed, the amendment would make it easier for foster or adoption agencies to refuse to place kids with LGBT people, single or divorced people, people of a different faith, or anyone else they deem unacceptable based on the agency’s beliefs.
The EU’s efforts to block volunteer rescue boats from saving migrants at sea, propelled by Italy’s "hard-line and heartless" approach, is leading to more deaths at sea and greater suffering in Libya.
Torture in Azerbaijan by police and other law enforcement agencies is “systemic and endemic,” according to a new report from the Council of Europe’s torture prevention body.
Efforts to revive discussions on international investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria are finally bearing fruit. In June, countries party to the Chemical Weapons Convention agreed to develop a plan to determine who is behind specific attacks in Syria, where the government and some armed groups have repeatedly used toxic agents as weapons.
Migrant kids detained in US government facilities are being traumatized, instead of receiving the proper mental health support they need. According to a lawsuit filed in California, immigrant children are being "held down, injected, and drugged".
Zimbabwe goes to the polls next week, for the first time since former President Robert Mugabe was ousted from power. However, voter intimidation is already rife in the rural areas. Directives have been given to village leaders to record and keep a list of the names of all opposition supporters.
Women's rights activists in the US are protesting the Title X gag rule, which, if passed, would allow doctors to deny pregnant women information on their health.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has given a rare interview on TV, warning that early elections could destabilize the country. His comments come after almost 300 people have been killed in weeks of clashes, stemming from a government clampdown on protests.
And finally, more than 200 environmental activists, mostly from Latin America, were killed in 2017, with most deaths being associated with agribusiness.