"Trauma, Lies & Coercion" in US: Daily Brief

US government will likely miss today's deadline to reunify migrant families forcibly separated at the border; documentary forces journalists into hiding in DR Congo; China's tech firms want to expand into Africa; paid leave for New Zealand's domestic violence survivors; Tunisia on cusp of "momentous" reforms; fresh fears for press freedom in US; Cambodia's elections will be "cruel fraud"; latest on Yemen crisis; & burst dam raises doubts over hydropower projects in Laos...

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The US government will likely miss today's court-ordered deadline to reunify migrant families forcibly separated at the border. Only about half of the more than 2,500 families forcibly separated as a consequence of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy are expected to be reunited by the deadline, leaving hundreds subject to unexplained delays

Two journalists and two human rights activists in DR Congo have gone into hiding over threats following the release of a documentary about mass evictions from land claimed by the presidential family.

Technologies once seen as potentially empowering the public have become tools for an increasingly dictatorial government—tools that Beijing, which dominates the development of cutting-edge technologies, is now determined to sell to the developing world.

New Zealand has passed world-first legislation granting victims of domestic violence 10 days paid leave to allow them to leave their partners, find new homes and protect themselves and their children.

Tunisian authorities should adopt new laws based on the "groundbreaking proposals" made by a commission, appointed by the country's president, which include decriminalizing sodomy, giving women equal rights in inheritance, eliminating “morality” laws, and abolishing the death penalty.

There are yet more concerns about press freedom in the US after the White House retaliated against CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, after she asked President Trump questions at an Oval Office photo op this week. CNN, rival networks, and the White House Correspondents Association have all denounced the move

Cambodia is about to hold "fundamentally flawed" national elections, which will deny the Cambodian people the right to choose their own government. 

More than three years into Yemen’s civil war, more than 16,000 civilians have been killed and injured, the vast majority by airstrikes, and deaths are continuing unabated. 

And finally, there are calls for renewed scrutiny of hydropower projects in Laos after a dam that was under construction broke, killing at least 19 people as it swept away homes in flash flooding.

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