US sanctions hit top regime officials in China; #EducationUnderAttack; reporters detained for peaceful protests in Russia; Lebanon in the dark; #Srebrenica25; civilians forced to do guard duty in Cameroon; a Nordic comeback on human rights is needed; and South Sudan has marked its 9th year of independence.

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The United States government has taken a crucial step for human rights in China, by imposing targeted sanctions on four top Xinjiang officials, freezing their assets in the United States and banning them from entering the country. 

More than 22,000 students, teachers, and academics were injured, killed, or harmed in attacks on education during armed conflict or insecurity over the past five years, according to Education under Attack 2020, a new 300-page report published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack.

Dozens of reporters in Russia face fines or detention for peacefully protesting in solidarity with their colleagues whom authorities are criminally prosecuting for their journalism work.

Widespread electricity blackouts lasting up to 22 hours per day are crippling Lebanon

The 25th commemoration of the genocide in Srebrenica, the worst massacre in Europe since the second World War, takes place on Saturday in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Soldiers in Cameroon have forced civilians to perform local night guard duty to protect against attacks by the armed Islamist group Boko Haram.

The Nordic countries proudly express steadfast commitment to human rights as a priority in foreign policy, but have been disappointingly inconsistent in practice. A comeback is needed.

As South Sudan marks its 9th year of independence, the goals of its long-fought independence from Sudan – freedom, social justice, equality, progress, and democracy – are far from being realized. 

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