Crackdown on peaceful protesters in Myanmar worsens; strangling democracy in Hong Kong; no, Denmark, Syria is not safe for refugees to return; health care workers worldwide subjected to Covid-related attacks; abuse in Australia’s age care homes; France might have to return looted assets if new bill approved; Somali radio journalist shot dead; abducted Nigerian schoolgirls released; and where do dissidents find their courage?

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Myanmar’s security forces continued their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters today, firing stun grenades to disperse protesters, as foreign ministers of neighbouring countries were due to hold talks with the country’s military in an effort to quell the deadly violence. Meanwhile, the junta is trying to give a veneer of legality to its actions through the unilateral creation of arbitrary new laws.

 

The Hong Kong government has charged 47 democracy figures for “conspiracy to commit subversion” using a draconian, Beijing-imposed National Security Law. The accused had participated in an informal democratic primary.

 

Denmark has stripped 94 Syrian refugees of their residency permits deeming Damascus 'safe' for people to return to. Seriously, Denmark? And now, there's pressure to negotiate their return with the Assad government.

Health-care workers battling the Coronavirus were subjected to more than 400 acts of violence directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide last year, according to a new report by Geneva-based health NGO Insecurity Insight and the University of California.

 

Multiple investigations and reports have confirmed widespread abuse and neglect in Australia’s aged care homes.

 

A bill that would require the French government to return assets looted by corrupt foreign officials to the people of the county where the money was stolen, is scheduled for a vote in France’s National Assembly today. If approved, French courts would be at the vanguard of holding corrupt foreign officials accountable for looting public funds.

A Somali radio journalist, known for his critical reporting about military group al-Shabaab and the Federal Government of Somalia, has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen. Jamal Farah Adan is the first journalist to have been killed this year in Somalia. The country tops the Global Impunity Index for countries where the perpetrators against journalists escape prosecution.

Nearly 300 girls who were kidnapped from a school in north-western Nigeria last week have been released.

And lastly, where do dissidents find the courage to fight oppression or push for human-rights reforms?