Photo of flood in Sudan 2013: Credit - Nafeer Sudan

Photo of President Alexander Lukashenko

Tens of thousands flooded Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for a fifth consecutive day of protest against a corrupt election they claimed helped extend the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.

44 prisoners were found dead in their cell in a prison in Chad because they were kept in 46°C heat, according to a National Human Rights Commission report released this month. 

The Greek government secretly abandoned at least 1,072 asylum seekers in inflatable rafts at the edge of Greek territorial waters, according to a report by The New York Times. Some migrants reported being left in leaky or over-capacity lifeboats with no motors before being picked up by the Turkish Coast Guard.

There were at least 31 expulsions of this type, which are illegal under international law. The Greek government has denied taking part in any illegal activity. 

Photo of Israeli Defence Force Artillery Corps

Following a US-brokered agreement which normalized relationships between the UAE and Israel, Israel has responded to explosive-laden balloons released in protest by Hamas operatives by imposing a blockade on aid to the Gaza strip.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised India for alleged human rights abuses by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir and has urged Delhi to order an independent investigation into the killings of three people by the army that took place last July.

The army reportedly killed three persons in Baramulla district on July 18 whom they claimed were militants. However, the relatives of the dead insist that they were in Baramulla in search of work and had no connection to militancy.

In the spotlight is the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law that effectively permits the army to abuse human rights with impunity. Jammu and Kashmir has been in turmoil since the law was imposed on the state since 1990. “There can be no end to the cycle of violence in Kashmir if security forces are not held accountable for their past and current abuses,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

Photo of Israeli police in 2017

Five Israeli Border Police officers have been charged with 14 cases of robbery and assault, against Palestinian men entering Israel on Thursday.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have signed a deal to normalize relations between the two countries, which wil see Israel halt plans to annex parts of the West Bank. Palestinian officals have however called the deal a"betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause".

The UK Court of Appeal ruled the British law enforcement’s facial recognition usage is “unlawful”, in a landmark case being celebrated by human rights campaigners this week.  

Judges stated that South Wales Police breached privacy rights, data protection laws and equality laws on Tuesday, following a legal challenge brought by civil rights group Liberty.

The use of automated facial recognition technology was assumed on a trial basis by the South Wales Police in 2017, when a system called AFR Locate was deployed at several dozen major events such as football matches. Police matches scan against watchlists of known individuals to identify wanted persons, had open warrants against them, or were in some way or another ‘persons of interest’.

The Court of Appeal judgment stated that South Wales Police had never sought to investigate that the software being used "does not have an unacceptable bias on grounds of race or sex.”

Photo Credit:  Simon Williams-Im

A violent clash between the police and protesters, following an offensive social media post about Prophet Muhammad, has led to the deaths of three people in Bengaluru, in Southern India.

Photo of Mali President, Ibrahim Boubacar

Thousands took to the streets in Mali’s capital Bamako on Tuesday, demanding the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, despite pleas from regional mediators to stay home.

Kamala Harris has been announced as Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate in the upcoming US presidential elections, becoming the first Black woman and the first Tamil to be nominated for national office by a major party.

Harris, who is a  senator and former California attorney general, was hotly tipped to be selected by Biden, with the New York Times reporting that he “may well be anointing her as the de facto leader of the party in four or eight years”.

Former President Barack Obama said "Biden nailed this decision", and said Harris "is more than prepared for the job", in a tweet. US President Donald Trump said he was "surprised" as "nasty" and disrespectful”.

Jimmy Lai, the founder of a media company and pro-democracy supporter in Hong Kong, was arrested under Hong Kong’s repressive new national security law. 

Lai owns a media company that was raided as part of his arrest, a move that signals the Chinese governments’ continuing clampdown on dissent in Hong Kong. China adopted this law six weeks ago, and already many people have been arrested for advocating for independence and autonomy. Additionally, the elections that were scheduled have been postponed a full year, and twelve pro-democracy candidates have been barred from elections.

The descendants of the 1904-1908 Namibia genocide and leaders of Namibia’s Nama and Ovaherero people expressed concerns over the Namibian and German government’s handling of the 1904-1908 genocide, which they described as being treated as a “political game”.