Tag Archives: 1: Poor

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Brazil News | LGBT

Brazil sees sharp uptick in violence against its LGBT community
  • Nearly 1,600 LGBT people have been murdered in the last four-and-a-half years according to one advocacy group.
  • Despite Brazil’s reputation for tolerance, a growing evangelical population steadily amassing political power has led a conservative backlash to the country’s progressive legal integration and protection of sexual and gender minorities.
  • The homicide spike follows a general uptick in violence in Brazil, which has seen a 15% increase in homicides over the last year as the country has slid into recession.

Read more:
“Brazil Is Confronting an Epidemic of Anti-Gay Violence” (The New York Times)
“An LGBT Person Is Murdered Every 28 Hours In Brazil” (The Huffington Post)
“We Need to Talk About Anti-LGBT Violence in Brazil” (The Advocate)

(Image Credit: Lalo de Almeida/The New York Times)

Religion + Belief

Iraq News | Shiite Muslims

Islamic State attack on Shiite mausoleum leaves dozens dead
  • At least 35 people were killed and 60 wounded after a triple suicide attack near the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi near Balad north of Baghdad.
  • Worshipers were marking Eid al-Fitr when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the shrine, allowing IS militants to storm in and shoot visitors and a second suicide bomber to detonate in the middle of the crowd.
  • The attack comes at the end of a global Ramadan that has been particularly bloody with attacks in Turkey, Bangladesh, and Iraq.

Read more:
“At least 35 killed in attack on Shi’ite mausoleum north of Baghdad” (Reuters)
“Iraq says Balad suicide blast is Isis attempt to stir up sectarian war” (The Guardian)
“Iraqi PM fires head of security after shrine attack” (AP via Al-Arabiya)

(Image Credit: Stringer/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration

Southeast Asia News | Indonesians

Three Indonesians kidnapped by Islamist extremists off coast of Malaysia
  • Three members of a fishing crew were kidnapped at gunpoint off the eastern coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah after their ship was reportedly boarded and the crews’ passports demanded.
  • Authorities have yet to determine who organized the kidnapping but suspect the radical Islamist group Abu Sayyaf and believe the abducted crew members may be held in the southern Philippines.
  • Abu Sayyaf executed two Canadians earlier this year and is still holding Japanese, Norwegian, and Dutch nationals.

Read more:
“Malaysia hunting for 3 Indonesians kidnapped by armed men off Sabah coast: Police” (The Straits Times)
“Armed gunmen kidnap three Indonesians in waters off Lahad Datu” (The Malay Mail)
“Gunmen kidnap three Indonesians off Malaysian state of Sabah” (Reuters)

Religion + Belief

Iraq News | Shiite Muslims

IS bombing of predominantly Shia neighborhood in Baghdad leaves nearly 300 dead
  • A truck bombing ripped through the Karrada shopping district of central Baghdad, many of the victims children out with their families to celebrate the end of the school year .
  • The attack was claimed by the Islamic State, the fourth such global attack coordinated or inspired by the group within the last month (following Orlando, Istanbul, and Dhaka).
  • IS, a Sunni extremist group, claimed to have attacked Shiite Muslims, also taking credit for a second bombing in the predominantly Shia neighborhood of al-Shaab that left at least two dead.

Read more:
“Bombing Kills More Than 120 in Baghdad” (The New York Times)
“Nearly 120 killed in overnight Baghdad bombings claimed by Islamic State” (Reuters)
“Iraq: Baghdad bombings kill dozens” (Al Jazeera)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via Al Jazeera)

Nationality + Migration

Bangladesh News | Foreigners

Terrorist attack and standoff in Bangladesh kills at least 20, injures 30
  • Seven gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery, a popular restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter, and took hostages for 11 hours before security forces stormed in.
  • The restaurant was popular with immigrants and other foreigners, and gunmen allegedly ordered Bangladeshis to stand before attacking foreign patrons including Italians, Japanese, Indians, and Sri Lankans.
  • The attack, claimed by the Islamic State, is the largest in an escalating series targeting secularists, gay activists, foreigners, and religious minorities in the country.

Read more:
“20 Hostages and Six Gunmen Killed in Bangladesh Attack” (The New York Times)
“Islamist militants kill 20 in Bangladesh before commandos end siege” (Reuters)
“20 killed execution-style” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Fate of seven Japanese among Bangladesh hostages unknown after siege ends” (The Japan Times)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via The Japan Times)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Cote d’Ivoire News | Gay Men

Six gay men featured in U.S. embassy photo attacked in Cote d’Ivoire
  • After holding an event in Abidjan in solidarity with the victims of the mass shooting in an Orlando gay club and posted a picture, the U.S. embassy posted a photo featuring members of a local LGBTI advocacy group to its website.
  • Days later, two of the men were physically attacked and the others harassed in separate incidents as the photo was circulated through digital channels.
  • While private same-sex relations have never been criminalized in Cote d’Ivoire, public visibility has subjected many LGBTI Ivorians to harassment and violence.

Read more:
“Gay men in Ivory Coast attacked for showing support to Orlando victims: rights group” (The Thomson Reuters Foundation)
“Gay men attacked over photo posted by U.S. embassy” (AP via CBS News)
“Orlando : des homosexuels menacés en Côte d’Ivoire pour avoir participé à un hommage” (Le Monde, in French)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Travelers

Dozens from more than 9 countries dead, hundreds injured after attack on Turkey’s main airport
  • Three suicide attackers killed at least 41 and wounded 239 more in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.
  • At least 23 victims were Turkish, while others killed included people from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, China, Iran, Jordan, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
  • Over the last year, Turkey has experienced multiple terror attacks as the government faces threats from the Islamic State, political divisions between Islamists and secularists, and violent conflict with Kurdish separatists.

Read more:
“Islamic State prime suspect after suicide bombers kill 41 at Istanbul airport” (Reuters)
“Victims in Istanbul Airport Attack Reflect City’s International Character” (The New York Times)
“At Least 41 Killed Including 13 Foreign Nationals In Attack On Istanbul Airport” (BuzzFeed News)

(Image Credit: Osman Orsal/Reuters, via BuzzFeed News)

Religion + Belief

Bangladesh News | Hindus

Hindu teacher attacked as Bangladesh cracks down on Islamist militants
  • Ribon Chakraborty, a college math teacher, survived a machete attack by three assailants in his home in Madaripur.
  • The government reported that the three attackers were a part of the banned group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
  • More than 11,000 have been arrested across the country in the last week, including political dissidents, as security forces have begun taking extensive action to combat the targeted killings of minorities that have left more than 30 dead since 2015.

Read more:
“Hizb ut-Tahrir men hacked Madaripur teacher” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Bangladesh Hindu teacher’s attacker killed in shootout” (Reuters)
“194 Held in Bangladesh Mass Arrests May Have Militant Ties, Police Say” (The New York Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Mexico News | LGBT

At least 5 dead following May shooting in Mexico gay bar
  • On May 22, gunmen entered La Madame in Xalapa, Veracruz, and opened fire, with reports indicating between five and seven dead and 12 to 14 injured.
  • Reports indicate that six men entered the bar and began firing on patrons, with at least one witness reporting the attackers targeted a group of men before firing randomly on those present.
  • Security officials blamed the shooting on a territorial dispute by drug cartels, while LGBT activists argued police were downplaying the homophobic nature of the crime.

Read more:
“Cae presunto implicado en ataque al bar ‘Madame’” (El Universal, in Spanish)
“Ataque en bar de Xalapa fue contra ocupantes de una mesa: testigo” (Milenio.com, in Spanish)
“The Massacre at a Mexican Gay Bar That No One Talked About” (teleSUR English)
“7 people were killed in a Mexico gay bar, but it’s not big news” (PinkNews)

(Image Credit: El Universal)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Kenya News | Gay & Bisexual Men

Kenyan court upholds legality of anal examinations as evidence in homosexuality prosecution
  • The presiding judge dismissed a challenge to the state’s subjection of men accused of homosexuality to anal exams, widely decried in the medical community as unscientific and invasive.
  • The ruling comes as part of a case against two men charged with “unnatural acts,” “indecent acts between adults,” and “trafficking in obscene materials.”
  • Though being appealed by Kenya’s main LGBT advocacy group, anal exams can now be used as evidence of “unnatural acts,” whereas historically they were most often used in same-sex rape cases.

Read more:
“Kenyan Court Upholds Anal Exams For Homosexuality Charges” (BuzzFeed News)
“Two Kenyans in gay sex case lose bid to outlaw anal examinations” (Reuters)
“Kenya court rules anal tests on ‘gay suspects’ legal” (AFP via Capital News)

Ideology + Affiliation

U.K. News | Politicians

UK MP assassinated after meeting with constituents
  • Labour Party MP Jo Cox was murdered near near a library in the village of Birstall, near Leeds.
  • The homicide was allegedly the culmination of an altercation between Cox, elected to Parliament in 2015, and 52-year-old Tommy Mair.
  • At least three witnesses reported that Mair shouted “Britain first” while shooting Cox, the slogan and name of a far-right nationalist group pushing for the U.K.’s exit from the European Union in the upcoming referendum on June 23.

Read more:
“Labour MP Jo Cox dies after being shot and stabbed” (The Guardian)
“Labour MP Jo Cox Dies After Shooting” (BuzzFeed News)
“Jo Cox MP dead after shooting attack” (BBC)

(Image Credit: via BBC)

Nationality + Migration

Philippines News | Canadians

Second Canadian hostage believed killed in the Philippines
  • Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group in the southwest Philippines, reportedly beheaded Canadian citizen Robert Hall.
  • Hall had been abducted from a Samal Island resort in September 2015 along with another Canadian (killed in late April), a Norwegian man, and a Filipina woman.
  • The group had demanded an $8 million ransom, which the Canadian government refused to pay to deter future extortion attempts.

Read more:
“Robert Hall, Canadian hostage, killed by Abu Sayyaf militants in Philippines” (CBC News)
“Philippines: Abu Sayyaf group beheads Canadian hostage” (Al Jaxeera)
“Extremists Have Killed Another Canadian Hostage In The Philippines” (BuzzFeed News)

(Image Credit: Site Intelligence Group/YouTube, via CBC News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGBT

Mass shooting in Florida gay club leaves at least 50 dead in deadliest shooting in U.S. history
  • A gunman opened fire in the early morning hours at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing at least 50 and wounding at least another 53 in what authorities are investigating as a terror attack.
  • The club was hosting a Latin-themed dance night, drawing patrons from within and beyond the LGBT community.
  • According to the currently released numbers, the attack is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Read more:
Florida nightclub shooting: updates (The Guardian)
Shooting at Pulse Florida Nightclub: Updates (The New York Times)
“Fifty people killed in massacre at Florida gay nightclub: police” (Reuters)
“Here Are The Victims That Have Been Identified In The Orlando Nightclub Shooting” (BuzzFeed News)
“How to Help the Victims of the Pulse Orlando Nightclub Shooting” (TIME)

(Image Credit: Steve Nesius/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestine News | Israelis & Palestinians

Israel revokes travel permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians following Tel Aviv killings
  • Four Israelis were killed and six wounded after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire in a Tel Aviv market.
  • In response, the government cancelled entry permits for some 83,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza for three days, revoked work permits for more than 200 of the attackers’ relatives, and increased its security presence in the occupied West Bank.
  • Following a condemnation of the homicides, the U.N. warned Israel that their response could be classified as collective punishment, illegal under the Geneva Conventions.

Read more:
“Tel Aviv Terror: What We Know So Far About the Sarona Shooting” (Haaretz)
“Palestinian Gunmen Open Fire in Tel Aviv, Leaving Four Dead” (The New York Times)
“Palestinians barred from entering Israel after Tel Aviv killings” (The Guardian)
“U.N. says Israeli move on Palestinian permits may be collective punishment” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Tomer Appelbaum/Haaretz)

Nationality + Migration

Iran News | Dual Citizens

Canadian-Iranian arrested in Iran as detentions of dual citizens continue
  • Homa Hoodfar, an anthropology professor at Concordia University in Montreal, was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran.
  • Her family indicated that she had been detained and transferred to Iran’s notorious Evin prison on unspecified charges following extended interrogation.
  • Iran, which doesn’t recognize dual citizenship, has imprisoned a growing number of dual nationals traveling from abroad in recent years under allegations of espionage and foreign collaboration.

Read more:
“Canadian-Iranian professor arrested in Tehran by Revolutionary Guards” (The Guardian)
“Arrest of Homa Hoodfar in Iran Shines Light on Dangers for Dual Citizens” (The New York Times)
“Concordia University prof jailed in Iran’s Evin prison, family says” (CBC News)

(Image Credit: Amanda Ghahremani/Associated Press, via The New York Times)