The government in India’s Jammu and Kashmir State ordered internet service providers in the restive Kashmir valley to block social networking services there, an unusually harsh measure to counteract escalating waves of protests and violence in the region. In the order, the government notified internet service providers to block the transmission of messages on 22 social networking services, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, for a month, or until further orders were issued. The move illuminated a government increasingly vexed by civilian protests, by a newly budding homegrown militancy in south Kashmir and by a series of video clips, distributed on social media, depicting confrontations between civilians and Indian security forces. (NY Times http://nyti.ms/2oK10J0)
Quote of the Day: TED Fellow Pope Francis. ““How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion. How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us. How wonderful would it be if solidarity — this beautiful and, at times, inconvenient word — were not simply reduced to social work and became, instead, the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices, as well as in the relationships among individuals, peoples and countries.” (NPR http://n.pr/2pjlhHe)
Tinder profile of the Day: Like many guys using the Tinder dating app, Sudan loves the outdoors and travels widely. The catch: he’s the world’s last male white northern rhino and desperately needs to mate. Conservationists are hoping that Sudan’s Tinder profile will help them raise enough money for $9-million fertility treatment as all attempts at getting him to mate naturally have failed. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2q8fU0l)
Top Stories
Members of indigenous groups clashed with riot police in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. Thousands gathered in front of the Congress building to demand more land rights and protest against the encroachment of their land by loggers and farmers. (BBC http://bbc.in/2pmj8wB)
Ten trucks carrying much-needed food for Burundi are back in Rwanda’s capital after authorities denied entry at the border, citing security concerns. (VOA http://bit.ly/2ox7IGU)
France said that the chemical analysis of samples taken from a deadly sarin gas attack in Syria earlier this month “bears the signature” of President Bashar Assad’s government and shows it was responsible. (AP http://apne.ws/2q8cCKC)
Dozens of teachers in Burkina Faso who fled into hiding after receiving threats from Islamist militants have returned to their classrooms and will receive psychological support after one of them was killed by suspected jihadists, officials said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2q8hnnB)
Venezuela is threatening to pull out of the Organization of American States as the socialist government’s response to political unrest that has been blamed for 26 deaths in recent weeks draws rebuke from the hemisphere’s major powers. (AP http://apne.ws/2q8flDE)
The United States slammed South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir for the African state’s “man-made” famine and ongoing conflict, urging him to fulfill a month-old pledge of a unilateral truce by ordering his troops back to their barracks. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2q8D0E1)
The year following two earthquakes that devastated Nepal saw a spike in desperate people falling into the clutches of human traffickers. Two years later, with the country’s infrastructure and economy still in ruins, NGOs say human trafficking is still on the rise. (IRIN http://bit.ly/2oxbPD4)
Around 76% of primary school aged girls in South Sudan are not receiving an education because of the conflict and food crisis in the country. Their futures and safety are at risk as a result. (Plan http://bit.ly/2oMu0AR)
South Africa, the continent’s biggest maize producer and hard hit by an El Nino-triggered drought last year, is considering a strategic grain reserve as a buffer against future shortages, its agriculture minister said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2q6n8PD)
Strict British and US counter-terrorism laws are discouraging humanitarian organizations from delivering vital emergency assistance to millions of people facing starvation and fatal diseases in drought-hit Somalia. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2piGCk2)
Opinion/Blogs
Rick Perry wants to “renegotiate” the Paris Agreement. Here’s what that means. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2ox5h7y)
Electing Saudi-Arabia to the UN Commission on the Status of Women is not a bad idea (Aidnography http://bit.ly/2piZiQH)
Venezuela’s Future Won’t Be Settled in the Streets (Bloomberg View https://bloom.bg/2ox05Aj)
Double standards: Do all journalist lives matter? (IPS http://bit.ly/2oJXkXw)
6 Things We Know About Trump’s Foreign Policy After 100 Days (Foreign Policy http://atfp.co/2owY8)
Us How governors’ offices became ground zero for corruption in Mexico (CSM http://bit.ly/2oJQVfd)
‘I am a criminal. What is my crime?’: the human toll of abortion in Afghanistan (Guardian http://bit.ly/2owJDjP)
World Bank Must Stop Encouraging Harmful Tax Competition (IPS http://bit.ly/2oJRBBa)
Why a Stolen Democracy Plaque Is Gripping Thailand (WSJ http://on.wsj.com/2oMLAEs)
