News Clips- August 4, 2017

This week, a source confirmed that the government of Syria executed activist and Internet entrepreneur, Bassel Khartabil Safadi, in October 2015. [Washington Post]
On Thursday, it was reported that activists launched a public appeal asking the prince of Saudi Arabia to dismiss terrorism-related offenses against 14 Shiite men. [Washington Post]
On Tuesday, two Venezuelan opposition leaders were taken into custody by security forces as a part of an alleged “expanded crackdown on dissent.” [Washington Post]
On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a request for release from prison by two Turkish teachers with reportedly grave health conditions connected to their hunger strike, citing no “imminent risk to their lives.” [Al Jazeera]
This week, two major companies, Apple and Amazon, removed apps used to circumvent censorship in China. [Washington Post]

This week, a court in France ordered the government to provide humanitarian aid to migrants in Calais. [Washington Post]
Last week, International Organization for Migration Director General, William Lacy Swing, visited northeast Nigeria; the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund allocated $10.5 million to fund 15 life-saving projects in the region. [UN News Centre]

On Wednesday, the polling company in charge of the election of the Venezuelan political assembly reported that the election results were manipulated and inaccurate by at least one million votes. [Washington Post]
On Monday, a week before Kenya’s presidential election, Christopher Msando, an election official, was found tortured and killed. [Associated Press]
On Friday, Leo Varadkar was elected prime minister of Ireland; in addition to being the youngest leader of the country, he is also Ireland’s first gay and first ethnic minority prime minister. [Guardian]