China, Israel-Palestine, Iran.
Today's three stories you should know.
China
A bombshell leak today. A trove of thousands of photos and official documents from China’s Xinjiang province appear to have shed light on mass detentions of Uighur muslims and other minorities, and exposed a shoot-to-kill policy for anyone trying to escape. Chinese authorities have been accused for several years of jailing up to one million muslims in labor camps. The government initially denied their existence before pivoting to calling them “vocational training centers.” The documents, which come from the police, have been independently verified by journalists from the BBC and other media organizations. China immediately dismissed the information contained in the leak, calling it “cobbled-together material” and a smear-job.
More from BBC here.
Israel-Palestine
More proof, though it is scarcely needed, that journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli soldiers. CNN has published an investigation that carefully pieces together the events of the day and comes to the conclusion that Abu Akleh was killed in a targeted attack by Israeli forces. Abu Akleh’s employer, Al Jazeera, today reiterated its call for a probe into the Palestinian-American journalist’s killing. “Al Jazeera’s position is crystal clear: Shireen Abu Akleh’s life matters, and so does a transparent and independent investigation of her killing and of the serious violation of her funeral by the Israeli security forces,” the network’s Washington DC bureau chief, Abderrahim Foukara, told an informal gathering of the UN Security Council.
More from CNN here.
Iran
Iran has retained its spot as the world’s most prolific user of the death penalty, according to an annual report from rights group Amnesty International. Tehran put some 341 people to death in 2021, according to the figures, with Amnesty noting that executions had surged 20 percent worldwide since last year. Figures for China, though, were not included. Thousands are believed to be put to death there every year but no official statistics are published and the system is shrouded in secrecy.
More from Al Jazeera here.