Denmark-Syria
Denmark’s parliament today voted in favor of a plan to open refugee processing centers in another nation, most likely on the African continent. Copenhagen has been caught up in a debate over its Syrian refugee population for the last few weeks. The government plans to send Syrians from the Damascus area back based on an analysis that it is safe - an assessment vehemently disagreed with by several rights groups, including Amnesty International. Under the plan, return would be voluntary but Syrians who refused would be placed in indefinite detention.
France 24 has a very detailed write-up of the whole situation here.
Israel
“Fraud of the century”
Benjamin Netanyahu is not going down without a fight.
More from BBC here.
Qatar
A worrying freedom of expression case in Qatar. A Kenyan national, 28-year-old Malcolm Bidali, was arrested and charged with “spreading disinformation” and for being in receipt of payment from a “foreign agent” to disseminate it. Bidali, who was working as a security guard in the Gulf state, ran a blog in which he wrote about life as a migrant worker. In the run up to its hosting of the soccer World Cup in 2022, Qatar has been sharply criticised by rights groups for its treatment of its large migrant worker population. Doha has, though, recently introduced several sweeping reforms. Bidali was freed today after almost a month in detention but still faces the charges.
More from Al Jazeera here.