South Sudan
Rights group Amnesty International today warned of what it called “a new wave of repression” in South Sudan. Since it was founded ten years ago, the world’s youngest country has gone through a civil war that killed about 400,000 people as well as multiple hunger crises. Now, as civil society groups at end of their tether begin to organize protests against the government, it has responded with arrests.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Syria
This one has been getting very little international attention. Oil has been spilling into the Mediterranean from a refinery in northern Syria since August 23 and, after already reaching Cyprus, it has now touched the shores of southern Turkey. The World Wide Fund for Nature has warned that the spill will have “immediate and long-term effects on coastal ecosystems and vulnerable communities in the area.”
More from Middle East Eye here.
China
The Chinese government has banned men it deems effeminate from TV. Broadcasters must “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics,” the National Radio and TV Administration said, according to a translation from the Associated Press. The move is believed to have been sparked by a bizarre concern that South Korean and Japanese popstars are inspiring young Chinese men to be less masculine.
More from AP here.