TRANSGENDER STUDENTS DECRY ‘DANGEROUS’ TRUMP DECISION

MELVILLE, United States: Activists, parents and transgender students on Thursday vowed to resist the Trump administration’s “dangerous” reversal of federal protections of bathroom rights, warning it risked exposing young people to hatefueled violence. The White House decision to allow states and school districts to decide whether students can access bathrooms of their choice violates civil rights that should be enshrined at the national level, they said. Toxic schools contribute to higher rates of depression, suicide, homelessness and HIV infection for transgender young people, they added. On Thursday, several hundred protesters filled the block outside the historic Stonewall Inn, a landmark of the gay rights movement in New York’s Greenwich Village, in support of transgender students. The crowd held signs proclaiming “Resist,” “Protect Trans Youth” and “Trans Rights Are Human Rights,” chanting, “Stand up, fight back!” Bathroom rights are a hot-button social issue at the center of a broader cultural battle between conservatives and liberals.

SAFRICA STRUGGLES TO QUELL ANTI-IMMIGRANT VIOLENCE

JOHANNESBURG: The South African government on Thursday called for calm after a wave of xenophobic violence in which dozens of shops and houses owned by immigrants have been torched and looted. Many locals have alleged that the targets were brothels and drug dens being run by migrants from elsewhere in Africa, including Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The violence has prompted Nigeria to summon South Africa’s top envoy to Abuja to raise their concerns. Nigeria’s junior foreign minister Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim said the high commissioner would be “informed of (the) government’s concerns on the situation” and asked to ensure action was taken. “The Federal Government of Nigeria strongly urges the South African Government to take all necessary measures to protect the lives and property of foreigners living and working in South Africa,” she said in a statement. Attacks against foreigners and foreign-run businesses have erupted regularly in recent years in South Africa, fuelled by the country’s high unemployment and poverty levels. In the last week, more than 20 shops have been targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked at least 12 houses. A march protesting against migrants is due to be held in Pretoria on Friday, raising fears of violence in the city center.

GAMBIA’S EX- SPY CHIEF, 8 OTHERS CHARGED WITH MURDER

BANJUL, Gambia: Gambia’s dreaded former spy chief—whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture—and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April. Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture during ousted strongman Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule. Badjie and the eight others pleaded not guilty to the charges by prosecutors. The nine men, including the NIA’s former director of operations, Saikou Omar Jeng, denied killing opposition figure Solo Sandeng of the main opposition UDP. Sandeng was arrested on April 14 last year while leading a demonstration for political reform and died in custody at the NIA headquarters. Two days later, protests erupted, prompting a security crackdown on demonstrators. UDP chief Ousainou Darboe, a human rights lawyer, and other party leaders, were subsequently arrested. In July, Darboe and about 30 other co-accused were sentenced to three years in jail for six offences related to the April protest.