(New York) – Indian authorities should immediately drop politically-motivated charges against those peacefully protesting against citizenship policies that discriminate against Muslims and release them from custody, Human Rights Watch said today.

The murder of George Floyd was a lynching in broad daylight.

Three police officers stood and watched as a fourth, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck. They watched for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, with Floyd unresponsive for 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that, according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin. They did nothing to stop the murder.

Their silence was as much an act of violence as Cauvin’s knee. And if there were no video recording of the murder, they likely would have upheld the Code Blue loyalty, and lied about what happened.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has notified the US Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China.

Wednesday's notification to lawmakers sets the stage for the US to withdraw preferential trade and financial status that the former British colony has enjoyed since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

"Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as US laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997," Pompeo said in a statement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Wednesday that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China – a landmark decision that will likely escalate already strained U.S.-China relations and which could have serious economic consequences for the global financial hub.

"No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground," Pompeo said in a statement.

Secretary of State of Mike Pompeo has notified Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China and no longer deserves special treatment under U.S. law as it did while still under British law before July 1997.

Wednesday’s notification to lawmakers sets the stage for the U.S. to withdraw that preferential trade and financial status, which it has enjoyed since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong erupted in chaos again Sunday as thousands of protesters marched through the city to protest Beijing’s plans to impose tough new national security laws, which many fear will spell an end to the city’s freedoms.

On Monday, the pro-Beijing government’s top security official denounced the protesters as terrorists, claiming the unrest only underlined the need for the controversial new laws outlawing treason, secession and sedition.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of Americans disapprove of protests against restrictions aimed at preventing the spread the coronavirus, according to a new poll that also finds the still-expansive support for such limits — including restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders — has dipped in recent weeks.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer(D) has been hit with at least two federal lawsuits from residents pushing back on what they say are "draconian" mandates during the coronavirus pandemic, with one attorney likening her actions to "taking a sledge hammer to an ant."

New Delhi, India - A large poster of a woman wearing hijab in the three colours of the Indian flag hangs over a highway signboard near Shaheen Bagh in the Indian capital of New Delhi. "Speak, for your lips are free," the woman in the poster commands.

She appears again on a metro pillar nearby and again in the hands of protesters in Shaheen Bagh and across India.

Islamabad, Pakistan - Police in Pakistan have detained a member of parliament and at least 24 others at a demonstration calling for the release of a prominent Pakistani rights activist, a further step in its crackdown on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) rights group.

On Tuesday, thousands took to streets across Pakistan to protest the arrest of activist Manzoor Pashteen who accuses the country's military of human rights abuses.