Two gay Indonesian men have been arrested and face 100 lashes in a case that is drawing international attention to the enforcement of controversial new Islamic bylaws in the semi-autonomous Aceh province. Mobile phone footage, showing vigilantes slapping one of the young men as he sits naked on the ground awaiting arrest by local sharia police, has been shared on social media in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Human Rights Watch has demanded their immediate release, saying their possible punishment – a public beating with a stick – constitutes torture. The sentence has already been meted out for crimes such as adultery, but it is believed this would be the first time Aceh’s new statutes concerning religion and morality could be enforced against homosexuality. Aceh is the only region in Indonesia, a plural democracy, which allows local authorities to maintain parallel laws and police forces based on religious interpretations.(guardian)…[+]

The chief executive of United Airlines has described the passenger who was forcibly removed from an overbooked plane as “disruptive and belligerent”, and told the airline’s employees that they “followed established procedures”.

The airline has been vilified after aviation police officials violently removed a man from a plane at O’Hare international airport in Chicago on Sunday, in an incident captured on video by several passengers.

In one clip, posted by Audra Bridges to Facebook, guards could be seen aggressively grabbing then dragging the passenger down the aisle of the plane, which was bound for Louisville, Kentucky, as other passengers shouted, “Oh my God”, and, “Look what you did to him”.

In a letter to United Airlines staff, CEO Oscar Munoz said he was upset to see and hear about what happened but that he supported his employees.

“The situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact Chicago aviation security officers to help,” Munoz wrote in the letter obtained by CNBC and other news outlets.(guardian)…[+]

Britain has failed to win G7 backing for new sanctions on top Russian and Syrian figures, but the US secretary of state warned that President Assad’s days in power were numbered as he headed to Moscow for talks.

G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy could not reach a consensus on a call by the British foreign minster Boris Johnson for targeted sanctions, and said there must be an investigation into last week’s chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held town before new measures could be adopted.

America’s top diplomat Rex Tillerson, who has flown from the Italian summit to Moscow for talks with Russia, nevertheless warned that the Assad government was “coming to an end”.

“Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role,” the US secretary of state said. Or, he added, it could maintain its alliance with Syria, Iran and militant group Hezbollah, “which we believe is not going to serve Russia’s interests’ longer term”. The G7 blames the Assad regime’s military for the chemical attack last week, and ministers have strongly supported US missile strikes that targeted a Syrian airbase believed to have been used to launch the attack.(guardian)…[+]

The twin bombings of Coptic churches in Egypt on Psalm Sunday are expected to give fresh impetus to a two-day visit by Pope Francis later this month, partly aimed at showing solidarity with the country’s beleaguered Christian minority. A three-month state of emergency began on Monday at 1pm following the attacks in Alexandria and Tanta, which killed at least 47 people and injured more than 100. The bombings were the latest in a string of attacks on Copts in recent years. The measures, the first state of emergency since president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seized power in 2013, will increase the powers of Egyptian security forces.

Islamic State claimed two Egyptian suicide bombers were responsible for the blasts and threatened further attacks. Sisi warned that the war against Islamic extremists would be “long and painful”.

Amid angry claims of inadequate protection for Egypt’s Christian minority, Gharbia province’s head of security was sacked, according to state television.

“At the highest level, a lot of attention and care is given to this issue. But the problem is at the local security level,” said bishop Anba Angaelos, the head of the Coptic Orthodox church in the UK, speaking before Sunday’s bombings.(guardian)…[+]