Human Rights

(AP) --- Police officers who put a hood over the head of a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them, New York’s attorney general announced Tuesday.

Daniel Prude, 41, died last March, several days after his encounter with police in Rochester, New York. Police initially described his death as a drug overdose.

23 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation bulldozers yesterday demolished the house of chief guard of Al-Aqsa Mosque Fadi Aliyan in the village of Al-Issawiya in occupied Jerusalem, news agencies reported.

The Aliyan family said that the Israeli occupation had notified them of its intention to demolish their home at the end of February.

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers' protest.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted relief to Ravi on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of like amount.

Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi. She was currently in police custody.

Jaipur, Feb 22 (PTI) BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said on Monday that the protest against the Centre's agri-marketing laws could go on for a long time and urged farmers to force "the king of looters" out of Delhi.

He also accused "the king" of putting a value on bread.

22 Feb 2021; MEMO: Palestinian agricultural areas suffered $1.5 million in damages as a result of Israel's decision to open rainwater floodgates, Anadolu reported.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip Israel has so far flooded nearly 700 dunums of agricultural land including 600 dunums (148 acres) east of Gaza City, and 100 dunams (24.7 acres) east of the town of Beit Hanoun.

22 Feb 2021; MEMO: The head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, has been held in solitary confinement since he was jailed by Israel on 15 August last year, Arabi21.com reported on Sunday. His lawyer Khalid Zabarqeh said that Sheikh Salah has been facing harsh treatment and difficult conditions in the Israeli prison in the Negev Desert.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met farmer leaders from Western UP on Sunday and demanded that the BJP-ruled central government withdraw the three farm laws, terming them "death warrant" for farmers.

The meeting came ahead of a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' that Kejriwal is scheduled to address on February 28 in Western UP's Meerut. The AAP has already announced that it is contesting the Assembly polls in UP in 2022 and this will be the first major appearance of Kejriwal in the poll-bound state.

Mumbai, Feb 22 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Monday granted interim bail for six months on medical grounds to ailing poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale took into account the advanced age of Rao (82), his "precarious" health condition, quality of medical aid provided to him in prison, and medical facilities available at the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, while holding that his case was "fit and genuine for grant of relief".

21 Feb 2021; MEMO: This is the ninth straight night that Harb Abu-Elkbash, a 48-year-old Palestinian Bedouin, will spend under the open sky in freezing temperatures, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Israeli army stormed his village of Homsa al-Baqia, located east of the city of Tubas in the Jordan Valley, 38 miles (61 kilometres) north of Jerusalem, and uprooted his tent and sheepfold.

Lucknow, Feb 21 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force Sunday raided the Delhi offices of Popular Front of India and its student wing CFI, officials said here, days after a CFI leader was sent to five-day police custody for allegedly funding PFI members to create unrest after the Hathras gangrape incident.

On February 17, a court in Mathura had sent PFI's student wing leader Rauf Shareef to five-day police custody.