Human Rights

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques had intended to burn down the mosques afterward, a prosecutor said in court Monday, while describing two of those praying as making heroic efforts to stop the mass shooting.

New details about the March 2019 attacks were outlined during the first day of a four-day sentencing hearing at the Christchurch High Court. The hearing gave some families and survivors their first chance to confront the gunman.

22 Aug 2020; MEMO: US media reported that on Wednesday the Open Society Justice Initiative filed a lawsuit with the office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) requiring it to release intelligence findings about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The suspected white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a massacre that prompted a global campaign to stamp out online hate, arrived in Christchurch on Sunday ahead of sentencing hearings.

Brenton Tarrant disembarked a New Zealand air force plane at Christchurch Airport on Sunday afternoon, wearing a protective vest and helmet and escorted by armed officers, before being directed into the back of a white van, television footage showed.

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Bloomsbury India on Saturday announced it has withdrawn itself from publishing a book on the Delhi riots of February after there was outrage over a virtual pre-publication launch, which it said was being organised without its knowledge.

The publishing house faced massive backlash online on Friday after a purported advertisement of the book launch on Saturday with BJP leader Kapil Mishra as a guest of honour did the rounds on social media.

Aurangabad; 23 Aug 2020 (UMMN):  A Division Bench of Bombay High Court in Aurangabad on Friday has quashed the FIRs filed against 29 foreign nationals who were booked under various provisions of IPC.

Tehran, Aug 22, IRNA – Presidential Office chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi wrote in a tweet that US President Donald Trump resorts to threats as way-out for his steep decline of popularity.

The era of unilateralism is over and the international community does not stand US bulling and threats, Vaezi wrote on Friday evening.

21 Aug 2020; MEMO: The International Federation of Jurists denounced Israel’s detention of Palestinian activist Raed Salah and called on the international community and non-governmental organisations to defend the Palestinian people’s rights.

The Istanbul-based rights organisation added in a statement that Israel commits “terrorist acts” by “killing of innocent [Palestinian] civilians using heavy arms, warplanes, and missiles,” Anadolu Agency reported.

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: Pakistan’s effort to repair relations with Saudi Arabia has been snubbed by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. The de facto ruler of the kingdom refused to meet with Islamabad’s Army Chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was in the Gulf state to mend ties between the two countries.

21 Aug 2020; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday said that the French colonization of his country resulted in “crimes against humanity”, according to the official Algeria Press Service, Anadolu Agency reports.

This came in a speech to the Algerian people on Muhajid Day, which commemorates the veterans of the War of Independence.

Palestine’s top political groups Fatah and Hamas on Wednesday slammed the UAE-Israel deal as a “stab in the back and an obliteration of the [Palestinian] cause,” Anadolu reports.

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: Hundreds of Palestinians attended in a public rally where figures from the two main groups reaffirmed their opposition to the UAE’s move to normalize ties with Israel.