Human Rights

13 Aug 2020; MEMO: Turkey yesterday accused Greece of “systematically closing Turkish minority schools” in the country’s Western Thrace region.

“Athens’ practice of temporary suspending minority schools in Western Thrace – a region where around 150,000 Muslim Turkish minority have resided for the past 25 years is a part of Greece’s assimilation and oppression efforts against Muslims,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hami Aksoy, said in a statement.

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a plea which has sought a direction to the Centre to appoint a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, for inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The petition has alleged that the Centre failed to undertake timely and effective measures for containing transmission of the virus and an independent inquiry by a commission, appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1952, was essential to inquire into the "lapses".

Chennai, Aug 12 (PTI): More than not knowing Hindi, the issue of equating Hindi with nationalism is "shameful" and it edged out all other languages in the country in determining one's identity, DMK MP Kanimozhi said on Wednesday.

The Thoothukudi Lok Sabha MP claimed she had never studied Hindi in school nor learnt the language even after she started going to Delhi as a Parliamentarian.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) has appealed to the UN to protect Palestinian refugees and support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported yesterday.

The appeal included a call for the UN to afford “urgent and tangible” protection for Palestinian refugees in light of the coronavirus outbreak based on its mandate and in accordance with WHO standards.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces yesterday arrested 11 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, raided the house of Hamas leader Hassan Yousef and handed him a summons to the Israeli intelligence office, Quds Press reported.

According to an Israeli army statement, the Palestinians who were arrested were being interrogated over their participation in the popular resistance against illegal settlements.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: For the first time in five months, Egyptian authorities yesterday opened the Rafah Crossing for Palestinian travellers from and the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a brief statement, the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza said: “Egyptian authorities opened the crossing exceptionally after a five-month closure.”

On Monday, the Interior Ministry announced the names of the people who would be allowed to travel through the crossing, which is due to remain open for three days.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iran has threatened to respond appropriately and firmly if the arms embargo that has been imposed on it since 2015 is extended. According to government spokesman Ali Rabiei, any resolution that violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231 would be unacceptable and lack compliance with international law.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has ended a loan and oil supply to Pakistan due to the South Asian nation’s criticism that the Saudi-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is not doing enough to pressure India on the Kashmir issue, marking a new milestone in the deteriorating relations between the two allies.

Srinagar, August 12, 2020: An unidentified Kashmiri separatist and an Indian soldier were killed on Wednesday in Kamrazipora village of Pulwama district of the Indian Administered Kashmir, Indian officials said.

Jalna, Aug 11 (PTI) A district court here on Tuesday sentenced a 22-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping his minor cousin in Jalna district of Maharashtra.

District and sessions court judge Sunil Vedpathak awarded life sentence to the accused, who was charged under relevant sections of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.