Human Rights

(AP) --- The trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery had vastly different outcomes. But coming just days apart, they laid bare a dangerous and long-running current in the fight for racial equality: The move by some white Americans to grab guns and take their own stand against perceptions of lawlessness, particularly by Black people.

The two cases, which ended with an acquittal for Rittenhouse last week and guilty verdicts for Arbery’s killers on Wednesday, highlighted polarizing issues about gun and self-defense laws, and racial injustice.

US forces will remain in Iraq after the scheduled end of combat operations on 31 December, Newsweek has reported. A spokesperson for the US Department of Defence, Navy Commander Jessica McNulty, said that Washington's position on this remains unchanged.

According to Newsweek, McNulty made her remarks in response to a letter to the magazine last week from an alliance of Iraqi paramilitary factions known as the "Iraqi Resistance Coordination Commission". They expressed their disappointment at the lack of a US military drawdown.

24 Nov 2021; MEMO: Apple yesterday said it had filed a lawsuit against Israel's NSO and its parent company OSY Technologies, in an effort to stop the spyware company from using any of its devices.

This comes after the US put the company on the trade blacklist after it was accused of supplying technology to foreign governments to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics and embassy workers.

24 Nov 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has called on the UN to send an international investigation team to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to inspect their laboratories, Wafa reported on Tuesday.

24 Nov 2021; MEMO: Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of High Islamic Commission in Jerusalem, yesterday called for defending the holy site against increasing Israeli raids, Quds Press reported.

In a statement, Sheikh Sabri said: "The Israeli occupation has turned the city of Jerusalem into a military base since Sunday and has escalated its provocative measures against worshippers."

Muzaffarnagar, Nov 24 (PTI) Twenty-six years after a case was registered against a man under the Arms Act, a court here has acquitted him.

Chief Judicial Magistrate, Manoj Kumar Jatave, on Tuesday acquitted Salahuddin, saying the prosecution has failed to prove its case and provide any witness.

According to the prosecution, four cartridges were recovered from the possession of Salahuddin in 1995 and a case was lodged against him under the Arms Act.

A charge sheet was later filed in the court against the accused.

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill to repeal the three farm laws, which triggered protests at Delhi borders by thousands of farmers.

This was announced by I&B Minister Anurag Thakur after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) A Delhi court has framed charges of arson and rioting against a father-son duo for allegedly damaging and setting a Mosque on fire, vandalism, and stone-pelting during the February 2020 riots.

Mithhan Singh and his son Jony Kumar are accused of allegedly being part of a violent mob that raised slogans Jai Shree Ram and damaged the mosque in Delhi's Khajuri Khas area on February 25, 2020, as per the complainant.

Jammu, Nov 22 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI(M) on Monday asked the civil society of Ramban and adjoining areas to come forward and demand the return of the body of Amir Magray -- the third person killed in the Hyderpora encounter last week -- and whose kin claim he was innocent.

The Left party has been pressing for a judicial probe into the controversial encounter in Srinagar and return of the body of Magray, a resident of Gool area of Ramban, who was among four persons killed in the incident on November 15.

23 Nov 2021; MEMO: Palestinian detainee, Kayed Al-Fasfous, wins a decisive victory and ends his hunger strike which lasted for 131 days after an agreement was reached to end his administrative detention and release him after 23 days.

Israeli authorities have issued an order to release him on 14 December.

Kayed Al-Fasfous, father of one daughter, has been on a hunger strike for 131 days in protest against his administrative detention without trial.