Human Rights

16 Sep 2021; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has said that Israel will not be removing any illegal Jewish settlements from the occupied West Bank and will maintain them in the long term, Foreign Policy reported yesterday.

Speaking to the news site, he addressed several issues related to Iran, the region and Palestine, saying: "We need two political entities here."

16 Sep 2021; MEMO: Palestinian prisoner Yaqoub Qadri, who was among the four Gilboa Prison escapees to be recaptured, pledged to seek freedom again, Safa news agency reported on Tuesday.

According to lawyer Hanan Al Khatib, Qadri said: "The five days I spent in the open air of Palestine without restrictions were the best of my life."

The lawyer also reported him saying he saw children during his freedom and kissed one of them. "That was the most beautiful thing to happen to me," he said.

16 Sep 2021; MEMO: Time magazine has named Palestinian twins and activists, Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The magazine said Muna and her twin brother Muhammad have become symbols of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation's attempts to evict Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah.

Lucknow, Sep 15 (PTI) Is abba jaan an "unparliamentary word", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked on Wednesday, questioning why those who want Muslim votes are shy of using it.

"I have not taken any names. They want Muslim votes, why should they shun it? Is it an unparliamentary word? It is not. No one should have any problem with it," asserted the UP chief minister, facing the Oppositions' ire over his 'abba jaan' remark on Saturday in Kushinagar.

Allahabad, Sep 15 (PTI) Calling a Mainpuri school girl, found hanging in her classroom in a suspicious condition in 2019, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the UP police chief to remain present before it on Thursday too to apprise it of the details of the case.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice A K Ojha ordered the DGP to present before it after he spent the day in the court to go through the records of the case.

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Delhi accounted for nearly 40 per cent of all rape cases and almost 25 per cent murder cases among 19 metropolitan cities in India in 2020, according to latest government data

Altogether, 1,849 murder cases and 2,533 rape cases were reported across the country in 2020, a year that witnessed COVID-19 outbreak and lockdowns, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed

15 Sep 2021; MEMO: A Bahraini opposition leader and Secretary-General of the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy, Hassan Mushaima, has rejected a conditional royal pardon to release him from prison, describing it as "humiliating" and reiterating his right to freedom without restriction.

In a letter circulated on social media yesterday, Mushaima stressed his refusal to waive any of his basic rights or accept preconditions in return for his release.

15 Sep 2021; MEMO: EgyptAir is scheduled to operate four direct flights from Cairo to Tel Aviv every week from the beginning of October.

According to the Times of Israel, flights between the two cities are currently run by Air Sinai, in planes without the Egyptian flag.

14 Sep 2021; MEMO: Eight members of the same family were wounded when a landmine was planted by the Russian Wagner Group, which fights on the side of renegade General Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Anadolu reported.

The victims were six children and their parents, the report added.

Vidad Abu Al-Niran, head of the Libyan Ministry of Health's information department said that while some of the injuries were light, others were serious.

14 Sep 2021; MEMO: Users of Apple products, including mobile telephones, tablets, and watches, have been urged to update their devices to protect them from Israel's "mercenary" spyware company, the notorious NSO Group. The warning was issued yesterday by CitizenLab a day before Apple is expected to release its latest phone model.