Human Rights

MOSCOW, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus could be associated with a leak from a U.S. biological laboratory, said Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's lower parliament house the State Duma, on Tuesday.

"There was a leak from one of those laboratories that they have opened around the world. It would be right if the government of the Russian Federation raises the issue (of responsibility for the COVID-19 outbreak)," Volodin told a session of the Council of Legislators.

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: Palestinians in Jerusalem are happy at the success of their campaign to have the barriers installed by Israel at one of the main entrances of the Old City providing access to Al-Aqsa Mosque removed. The Israeli police used the steel barriers at the Damascus Gate to create an obstacle for Palestinian worshippers seeking entry to the Noble Sanctuary.

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: The head of Hamas electoral list said on Monday that the victory of the Palestinians in Jerusalem in their battle against Israeli occupation forces and settler violence proves that resistance is the most successful approach to deal with Israel.

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is set to announce the cancellation of the Palestinian elections under the pretext of Israel's refusal to allow Jerusalemites to cast their votes, various local and Israeli sources have reported. Abbas is also the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation as well as the Fatah movement.

Pune, Apr 27 (PTI) A woman prison superintendent in Pune has been dismissed from service for allegedly violating the two-child norm and suppressing the fact that she had three children.

Maharashtra home department's deputy secretary N S Karad, in an order issued on Monday, said Swati Jogdand, posted as superintendent in the Pune district prison, concealed information that she had three children before her appointment in the department in 2012.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: Before the eyes of the Israeli police, extremist Israeli settlers continued their incitement and aggression on Palestinians in Jerusalem, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Friday.

Arab MKs have warned that continuous incitement may lead to a repeat of the 1994 massacre carried out by the extremist Israeli Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein, which left more than 29 Palestinian worshippers dead and about 120 others wounded in Al-Ibrahimi Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt today condemned attacks and provocative actions by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

"Egypt condemns the acts of violence and provocation carried out by extremist Jewish groups targeting the Palestinian brothers residing in the Old City of East Jerusalem which has resulted in the injury of dozens of civilians," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: The Iraqi army said today it is not in need of any foreign or US troops to fight beside them, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to a statement by the Iraqi army spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the withdrawal of the foreign troops from Iraq will be decided by the technical committees between Baghdad and Washington.

On Friday, a top US CENTCOM general said no plans for full US withdrawal from Iraq for the foreseeable future.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: The United Nations (UN) has reiterated the importance of all Palestinians in all occupied Palestinian territories participating in the elections, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, told journalists on Thursday.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation police on Friday prevented hundreds of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank from entering occupied Jerusalem to pray during the second Friday prayer of the Holy Month of Ramadan, Anadolu Agency reported.