Human Rights

15 Sep 2020; MEMO: An Israeli court has sentenced a Jewish settler to three life terms following the killing of a Palestinian couple and their baby in an arson attack in 2015.

New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) The government is using the sedition law with an iron hand to curb free speech in an overreaction to people's opinion, former Supreme Court judge Justice M B Lokur said on Monday.

Another method by which the state is curbing free speech is to crack down on critical opinions by charging them of spreading fake news, Justice (retried) Lokur said at a webinar on 'Freedom of Speech and Judiciary'.

New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan said on Monday that paying of the token fine of Re 1 imposed on him by the Supreme Court in a contempt case does not mean that he has accepted the verdict and would file a review petition against the judgement.

Washington, Sep 15 (PTI) The US has banned the import of five goods from China, including computer-parts, cotton and hair products, alleging that they are produced in forced labour camps in the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province.

The US-China relations have deteriorated after the COVID-19 outbreak, with President Donald Trump squarely blaming Beijing for allowing the disease to spread across the world.

Kolkata, Sept 14 (PTI) Reacting to the arrest of JNU alumnus and rights activist Umar Khalid in connection with the Delhi riots, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that action should be taken if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Apparently hitting out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Banerjee, who has been one of its most stringent critics, said those involved in "movements (against NPR, NRC) have been targeted (by the ruling party)".

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Sep 15 (PTI) A seven-year-old girl was allegedly sexual harassed by a man when she had gone to collect water from a handpump in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at a village in Purkazi area on Sunday. The suspect took her to his house and sexual harassed her. He later ran away when the girl raised an alarm, an officer said.

Rajkumar Saini has been arrested and a case registered, the officer said.

14 Sep 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s Christian Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai yesterday reiterated his demand for an international investigation into the Beirut port explosion which killed nearly 200 people and wounded thousands more, Anadolu reported.

14 Sep 2020; MEMO: Secretary-General of the PLO’s Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, said yesterday that the UAE and Bahraini normalisation deals with Israel prepare for the formation of military alliances in the region led by Israel, Anadolu reported.

In a press conference held in Ramallah, Erekat said: “Israel will never be a tool to protect the security of Arabs, but a tool to undermine the security of the Arab states.”

14 Sep 2020; MEMO: Civil society groups in Bahrain have rejected the government’s normalisation agreement with Israel which is expected to be signed formally in Washington DC on Tuesday.

14 Sep 2020; MEMO: Hamas yesterday welcomed the formation of the “United Leadership of Popular Resistance”, considering it a practical step to turn the national consensus into measures on the ground.