Human Rights

06 July 2020; MEMO: Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi yesterday warned that annexation might cause Israel’s relations with Jordan and the European Union to deteriorate, Arab48 reported.

According to the website, the EU has discussed punishing action against Israel if it goes ahead with annexation, noting that the punishment could include a halt of foreign ministers’ visits to Israel, halt in dispatching students and cancelling scientific scholarships in Israel.

06 July 2020; MEMO: Israeli aircrafts last night bombed several agricultural sites to the east of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Helicopters and F-16 fighter jets were used to send at least five rockets across the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood to the east of Gaza City.

New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) Days after nine individuals linked to Khalistani outfits were declared as terrorists, the government on Sunday announced that 40 websites belonging to Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), an outlawed organisation, have been blocked for supporting secessionist activities.

The US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a pro-Khalistan group.

Nagpur, Jul 5 (PTI) A 24-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl at Chacher village in Nagpur district of Maharashtra, police said on Sunday.

The accused Durgesh Shende is a neighbour of the victim, an official said.

Shende works in a company in Hyderabad, but is currently staying at his home in the village due to the lockdown, he said, adding that the accused is an alcoholic.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 4 (PTI): Kerala on Saturday urged the Centre to make "earnest efforts" to build international pressure to ensure that a fair trial is held against the two Italian marines who shot and killed two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: "It is quite shocking that such a grave crime committed against our citizens is not being brought to justice in our country.

TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran has filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against the United States over effects of sanctions on Iran's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Leila Joneidi, Iran's presidential aide for legal affairs, said on Saturday.

The continuous U.S. sanctions against Iran at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic are an indication of "inhuman" move and against human rights, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Tehran Times daily.

The official made the remarks during a visit to the Pasteur Institute in the capital Tehran.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor on Saturday night.

Demonstrators used ropes to topple the monument near the Little Italy neighborhood, news outlets reported.

Protesters mobilized by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, Confederate figures and others. They say the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.

05 July 2020; MEMO: The US State Department expressed on Thursday its alarm at the link between the forces of Major General Khalifa Haftar and the Russian Wagner group, stressing that this contradicts US and Libyan interests and undermines Libya’s sovereignty.

05 July 2020; MEMO: “Despite their sufferings, Palestinians will not raise the white flag,” the Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Archbishop Atallah Hanna announced on Friday.

In a press release sent to mass media, Hanna stated: “May God help the Palestinian people who endure the sufferings under coronavirus, unemployment and poverty.”

05 July 2020; MEMO: After having been one of the European countries to provide the greatest diplomatic and logistic support, and remaining silent regarding the thousands of deaths and massacres committed by its troops, France has finally abandoned General Khalifa Haftar. But isn’t it too late. And why now?