Human Rights

5 May 2020; MEMO: The US Democratic Party has been urged by top level American diplomats to include a number of pro-Palestinian positions within its platform for this year’s presidential election. The request was made in a letter to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) signed by 32 leading US foreign policy professionals.

Chitrakoot (UP), May 5 (PTI) A teenage Dalit girl was allegedly raped by a man in the Rajapur area here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday when the 14-year-old girl was going to the field, they said.

The girl later reached home and informed her family members about it, who approached the police, they said.

An FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against the accused, police said.

The accused, 21, has been arrested, they said.

RAMALLAH, May 5 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, on Monday, warned Israel against implementing its plans of annexing Palestinian lands in the West Bank.

Abbas’s warning was made in an online speech he addressed, before the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, that was held online, on Monday evening.

“If the occupation (Israel) implements its plans to annex Palestinian lands, we will disengage from all our commitments and agreements,” Abbas told the members of NAM.

4 May 2020; MEMO: Tunisia is the Arab world’s best-performing country in terms of freedom of the press, the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) revealed yesterday.

According to the report, released on World Press Freedom Day yesterday, Lebanon ranked 102nd, Iraq (162th), Algeria (146th), Egypt (166th), and Saudi Arabia (170th) globally. Meanwhile, Syria came in at 174th out of 180 countries for the second consecutive year.

4 May 2020; MEMO: Journalism has become a crime in Egypt and the authorities are targeting supporters and oppositionists to strengthen their control, Amnesty International warned yesterday, accusing the regime of a lack of transparency and withholding information about the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) The Congress on Monday termed historic party president Sonia Gandhi's decision asking PCCs to bear the cost of the train fare of migrant workers returning home, and said its state units will work out the modalities of paying the Railways after coordinating with chief secretaries.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said he has already talked to state Congress chiefs and they are working out the modalities to ensure that every worker and migrant stranded reaches home safely.

Srinagar, May 03 (UMM): An Army Colonel, a Major, three security personnel and two Kasmiri separatists were killed in an encounter at a village in Handwara in north Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

Army officers Col Ashutosh Sharma and Major Anuj, and Jammu and Kashmir Police Sub-Inspector Shakeel Qazi were among the deceased, they said.

3 May 2020; MEMO: A number of Belgian NGOs have called to put pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities in order to release blocked Palestinian tax money to enable the Palestinian Authority (PA) to afford the medical kits necessary to fight the outbreak of the coronavirus, Quds Net News Agency reported on Friday.

Lucknow, May 2 (PTI) Holding the Tablighi Jamaat responsible for the spread of COVID-19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that being infected with a virus is not a crime but to hide it is definitely a crime.

Speaking at a programme of a news channel, Adityanath said, "The role of Tablighi Jamaat was most condemnable. To get a disease is not a crime but to hide a disease which is infectious is definitely a crime. And this crime has been done by those associated with the Tablighi Jamaat."

Sitapur, May 3 (PTI) An 11-year-old girl was allegedly raped here by a man, who lives in the same neighbourhood, police said on Sunday.

According to Superintendent of Police L R Kumar, the incident took place on Saturday evening and the girl has been sent for a medical examination.