Human Rights

22 April 2020; MEMO: Israel has been exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and apply its sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area, the National Office for the Defence of Land and Resistance of Settlement has said.

22 April 2020; MEMO: Saudi authorities have arrested eight members of the Al-Hwaiti tribe in the north-western town of Al-Khuraybah only days their relative and tribal leader Abdul Rahim Al-Hwaiti was shot dead for refusing to give up his home to make way for the kingdom’s NEOM mega-city project.

Al Jazeera reported witnesses as saying that authorities arrested eight members of the Al-Hwaiti tribe for refusing to give up their homes for the NEOM project.

Mumbai, Apr 22 (PTI) A public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, seeking that the probe in the Palghar lynching case be handed over to an independent agency like the CBI or a special investigation team be set up for it.

The petition, filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, has also sought that the high court monitor the probe and seek periodical reports from the investigating agency.

Mumbai, Apr 22 (PTI) A 30 year-old Colombian national stuck in Mumbai due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown has alleged that a junior police officer had made sexual advances on her at a hotel, according to her complaint.

The woman said that she had filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police via an e-mail, which is confirmed by a senior police officer on Wednesday.

OTTAWA, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian police on Tuesday raised the death toll from a weekend mass shooting in Nova Scotia province from 18 to 23, saying remains were discovered in burnt out homes and vehicles.

“We believe there to be 23 victims, including a 17-year-old. All other victims are adults, both men and women, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

MAPUTO, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A shadowy militant group that has terrorised northern Mozambique killed 52 villagers on April 7 after locals refused to be recruited to their ranks, according to police cited by local media Tuesday.

“Recently, the criminals tried to recruit young people to join their ranks, but there was resistance on the part of the youths. This provoked the anger of the criminals, who indiscriminately killed — cruelly and diabolically — 52 young people,” police spokesman Orlando Mudumane told the state-owned broadcasting service.

GENEVA, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations has warned that the coronavirus pandemic could almost double the number of people around the world suffering from acute hunger.

The UN’s World Food Programme said the virus could be catastrophic for millions of people whose lives are already hanging by a thread – who can only eat if they are earning a wage.

A report compiled by the organisation said the total number suffering from hunger could be pushed from 135 million last year to more than 250 million.

21 April 2020; MEMO: Companies linked to the United Arab Emirates are suspected of violating the UN arms embargo on Libya by supplying fuel for combat use to the renegade General Khalifa Haftar.

New York, Apr 21 (PTI) New York city, the financial capital of the world that has emerged as the new epicenter of the coronavirus in the US, is forming a new response team to address the growing incidents of harassment and discrimination against Asian-Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 14,000 people have died in the city and over 200,000 people have contracted the deadly virus. The number of the coronavirus cases in the US has gone up to 787,370, while over 35,000 people have died from the disease.

New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) Delhi Police has booked Jamia students Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, said a lawyer.

Haider and Zargar, arrested for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite the communal riots in February, are in judicial custody. While Zargar is the media coordinator of Jamia Coordination Committee, Haider is a member of the committee.