Human Rights

BEIRUT; 20 Oct 2018; (AP) — Two days after Jamal Khashoggi vanished into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, The Washington Post published a column featuring his byline and the headline “A missing voice.” The space below it was blank.

That influential voice on Saudi affairs has been silenced forever after three decades as a writer, editor, commentator and media adviser.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused Israel of anchoring apartheid through legislations that terrorize critics.

The ministry said in a statement that an Israeli draft law that would impose stiff prison term on activists in the anti-Israel boycott movement seeks to terrorize Israel critics.

DAMASCUS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 62 people have been killed over the past 24 hours as a result of the U.S.-led airstrikes on the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.

The coalition's airstrikes targeted areas in the village of Souseh in the countryside of the city of Abu Kamal in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, killing 15 people, including women and children.

The U.S.-led airstrikes also killed 37 others when targeting a mosque in that area.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday recognized Saudi Arabia's announcement about the death of a journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a "good first step," amid widespread suspicion from the U.S. media and Congress.

Trump told the media in an event in Arizona that Saudi Arabia's explanation was credible and a "good first step," but what had happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable."

Washington, Oct 19 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said it "certainly looks" like Jamal Khashoggi is dead and threatened "very severe" consequences if Saudi Arabia is found to have murdered him, toughening his response to the disappearance of the dissident journalist that has sparked global outrage.

Trump's remarks came after he was briefed on the investigation by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who returned from trips to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Lucknow, Oct 19 (PTI) The VHP Friday hailed the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to adopt a proposal to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj and demanded that the name of Faizabad be changed to "Sri Ayodhya".

VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma said the renaming of Allahabad aimed to free the mindset of slavery and added all sections of people had hailed this step of the state government.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip; 13 Oct 2018; (AP) Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces have shot dead six Palestinians, four of them in a single incident, in one of the deadliest days in months of mass protests along the security fence separating Gaza and Israel.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday that four were killed in one location, where the Israeli military said it opened fire on a crowed of Palestinians who breached the fence and approached an army post. No Israeli troops were harmed, the army added.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip; 13 Oct 2018; (AP) Palestinians in the northern West Bank say a woman has been killed after being struck in the head by a stone thrown by Israeli settlers.

A relative says Aisha Rabi, 48, was traveling with her husband and two daughters to their home in Bidya early Saturday when their vehicle was pelted with stones.

Her cousin, Isam Rabi, says she was struck in the head and rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. He says her husband saw a small group of settlers nearby.

Srinagar, Oct 12 (PTI) Normal life in Kashmir was affected Friday due to a strike called by separatists after the killing of PhD scholar-turned-Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manaan Bashir Wani in an encounter with security forces.

Schools, higher educational institutions and business establishments remained closed due to the strike called by the Joint Resistance Leadership, a separatist amalgam comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, officials said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 12 (PTI) Members of the Opposition Congress and BJP in Kerala Friday staged demonstrations to express solidarity with Ayyappa devotees even as the CPI, the key partner in the CPI-M led LDF, said there was an attempt to "politicise" the Supreme Court order on Sabarimala.

The BJP said its protest would not be confined to Kerala and would expand to other South Indian states.