Human Rights

Jalaun (UP); 16 January 2021 (UMMN): A 63-year-old BJP leader has been arrested on Wednesday on charges of sexual exploitation of two children.

Ram Bihari Rathore, the vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party’s  Koanch tehsil unit and a former lekhpal’ (revenue record keeper) of the Uttar Pradesh government, may have sodomised more than 36 children as news on social media suggests.

14 Jan 2021; MEMO: Yemen's Houthi movement will not walk away from peace talks with the United Nations and Saudi Arabia despite the US decision to designate the Iran-aligned group as a foreign terrorist organisation, the Houthi chief negotiator told Reuters.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the designation, which will trigger sanctions against the movement and three of its leaders, will come into effect on Jan. 19 at the end of the Trump administration's term.

15 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israel is to urge the incoming Biden administration not to exert pressure on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE over their serious record of human rights violations as well as regional issues such as the war in Yemen, Axios has reported.

15 Jan 2021; MEMO: Syria has called on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities and take "strict and immediate" action against Israel's repeated air strikes on its neighbour.

Washington, Jan 15 (PTI) The IMF believes the farm bills passed by the Indian government have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agricultural reforms, but a social safety net is needed to protect those who might be adversely impacted during the transition to the new system, a spokesperson of the global lender said here.

Gerry Rice, Director of Communications at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the new measures will reduce the role of the middlemen and enhance efficiency.

United Nations, Jan 15 (AP-PTI) The UN chief and top officials urged the United States on Thursday to reverse its decision to declare Yemen's Iran-backed rebels a terrorist group to prevent massive famine and death in the conflict-torn Arab nation but the Trump administration in its final days stood by its action.

The US deputy ambassador, Richard Mills, told the Security Council the U.S. has listened to warnings of the terrorist designation's humanitarian impact and will take measures to reduce the impact on aid deliveries and commercial imports.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Sarah Leah Whitson, yesterday called on Egyptian authorities to release elderly prisoners.

Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honour the sentiments of protesting farmers and scrap new controversial farm laws, and said he will "grow bigger" in stature by doing so.

An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also accused the Centre of trying to end the farmers' protest by using the Supreme Court as the front.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government announced Wednesday that it will halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Uighur region of China in its most sweeping action yet to pressure the Communist Party over its campaign against ethnic minorities.

Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its authority to block products suspected of being produced with forced labor to keep out cotton, tomatoes and related products from the Xinjiang region of northwest China.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Lod District Court in Israel on Monday banned the screening of a documentary about Israel's brutal 2002 campaign in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

'Jenin, Jenin' can no longer be aired in Israel after an Israeli soldier who was depicted in the footage stealing from an elderly Palestinian filed a lawsuit against the film.