Human Rights

6 Sep 2019; MEMO: Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the nuclear deal between his country and the P5 + 1 in 2015 as a series of unilateral commitments.

Ahmadinejad, who held office for two consecutive terms (2005-13), before the current president Hassan Rouhani, said: “I would not have signed such an agreement at all if it had been up to me.”

6 Sep 2019; MEMO: The son of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was buried last night after authorities allowed the body to be released from the morgue amidst tight security.

Abdullah Morsi was released from the Zeinhom morgue in Cairo after prayers were held for him in the absence of his body.

His brothers Ahmed and Omar and his mother Najla Mahmoud accompanied the corpse to his final resting place alongside his father who passed away on 17 June.

6 Sep 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to allow Syrian refugees to leave Turkey and make their way to Europe if the long-awaited safe zone in northern Syria is not established.

Ghazipur (UP), Sep 6 (PTI) A woman was allegedly abducted and raped by a policeman and his friend, and thrown near a canal in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district, police said on Friday.

The incident took place at a village in the district's Mardah area on Wednesday evening.

Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary jawan Abhay Yadav has been arrested, while his friend is at large, they said.

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments made in the UAPA.

The petitions challenges the changes to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on various grounds, including that these infringed upon fundamental rights of citizens and empowered agencies to declare a person a terrorist.

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Delhi government has not yet taken any decision on the prosecution sanction against former JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 JNU sedition case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

He, however, said the Delhi government's home department will take the appropriate decision after taking all facts into consideration.

There will be no political interference in the case, the chief minister asserted.

Srinagar, Sep 6 (PTI) Restrictions were reimposed on Friday in several parts of Kashmir as a precautionary measure with authorities apprehending violence after congregational prayers.

Curbs were first imposed across Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 when the Centre announced its decision to revoke the state's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate it into two Union territories. The restrictions were lifted in phases from many parts of the Valley as the situation improved with passage of time.

Guwahati, Sep 5 (PTI) Two FIRs have been lodged against Assam Coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC), Prateek Hajela, for "discrepancies" in the final updated list, police said on Thursday.

A third complaint was filed by an NGO against three Bangladesh nationals declared as foreigners, who figure in the final NRC, and against the NRC authorities of Morigaon district, who were allegedly responsible for including their names.

5 Sep 2019; MEMO: Canada is “to receive 100,000 Palestinians”, including 40,000 from Lebanon and another 60,000 from Syria as part of the US peace plan dubbed the “deal of the century”, Palestinian official source has revealed to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The Lebanese newspaper said that this came as a result of an American-Canadian understanding on this issue.

MPs clapped at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday when Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi asked the prime minister to apologise for comparing Muslim women to letterboxes in a “racist” attack.

“If I decide to wear a turban or you decide to wear a cross or he decides to wear a kippah or skullcap or she decides to wear a hijab or burqa, does that mean it is open season for right honourable members of this house to make derogatory and divisive remarks about our appearance?” asked Dhesi, who is a Sikh.