Human Rights

30 Aug 2019; MEMO: The United States (US) has warned firms and businesses who participate in the annual Damascus International Fair could risk having sanctions placed on them.

Islamabad, Aug 30 (PTI) Pakistan observed the "Kashmir Hour" on Friday to express "solidarity" with the Kashmiri people as many rallies were held across the country, weeks after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The nationwide, half an hour protest began as the clock struck noon. It was followed by the blaring of sirens across Pakistan, with traffic grinding to a halt for few minutes in many Pakistani cities.

Srinagar, Aug 29 (PTI) Armed with a Supreme Court order, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday met his ailing party colleague Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami who has been under house arrest since August 5.

Yechury arrived here in the afternoon and was escorted by police to meet Tarigami at his Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar's Civil Lines area.

Officials said the CPI(M) leader spent nearly three hours with Tarigami.

Srinagar, Aug 30 (PTI) Fresh restrictions were imposed in the city and other parts of the Kashmir Valley as a preventive measure ahead of Friday congregational prayers, officials said.

Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPc were announced on public address system. People have been asked not to venture outside and barricades have been placed.

Normal life remained disrupted across the Kashmir Valley for the 26th consecutive day, with markets closed and public transport off the roads.

Kolkata, Aug 30 (PTI) The West Bengal assembly Friday passed a bill to check incidents of mob assaults and lynching and criminalised such actions.

The West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 was tabled in the House on Friday and supported by the opposition Congress and CPI(M).

The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party, neither supported nor opposed the bill as it felt that the legislation may be used for settling political scores.

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (NNN-UPI) — US President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to maintain a presence of 8,600 troops in Afghanistan in the midst of a large scale withdrawal from the country.

Speaking during an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump said the United States would decrease its presence to 8,600 troops and then make a determination as to what further steps to take.

“We’re not fighting a war over there — we’re just policemen,” Trump said.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Six UN Security Council members blocked a move to include Somali group Al-Shabaab on a list of organizations such as Al-Qaeda that are under international sanctions, diplomatic sources said.

Several NGOs and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently stepped in to oppose the classification, which would have effectively kept humanitarian aid away from millions of Somalis living in Al-Shabaab-controlled areas.

29 Aug 2019; MEMO: Alabama Republicans approved a resolution calling for expelling Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from Congress, USA Today reported.

Citing controversial statements on the 9/11 attacks, anti-Semitism and strong support for the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli occupation, the Republicans called for the state’s congressional delegation to begin the process of seeking Omar’s expulsion from Congress.

29 Aug 2019; MEMO: Honduran announced on Tuesday that President Juan Orlando Hernández is paying an official visit to Israel tomorrow to open the country’s diplomatic office in Jerusalem, recognising the occupied city as Israel’s capital, news agencies reported.

Hernández said that opening a diplomatic office in Jerusalem “is an extension” to the embassy in Tel Aviv.

Kolkata, August 28; GANASHAKTI:  Aghast at the current hegemonic politics of “divisiveness’ in the country, Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen  has opined that  “Democracy is not a Majoratarian Exercize”. Winning one election do not guarantee  that you can bulldoz all the  pluralism  of society, he opined, and also added that being divided is not a problem, rather “divisiveness” being spread now, is the problem.