Human Rights

Sections of the Indian Administered Kashmir have been placed under lockdown, telephone and internet services have been disconnected, and some of the pro-India local leaders including former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have been put under house arrest.

This follows deployment of additional 10,000 troops in Kashmir valley, closure of educational institutions and an order for Hindu pilgrims and tourists to leave the valley, currently under President Rule.

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Aug 4 (NNN-WAFA) – A Palestinian diplomat, accused the United States of preventing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), from holding Israel accountable, and prosecuting it, for the crimes it committed against the Palestinians.

Reyad Mansour, the permanent ambassador of Palestine at the UN, told Voice of Palestine Radio that, “holding Israel accountable is absent, because the U.S. vetoes any resolution that holds Israel guilty.”

3 Aug 2019; MEMO: Due to difficulties collecting donations that led to its bankruptcy, The Israel Project (TIP) on Wednesday closed its office in Israel, Haaretz reported yesterday .

The US NGO has faced a severe budget crisis and, according to the Israeli daily, is on its way to being completely shut down.

Srinagar, Aug 3 (PTI) The Indian Air Force (IAF) flew 326 tourists out of Srinagar on Saturday after the state administration's advisory to pilgrims and visitors to cut short their stay and leave Kashmir Valley at the earliest, officials said.

IAF carried out two sorties from Srinagar during the day, they said.

There were 11,301 tourists when the advisory was issued and only 1,652 of them remained on Saturday.

20 people have been killed and 26 injured, including a 4 month old baby, in a terror attack at an El Paso shopping centre on Saturday, according to according to El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen.

"The ages and genders of all these people injured and killed are numerous in the age groups," Allen said. "The situation, needless to say, is a horrific one." Said Allen.

A 21-year-old white man from Allen, Texas, is in police custody, Allen said.

2 Aug 2019; MEMO: Turkey has granted citizenship to more than 92,000 Syrians including children, the country’s interior minister said Friday.

“Nearly 92,280 Syrians, including children, have been granted citizenship. Among them, 47,000 Syrians are adults and 45,280 are children. Most of them are teachers, engineers and qualified people who can make their own living,” Suleyman Soylu told reporters at a news briefing.

3 Aug 2019; MEMO: The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) appealed Friday to the European Union and human rights organisations to “intervene urgently” to stop Israel’s “ongoing crimes” against Palestinian detainees, Anadolu Agency reports.

Srinagar, Aug 2 (PTI) The "gloves are finally off and India has chosen territory over people", former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday as speculations grew in the valley about some possible major decisions regarding the state's special status.

"You failed to win over the love of a single Muslim majority state which rejected division on religious grounds & chose secular India. The gloves are finally off & India has chosen territory over people," Mehbooba, the PDP president, wrote on Twitter.

Udhagamandalam, Aug 3 (PTI) A statue of St Mary was found desecrated in a church here early Saturday, police said.

Some people saw the statue without the head and informed the police.

CCTV footage in the area revealed a person entering the church premises through the rear side and vandalising the statue, they said.

A hunt was on for the vandal, they added.

Srinagar, Aug 3 (PTI) National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Saturday said Jammu and Kashmir Governor S P Malik has assured his party that no moves are planned on repealing Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, or the state's trifurcation.

However, the former J&K chief minister said he wants an assurance on these issues from the Centre in Parliament on Monday.