Human Rights

15 June 2019; DW: Vladimir Voronkov, a Russian diplomat who heads the United Nations Counterterrorism Office, is set to visit the Xinjiang region in western China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. While saying Voronkov was in China, UN officials would not confirm whether the visit would bring him to the Xinjiang region.

In China at the country's invitation, Beijing has planned an itinerary for the counter-terrorism chief, whose office helps countries implement a global counter-terrorism strategy adopted by the UN General Assembly. 

Lucknow, Jun 15; GANASHAKTI:  Alleging that "jungle-raj" was prevailing in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav met Governor Ram Naik on Saturday over state's law and order and asked him to "wake up" the Yogi Adityanath government as he used to do during the SP regime.

Agartala, Jun 14 (PTI) The Tripura Police has arrested a man from Delhi for allegedly posting "fake news" on Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb's personal life, a senior police officer said.

Based on specific inputs, Anupam Paul, who had been on the run since April 26, was arrested by the crime branch of Tripura Police on Wednesday.

After the arrest, he was produced before a Delhi court on Thursday seeking a transit remand for interrogation and investigation into the case. And, the plea was granted by the court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A holiday that is spreading across the U.S. and beyond, Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.

It was originally celebrated on June 19, the day that Union soldiers in 1865 told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free.

Celebrations include parades, concerts, and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation. This year, Juneteenth will also feature the first congressional hearing in more than a decade on reparations for slavery.

PHOENIX (AP) — A $10 million legal claim was filed against the city of Phoenix that says police officers committed civil rights violations by pointing guns and profanely yelling commands at the father and pregnant mother of two young daughters because one of the children, unbeknownst to the parents, had shoplifted a doll at a store.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration is facing growing complaints from migrants about severe overcrowding, meager food and other hardships at border holding centers, with some people at an encampment in El Paso being forced to sleep on the bare ground during dust storms.

The Border Network for Human Rights issued a report Friday based on dozens of testimonials of immigrants over the past month and a half, providing a snapshot of cramped conditions and prolonged stays in detention amid a record surge of migrant families coming into the U.S. from Central America.

14 June 2019; MEMO: Israeli authorities are pressing ahead with plans to demolish an entire Palestinian neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, human rights NGO B’Tselem reported, which will leave 550 homeless.

Wadi Yasul, located between the neighbourhoods of Abu Tur and Silwan, is home to 72 Palestinian families.

According to B’Tselem, the Jerusalem Municipality has “issued demolition orders for all the neighbourhood homes so all the families there are facing the threat of expulsion.”

14 June 2019; MEMO: A senior legal advisor to the European Union’s top court said yesterday that products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory should be clearly labelled as such, reported AFP.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is “considering a request from France’s top tribunal for clarification of rules on labelling goods” from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

14 June 2019; DW: The newly formed Identity and Democracy (ID) group has 73 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the 751-seat assembly ahead of its new session in July. 

Replacing the Europe of Nations and Freedom group, which had 36 seats in the previous parliament, the new ID group includes:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police appealed for calm Thursday in a tense Memphis neighborhood where a rock-throwing crowd gathered after federal marshals fatally shot a black man who, authorities said, had rammed a police vehicle with a stolen car.

Thirty-six officers suffered minor injuries from flying rocks and bricks in the hours following the death of 20-year-old Brandon Webber, who was killed Wednesday evening after he exited the car holding some type of weapon, authorities said.