Human Rights

Srinagar, May 24 :  Curfew was imposed in parts of Kashmir on Friday, a day after Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of a group affiliated to the Al-Qaeda, was believed to have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral.

Educational institutions have been closed and curfew was imposed in places in Kashmir as a precautionary measure, following the Thursday incident, officials said.

Internet was also shutdown, they said.

Musa, who is believed to have been killed in the gunfight with security forces, was the so-called head of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

GAZA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Comissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Pierre Krahenbuhl said on Thursday that the agency will continue to provide services to Palestinian refugees despite financial difficulties.

"UNRWA will not end its role and stop its services," Krahenbuhl said during a press conference at the headquarters of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip.

Srinagar, May 24: A Kashmiri named Zakir Musa has been killed in an alleged encounter with Indian security forces in Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama district, an Indian official said.

The Indian security forces' spokesman alleged that a cordon and search operation in Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama was conducted following information about presence of Kashmiris separatists.

ALEPPO, /Syria/. May 24. /TASS/. Syrian Idlib is firing shells toward government forces in violation of the ceasefire regime, which results in new civilian victims. Not only adults get wounded and injured, but also children, civilians hospitalized in Aleppo told reporters.

"I was walking down the street and heard whistle and a bang, I don’t remember anything else. I came round already in the hospital. The doctors say that I’ll survive, but I know that I won’t be able to work and provide for my family as I used to," local Sammer Srur said.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova has sent a letter to US Attorney General William Barr, asking that Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 20-year sentence in the in the Danbury prison in Connecticut, be transferred to Russia, the ombudsperson’s office said on Friday.

"For humanitarian reasons alone, I would like to ask you to show goodwill and agree to transfer Yaroshenko to his home country, taking into consideration the long time he has spent in prison and his deteriorating health," the letter reads.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: The prosecution has not used any violence against US national Paul Whelan accused of espionage, his earlier statements relate to "unnatural conditions" of his detainment, attorney Vladimir Zherebenkov told TASS on Friday.

"There have been no direct threats towards Whelan from the side of the investigation. When mentioning a threat, Whelan means that he may be wrongfully charged. He is also talking about tough condition of detention - there are some issues with his living conditions - there is no dentist, no translator," he said.

24 May 2019; MEMO: Kuwait Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, said that peace will not be achieved while Israel continues to occupy Palestinian land by force, stressing that settlements are still the biggest obstacle to achieving a just and comprehensive peace.

24 May 2019; MEMO: The International Union of Muslim Scholars has called on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to immediately release all prisoners of conscience.

“We are increasingly concerned over media reports claiming that verdicts will soon be issued or may have been issued against three prominent moderate scholars namely Salman Al-Ouda, Awad Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Omari which Saudi Arabia did not deny,” the statement said, describing the planned execution as “a great crime”.

24 May 2019; AFP: The Justice Department on Thursday charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with violating the US Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010, rejecting his claim that he is a journalist.

The department unveiled 17 new charges against Assange, accusing him of directing and abetting intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing secret US files, and also recklessly exposing confidential sources in the Middle East and China who were named in the files.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described his first term as “filling in potholes” — shorthand for addressing the country’s basic needs.

In a campaign speech in April, he pledged his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the next five years would “try to address people’s aspirations and take the country to new heights.”

Modi claimed a decisive victory in India’s elections, the vote count showing his BJP winning a commanding majority in the lower house of Parliament allowing it to form a form a government on its own.