Human Rights

New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) As the US waiver on import of Iranian crude oil expires next month, India Thursday said it was engaged with the Trump administration on the issue.

In November, the US granted a six-month waiver to India, China, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to continue importing oil from Iran.

The temporary waiver ends on May 2.

4 Apr 2019; AFP: US lawmakers voted Thursday to end military support for the bloody Saudi-led war in Yemen, dealing a harsh bipartisan rebuke to Donald Trump and taking the historic step of curtailing a president's war-making powers.

The House of Representatives voted 247 to 175, with one congressman voting present, to approve a resolution that directs the president "to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen" within 30 days.

5 Apr 2019; AFP: The United States has revoked the visa for the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, her office said Friday, over a possible investigation of American soldiers' actions in Afghanistan.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda would continue to pursue her duties for the Hague-based court "without fear or favour" despite the ban, her office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The US is looking for excuses to undermine relations with Iran by claiming Iran’s involvement in the death of around 600 US troops in Iraq, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during Thursday’s briefing.

BUENOS AIRES, April 5. /TASS/. Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed as rumors a report that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be kicked out of the republic’s embassy in London soon, El Comercio newspaper reported.

"Ecuador is not answering rumors, hypotheses or suggestions, which are not confirmed by any documents," the newspaper quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations said Thursday that some 170 civilians are killed by mines per month, a sharp increase in explosive hazard casualties over the past five years.

"At one point, we were optimistic that the number of victims in Afghanistan was below a hundred a year, but now we are at 170 a month," Agnes Marcaillou, director of the UN Mine Action Service, told a press conference held at the UN headquarters in New York on the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

3 Apr 2019; DW: The "Debt Report 2019," presented by Jubilee Germany in Berlin on Wednesday, paints a dark picture of global debt. The organization, which is comprised of civic and church groups, is engaged in efforts to end the problem.

The report claims that low interest rates and cheap credit are motivating poorer countries to borrow beyond their means, catching them in a debt trap they will never be able to escape from.

3 Apr 2019; DW: Muslim head coverings have always been a controversial topic, as they embody so many issues, whether women's rights worldwide or Western prejudice and discrimination against Muslims.  

Now that the first exhibition dedicated to fashion consciousness of women in Islam is opening at Frankfurt's Museum Angwandte Kunst, the debate surrounding headscarves has been rekindled in Germany.

New Delhi, Apr 2; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, over 200 writers from across the country have appealed to Indian citizens to caste their votes in favour of a "diverse and equal India", and help eliminate the politics of hate.

In an open letter published on the Indian Cultural Forum, writers including Girish Karnad, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Nayantara Sahgal, and Romila Thapar said hate politics was being used to divide the country, create fear and increasingly exclude more number of people from living as "full-fledged citizens".

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump eased up on his threats to close the southern border as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the president’s urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., a move that would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.