Human Rights

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss the latest findings by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the chemical weapon use in Syria.

The report from the UN-backed watchdog concluded, based on its Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) assessment, that there were "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place, on 7 April," during the battle for control of Eastern Ghouta.

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court Wednesday reserved its order on whether the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute can be settled through mediation.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi heard the contesting parties.

The bench also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer heard submissions from various Hindu and Muslim bodies involved in the matter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Back in January, the Democrats welcomed their brash young newcomers to Congress with smiles and hugs. That was before the new colleagues dragged the party’s simmering divisions over Israel out in the open.

CARACAS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called for mass demonstrations on Saturday to protest U.S. imperialism.

Maduro said he chose the date because on March 9, 2015, then U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order that labeled Venezuela as "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States and declared a "state of emergency."

"I have decreed it as the day of Venezuelan anti-imperialism and we are going into the streets," Maduro said, calling on supporters to take part in the demonstrations.

GENEVA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced Tuesday, "with deep regret," that the UN Human Rights Office in Burundi has closed at the insistence of the Central African nation's government.

UN rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani at a media briefing here quoted Bachelet as saying, "It is with deep regret that we have had to close our office in Burundi after a 23-year presence in the country" from Feb. 28.

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to file a case against him over allegations from BJP leaders that he was an anti-national and a Pakistan supporter.

In a series of tweets, Singh, who stirred a controversy on Tuesday by referring to the Pulwama terror attack as an "accident", questioned why calling the attacks a "durghatana" prompted Modi and three Union ministers to term him anti-national.

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Six death-row convicts were acquitted on Tuesday by the Supreme Court which re-visited its 10-year-old decision in a case of murder of five persons and rape of a woman and her daughter and held that the jailed men were wrongly implicated.

Deprecating the manner in which the police conducted the probe in the matter, the court directed the Maharashtra government to take disciplinary action against officials whose "lapses" allowed the real culprits to go scot free.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators left a closed-door briefing with Trump administration officials Monday deeply frustrated by the lack of new information on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with some raising the prospect of placing new sanctions on the government of Saudi Arabia.

RAMALLAH, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians are holding their breath as Israel's general elections are due to take place on April 9, amid fears of further regional escalation to serve the electoral aspirants.

Observers believe that the Palestinian issue is the most tackled on the campaign trail of Israeli parties, including more hostile steps to gain public support ahead of the upcoming elections.

New Delhi, Mar 4 (PTI) Ten social activists have come out in support of lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court, contending that the contempt proceedings initiated against him appears to be an assault on freedom of speech and expression.