Human Rights

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Three days after the top UN envoy in Somalia was ordered to leave the country by its government, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has decided to appoint a new special representative.

Guterres "intends to appoint in due course a new Special Representative for Somalia and Head of United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM)," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general, in a statement on Friday.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4 (PTI) The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Friday decided to seek an explanation from the head priest of Sabarimala temple, for his decision to perform purification rituals after two women of menstrual age entered the shrine.

"We have decided to seek explanation from the Thanthri about the circumstances that led him to perform the rituals.

His act was against the Supreme Court order," Board president A Padmakumar told PTI.

04 Jan 2019; AFP: Saudi prosecutors sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday.

The prosecution also said it was awaiting a response to two formal letters requesting evidence from Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a case that shocked the world.

TASS, January 3. At least eleven people have been killed as a result of the international coalition’s strike on a settlement in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, the SANA news agency reported on Thursday.

It is reported that all the people killed were members of one family.

The international coalition against the IS terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) was formed on the initiative of the United States during the NATO summit that took place on September 4-5, 2014 in Wales, UK.

DAMASCUS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Cautious calm prevails Syria's northern city of Manbij amid consecutive withdrawal of hundreds of Turkey-backed rebels from its surrounding, a war monitor reported on Thursday.

Aside from the hundreds of Turkey-backed rebels, tens of Kurdish-led fighters have also withdrawn from inside Manbij, a contested city that was about to be a flashpoint battlefield between the Turkey-backed rebels and the Kurdish-led ones.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3; PTI: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday lashed out at the BJP and the RSS over protests against the entry of two women into the Sabarimala temple, saying the violence unleashed by them will be dealt with strongly.

Vijayan said the two women were not "airdropped" to Sabarimala but went as normal devotees and the other pilgrims did not protest.

Srinagar, Jan 3 (PTI) Three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday, the Army said.

The security forces launched an anti-insurgency operation in the higher reaches of Tral area in the morning following information about the presence of at least two militants in the forests, an Army official said.

The search operation turned into an encounter when the militants, who were hiding, opened fire, the officer said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 (PTI): With media personnel being attacked at various districts during the 12 hour hartal by saffron outfits against entry of two women in their 40s into Sabarimala temple,the Kerala Union of Working Journalists Thursday decided to boycott BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi.

The press meets called by BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and Samithi leader K P Sasikala were boycotted by the media this afternoon in protest against the widespread attacks faced by them since Wednesday afternoon.

Ilambazar (WB), Jan 3 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he should refrain from teaching the state democracy when his government had "curbed" the democratic rights of the people.

Her comment came in the backdrop of a January 1 Prime Minister's Office tweet, quoting Modi as saying, "What has happened in West Bengal. A political party (the BJP) is being denied a basic democratic right."

Jammu, Jan 3 (PTI) A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly raping a woman in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, police said.

A police official said that a written complaint was received at Police Station Pancheri from a woman, a resident of Kothi laid Lower Meer, he said.

The accused allegedly dragged her to a nearby forest and rape her while she was returning home from Kaithgali towards Kothilaid, he said.

After the incident, he threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the matter to police or anyone else.