Human Rights

JERUSALEM; 27 Dec 2018; AA: Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the imam at East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, has condemned criticisms of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leveled recently by Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Sabri -- who is also head of Jerusalem’s Supreme Muslim Council -- attributed Netanyahu’s remarks to the fact that Israel “doesn’t want any country to support the Palestinian cause”.

27 Dec 2018; AA: The U.S. had access to records of Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen, and Saudis “often ignored” no-strike lists provided by Washington, The New York Times reported.

“A former senior State Department official said that the United States had access to records of every airstrike over Yemen since the early days of the war, including the warplane and munitions used,” the NYT reported in an article, titled Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen’s Carnage, published on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli security official on Wednesday confirmed responsibility for overnight airstrikes in Syria, saying the air force had hit a series of targets involved in Iranian arms transfers to the Hezbollah militant group.

Russia had criticized the airstrike, saying it endangered civilian flights. The comments highlighted the increasingly tense relations between Israel and Russia, which have grown strained since the September downing of a Russian plane by Syrian forces responding to another Israeli raid.

27 Dec 2018; DW: An estimated 800,000 people were killed during the 100 days of bloodshed following the 1994 assassination of former Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana. Kigali accuses Paris of complicity in the genocide.

French judges have reportedly dropped a long-running investigation into the killing of former Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, which triggered countrywide violence and genocide in 1994.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The United States has made a right decision to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan but there is a need to wait and see what steps Washington finally takes, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Israel’s air strikes on the outskirts of Damascus grossly violate Syria’s sovereignty along with resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The fact of the strikes and the way they were delivered is a question of our most serious concern. There is every indication that Syria’s sovereignty was grossly violated along with UN Security Council’s resolutions, including Resolution 1701," the ministry stressed.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authority approved plans for 2,191 settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Peace Now, an Israeli non-governmental organization, said on Wednesday.

The plans, which include three new settlement industrial zones in the West Bank, were approved by Israel's Higher Planning Committee, a government body in charge of such projects.

Some 1,159 housing units were faced with the final major hurdle before the building permits can be issued, and 1,032 other housing units were at the first stage of the approval process.

New Delhi, December 26; GANASHAKTI: The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) strongly condemns the thrashing of a disabled youth by a BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh.

The beating up of the youth merely because he did not subscribe to the BJP’s ideology and voiced his opinion openly, is a reflection of the times that we are living in – in a climate of increasing intolerance and hate. By this wanton act they have made it abundantly clear that anyone challenging their views and defying their diktats will be “punished”.

Lucknow, Dec 26 (PTI) At a time when the opposition has alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is more focused on cows than human lives, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the officials concerned to make immediate arrangements for proper care of stray cows.

He has also ordered clearing of grazing grounds in different parts of the state from encroachments.

TIANJIN, China (AP) — About two dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside a courthouse in northern China on Wednesday as the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer was expected to unfold.

Reporters, foreign diplomats and supporters were prevented from approaching the municipal court in Tianjin city where lawyer Wang Quanzhang was to be tried.