DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Alabama on Thursday is expected to perform the first execution in the U.S. with nitrogen gas, barring any last-minute intervention from courts or the state. I remain confident that the Supreme Court will come down on the side of justice, and that Smith’s execution will be carried out tomorrow,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said on social media on Wednesday. What Is a Nitrogen Gas Execution? The execution involves a mask that will be strapped to Smith’s face and deliver nitrogen gas. Alabama is one of three states where nitrogen hypoxia is an authorized execution method, but it’s the first to attempt to use it.

Persons: Kenneth Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Steve Marshall, Kenneth Eugene Smith, Ravina Shamdasani, Elizabeth Sennett, Charles Sennett Organizations: U.S, Supreme, United Nations, Records Locations: Alabama, U.S, United States, America

☆ Israel seeks recognition of Hamas sexual violence at UN meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into sexual violence during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history, including rape, after evidence emerged pointing to sexual crimes, such as victims found disrobed and mutilated. The private event, attended by diplomats, rights groups and U.N. agencies, is the first Israel-organised event outside the country to address acts of sexual violence by Hamas, which Israel's diplomatic mission described as "widespread". U.N. rights bodies "downplayed" and "minimised" the sexual violence, said Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, an Associate Professor at the Bar-Ilan University, who spoke at the event. "The Office is attempting to carry out remote monitoring of these and other human rights violations reported in Israel and the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). Lack of direct access to Israel and the OPT has hampered the work," said Ravina Shamdasani in response to emailed questions.

Persons: Evelyn Hockstein, Ruth Halperin, Kaddari, " Halperin, Volker Turk, Ravina, Halperin, Emma Farge, Maayan Lubell, Ari Rabinovitch, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Ilan University, Reuters, Women, Human, Human Rights, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel, Geneva, Palestinian Territories, Jerusalem

☆ ‘There is no school for girls’: Afghans who fled to Pakistan sent back to a homeland that is foreign to many
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Sophia Saifi | Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“I was born in Pakistan, I’ve lived here for 42 years, I went to school in Pakistan,” said Nasim, who had traveled to the Torkham border crossing from the northern city Peshawar. Nasim, who was born and raised in Pakistan, and is now preparing to return to Afghanistan. International bodies and human rights groups have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster as they return. He hoped the Taliban would greet those forced out of Pakistan and help them find new jobs. The steady deterioration of human rights under the Taliban since its return to power have only confirmed the worst fears of many Afghans.

Persons: I’ve, ”, Nasim, “ I’ve, –, “, ” Nasim, Abdul Basit, Sarfraz Bugti, Ravina Shamdasani, Wakil Kohsar, Ghulam Sakhi, we’ve, Raza Muhammad, ” Muhammad, Akhtar Muhammad, Zahid Bahand, can’t, I’m Organizations: Pakistan CNN, CNN, ”, Getty, Security, Authorities, United Nations, Human Rights, Rights Watch, ” CNN, Interior Ministry, “ Police, UN, International Organization for Migration, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taliban Locations: Chaman, Pakistan, Pakistan’s, Peshawar, Afghanistan, ”, Quetta, “, Soviet, States, AFP, Afghan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Balochistan’s, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Kabul

"Why should we be martyrs in Khan Younis? Let the whole building fall on our heads," said Saleem Abu Marasa, preparing to drive back. 'DEATH IS EVERYWHERE'Hattab Wahdan had fled Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and travelled to Khan Younis with his family. So going back is better for us," he said, describing the situation in Khan Younis as "hell". Reuters reporters by the road out of Khan Younis said they saw several dozen vehicles packed with people and belongings heading north.

Persons: Raghda Abu Marasa, Khan Younis, Abu Marasa, Abu, Israel, Saleem Abu Marasa, Ravina Shamdasani, Wahdan, Beit, Nidal al, Muhammad Salem, Angus McDowall, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Gaza, Hamas, United Nations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, Israel, GAZA, Palestinian, Beit Hanoun, Egypt, Sinai

☆ This American family with roots in besieged Gaza suffers the consequences of Israel’s war on Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Aya Elamroussi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Wrapped in a blanket inside a makeshift tent, Ahmed Arafat tries to stay calm as the sounds of Israeli military drones echo through the night sky. Not heeding the warning came with the risk of losing his wife, two young children and other family members that lived in the building. “They’re just killing indiscriminately at this point.”Al-Rimal neighborhood, where the Arafat family lived, is seen on October 10, after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes turned it to rubble. Loay Ayyoub/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesSince then, Arafat and his family have been fleeing from home to home, often staying with friends and family. They’re my family.”Having lived in Gaza for so long, the retired school teacher is no stranger to war – but now things feel different.

Persons: CNN —, Ahmed Arafat, Arafat, “ They’ve, ” Arafat, “ They’re, ”, Shamdasani, “, … I’ve, ” Ahmed Arafat, Hisham Arafat ‘, Anita Arafat, “ He’s, Ahmed, ” Anita Arafat, Ashraf, Sameh, Hisham, Ashraf ., Hisham Arafat “, “ It’s, ” Ashraf Arafat, “ You’re, you’re, he’s, Antony Blinken Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, UN, Human Rights, Palestinian Ministry of Health Locations: Gaza, Rimal, Israel, Memphis , Tennessee, Ogden , Utah, Gaza City, Rafah, Egypt

☆ Israel-Hamas war: Diplomatic aid efforts ramp up for 'strangled' Gaza as regional conflict fears grow
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Helen Regan Kareem El Damanhoury Eyad Kourdi Abeer Salman Abbaggini | Helen Regan | Kareem El Damanhoury | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“We all know water is life – Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life. People walk amid the destruction of houses and streets in Khan Younis, located in the southern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Hamas is believed to be holding some 150 Israeli and foreign nationals hostage in the warren of tunnels underneath Gaza. It is also unclear if water is now flowing into southern Gaza. Israeli soldiers gather on and around a tank near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel on October 15.

Persons: ”, ’, Joe Biden, Philippe Lazzarini, ” Lazzarini, “, Marwan Jilani, Khan Younis, Mohamed Zaanoun, Dominic Allen, ” UNRWA’s Lazzarini, Isaac Herzog, Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis, Ravina Shamdasani, doesn’t, ” Shamdasani, Herzog, Antony Blinken, Benjamin, Netanyahu, Sunday Blinken, China’s, Wang Yi, Israel, Zhai Jun, Jacquelyn Martin, Jordan, United States Michael Herzog, Stéphane Dujarric, Jonathan Conricus, Emmanuel Macron “, Ebrahim Raisi, Warthogs, Ronen Zvulun, Jake Sullivan, ” Sullivan Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Israel’s, UN, Israel Defense Forces, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, “, CNN, Crescent, Getty, Population Fund, Sunday, Palestinian Health Ministry, UN Human Rights, Reuters, CNN Israel, CNN Sunday, Water Authority, East Sunday, CBS Sunday, US National Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Rafah, Egypt, Khan, Guterres, Cairo, Jordan, nonfunctional, United States, Israeli, Iran, Syria, Israel’s, Lebanon

☆ Gaza's sole power plant shuts down due to shortage of fuel under Israeli blockade
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Ibrahim Dahman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Gaza CNN —Gaza’s only power station has stopped working after the fuel needed for generating electricity ran out on Wednesday, Gaza officials said. “Gaza is currently without power,” the head of the Gaza power authority, Galal Ismail, told CNN. People in Gaza still use power generators for electricity, but with a blockade on all sides of the border, the fuel needed for generators to work is running out, Ismail said. The Palestinian health ministry warned that hospitals are set to run out of fuel on Thursday, leading to “catastrophic” conditions. The only border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was struck by Israeli warplanes Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Interior Ministry Eyad al-Bozom said.

Persons: Gaza CNN —, Galal Ismail, Ismail, Stephane Dujarric, Yoav Gallant, ”, Gallant, Khan Yunis, OCHA, Ravina Shamdasani, Jens Laerke, Juliette Touma, Shalom, Palestinian Interior Ministry Eyad, Bozom Organizations: Gaza CNN, CNN, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, United Nations Office, of Humanitarian Affairs, UN’s, Works Agency, UNRWA, Israeli, Palestinian Ministry of Interior Affairs, UN, Palestinian Interior Ministry Locations: Gaza, Israel, People, Jabalia, Khan, Erez, Egypt, Rafah

Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10. Erik Marmor/AP Six-month-old Sama Alwadia is rescued from the rubble in Gaza City on October 9. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9. Ramez Mahmoud/AP A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8.

Persons: Jerusalem CNN — Israel, Kfar, “, ”, Yoav Gallant, ” Gallant, Mohammed Salem, Khan Yunis, Joe Biden, ’, Biden, Ravina Shamdasani, Jens Laerke, Communications Juliette Touma, Shalom, Palestinian Interior Ministry Eyad, Bozom, Israel ”, Eden Guez, Violeta Santos Moura, CNN Sergey Ponomarev, Mohammed Abed, Atef Safadi, Fatima Shbair, Tamir Kalifa, Ohad, Mohammed Soboh, Said, Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg, Yuri Cortez, Belal Khaled, Samar Abu, Amir Cohen, Ilai Bar Sade, Erik Marmor, Ali Jadallah, Oren Ziv, Mohammed Saber, Ronen Zvulun, Majdi, Ilia Yefimovich, Ramez Mahmoud, Mahmud Hams, Roi Levy, Alleruzzo, Tali Touito, Khan, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Jalaa Marey, Oded, Khan Younis, Ahmad Hasballah, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Tsafrir, Ahmad Gharabli, Baz Ratner, Mustafa Hassona, Ilan Rosenberg, Eyad Baba, Itai Ron, Hadas Parush, Michael Herzog, Herzog, Lloyd Austin Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, IDF, Reuters, Palestinian Health Ministry, Palestinian Ministry of Interior Affairs, Hamas, ISIS, ”, Israeli Defense, UN, Human Rights, United Nations, UN’s, Works Agency, Communications, Palestinian Interior Ministry, US State Department, Air France, Hezbollah, Nova Festival, New York Times, Getty, Ben Gurion, AP, Mount, Anadolu Agency, Shifa, West Bank, Rockets, Israel's, Palestinian, Reuters Police, Reuters Rockets, US Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Kfar Aza, Rafah, “, Gaza City, Jabalia, Khan, Erez, Egypt, Germany, Lebanon, Iran, Ashkelon, Kfar Azza, AFP, Tel Aviv, Mount Herzel, Samar, Samar Abu Elouf, Yassin, Palestinian, Beitar Ilit, Mount Herzl, Sderot, Ramat Gan, Khan Younis, Israeli, Kiryat Shmona, Itai, Beit Hanun, Rishon Lezion, Syria

☆ UN rights chief condemns Israeli 'siege' of Gaza, militants' taking of hostages
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Palestinians inspect the damage in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip October 10, 2023. Israeli media said 900 people were killed in the attacks and most were civilians, while nearly 700 Gazans were killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza officials, with entire districts in Gaza flattened. Such acts may amount to a war crime, U.N. Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani later clarified. "UNICEF is extremely alarmed about measures to cut electricity, to cut food, to cut water to cut fuel from entering Gaza. It was working on a humanitarian corridor for the Gaza strip, but stores of medical supplies had already run out, he said.

Persons: Khan Younis, Abu Mustafa, Volker Turk, Turk, Israel, Ravina Shamdasani, James Elder, Organization's Tarik Jašarević, Emma Farge, Friederike Heine, Bernadette Baum, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Human, UN, UNRWA, UNICEF, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Palestinian

☆ UN Worried About Vietnam Arrest of Energy Expert After Biden's Visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Francesco GuarascioHANOI (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights office has expressed concern about the arrest of a Vietnamese green energy expert, who had collaborated with U.N. and U.S. agencies, just days after President Joe Biden signed business and human rights deals with Hanoi on a visit. Hanoi police on Sept. 15 detained Ngo Thi To Nhien, Executive Director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition (VIET), an independent think tank focused on green energy policy, Reuters reported last week citing a charity and a source. She "has participated in international and national events, including consultations organized by UNDP on the topic of energy transition," the UNDP in Vietnam confirmed in an email message to Reuters. Vietnam's government has not issued any public statement about Nhien's arrest, and did not reply to requests for comment. Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said Manh had a strong alibi which was disregarded.

Persons: Francesco Guarascio HANOI, U.N, Joe Biden, Ngo Thi, Nhien, Le Van Manh, Phil Robertson, Manh, Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Michael Perry Organizations: Vietnam Initiative for Energy, Reuters, UN, Human Rights, World Bank, United Nations, USAID, LinkedIn, UNDP, European, Asia Locations: Hanoi, United States, Vietnam

FILE PHOTO-Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, attends the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland February 27, 2023. Hanoi police on Sept. 15 detained Ngo Thi To Nhien, Executive Director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition (VIET), an independent think tank focused on green energy policy, Reuters reported last week citing a charity and a source. Nhien had worked for the World Bank, with the United Nations Development Programme and the United States aid agency (USAID), according to her profile on LinkedIn. She "has participated in international and national events, including consultations organized by UNDP on the topic of energy transition," the UNDP in Vietnam confirmed in an email message to Reuters. Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, said Manh had a strong alibi which was disregarded.

Persons: Volker Turk, Denis Balibouse, U.N, Joe Biden, Ngo Thi, Nhien, Le Van Manh, Phil Robertson, Manh, Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Michael Perry Organizations: United Nations, Human Rights, REUTERS, Rights, Vietnam Initiative for Energy, Reuters, UN, World Bank, USAID, LinkedIn, UNDP, European, Asia, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Switzerland, Rights HANOI, Hanoi, United States, Vietnam

CNN —Dozens of people were killed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week during demonstrations against the United Nations’ mission in the country. At least 43 people were killed and a further 53 were injured during the clashes with local authorities. Over 150 people were arrested, including the leader of the group which organized the protests, the government said. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for DRC authorities to ensure that “future law enforcement actions in the context of the policing of public assemblies fully adhere to international human rights norms and standards.”Anti-UN protests in the DRC broke out in July and have since escalated. The UN has a longstanding and significant footprint in the country, which has been the object of local demonstrations for years.

Persons: “, ”, MONUSCO, ’, ” Ravina Shamdasani, ” Shamdasani, Volker Türk Organizations: CNN, Democratic, United Nations, Protesters, Wednesday, East African Community, UN, Human Rights, Human Locations: Democratic Republic of Congo, Goma, ”, Congolese, ’ Goma, DRC

A man carries an elderly man as they flee their neighbourhood Carrefour Feuilles after gangs took over, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday estimated that more than 350 people have been killed in Haiti by civilian vigilante groups since April, amid escalating gang violence that has in recent days has forced thousands to flee in parts of the capital. The report comes after fighting intensified late last week around the capital's heavily populated Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood, where attacks from the Grand Ravine gang prompted around 5,000 people to flee their homes. "We used to see clashes between gangs, now it's gangs against the population," said Serge Dalexis, the head of the International Rescue Committee's Haiti office. Reporting by Isabel Woodford and Sarah Morland; Editing by Mark Potter and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ralph Tedy Erol, Kale, Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani, Serge Dalexis, Prince, Dalexis, Shamdasani, Isabel Woodford, Sarah Morland, Mark Potter, Sandra Maler Organizations: Carrefour, REUTERS, United Nations, Human Rights, Carrefour Feuilles, Food, Thomson Locations: Carrefour Feuilles, Port, Prince, Haiti, Haiti's, Kenya

His death, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed urban communities of police violence and racism. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said early on Saturday that 270 people had been arrested on Friday night, bringing the total to more than 1,100 since unrest ignited. In Lyon, France's third-largest city, the gendarmes police force deployed armoured personnel carriers and a helicopter to quell the unrest. Darmanin asked local authorities across France to halt bus and tram traffic from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) and said 45,000 officers were being deployed, 5,000 more than on Thursday. In Paris, police cleared protesters from the iconic central Place de la Concorde square on Friday night after an impromptu demonstration.

Persons: Nahel, Juan Medina, Macron, Emmanuel Macron, Gerald Darmanin, France's, Benoit Payan, Darmanin, we're, Snapchat, Mohamed Jakoubi, Enzo Santo Domingo, Ravina Shamdasani, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Jacques Chirac, Dominique Vidalon, Marc Leras, Jean, Stephane Brosse, Pascal Rossignol, Elizabeth Pineau, Layli Foroudi, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Alison Williams, Sandra Maler, Dan Wallis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Government, Marseille, TF1, French soccer, Stade de France, de, Meta, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Nanterre, Paris, France, PARIS, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lille, Spanish, Bilbao, Brussels, Aubervilliers, U.S, Geneva, Amsterdam

☆ Aid restrictions by Myanmar junta may be war crimes: UN
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, June 30 (Reuters) - The Myanmar military rulers' restrictions on life-saving aid are growing and may amount to war crimes such as degrading treatment, starvation, and collective punishment, a U.N. human rights report said on Friday. Up to 40 aid workers have been killed in the country since the coup, some of whom were deliberately targeted, it said. "In the context of armed conflicts, the intentional obstruction or denial of humanitarian assistance may constitute war crimes such as wilful killing, torture and other degrading treatment, starvation, and collective punishment." The junta has denied targeting civilians and says its operations are against "terrorists" who seek to destabilise the country. "Aid providers are consistently exposed to risks of arrest, harassment or other mistreatment, or even death," U.N. human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing.

Persons: Ravina Shamdasani, James Rodehaver, Emma Farge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Cyclone, Myanmar, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Myanmar

But officially colour-blind France has long refused to acknowledge any racial factor was at play. "From that point on, unions were involved in everything that's co-managed, including the managing of human resources," he told Reuters. But these fines are rare and rights groups say police officers often end up with light sentences, fuelling a sense of impunity. A rise in lethal police shootings over the last few years has been linked to a law reform in 2017, which broadens the circumstances in which an officer can use their firearm. "It is completely vague, and it allows to shoot much more freely," said Caille of the left-wing CGT police union.

Persons: Cedric Mas, Olivier Cahn, that's, " Cahn, Christophe Castaner, Gerald Darmanin, Franck Louvrier, Nicolas Sarkozy, Darmanin, Ravina Shamdasani, Anthony Caille, –, Sebastian Roche, Michel Rose, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Rights, Twitter, Cergy University, Reuters, Socialists, United Nations, Police, CGT Police, of, Society, CGT, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Britain, France, United States, Paris, Moroccan, – France, U.S, Nice

☆ Sudan's RSF says it seized police camp as fighting rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the footage or the RSF statement. Witnesses also reported a sharp increase in violence in recent days in Nyala, the largest city in the western Darfur region. The U.N. raised the alarm on Saturday over ethnic targeting and the killing of people from the Masalit community in El Geneina in West Darfur. The Central Reserve Police has been deployed by the army in ground fighting in recent weeks. There was also fighting between the army and the RSF last week around El Fashir, capital of North Darfur, which the U.N. says is inaccessible to humanitarian workers.

Persons: RSF, Witnesses, El Geneina, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohamed al, Samani, Saleh Haroun, El, Ravina Shamdasani, Khalid Abdelaziz, Emma Farge, Aidan Lewis, Helen Popper, Giles Elgood Organizations: Sudan's, Rapid Support Forces, Central Reserve Police, Reuters, Human, International Organization for Migration, Thomson Locations: Jeddah, Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman, Nyala, Darfur, El Geneina, West Darfur, El, Kordofan, United States, Saudi Arabia, Omdurman we've, El Fashir, North Darfur, Chad, Sudan, Dubai, Geneva

☆ Sudan's RSF says it seized police base as fighting rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Witnesses also reported a sharp increase in violence in recent days in Nyala, the largest city in the western Darfur region. The U.N. raised the alarm on Saturday over ethnic targeting and the killing of people from the Masalit community in El Geneina in West Darfur. Khartoum and El Geneina have been worst affected by the war, although last week tensions and clashes escalated in other parts of Darfur and in Kordofan, in the south. The Central Reserve Police has been deployed by the army in ground fighting in recent weeks. There was also fighting between the army and the RSF last week around El Fashir, capital of North Darfur, which the U.N. says is inaccessible to humanitarian workers.

Persons: Witnesses, El Geneina, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohamed al, Samani, Saleh Haroun, El, U.N, Ravina Shamdasani, Khalid Abdelaziz, Emma Farge, Aidan Lewis, Helen Popper, Giles Elgood, Mark Porter Organizations: Sudan's, Rapid Support Forces, Central Reserve Police, Reuters, Human, International Organization for Migration, Thomson Locations: Jeddah, Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman, Nyala, Darfur, El Geneina, West Darfur, El, Kordofan, United States, Saudi Arabia, Omdurman we've, El Fashir, North Darfur, Chad, Sudan, Dubai, Geneva

☆ Airstrikes, artillery fire heard in Khartoum as Sudan fighting enters third week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, April 29 (Reuters) - The sounds of air strikes, anti-aircraft weaponry and artillery could be heard in Khartoum early on Saturday and dark smoke rose over parts of the city, as fighting in Sudan entered a third week. Fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force continued despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension on Friday, when strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Ombdurman. The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week. More than 75,000 people were internally displaced within Sudan just in the first week of the fighting, according to the United Nations. The U.S. said several hundred Americans had departed Sudan by land, sea or air.

☆ 'Constant fear': war shakes Sudan despite truce pledges
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week. "We're in a constant state of fear for ourselves and our children." The army has been deploying jets or drones on RSF forces spread out in neighbourhoods across the capital. Sudan's army accused the RSF of firing at the plane, damaging its fuel system which was being repaired after the aircraft managed to land safely. Some had walked from Khartoum to South Sudan's border, a distance of over 400 km (250 miles), a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency said.

☆ Iran president blames foreign enemies for wave of schoolgirl poisonings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday blamed a wave of poisonings of hundreds of schoolgirls around the country on Tehran's enemies. Raisi, speaking to a crowd in southern Iran on Friday in a speech carried live on state television, blamed the poisoning on Iran's enemies. He did not say who those enemies were although Iranian leaders habitually accuse the United States and Israel, among others, of acting against it. He is the first government official to report an arrest in connection with the wave of poisonings. "Guards at a parking lot where the fuel tanker was parked also suffered from poisoning," Saleh said, referring to the Pardis site.

☆ Nobel winner Bialiatski jailed in Belarus for a decade, sparking outcry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Footage from the cramped Minsk court showed Bialiatski, who co-founded the Viasna (Spring) human rights group, looking sombre, his hands cuffed behind his back, as he and his co-defendants watched proceedings from a courtroom cage. Bialiatski, who was arrested in 2021, and three co-defendants were charged with financing protests and smuggling money. Belarusian state news agency Belta confirmed the court had handed down long jail sentences to all the men, including a decade in prison for Bialiatski. That, she said, placed human rights defenders at risk of criminal prosecution for their legitimate activities. Viasna, the organisation he co-founded, took a leading role in providing legal and financial assistance to those jailed.

☆ Taliban's treatment of women may be crime against humanity: UN experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of U.N. experts said on Friday. The assessment by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other U.N. experts says the treatment of women and girls may amount to 'gender persecution' under the Rome Statute to which Afghanistan is a party. There was no immediate response from a Taliban spokesperson to a Reuters request for comment on the experts' assessment. The experts also cited as an example the arrest earlier this month of female activist Zarifa Yaqobi and four male colleagues. They say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

☆ Iran protests flare again as U.N. voices concern at detainees' treatment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody last month. Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in the violent crackdown on Sept. 30. The provincial security council has said armed dissidents had provoked the clashes, leading to innocent people's deaths, but admitted "shortcomings" by police. The U.N. human rights office on Friday voiced concern at Iran's treatment of detained protesters and said authorities refused to release some of the bodies of those killed. Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested across Iran.

☆ Iran's hardline president to address nation as unrest spreads
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Iranian human rights groups have reported a higher toll. read moreIranian authorities have accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of igniting the unrest, particularly in the northwest where most of Iran's over 10 million Kurds live. Early on Wednesday, a video showed protesters in Tehran chanting "Mullahs get lost!" The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Iran's clerical rulers to "fully respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association". human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday reports indicated "hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists".

Search resuls for: "Ravina Shamdasani"

25 mentions found