Hajj in 2018

Saudi Arabia has announced that it will drastically limit those allowed to perform annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca to help the fight against coronavirus.

Hajj is an integral part of the nation’s self-proclaimed identity as the leading Muslim country in the world, with Hajj being a once-in-a-lifetime duty for able-bodied Muslims.

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing is suing the technology giant Cisco over a case of caste discrimination - marking the first time in history that a case based on caste discrimination is being taken on in the United States.

An Indian American engineer at Cisco is claiming harassment and retaliation based on caste by two co-workers at his company. Since the opening of this case, there have been calls by activists to make caste a federally protected category, like race, in civil rights law.

17-year old Climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, given a prestigious human rights award and promptly pledged the one million Euro prize to various groups fighting the climate crisis.

Thunberg was awarded the first Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, a Portuguese human rights award, “aimed to recognise people, groups of people and/or organisations from all over the world whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.”

The United States placed new sanctions on 11 Chinese companies, citing involvement or complicity in human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims and other marginalised groups.

Not only do the sanctions place restrictions on the companies’ access to US goods, but the move puts pressure on international companies like Apple, Google, and Ralph Lauren, to sever ties with now-sanctioned suppliers. 

On Monday, the visit of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia to Catalonia, the northeastern region of Spain, as a part of the nationwide royal tour to boost morale during the coronavirus pandemic, was met with the protest of hundreds of Catalan independence supporters.

What had initially been planned for the previous week, covering several towns and Barcelona, was postponed, and curbed to a short visit to the Royal Monastery of Poblet due to recent surges in Covid-19 cases in the region.

The Indian government has announced an offer of possible long-term residency for the persecuted Hindu and Sikh community in Afghanistan, following a series of attacks and abductions aimed at the communities in recent years.

“India has decided to facilitate the return of Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members facing security threats in Afghanistan to India,” said an Indian Ministry of External Affairs statement on Saturday. Over 700 Afghan Hindus & Sikhs are reported to be the amongst the first to have long-term visas issues by Delhi.

John Lewis, the venerable congressman of Georgia’s fifth congressional district and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom has died at age 80. Often dubbed “the conscience of the Congress”, Lewis was also a solid component of the Civil Rights Movement. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019.

Former President Barack Obama and Martin Luther King III were amongst those who expressed their condolences and their gratitude for Lewis.

Obama on Lewis:

The latest UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has highlighted war crimes committed by all sides during the pro-government force's efforts in Idlib to recapture territory claimed by Houthi rebels, backed by Iran.

According to the Commission’s report, the militant group known as “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) engaged in indiscriminate shelling of densely populated civilian areas, in government-held territory.

According to the Commission’s Chair, Paulo Pinheiro;

Tensions between the UK and China rise after UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, criticised China over “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang and recent crackdowns on protests in Hong Kong.

A protester set himself on fire on Monday in front of Switzerland’s parliament building, to protest conditions in Bern’s asylum centres.