News in Brief(2023-07-27)

FE Team | Published: July 26, 2023 21:53:34

Modi to face no-confidence vote in parliament over Manipur violence
NEW DELHI, July 26: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will face a no-confidence vote in parliament amid deadlock with the opposition over violence in the state of Manipur. A lawmaker from the opposition Congress party tabled a no-confidence motion on Wednesday. Mr Modi's government won't lose the vote as his party and its allies have a clear majority in parliament. But opposition leaders say the move will force Mr Modi to speak on Manipur. — BBC
Palestinian killed in West Bank raid
NABLUS, July 26: Israeli troops killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army confirmed it was conducting "counter-terrorism activity" in a Nablus refugee camp. "A young man died of his wounds as the occupation forces stormed the city of Nablus at noon (0900 GMT)," the ministry said. "The martyr, Mohammed Abd al-Hakim Nada, was shot in the chest." The Israeli army confirmed troops were conducting "counter-terrorism activity in Al-Ain camp" in Nablus but did not give further details. — AFP
Russian sociologist faces terrorism charges
MOSCOW, July 26: Russia accused prominent sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky of calling for terrorism on the internet, state-run news agencies reported Wednesday, the latest case in a crackdown on critical voices. Authorities detained Kagarlitsky, who denies the charge that could see him imprisoned for up to seven years, his lawyer told the TASS news agency. "In his work, professor Kagarlitsky never supported or justified terrorism. The purpose of all his statements is to show the real problems faced by the Russian state," his lawyer Sergei Yerokhov was cited as saying. — AFP
Ghana outlaws death penalty
ACCRA, July 26: Ghana's parliament has voted to outlaw the death penalty for almost all crimes, becoming the latest African country to repeal capital punishment, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The West African country last carried out an execution in 1993, with death sentences handed out for murder and treason. Lawmakers voted late Tuesday to remove the death penalty from the country's statute books. —AFP
Singapore hangs 14th drug convict
SINGAPORE, July 26: Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years. Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking "not less than 49.98 grams" (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement. — AFP