NAGPUR: A man was sentenced to death on Monday by a Nagpur court for raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl in 2019.

Sanjay Puri (32) was sentenced to death by District Judge and Additional Sessions Judge S R Padwal under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 376(A)(B) of IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said Special Public Prosecutor Prashant Kumar Sathianathan.

29 May 2024; MEMO: The number of Israelis who sought mental health assistance has tripled since the beginning of Israel’s ruthless war on the besieged Gaza Strip on 7 October until the end of 2023, reaching about 18,000 people, Israel’s KAN broadcaster reported.

At the beginning of this year, the Eurasia journal published a joint study by the Ruppin Academic Centre in Israel and Columbia University which examined the impact of 7 October on mental health in Israel.

29 May 2024; MEMO: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday announced that it had received a request from Mexico to join the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel due to the war on the Gaza Strip.

According to the court’s statement, Mexico has invoked Article 63 of the ICJ statute and submitted a declaration of intervention in the case concerning the Application of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip.

29 May 2024; MEMO: There is a split in Israel’s War Cabinet on the demand from Hamas for the occupation state to stop its war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority Kan 11 has reported. According to the broadcaster, there are ministers in the cabinet who believe that this is a negotiable matter, but it noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those close to him insist that this would be a “surrender” to the resistance movement.

29 May 2024; MEMO: Amnesty International UK strongly condemned on Tuesday the recent Israeli air strikes on Rafah, describing them as “horrific”. The rights organisation accused Israeli forces of escalating attacks in the occupied Gaza Strip “in defiance of international law,” Anadolu has reported.

29 May 2024; MEMO: In a televised speech yesterday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah condemned the Rafah massacre on Sunday, stating that it stripped away any false facade portraying the Israeli occupation regime as “civilised”. Speaking after receiving condolences for his mother’s passing, Nasrallah asserted, “We are facing an enemy without values or morals, surpassing the Nazis.”<

26 May 2024; MEMO: Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced Sunday that it captured Israeli soldiers during an operation in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.

But Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee denied the claim on X, saying that there was “no incident of soldier capturing.”

28 May 2024; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned Israel’s actions in Rafah, calling them “a revelation of the ugly face of a terrorist state.” He asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates will not escape punishment and will meet the same fate as Adolf Hitler and other war criminals.

29 May 2024; MEMO: Former US ambassador to the UN and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley visited an army base in northern Israel and signed a missile intended for Lebanon with “finish them”.

The picture, which is circulating on social media, shows Haley signing the missile: “Finish them! America [loves] Israel always.”

28 May 2024; MEMO: A Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier off the Yemeni coast took on water after being targeted with three missiles, maritime security and shipping sources said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

The ship issued a distress call, saying it had sustained damage to the cargo hold and was taking on water about 54 nautical miles south-west of Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah, British security firm, Ambrey, said.