A group of UN human rights experts has urged Yemen's Houthis to free all prisoners from the country's Bahai religious minority following an earlier decision by the rebels to pardon their jailed leader and drop all charges against other detainees.
There have been concerns about the treatment of Bahai prisoners by the rebels, who have controlled much of northern Yemen and the capital, Sanaa, since the country's civil war started in 2014.
Late last month, senior rebel official Mehdi Al Mashat announced in a televised speech that he had ordered the release of Baha’i leader Hamed bin Haydara, and another five Baha’i detainees. However, the decision has not been implemented.
“We strongly recommend against any rollback of the official decision to pardon and release which was communicated unequivocally,” said the independent experts from the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
Such a reversal, the statement added, “would violate the fundamental rights of those affected”.
Anthony Vance, director of the US Bahai Office of Public Affairs backed the UN's call, saying members of the community held by the rebels must be released "immediately and without conditions".
"It’s surprising that orders from the President of the Houthi Supreme Political Council could be willfully ignored for so long," Mr Vance said. "If the Houthi authorities wish to be respected by the international community, they must respect human rights and uphold commitments made by their leadership. "
A Houthi court sentenced Mr bin Haydara to death for espionage and apostasy in 2018 and his appeal was turned down last month. The rebels are holding 24 other members of the community on similar charges.
The Bahai community says Mr bin Haydara was beaten and given electric shocks in prison and forced to sign documents while blindfolded.
For years, human rights advocates have decried what they say is unlawful incarceration of the Bahais and have demanded the minority be granted the right to practise its faith freely. The monotheistic Bahai religion was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman, considered a prophet by followers.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
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Aston martin DBX specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
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Torque: 700Nm
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
