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Paris Appreciation Awards on Eiffel Tower by WNN, India too will be participating

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Eiffel Tower

In one of its kind larger than life, global event, Paris Appreciation Awards (PAA), an initiative of World News Network (WNN) is all set to prove to be a major platform for health care professionals where work done by them will not only get recognition but the success stories of the same awardees will also be shared with everyone. The award is slated to be held on July 8th and will be endorsed by Queen Munni Ironie Of Ats 4 Peace Awards, Beverly Hills, USA. Satish Reddy, who is the President of the French European Indian Organizations and​ ​the Managing Director of World News Network, is at the helm of this global extravaganza.

Healthcare and pharma industry has contributed majorly and mainly towards the betterment of the society overall and of all the countries, India has been a major contributor towards medicines and research. Taking this into account, the WNN and other organizations has organized this event with an aim to help highlight the professionals in health/medicine and researchers and hospitals who have made efforts to help India in getting an international recognition. Because of this industry India has become a major hub for medical tourism which has further helped in economic growth and bringing the country on a global platform.

It also aims at bringing all the stalwarts on one platform and appreciate their contribution towards the world for making it a better place and also improve collaborations among them for economic growth, revealed Reddy.

From the same, expert surgeons and pharma giants from India have been nominated for the Paris Appreciation Awards 2017 and some of them are from cities like Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Vijaywada, Ahmedabad, Dehradun, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar etc. Bigwigs will compete in its own category with their competitors from India and abroad as they vie for glory and fame on July 8.

From Mumbai the doctors who have been nominated include Dr Sunita Dubey, Chairman of Medscape India and Dr Pradeep Mahajan, chairman of StemRx Bioscience Solutions Pvt Ltd, Mumbai. The WNN also confirmed of micro managing the nominees from Pune and also confirmed of many entries from the city. “Names of the selected healthcare professional from Pune will be announced shortly as we are still going through the entries. “Certain nominations that are still under scrutiny of the experts at WNN will be announced soon and includes nominations from Pune city too majorly as it is one of the biggest contributor towards health and medicine and has proved to be the main attraction among international patients,” said Reddy.

In the same gala award night largest ever fashion show too will take place. The night will not only see celebrities, awardees and influential people from health care industry but also from all walks of life like real estate, FMCG, Fashion, business, jewellery, aviation, e-commerce etc. Basic aim is to bring all the tycoons and stalwarts on one platform is to promote industrial growth and entrepreneurship through global collaborations and help India find a level footing in this global arena.

The event will be first such in the entire history of award ceremonies which will be witnessed by the glorious Eiffel Tower.

Some of the high profile, esteemed dignitaries, guest of honours and celebrities who will grace the occasion include Robby Wells, the US Elections’ presidential candidate for the Democratic Party; Consul Generals or Ambassadors of various countries; Ashish Chauhan, the Managing Director of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Anurag Kashyap, a filmmaker; Dr. B.K. Modi of the Modi Group and also a well-known philanthropist; heads of organizations like Google; Hollywood celebrities and socialites, the top Fashion Weeks of the world; mayors and senators, top brands, French and Indian actors, Naypadmasagar Maharaj, the Jain Spiritual Guru, Indian Bullion and Jewelry Association and many.

Numbers of Doctors for confirmatory calls–
Dr Sunita Dube-9699111111
Dr Pradeep Mahajan-8898070904
Nozia Sayyed: nozia.sayyed@gmail.com

India rules out cricket series with Pakistan

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India-cricket-Pakistan

New Delhi: India on Monday said it won’t play a bilateral cricket series with Pakistan as long as Islamabad continues to support and sponsor cross-border terrorism.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel made it clear that the Indian government will not allow the bilateral cricket series as long as Pakistan continues to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“The BCCI should come up with a suggestion or proposal in this regard only after consulting the government. I had said earlier also that the possibilities of bilateral series with Pakistan are very remote,” Goel told reporters here.

“As long as Pakistan continues to sponsor terrorists, it will not be possible to have sporting ties between the two countries. Terrorism and sports will not run side by side,” he added.

India and Pakistan, however, will continue to play each other in international tournaments.

The arch rivals from the sub-continent will meet each other in a group clash of the upcoming Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on June 4.

“As far as multi-lateral events are concerned, we have no control over those. So the two countries will continue to play each other in such tournaments,” Goel said.

Goel’s remarks came ahead of a meeting between officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Dubai on Monday to discuss possibilities of a bilateral series.

The Indian board was represented by BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager (Cricket Operations) M.V. Sridhar while the Pakistani delegation was led by PCB Executive Committee head Najam Sethi.

Following the Sports Minister’s declaration, the BCCI officials reportedly told their PCB counterparts that the series will not go ahead.

“The delegations of the BCCI and PCB have met in Dubai today and shared their stated positions. The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and its outcome will be shared with the members of their respective boards,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Chaudhary had said that a bilateral series with Pakistan was possible if the government gave the go-ahead.

“We are not averse to a bilateral series with Pakistan. But everything depends on whether the government gives the clearance,” Chaudhary told a news channel. “The series will not be possible without approval from the government.”

Pakistan last visited India in December 2012 for a limited overs series that included three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).

India has not played Pakistan in a full bilateral series since 2007 when Pakistan visited India to play five ODIs and a one-off Test match.

Since then, worsening political ties and accusations of terrorism hurled at Pakistan have stalled bilateral cricket.

Recently, the BCCI had urged the ICC not to put Pakistan and India in the same group in global tournaments.

The financial health of the cash-strapped PCB depends to a large extent on a bilateral series with India.

The two boards had signed an MoU in 2014 according to which the two countries were to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

Last year, the PCB offered to host the Indian team for a bilateral clash in the United Arab Emirates. But the BCCI had rejected the venue.

The PCB sent a legal notice to the BCCI on May 3, initiating proceedings to seek compensation of around $70 million for not honouring the agreement to play six bilateral series.

(IANS)

Blasts strike Baghdad days into Ramadan, killing 27

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Two attacks in the space of 12 hours roil Iraqi capital, with ISIL claim of first explosion at a busy ice cream parlour.

In the second blast near Al-Shahada Bridge, 11 people were killed [Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters]

In the second blast near Al-Shahada Bridge, 11 people were killed [Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Two blasts ripped through the Iraqi capital of Baghdad just days into the holy month of Ramadan, killing at least 27 people and wounding more than 100.

ISIL claimed the first and deadliest suicide car bomb attack, which took place shortly after midnight at a busy ice cream parlour in Karrada, killing at least 16 people and injuring at least 75 – with children among the victims.

Scenes of panic and carnage followed the explosion in the Shia district, where last July ISIL bombed close to 300 people to death in the worst attack in 13 years of war.

ISIL considers members of Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority to be heretics and frequently carries out attacks against them.

A number of wounded lay on the ground, others propped themselves up on the colourful park benches outside the ice cream shop.

One young girl, wearing a ribbon and bow in her hair, wandered the scene dazed.

During Ramadan, people stay up late and many eat out to prepare for the fast the next day.

“Families were out and the place was crowded,” Hayder al-Khoei, a London-based Middle East expert, told Al Jazeera.

Al-Khoei explained that the armed group “timed Tuesday’s attack to cause maximum impact”.

“The suicide bomber detonated himself just after midnight. It was a hot day and he targeted a popular ice cream parlour in Baghdad,” he said.

Second explosion

A second deadly explosion struck the Al-Shahada Bridge area later in the morning, killing at least 11 people and wounding 41, according to security sources and witnesses.

A car bomb there exploded near the country’s main pension office close to the River Tigris.

Ibrahim al-Zararee, writing on Twitter, said he was close to both attacks.

“I was near the site of the explosion [in Karrada a] few hours before it happened and it was full of life. Now it’s full of death and horror,” he said. “Today I was few seconds away from [the blast Al-Shahada Bridge]. The explosion today was near the General Retirement Department. A walking distance from the famous Mutanabi Street.”

Video posted to social media showed plumes of black smoke rising from a building.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the second bombing, though it also bore the hallmarks of ISIL.

Brett McGurk, US special envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, tweeted after the first attack: “ISIS terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children and families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand with Iraq against this evil.”

ISIL in focus

The attacks in Baghdad come as Iraqi forces fight to retake the last ISIL-held areas of Mosul, a city that was the group’s most emblematic stronghold.

Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eighth month, will mark the end of ISIL in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase attacks in the wake of military defeats.

Michael Pregent, former US army officer and Iraqi government adviser with the Hudson Institute think tank, told Al Jazeera: “[Tuesday’s attack is] meant to stoke a sectarian flame to get some sort of response from Shia militias from the government. It’s also meant to discredit the Baghdad government.

“That’s something that Shia militias, recently criticised by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, can also use to criticise the current government ahead of the 2018 elections.”

Three neighbourhoods north of Mosul’s Old City – Al-Shifaa, Al-Saha and Al-Zinjili – are now the target of a broad assault by Iraqi soldiers, police and special forces that was launched last week.

On Tuesday, an Iraqi army officer said that security forces were proceeding slowly in Al-Shifaa in a bid to protect infrastructure.

“Attacks like this demonstrate ISIL’s desperation,” Iraqi analyst Ali Hadi Al-Musawi told Al Jazeera. “They’re being thoroughly routed on the battlefield, they’re no longer able to function as a proto-state in Iraq, so they have to resort to attacking soft targets at an ice cream parlor in order to maintain some sort of perverse relevance.”

Manuel Noriega, ex-military ruler of Panama, dies at 83

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Former ruler of Panama was held in medically induced coma after brain surgery in March.

noriega23

by Al Jazeera

Manuel Noriega, Panama’s former ruler, has died aged 83, the country’s President, Juan Carlos Varela, announced on Twitter.

Noriega was the country’s military ruler from 1983 to 1989, when he was removed from power by the United States during its invasion of Panama.

“The death of Manuel Antonio Noriega closes a chapter in our history; his daughters and their families deserve a burial in peace,” Varela said.

Noriega was held in a medically induced coma after suffering brain haemorrhaging in March. The haemorrhage occurred after Noriega underwent surgery to have a tumour removed from his brain.

During his rule, Noriega initially positioned Panama as a US asset in a region that was becoming increasingly hostile to Washington’s interests.

He was commissioned into the Panama National Guard in 1967, and in 1968 promoted to lieutenant.

Noriega rose swiftly in the armed forces, becoming a key ally of General Omar Torrijos during a military coup in 1968. As the de facto leader from 1968 to 1981, Torrijos relied heavily on Noriega’s network of loyal soldiers.

CIA informant

Noriega was soon promoted to head of Panama’s secret police, a role which brought him into close contact with the CIA.

The US intelligence agency had a vested interest in protecting the strategic trade route of the Panama Canal, which was under US administration until 1977.

Noriega soon became a regular informant for the Americans and was rewarded with an estimated $320,000, although he claimed at his trial in 1990 he was a prize asset that cost the CIA millions.

Throughout the 1970s, he shook off accusations that he was orchestrating the disappearances of Panamanian opposition figures.

After Torrijos’s mysterious death in a plane crash in 1981, the new military ruler, Ruben Dario Paredes del Rio, consolidated Noriega’s power base by promoting him as the head of the security services.

Within a short time, power had effectively concentrated in Noriega’s hands. In 1983, he succeeded Paredes as the de facto military ruler.

During the Reagan presidency in the 1980s, the US began relying heavily on Noreiga as an ally against Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

1989 surrender

In 1987, a former chief-of-staff who had worked under Noriega accused his former boss of corruption and electoral fraud, as well as being behind the plane crash in which Torrijos died.

The accusations triggered huge demonstrations in Panama.

Noriega defiantly stayed in power, with critics maintaining that the country had become a hub for Latin America’s drug trade, particularly in helping Colombia’s powerful Medellin cartel in laundering drug money.

In December 1989, US President George Bush ordered a US marine invasion to topple Noriega, who had become a liability and an embarrassment to US interests.

Noriega sought refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City.

One US tactic to flush him out was to play deafening music non-stop outside the building. Noriega finally surrendered on January 3, 1990.

Prison terms

Noriega was flown to the US, with prisoner-of-war status, to face charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering.

In 2007, Noriega completed his 17 years of confinement in a Miami federal jail, but he was not a free man.

After completing his 17-year sentence, Noriega was extradited to France and received a seven-year sentence for money laundering.

But Panama wanted Noriega to return to face in-absentia convictions and two prison terms of 20 years for embezzlement, corruption and murder of opponents, including military commander Moises Giroldi, who led a failed rebellion on October 3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, whose decapitated body was found in a mailbag on the border with Costa Rica in 1985.

In mid-2011, France approved his extradition to Panama.

Despite amassing great wealth, Noriega had worked hard to cultivate an image of a man of the people. He lived in a modest, two-storey home in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood in Panama City that stood in stark contrast with the opulent mansions customary among Latin American dictators.

“He would only say ‘hello’ very respectfully,” said German Sanchez, who lived next door for 16 years. “You may think what you like of Noriega, but we can’t say he was anything but respectful toward his neighbours.”

“The humble, the poor, the blacks, they are the utmost authority,” Noriega said in one speech.

Asking for forgiveness

While some resentment lingers over the US invasion, Noriega has so few supporters in modern-day Panama that attempts to auction off his old home attracted no bidders and the government decided to demolish decaying building down.

Late in life, the ex-leader essentially had zero influence over his country from behind bars.

“He is not a figure with political possibilities,” University of Panama sociologist Raul Leis said in 2008. “Even though there’s a small sector that yearns for the Noriega era, it is not a representative figure in the country.”

Noriega broke a long silence in June 2015 when he made a statement from prison on Panamanian television in which he asked forgiveness of those harmed by his rule.

“I feel like as Christians we all have to forgive,” he said, reading from a handwritten statement. “The Panamanian people have already overcome this period of dictatorship.”

But for the most part Noriega stayed mum about elite military and civilian associates who thrived on the corruption that he helped instill and which still plagues the Central American nation of some 3.9 million people, a favoured transshipment point for drugs and a haven for money laundering.

“He kept his mouth shut and died for the sins of others,” Koster, the biographer, said in a 2014 interview. “Nobody else ever went to prison.”

Meanwhile, families of more than 100 who were killed or disappeared during his rule are still seeking justice.

Suicide bid by three Bengaluru women civic corporators

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BBMP poll

Bengaluru: Blaming interference by a Congress legislator, three women civic corporators allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming phenyl at a meeting of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council here, said an official on Monday.

The corporators are Asha Suresh, 40, of the Congress, Mamata Vasudev, 40, of the BJP and Manjula Narayanaswamy, 37, of the JD-S.

“We are fed up with the interference of Congress lawmaker Munirathna Naidu in the development works in our area,” Asha, who represents the HMT civic ward, told reporters later.

Naidu, 49, represents the ruling party from the Rajarajeshwarinagar assembly segment.

The incident occurred when Mayor G. Padmavathi refused to allow these corporators to raise the issue of Naidu’s interference in their civic works.

“Upset with the Mayor’s refusal, the trio rushed to the well of the Council and tried to gulp phenyl, which they brought to the meeting in bottles,” said a Palike official.

Other corporators, however, thwarted their attempt by snatching away the bottles from their hands, and persuaded them to resume seats and stay calm.

“It has become difficult for me to put up with Naidu’s harassment. He is provoking his supporters to attack me. On May 19, his supporters pulled my saree in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” claimed Manjula, who represents the Laggare civic ward.

Siddaramaiah was delivering a speech after laying the foundation for remodeling the storm water drain in Naidu’s assembly segment when the alleged attack on Manjula took place.

“I was shocked that none came to my rescue when Naidu’s women supporters assaulted me and pulled my saree. There is no safety for women corporators in his area,” she alleged.

(Agencies)

SC refuses to stay conviction of IPS officer in Bilkis case

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to stay the conviction of an IPS officer in the sensational 2002 Bilkis Bano case.

A vacation bench of Justices A K Sikri and Deepak Gupta said that there is no urgency for hearing the matter as the convicted officer has already undergone the sentence.

The bench, however, listed the matter for hearing in the second week of July, observing the fine is of Rs 15,000 only.

IPS officer R S Bhagora, currently serving in Gujarat, has been convicted along with four other policemen by the Bombay High Court recently after the trial court had acquitted them.

The counsel appearing for Bhagora said if the conviction is not stayed, then he will be terminated from the service as per service rules.

He said the court should grant stay on the conviction.

The Bombay High Court had on May 4 reversed the trial court verdict acquitting Bhagora and others and had convicted 11 people (one convict is dead) in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.

Along with five policemen, two doctors were also convicted by the HC.

(Agencies)

Former actress Geeta Kapoor abandoned by son

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geetha kapoor

Mumbai: Just like several stars from the era gone by, Geeta Kapoor too, has been living a life of penury, abandoned by her own son, Raja Kapoor at the SRV Hospital in Mumbai’s suburban Goregaon, as alleged by her. She has films like Pakeezah, Mughal-E-Azam, Razia Sultan and Pyaar Karke Dekho to her credit.

Saddened at her own state, Geeta was quoted saying that she was starving for four days before reaching the hospital. Sources in the hospy say that her son left to withdraw money to pay her bills, never to return! She has been in the hospital for a month.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit paid her a visit. “I have seen her films and I could not recognise her because she was in bad shape,” says Pandit. Hospital sources add that Geeta is depressed and is more of a nervous wreck, scared and has incoherent speech at times. “I’m ready to do everything for her. There are many in the film industry who can help her out. But I will need an NOC from her family to let me complete her treatment and get her a place to stay. It is fine if her son doesn’t want to help her,” says Pandit. He and Ramesh Taurani have cleared the bills, but await the son to release his mother.

(Agencies)

India’s growth to slow down to 6.8% in 2016-17: World Bank

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World Bank

New Delhi: A modest slowdown is likely in India’s growth with the GDP expected to fall to 6.8 per cent in 2016-17 as a result of temporary disruption caused by the government’s demonetisation initiative, the World Bank said on Monday.

“India’s economy was slowing down in early 2016-17, until the favourable monsoon started lifting the economy, but the recovery was temporarily disrupted by the government’s demonetisation initiative. As a result, a modest slowdown is expected in the GDP growth in 2016-2017 to 6.8 per cent,” World Bank said in its bi-annual India Development Update released here.

“Demonetisation caused an immediate cash crunch, and activity in cash reliant sectors was affected. GDP growth slowed to 7.0 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter of 2016-2017 from 7.3 per cent in the first quarter,” it said.

While limited data is available, demonetisation may have had a disproportionate impact on poorer households, which are more likely to work in construction and informal retail, the report noted.

“Greater data availability, especially on labour markets, is needed to better gauge the social impact of policies in the future,” it said.

“Despite this, there was a relatively modest slowdown in the economy.”

The report attributes it to coping mechanisms, including greater usage of digital transactions, higher rural incomes, and robust public consumption. The pick-up in rural wages in November and December, 2016, and the growth of agricultural output suggests the positive impact of the monsoons substantially dampened the disruption from demonetisation.

The report said that demonetisation has the potential to accelerate the formalisation of the economy in the long-term leading to higher tax collections and greater digital financial inclusion.

It also said that the country’s growth is expected to recover in 2017-2018 to 7.2 per cent and is projected to gradually increase to 7.7 per cent in 2019-2020.

The World Bank also noted that India remained the fastest growing economy in the world with strong economic fundamentals and ongoing reform momentum.

“India remains the fastest growing economy in the world and it will get a big boost from its approach to GST which will reduce the cost of doing business for firms, reduce logistics costs of moving goods across states, while ensuring no loss in equity,” said Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India.

The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) could also be a complementary reform that will support formalisation, as firms have a strong incentive to register with GST to obtain input tax credits, the report said.

“GST is on track for implementation in the second quarter of the fiscal year, and is expected to yield substantial growth dividends from higher efficiencies and raise more revenues in the long term.

“Timely and smooth implementation of landmark reforms such as the GST and a new code to deal with bankruptcies, as well as decisive action to resolve the non-performing assets (NPAs) challenge of public sector banks, is crucial to enhance the economy’s potential growth,” the report said.

“Private investment growth continues to face several impediments in the form of excess capacity, regulatory and policy challenges, and corporate debt overhang. However, the recent push to increase infrastructure spending and to accelerate structural reforms will eventually drive a sustained rebound of private investments,” said Frederico Gil Sander, Senior Country Economist and the main author of the India Development Update.

While agriculture growth delivered in 2016-2017, the report notes that investment growth remains subdued, partly because of banking sector stress.

The report also highlights the low and falling participation of women in the labour market. “For India to achieve higher growth, it needs to create safe, flexible and well paying jobs for a large number of women who are currently not in the labour market.”

Currently, India has one of the lowest female participation rates in the world, ranking 120th among 131 countries, with less than a third or only 27 percent of women who are 15 years or older working or actively looking for a job.

“This is a cause for concern since higher labour earnings are the primary driver of poverty reduction,” Ahmad added.

“It is often argued that declining female participation is due to rising incomes that allow more women to stay at home. The evidence, however, shows that fewer jobs in agriculture have not been replaced by alternative jobs considered suitable for women.”

(IANS)

Babri demolition: CBI court grants bail to Advani, Joshi, Uma, others

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Babri Masjid demolition

Lucknow: A special CBI court here on Tuesday granted bail to senior BJP leaders L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti and nine others in the Babri Mosque demolition case.

The lawyers for Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti moved an application seeking quashing of charges against them on the ground that they had not played any role in the demolition of the mosque. ”No case is made out against them…they were trying to control the crowd,” the lawyer of the accused said in the discharge application.

Special judge S.K.Yadav granted bail to the accused personal on their furnishing personal bonds.

The court has reserved its order on the discharge application. The order on the discharge application is likely to be delivered later today.

The court had summoned Advani and others for framing of conspiracy charges against them in the matter. The charges would be framed on Tuesday if the discharge application was rejected.

The Supreme Court had earlier restored the criminal conspiracy charge against Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti, in the Babri Mosque demolition case and transferred the trial from the Raebareli special court to Lucknow.

(Agencies)

‘US-led air strikes’ kill civilians in Syria’s Raqqa

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Deadly air strikes continue to target Raqqa city, monitoring group says, as thousands continue to flee the fighting.

The UN says at least 23,544 people have been displaced from May 18-22 due to the fighting in Raqqa [Rodi Said/Reuters]

The UN says at least 23,544 people have been displaced from May 18-22 due to the fighting in Raqqa [Rodi Said/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 13 people have been killed in suspected US-led coalition air strikes on the ISIL-held city of Raqqa and suspected rocket attacks fired by a Kurdish group fighting ISIL, a monitoring group has said.

Some of the deaths in the northern city on Sunday evening resulted from air strikes blamed on the US-led coalition, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

The death toll also included civilians killed in rocket attacks by the Ghadab al-Furat group (dubbed Wrath of the Euphrates) on Sunday, the Observatory said.

Ghadab al-Furat is a Kurdish group fighting under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They launched a campaign in October 2016 to retake Raqqa, the de facto capital of the ISIL in northern Syria.

The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG armed group, said last week it plans to launch the final assault on Raqqa city in early summer.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release on Sunday that it conducted 17 air strikes targeting ISIL in Syria, destroying two ISIL bases in Deir Az Zor and three ISIL headquarters near Raqqa.

It did not mention civilian casualties in its report.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, an activist group in Raqqa, said on Sunday that a school was targeted by the US-led coalition in Mansoura west of Raqqa city.

The school was destroyed in the attack, the group said.

The activists said on Thursday that Raqqa city was targeted with at least 30 coalition air strikes, and 80 rocket attacks by the SDF killing at least 35 civilians in the past 24 hours.

The SDF has been encircling Raqqa since November.

Earlier this month, its fighters captured Tabqa, a previously ISIL-held town some 50km west of Raqqa, and a strategic dam nearby.

The UN said in a report that on May 14, at least 23 farm workers, including 17 women, were reportedly killed when air strikes hit al-Akershi village in a rural area of eastern Raqqa province.

Other air strikes on two residential areas of the ISIL-controlled city of Abo Kamal in eastern Deir Az Zor province the following day (May 15), reportedly killed at least 59 civilians (including 16 children and 12 women) and injured another 70.

The day after that, ISIL fighters are said to have cut the throats of eight men at the sites of the air strikes, after accusing them of providing coordinates for the strikes.

Earlier in May, the Observatory reported the highest monthly civilian death toll for the coalition’s campaign in Syria.

Between April 23 and May 23 2017, coalition air strikes killed at least 225 civilians in Syria, including dozens of children.

The US military had said coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria had “unintentionally” killed a total of 352 civilians since 2014.

At least 23,544 civilians have been displaced between May 18-22, the UN said in a press release last week.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al- Hussein last week urged all states’ air forces operating in the country to take much greater care to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians.

“The same civilians who are suffering indiscriminate shelling and summary executions by ISIL, are also falling victim to the escalating air strikes, particularly in the northeastern governorates of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor,” Zeid said.

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