Israel’s most recent response to the UN on its investigations into alleged violations of international law by its forces in Gaza a year ago is totally inadequate, Amnesty International has said.

The Yemeni government’s increasingly heavy-handed response to the threat posed by al-Qa’ida puts the country at risk of being locked in a downward spiral on human rights, say concerned observers.

One year on from the end of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, Amnesty has called on Israel to lift its “suffocating” blockade as the organisation released a new briefing on the plight of Palestinians living under the blockade.

Human rights, religious and anti-death penalty groups are calling on the US state of Texas to stop the execution of a man who may be brain-damaged. Since 1976 the USA has executed 1,188 people. There are 3,300 still on death row.