Middle East

UK vows more action against Iran after execution

LONDRES, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Monday vowed more reprisals against what it said was Tehran’s “weakened and isolated regime” after it executed a UK-Iranian dual national. Following the killing of Alireza Akbari on Saturday, the UK summoned Iran’s most senior diplomat and recalled its own ambassador. But despite slapping sanctions on Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri it stopped short of opposition demands to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Faced with […]

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Obey or leave: NGOs torn over Taliban ban on women staff

by Estelle Emonet and Jay Deshmukh Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Aid groups say they have been “pushed against a wall” by the Taliban prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs, a ban that has left a dangerous gap in life-saving support. Afghanistan’s NGOs have been instrumental in trying to address one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with half the country’s population hungry and three million children at risk of malnutrition. “It is […]

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Israeli strike on Damascus airport kills 4 fighters: monitor

by Layal ABOU RAHAL Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Israeli army carried out a missile strike on Damascus International Airport on Monday that killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to a human rights monitor. This is the second time in less than seven months that the Damascus airport, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been hit by Israel. The attack — which occurred around 2:00 am […]

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Musk says nearly 100 Starlinks ‘active’ in Iran

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Nearly 100 Starlink internet terminals are currently operating in Iran, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said Monday. The tycoon had promised to bring the satellite internet network to the country in September as Iranian authorities imposed increasingly severe access restrictions, in a move activists called a campaign to limit information about protests that had broken out nationwide. “Approaching 100 Starlinks active in Iran,” Musk tweeted Monday. Starlink has more than […]

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Eight dead in failed IS prison assault in Syria: monitor

Qamishli, Syria (AFP) Six members of Kurdish-led security forces and two jihadists were killed Monday in a failed Islamic State group assault near a prison for extremists in northern Syria, a war monitor said. The failed assault targeted a Kurdish security complex in Raqa, the group’s former de facto capital in Syria, which includes a military intelligence prison housing jihadists, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The jihadists were targeting the military intelligence prison” […]

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Global stars call for release of jailed Iranian actor Alidoosti

Los Angeles, United States (AFP) Hundreds of high profile figures from the global cinema industry called Wednesday for Iran to release actor Taraneh Alidoosti, who was jailed over her support for the country’s three-month-old protest movement. Actors Emma Thompson, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen and directors Ken Loach and Mike Leigh were among a host of luminaries to sign an open letter demanding the star of “The Salesman” be freed. “As members of the […]

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Iran to retry rapper reportedly on death row

Tehran, Iran (AFP) Iran’s supreme court has ordered the retrial of a Kurdish rapper who was reportedly sentenced to death over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said Saturday. Protests have gripped Iran since the September 16 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s dress code for women. Iran this month executed two people in connection with the […]

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Israel spy agency warns of deeper Iran-Russia arms ties

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Iran is seeking to expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia, the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency said Thursday, according to local media. The warning from David Barnea comes after the United States earlier this month expressed alarm over a “full-scale defense partnership” between Tehran and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine last February. Tehran in November admitted it had sent drones to Russia, but insisted they were supplied before the […]

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Taliban ban university education for Afghan girls

by Jay Deshmukh and Qubad Wali Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned university education for women nationwide, as the hardline Islamists continue to crush their right to education and freedom. Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power last year, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives, ignoring international outrage. “You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education […]

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‘Listen to me’, says Israeli woman accusing top rabbi of rape

  Jerusalem, Undefined (AFP) by Michael BLUM Through weekly protests outside Israel’s parliament, Nehama Teena has demanded an investigation into a prominent rabbi she accuses of rape and sought to break the code of silence surrounding sexual assault in the Orthodox world. “I’m not asking that they take my word for it, only that they listen to me and stop preventing victims from speaking,” the 38-year-old mother of five told AFP. In August, Teena rattled […]

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Jordan to host MidEast summit in bid to defuse regional tensions

by Acil Tabbara Agence France-Presse AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — Jordan hosts a Middle East summit Tuesday bringing together regional and international players hoping to help resolve regional crises, particularly in neighboring Iraq. The “Baghdad II” meeting, which will also include officials from France and the European Union, follows an August 2021 summit in Iraq’s capital organized at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. Iraq only recently arrived at a fragile compromise government after a […]

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Deadly attack on Kabul hotel popular with Chinese

by Abdullah HASRAT Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least three people were killed when gunmen attacked a hotel popular with Chinese business people in the Afghan capital Monday, with witnesses reporting multiple blasts and several bursts of gunfire, as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Smoke could be seen pouring from the multi-storey Kabul Longan Hotel as Taliban security forces rushed to the site and sealed off the neighborhood. The Taliban claim to […]

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