TEHRAN – Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed doubts about new legislation imposing tougher penalties on women who flout mandatory hijab regulations. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women in Iran have been required to cover their hair in public. However, increasing numbers are appearing without hijabs, especially since protests erupted following Mahsa Amini’s death in...
PORT SUDAN – At least two people were killed when Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked a camp for displaced people in the North Darfur region, activists said yesterday. The Zamzam camp, south of the regional capital El-Fasher, was hit by heavy rocket and artillery fire from the RSF on Sunday morning, said the local...
CONAKRY – Stampedes at a football match killed 56 people in Guinea’s second-largest city of N’Zerekore, the junta-controlled government said yesterday. “Protests of dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions led to stone-throwing by supporters, resulting in fatal stampedes” at Sunday’s match, the government statement said, which was published as a news ticker on national television. “Hospital services...
DAR ES SALAAM – A Tanzanian opposition figure was found alive on a beach with serious injuries after his apparent abduction by security forces, his party said yesterday. Opposition party ACT Wazalendo claimed that the head of its youth wing, Abdul Nondo, was “kidnapped” on Sunday morning by individuals they believed were state security agents....
THE HAGUE – The future of the planet is at stake during hearings at the top United Nations (UN) court, a top representative for Vanuatu said yesterday, opening a historic case that aims to set a legal framework on how countries should tackle climate change. More than 100 countries and organisations are set to present...
WASHINGTON – Outgoing US president Joe Biden is headed to the Southern African country of Angola this week, fulfilling a key promise in a bid to shore up ties with the continent. Biden, who will stay in the capital city Luanda from today to Wednesday, will be the first US president to visit the oil-rich...
PORT SUDAN – The United Nations’ humanitarian chief has called for immediate international action to address Sudan’s deepening crisis, highlighting the suffering of millions displaced by conflict. Tom Fletcher spoke with refugees during a nine-day visit to Sudan and Chad, vowing to amplify their plight and urge the world to provide greater support. “We are...
KYIV – The EU’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas yesterday warned Georgian authorities over violence against demonstrators protesting the government’s decision to shelve its bid to join the bloc. “It is clear that using violence against peaceful protesters is not acceptable, and the Georgian government should respect the will of the Georgian people,” Kallas...
BEIRUT – Jihadist-led rebels seized Aleppo’s airport and dozens of nearby towns on Saturday after overrunning most of Syria’s second city, a war monitor said. Damascus ally Moscow responded with its first air strikes on Aleppo since 2016 as the jihadists and their Turkish-backed allies pressed a lightning offensive they launched on Wednesday as a...
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s parliament was set to review contentious legal amendments yesterday, including a reworked Family Law Bill that has sparked civil society outrage over fears of a resurgence in underage marriages. The proposed amendments would let people choose between religious or State regulations for family matters such as marriage, inheritance, divorce and child custody. Critics...