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Gazan journalists told CNN they are haunted by their colleagues’ deaths, as they balance the emotional labor of covering the war with trying to protect their families. Israel launched a military assault on Gaza on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 others. After nearly seven months of war, Abu Dagga told CNN that she, too, wants to leave. The photojournalist for Turkish state broadcaster TRT told CNN he had been traveling through the neighborhood, after being displaced from the local refugee camp. We hope that God will bring him back to us safely.”Whether they report from within the enclave, or elsewhere, Palestinian journalists told CNN they could not turn away from the horrors unfolding in Gaza.

Persons: CNN —, ” Dr, Mahmoud Abu Nujaila, Médecins, Israel, Wael Al, ”, Mariam Abu Dagga, ” Al, Hamza Al, “, Abu Dagga, ’, Heath, ” Mariam Abu Dagga, Khan Younis, Mohammad Ahmed, Shrapnel, Ahmed, Nobody, ” Ahmed, Adnan, what’s, ” Mohammad Ahmed, Ibrahim Dahman, Rasha, – Zeid, Khalil, ” Dahman, Dahman, Sheikh Radwan, ” Ibrahim Dahman, Saeed Al, Taweel, Alaa Abu Mohsen, Al, Saeed, ” Mohsen, Mahmud Hams, Saba, ‘ Saeed, ’ ”, Jaafrawi, Nidal, Haitham Abdelwahed, Wahidi, Erez, Beit, Mohammed Soboh, Arafat Barbakh, Fadi Wael Abdel Karim Al, ’ ” Fadi, Fadi Organizations: CNN, Awda, Protect Journalists, Independent, AFP, Getty, ”, Press, Borders, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Hamas, Ministry of Health, United, United Arab Emirates, TRT, Al, Wafa, Saba Al, Amnesty International, Amnesty, Reuters, Cross Locations: Jabalya, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, ” Al Jazeera's Gaza, Palestine, United Arab, Khan, Egypt, Turkish, Gaza City, Sheikh Radwan, Wadi Gaza, Giza, Cairo, Sheikh, Phoenix, AFP, Israeli

☆ Asylum Seekers Already in U.K. Say Rwanda Law Creates New Anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Megan Specia | Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a cold spring day last month, Mohsen, a 36-year-old from Iran, woke before dawn and was hurried by smugglers onto a rubber boat on the coast of France. The water was calm and the sky clear, but he knew the risks of the journey he was about to make, he said. Since 2018, at least 72 people have drowned in the Channel while attempting crossings, according to the International Organization for Migration. He fled Iran, he said, because police officers came to his home last year threatening to arrest him after he took part in anti-government protests. And he boarded the boat even though he knew about the British government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to the central African country of Rwanda, which was first announced in 2022.

Persons: Mohsen Organizations: Channel, International Organization for Migration Locations: Iran, France, Britain, Rwanda

☆ Same-sex couples face up to 15 years in prison in Iraq’s LGBTQ crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Nechirvan Mando | Eyad Kourdi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Iraq has passed a new law that penalizes same-sex relations with up to 15 years in prison, a move condemned by rights advocates as the latest attack on the country’s LGBTQ community. Samar called on the US and other countries to put diplomatic pressure on the Iraqi government to revoke the law. He warned that international business coalitions have already signaled that such discriminatory practices could negatively impact Iraq’s economic growth. “Respect for human rights and political and economic inclusion is essential for Iraq’s security, stability, and prosperity. This legislation is inconsistent with these values and undermines the government’s political and economic reform efforts,” Miller said on Saturday.

Persons: ” –, Raad al, Mohsen Al, ” Al, Mandalawi, ‘, I’ve, ” Samar, Samar, Mohammed Shia, Joe Biden, “, ” Matthew Miller, ” Miller, Sarah Sanbar, ” “, ” Organizations: CNN, Iraq, Maliki, Iraqi, US Department of State Locations: Iraq, Iraq Samar, Samar, Al

As police officers guarded the wrought iron gates protecting Columbia University’s main campus on Tuesday evening, checking for student identification cards, a group gathered around a stone dais at the center of the quad. Roughly 400 students held Palestinian flags and handmade signs. Protesters took turns speaking into a microphone, criticizing the Israel-Hamas war, but also their own school over its decision to suspend two pro-Palestinian student groups through the end of the semester. “We’ve said it before, that our voices are louder and more powerful than the money that you receive, Columbia,” said Mohsen Mahdawi, a student and Palestinian refugee. Following their suspension, the groups released a joint statement on Instagram, accusing the university of “selective censorship” of pro-Palestinian groups and calling the move “an attack on free speech to distract from and enable Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.”

Persons: “ We’ve, ”, Mohsen Mahdawi Organizations: Columbia, Justice, Jewish, Peace Locations: Columbia, Israel, New York City, Palestine

☆ Afghan earthquakes kill 2,445, Taliban say, as death toll mounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than 2,400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. They were among the world's deadliest quakes this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February. Afghan residents sit at a damaged house after earthquake in Sarbuland village of Zendeh Jan, district of Herat province, on October 7, 2023. Diplomats and aid officials say concerns over Taliban restrictions on women and competing global humanitarian crises are causing donors to pull back on financial support. The Islamist government has ordered most Afghan female aid staff not to work, although with exemptions in health and education.

Persons: Janan Sayeeq, Sayeeq, Danish, Suhail Shaheen, Mohsen Karimi, Naseema Organizations: U.S . Geological Survey, Ministry, Taliban, AFP, Getty, Afp, Diplomats, International Committee Locations: Afghanistan, Herat, U.S, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan's, Iran, Qatar, Sarbuland, Zendeh Jan, Herat province, Pakistan

CNN —A series of powerful earthquakes struck western Afghanistan on Saturday killing at least 100 people and wounding more than 500 others, according to the UN’s humanitarian office, as the nation reels from another natural disaster at a time of deep economic crisis. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Herat city in the western Herat province – the third largest in Afghanistan. The initial quake was also felt in neighboring provinces of Badghis and Farah and was followed by multiple aftershocks. A deadly quake in March struck northeastern Afghanistan, sending residents fleeing from their homes as it brought down entire buildings and triggered devastating landslides. And a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on January 17, 2022 struck Badghis, another western province near Herat bordering Turkmenistan, killed more than 20 people and reduced hundreds of brick homes to rubble.

Persons: Farah, “, OCHA, Mohsen Karimi Organizations: CNN, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Getty, Bank Locations: Afghanistan, Herat, Herat province –, Badghis, Herat City, AFP, United States, freefall, New Delhi, Khost, Pakistan, Turkmenistan

Thousands of people are confirmed dead and thousands more missing, with the mayor saying the toll could reach 20,000. Usama Al Husadi, a 52-year-old driver, had been searching for his wife and five children since the disaster. Husadi, who had been working the night of the storm, dialled his wife's phone number once again. "We lost at least 50 members from my father’s family, between missing and dead," he said. Confirmed death tolls given by officials so far have varied, but all are in the thousands, with thousands more on lists of the missing.

Persons: Hassan El Salheen, Aly, Storm Daniel, Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Usama Al Husadi, Husadi, Wali Eddin Mohamed Adam, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Mohamed Mohsen Bujmila, Khadija, Bujmila, Muammar Gaddafi, Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Derna, Saudi, Al, Rescue, United Arab, NATO, of National Unity, Thomson Locations: Libya, Al Sharief, Bani Swief, Egypt, DERNA, Libyan, Al Arabiya, Derna, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Tripoli

"The fresh water is finished," said Khamis Adel, a lifelong fishermen and indigenous Marsh Arab from Al-Khora in Basra. It's a question asked by many who once lived off Iraq's marshlands, rich waterways which gave birth to civilization in ancient Mesopotamia. As the rivers and marshlands dry out, so too does the economy that they sustain. "Now a fisherman is nothing, they are like beggars," he said, pushing his boat along the canal in humid heat. Even after the 2003 U.S. invasion, when parts of the marshes were flooded again, water levels did not fully recover.

Persons: Essam, Khamis Adel, Mohsen, Hasan Moussa, Hasan, Naame Hasan, Adel, Saddam Hussein, Ahmed Saeed, Issam, Timour Azhari, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, UNESCO, of, U.N's, Organization for Migration, WE, Thomson Locations: Iraqi, Basra, Iraq, BASRA, NAJAF, Al, Khora, of Eden, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Iran, Najaf, U.S, Issam Sudani, Timour, Baghdad

☆ Stampede in Yemen’s capital kills at least 78, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That sparked a panic, and people, including many women and children, began stampeding, they said. Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official in Sanaa, gave the death toll of 78 and said at least 13 were seriously hurt, according the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite TV channel. Hamdan Bagheri, deputy director of the al-Thowra Hospital in Sanaa, said in televised comments that the tragedy took place around 8.20 p.m. and the facility received at least 73 injured people. The rebels quickly sealed off the school where the event was held and barred people, including journalists, from approaching. Yemen's capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognized government.

CNN —Iran executed at least 582 people last year, a 75% increase on the previous year, according to human rights groups who say the rise reflects an effort by Tehran to “instill fear” among anti-regime protesters. It was the highest number of executions in the Islamic republic since 2015, according to a report released Thursday by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) groups. The vast majority of the executions – at least 544 – were of people accused of murder and drug-related offenses, said the report. “Iran’s authorities demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instill societal fear in order to hold onto power,” the report said. The human rights report said they were charged with “corruption on Earth.”Dozens of other protesters have received death sentences in recent months.

☆ Syria's president appoints new oil minister in reshuffle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAMASCUS, March 29 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed a new oil minister and changed four other ministers in a cabinet reshuffle, state media said on Wednesday. Hassan Kaddour, who was the general director of the Syrian Petroleum Company for the last two years, replaces Bassam Touma as oil minister, the report said. Assad named Mohsen Abdelkarim Ali as internal trade minister, Abdelqader Jokhdar as industry minister, Louay al-Munajjed as social affairs minister and Ahmed Bostachi as a state minister. Assad switched out his defence minister in April 2022. The conflict raging in Syria since 2011 has cost the country much of its domestic oil production, especially with the northeastern oil producing fields outside government control.

☆ A 2,000-year-old mummy was found dumped in the trash in Yemen with its insides ripped out
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A 2,000-year-old mummy was found dumped in the trash in Yemen. Local officials said the mummy was likely abandoned by grave robbers and antiquities smugglers. Yemen's General Organization of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM) on Wednesday blamed "tomb robbers and antiquities traffickers" for exhuming the artifact. Locals looking at the mummy found in the trash in Yemen. Yemen General Organization of Antiquities and MuseumsThe discovery has caused fury among locals, who have seen their rare historical artifacts threatened by the country's long-raging civil war, per the Saudi-Arabian daily Arab News.

☆ Iran, Russia link banking systems amid Western sanction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Iran and Russia have connected their interbank communication and transfer systems to help boost trade and financial transactions, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, as both Tehran and Moscow are chafing under Western sanctions. Similar limitations have been slapped on some Russian banks since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. "Iranian banks no longer need to use SWIFT ... with Russian banks, which can be for the opening of Letters of Credit and transfers or warranties," Deputy Governor of Iran's Central Bank, Mohsen Karimi, told the semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's Central Bank chief Mohammad Farzin welcomed the move. "The financial channel between Iran and the world is being repaired," he tweeted.

☆ Bomb-carrying drones targeted a defense factory in central Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Iran reported a drone attack on a defense facility in the city of Isfaham on Saturday night. The Defense Ministry said it shot down two drones and a third struck the building and caused "minor damage." A Defense Ministry statement said that three drones were launched at the factory. A mobile phone video was aired by state TV, appearing to show the moment the drone struck the building and caused an explosion in the central Iranian city. Reports of the drone strike came as a large fire broke out at an oil refinery near the city of Tabriz on Saturday.

☆ U.K. condemns ‘barbaric’ execution of British-Iranian accused of spying in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Saturday, after sentencing the former Iranian deputy defense minister to death on charges of spying for Britain. The U.K., which had declared the case against Alireza Akbari as politically motivated and called for his release, condemned the execution. In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh. Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases. Iran has issued dozens of death sentences as part of the crackdown on the unrest, executing at least four people.

☆ Iran executes British-Iranian national Akbari - Iranian report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Saturday, after sentencing him to death on charges of spying for Britain. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Friday that Iran must not follow through with the execution of Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defence minister. In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh. Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases. Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when or where they were recorded.

☆ Iran executes British-Iranian national despite UK, U.S. pleas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Saturday, after sentencing the former Iranian deputy defense minister to death on charges of spying for Britain. In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh. Iran's state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases. Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when or where they were recorded. Iran has issued dozens of death sentences as part of the crackdown on the unrest, executing at least four people.

☆ Factbox: Alireza Akbari: the British-Iranian executed by Tehran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Saturday, after sentencing the former Iranian deputy defence minister to death on charges of spying for Britain. - According to a caption in a video aired by Iran's state news agency IRNA on Thursday, Akbari moved to Britain after being briefly detained and released on bail in 2008. Reuters could not verify if Akbari had moved to Britain in 2008, or when he returned to Iran. - In the audio recording, Akbari said he had made false confessions as a result of torture. In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination, but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.

☆ Iran video links detained British-Iranian to death of nuclear scientist
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Iranian state media published a video on Thursday in which British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, sentenced to death for spying, said he played a role in the 2020 assassination of the country's top nuclear scientist. Iran sentenced the former deputy defence minister, who holds dual Iranian-British citizenship, to death on charges of spying for Britain, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. British officials did not immediately comment about the video clips aired by Iran's state media. Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases. "He was one of the most important agents of the British intelligence service in Iran who had access to some very sensitive centres in the country," Iran's Intelligence Ministry said.

☆ Iran top court accepts protester's appeal against death sentence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of Sahand Noor Mohammadzadeh, one of the accused in the recent riots. It said 66 members of the security forces had also been killed. Iranian officials have said that up to 300 people, including members of the security forces, have lost their lives. Last week, the Supreme Court accepted the death sentence appeal of rapper Saman Seydi Yasin but confirmed the same sentence against protester Mohammad Qobadloo. Earlier this month it suspended the death sentence of protester Mahan Sadrat, who had been charged with various alleged offences including stabbing a security officer and setting fire to a motorcycle.

☆ Iran Supreme Court accepts appeals of two protesters sentenced to death
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 24 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Court has accepted the appeals of two protesters sentenced to death due to flaws in investigating their cases, the country's judiciary said on Saturday. "The Supreme Court accepted the appeals of Mohammad Qobadloo and Saman Saidi Yasin, accused of the recent riots," the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported. "Due to research deficiencies, the Supreme Court has referred them to the same courts for re-examination." Yasin, a Kurd who raps about inequality, oppression and unemployment, was accused of attempting to kill security forces and singing revolutionary songs. A top state security body said early this month that 200 people, including members of security forces, had lost their lives in the unrest.

LONDON — Iran’s government has spent months violently cracking down on protests gripping the country. The first known executions of people arrested over the monthslong protests prompted an outcry from Western governments and human rights activists, but they came as little surprise to those involved in the demonstrations or carefully watching them from afar. Human rights groups and Western governments say Iran’s judicial system is based on sham trials behind closed doors. A week earlier, Iran executed another man, Mohsen Shekari, for allegedly blocking a road in Tehran and stabbing a pro-government militia member who required stitches. Around a dozen others have been sentenced to death, according to human rights groups.

☆ Iran authorities arrest Taraneh Alidoosti, actress of Oscar-winning movie 'The Salesman'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO — Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said Saturday. The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes committed during the nationwide protests. Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police. Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous actresses in Iran, were arrested by authorities for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Over 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.

He was convicted of “waging war against God” for reportedly killing two members of the Basij paramilitary force, and injuring four others on November 17, the outlet said. The charge of “waging war against God” carries the death penalty under the theocracy of the Islamic Republic since 1979. Rahnavard was hanged in a public execution in the northeastern city of Mashhad early Monday morning, it said. He is the second known person to be executed in connection to the 2022 protests. His death comes less than a week after Mohsen Shekari – the first known protester to be executed – who was hanged last Thursday.

☆ Iran executes second person after mass protests shook the country. 25 more are said to be next.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Iran executed a second person in connection to the human rights protests sweeping the country. Witnesses told the court that they saw him do it, Mizan reported, but human rights groups have warned that Iran is conducting sham trials of protesters. His death comes after Iran executed Mohsen Shekari last week, in the first known execution connected to the protests. Shekari was accused of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of Iran's security forces with a machete, according to the Associated Press. Doctors and nurses in Iran told The Guardian last week that security forces are targeting women, firing at their faces, breasts and genitals with shotguns.

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