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Two and a half weeks after sending tanks and ground troops into northern Gaza, Israeli forces entered a hospital early Wednesday that they claim Hamas operates out of. The Israeli army claims the militant group uses hospitals as cover for its fighters, and has set up its main command center in and beneath Shifa Hospital, the largest in the besieged territory. Both Hamas and Shifa Hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations. Both Hamas and Shifa Hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations. ISRAEL SAYS IT'S CARRYING OUT A ‘PRECISE AND TARGETED OPERATION’ INSIDE GAZA'S SHIFA HOSPITALJERUSALEM — The Israeli military says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff.

Persons: Mohammed Zaqout, — Israel, ‘, ’, Ahmed Mhanna, ”, Jabaliya, Mhanna, NETANYAHU, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu, “, Fahrettin Koca, Koca, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Martin Griffiths, Meirav Eilon Shahar, “ Israel, ” Philippe Lazzarini, CAIRO —, Munir al, Boursh, ” Israel, Hamas ”, Paltel, Israel, ” Griffiths, Shifa, that’s, Jonas Gahr Støre, Espen Barth Eide, ” Barth Eide, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Israel —, Daniel Hagari, Hamas’s, ” Hagari, KHAN YOUNIS, Mohammad al, Abdallah, National Security Itamar Ben, Gvir, Nasser, Khan Younis, Catherine Russell, Russell, ” Russell, ISRAEL Organizations: Hamas, Shifa, Shifa Hospital, Health Ministry, . Security, ASEAN, AS, Awda Hospital, Awda, PEACEMAKING GROUP GENEVA, Centre, Associated Press, Iran's, Iranian, ” UN, UNRWA, United Nations, OFFICIAL, International Committee, COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, UN OFFICIAL, Health Organization, ” FIRST, NTB, ISRAEL, TEL, Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, MINISTRY, Ministry of National Security, National Security, UNICEF, JERUSALEM Locations: Gaza, Israel, Shifa, Myanmar, Washington, israel, GAZA, CAIRO, Jabaliya, GAZA ZIKIM, Israeli, Gaza City, TURKEY ANKARA, Turkey, Egypt, Rafah, Geneva, Basque, Spain, Iranian, Iran, Palestine, ”, Territories, United States, JERUSALEM, Palestinian, GENEVA, what’s, GAZA COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Norwegian, Norway, ISRAEL ANKARA, Turkish, TEL AVIV, West Bank, Ben, Khan, SHIFA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese middlemen launder the proceeds of North Korean hackers’ cyber heists while Chinese ships deliver sanctioned North Korean goods to Chinese ports. China views North Korea as a buffer against the U.S., which maintains a significant troop presence in South Korea. The U.S. has accused North Korea of supplying artillery shells and rockets to Russia, while new evidence shows Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 assault on Israel. “China violates North Korea sanctions it voted for and says won’t work because it’s afraid they’ll work. Such “over-the-counter” brokers allow North Korean hackers to bypass know-your-customer rules governing banks and other financial exchanges.

Persons: “, ” Aaron Arnold, Kim Jong Un, ”, Joshua Stanton, cryptocurrency, Anthony Ruggiero, couldn’t, hadn’t, Eric Penton, Dake Kang Organizations: WASHINGTON, North, Associated, United Nations, Royal United Services Institute, U.S, . Security, North Korean, Kremlin, AP, Treasury, government’s Ministry of Commerce, U.N, Associated Press, Carnegie Corporation of New, Outrider Foundation, Investigative@ap.org Locations: Beijing, Korea, North Korea, China, Pyongyang, South Korea, Ukraine, The U.S, Russia, Israel, North, U.S, Carnegie Corporation of New York

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on Myanmar’s state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a joint venture partner in all offshore gas projects and a vital source of hard cash for the military government. Canada also imposed sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities in coordination with the U.K. and the U.S. The sanctions are the latest the Western governments have imposed on Myanmar’s military regime, after the army seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. The Myanmar public and human rights groups had called for sanctions targeting gas revenues shortly after the army takeover. The European Union imposed sanctions against MOGE in February last year.

Persons: —, Tom Andrews, ”, Andrews, U.N, MOGE, Aung, Suu Kyi, “, ” Brian Nelson Organizations: The U.S . Treasury Department, Gas Enterprise, Treasury Department, U.S, ”, Treasury, MOGE, European Locations: BANGKOK, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, The U.S, Myanmar, U.S, Suu, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, India, South Korea, China

We continue to encourage all countries to take tangible measures to halt the flow of arms, aviation fuel, and revenue to the military regime," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement. Canada imposed sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities for supporting Myanmar's military regime. The U.N. human rights expert for Myanmar in September called on the United States to further tighten sanctions on the country's military rulers to include the state oil and gas enterprise. Human rights advocates have repeatedly called for sanctions on MOGE, but Washington had so far held back. Myanmar military officials have played down the impact of sanctions.

Persons: Stringer, Washington, Antony Blinken, Brian Nelson, Simon Lewis, Daphne Psaledakis, Tim Gardner, Sarah Young, Ismail Shakil, Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel Organizations: Army, Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Myanma, Gas Enterprise, U.S . Treasury Department, Reuters, Treasury, Financial, United Nations, Terrorism, Financial Intelligence, Chevron Corp, Chevron, Washington, Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, Myanma Investment, Commercial Bank, Sky Royal Hero Company, General Staff, Myanmar's Army, Navy, Air Force, Thomson Locations: Yangon, Myanmar, United States, Washington, U.S, United Kingdom, Canada, Britain

☆ Opinion | Where Hamas Is Winning
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

That universal enmity made it hard to imagine how this state of many names — the Islamic State, ISIS, Daesh — could long survive. The atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against innocent Israelis, the snuff films, mutilations and delight in simple cruelty, inspired immediate analogies to the Islamic State’s depredations. Yes, a movement deliberately going to extremes risks the Islamic State scenario, where you isolate yourself so completely that you end up first morally delegitimized and then cornered and destroyed. Suppose you turn southern Israel into an abattoir and you don’t end up like the Islamic State thereafter? Well, then, as Damir Marusic writes in a troubling essay this week, you have achieved a “revolutionary legitimacy” that you didn’t have before.

Persons: opprobrium, Yair Rosenberg, Damir Marusic Organizations: ISIS, Bolsheviks, Islamic State, Islamic Locations: Jordan, Israel, Islamic State, Russia, American, statelessness, Palestine, Saudi, Gaza

CNN —A teenage Iranian girl who fell into a coma after she was allegedly assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing a headscarf is “brain dead,” state-aligned media said. Earlier in October, the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which focuses on Kurdish rights, said Geravand was “assaulted” by morality police and fell into a coma. “This request resulted in an altercation with the morality police officers physically assaulting Geravand. Iranian authorities have denied the allegations, saying Geravand was hospitalized due to an injury caused by low blood pressure. Armita Geravand was hospitalized in October following an incident at a Tehran metro station.

Persons: Armita Geravand, Geravand, “, ” Hengaw, Awyer Shekhi, ” Shekhi, Mahsa, Niloofar Hamedi, Elaheh Mohammadi, Hamedi’s, Mohammad Hossein Ajorloo, ”, Sherif Mansour Organizations: CNN, Organization for Human Rights, UN, Shargh, Twitter, Committee, Protect Journalists Locations: Tehran, Iran, Norway, Shohada, United States, Niloofar, Middle East, North Africa

☆ Opinion | Why the World Is Watching Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Colin P. Clarke | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

Now, in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, Israel appears to be preparing to invade Gaza. At the center of these mounting tensions is Iran, which has been engaged in a shadow war with its chief regional rival, Israel, for years. It also gives Tehran leverage as its proxy groups develop political wings, helping Iran play kingmaker in local and national politics in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere. As the conflict intensifies, there are growing concerns that Israel may be headed toward a more direct confrontation with Iran. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Persons: Biden, Iran’s, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ismail Qaani, Khamenei, ”, “, —, Colin P, Clarke Organizations: United, Navy, Pentagon, U.S, Training, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Quds Force, Israel Defense, longtime, Israeli Defense Forces, Soufan Group, New York, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Saudi Arabia, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, United States, Yemen, Iran, Tehran, Washington, Doha, Qatar, meddle, Iraq, Jerusalem, U.S, Amman, Jordan, Istanbul, New York City

Fluctuations since the attack pushed oil prices as high as $96. Until something like that happens, “the oil market is going to be like everyone else, monitoring the events in the Middle East,” Lipow said. One reason 1970s-style gas lines are unlikely: U.S. oil production is at an all-time high. Weekly domestic oil production has doubled from the first week in October 2012 to now. Lawmakers from both parties have urged Biden to block Iranian oil sales, seeking to dry up one of the regime’s key sources of funding.

Persons: ” Fatih Birol, ”, Andrew Lipow, ” Lipow, Mike Sommers, Sommers, “ America’s, “, Joe Biden's, Israel, Biden, Sofia Guidi Di Sante, Wyoming Sen, John Barrasso, “ Joe, Barrasso, ____ McHugh, Choe Organizations: WASHINGTON, International Energy Agency, ”, Associated Press, Brent, Lipow Oil Associates, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Energy Department, American Petroleum Institute, Hudson Institute, Commerzbank, Oil, Rystad Energy, Republican, Senate Energy, Natural Resources Committee, Democratic, Keystone XL, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, The Energy Department, The Treasury Department, Treasury Locations: East, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Paris, Gaza, Iran, Houston, Hormuz, U.S, Europe, Washington, OPEC, Lebanon, Venezuela, The U.S, Wyoming, America, Frankfurt, Germany, New York

☆ Iran’s Military Chief Warns U.S. Over Arming Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran’s military chief warned the U.S. against sending weapons to Israel, saying it would further complicate the situation in Gaza. U.S. support for Israel "is considered as participation by the American government in the Zionist regime’s crimes,” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said in remarks published by Iranian state media.

Persons: Maj, Mohammad Bagheri Organizations: Iranian Armed Forces Locations: Israel, Gaza . U.S

☆ Iran's Leader Blames U.S. for Israeli Bombing of Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

"The Zionist regime’s policy is being regulated by the Americans," Khamenei said. "The U.S. is responsible for the recent crimes. Iran is a major funder of Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls Gaza, and has praised the militants' attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead. The U.S. has said it stands by Israel. It has sent artillery and identified 2,000 troops for potential deployment in the region, according to the Defense Department.

Persons: Khamenei Organizations: Defense Department Locations: Iran, U.S, Gaza, Israel

☆ Iran Makes Unspecified Warning Against an Israeli Ground Invasion of Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran on Saturday warned of a response to a widely expected Israeli ground invasion of Gaza to dislodge Hamas but wasn't specific. “If the Zionist regime’s crimes against the Palestinian people and citizens continue, no one can guarantee that the situation in the region will remain the same,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said after meeting the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, according to Iranian media.

Persons: Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Ismail Haniyeh Locations: Iran, Gaza, Iranian, Doha, Qatar

☆ Opinion: This is why the two-state solution is dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Anna Lee | Opinion Jason Greenblatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Reports of women stripped naked and paraded by fighters in Gaza, toddlers kidnapped alongside Holocaust survivors, homes burst into by terrorists hunting down Jews. The last one, with its supposed vision of a peaceful Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. I spent nearly three years at the Trump White House attempting to reach a peace deal between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. (Indeed, the peace plan we crafted was rejected by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah before they even read it.) Israel cannot achieve peace with Palestinians when a segment of the Palestinian population still intends to destroy it.

Persons: Jason Greenblatt, “, Abraham ”, “ Allahu Akbar ”, unachievable, Israel, Fatah, Joe Biden, Biden, it’s Organizations: White, Middle, Trump Administration, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, CNN, Trump White House, Jewish, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Israel, Downing Locations: Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jewish State, Palestinian, New York

☆ Opinion: This Nobel prize is for all the women fighting for freedom in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Stuart Ross | Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

On Friday, Iranian activist Narges Mohammedi won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Iranian women, who were often joined by men, took to the streets to demand equality and an end to the repressive regime. Geravand, it seems, may be one of the countless Iranian women who have refused to surrender to the crackdown. For Nobel prize winner Narges Mohammedi, it’s a clear choice. “I am sure,” she wrote to CNN, “that the world without freedom, equality and peace is not worth living.”

Persons: Frida Ghitis, CNN —, Narges Mohammedi, Mohammedi, ”, Ponder, “ Bella, Mahsa Amini, Jin, Geravand, “ Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Frida Ghitis CNN, New York Times, Authorities Locations: Iran, Evin, Kurdish, Jiyan, Azadi, Tehran, Norway

CNN —The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo on Friday. “This period was and still is the era of greatest protest in this prison,” Mohammadi told CNN in written responses to questions submitted through intermediaries. Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyers who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, commended the committee’s decision to honor Mohammadi. In 2003, she joined the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, an organization founded by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. But her work continued from inside Evin, as she began to oppose human rights abuses committed against political prisoners.

Persons: Narges Mohammadi, Mohammadi, Mahsa, Amini, “, ” “, ”, Berit Reiss, Andersen, “ Ms, ” Reiss, Mohammadi’s, Narges, Amini’s, Bella, ” Mohammadi, Reihane Taravati Mohammadi, Oleksandra, ” Matviichuk, Reiss, Alfred Nobel, Henrik Urdal, Mahsa Amini, ” Urdal, “ Today’s, Ali Khamenei, Shirin Ebadi, Hana Organizations: CNN, Norwegian Nobel, Evin, Twitter, Peace Research Institute, Iranian, Getty, Imam Khomeini International University, of Human Rights, ” Locations: Iran, Norwegian, Oslo, ” Norwegian, Tehran, Reihane, Ukrainian, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak, Kurdish, Senandaj, AFP, Evin, Iraq’s, ”

☆ Opinion: Washington’s turmoil plays right into Putin’s hands
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Sheena Mckenzie | Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In the meantime, a top NATO official warned that the arsenal for supporting Ukraine is running low. Europeans, contrary to the claims of demagogues running for president, are spending heavily to support Ukraine. Their meeting erupted in a round of applause for the Russian president, with delegates shouting “Putin! He voted against four of five bills supporting Ukraine as it sought to defend itself from a Russian invasion, which is now in its 20th month. Asked if Ukraine would be able to fight without US military support, 37-year-old Olha said, “Of course, we will fight — but it will be many times bloodier.”

Persons: Frida Ghitis, you’ve, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Olha Hrubryna, she’s, ”, “, ” Volodymyr Kostiak, MAGA, Robert Fico, Rob Bauer of, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Donald Trump –, Josep Borrell, Joe Biden, Paul Krugman, Krugman, Trump, “ Putin, Oksana Markarova, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, firebrand Trump, he’s, Olha Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Republican, Frida Ghitis CNN, House Democrats, Ukraine, Capitol, NATO, European Union, Pro, Royal Dutch Navy, Soviet Union, European, Republican Party, New York Times, Political, firebrand, GOP Locations: Ukraine, Washington, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Slovakia, Russian, China, Russia, United States, –, Europe

☆ One family’s battle to be reunited with art looted by the Nazis
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Aurore Laborie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The lawyer — Laurence Eisenstein, whose firm works to recover artwork looted by the Nazis — said he’d been speaking to a British scholar who’d come across the name René Gimpel in art collectors’ archives. Thousands of objects lost or lootedAs well as being a famous gallerist of his time, René Gimpel was a very well-connected man. Captured sometime between 1916 and 1933, it showed the three Derain paintings in question hanging on the art dealer’s wall. In 2020, seven years after they began their fight, the Gimpel heirs were finally reunited with the three Derain paintings. Dumas said this is often not the case for Jewish families trying to recover their ancestors’ stolen art.

Persons: Claire Gimpel’s, — Laurence Eisenstein, —, he’d, who’d, René, Eisenstein, Claire, Ian Locke, ” Claire, he’s, André Derain, Claude Monet, René Gimpel, Clarisse Vuitton, Louis Vuitton’s, Monet, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, Johannes Vermeer, ”, Monte, Odile Firer, — René, — Locke, Hôtel Doucet, ’, “ I’m, Palais Bourbon —, Locke, “, Crécy, Corinne Hershkovitch, ” Hershkovitch, Sarah Tilotta, Margaux Dumas, Diderot, Derain, Benoît Payan, Payan, Dumas, Marseille's, Benoit Payan, Gimpel, Alain Robert, SIPA, They’re Organizations: France CNN —, CNN, Gestapo, Europe —, Palais Bourbon, Chapelle, Ministry of Culture, French Ministry of Culture, University Paris, Technical University Berlin, Smithsonian Archives, American Art, Mayor, French Ministry of, Belgium ”, ” Locations: Paris, France, British, French, Gimpel, Vichy France, Cannes, French Vichy, Neuengamme, Hamburg, Europe, Spontini, German, Nice, Troyes, Marseille, René’s Paris, Vichy, Belgium

The so-called “hijab bill” will be enacted for a three-year trial period. On Thursday, the Iranian parliament passed a controversial bill ramping up penalties against women who do not wear the hijab properly. Those who collude with foreign media and governments to promote nudity, improper hijab, or improper dress, face up to 10 years in prison, the new bill adds. Those who are found guilty of ridiculing or insulting the hijab face a fine, in addition to a possible travel ban up to two years, the bill says. The draft law would also mandate broader gender segregation in universities – common hotbeds of civilian protests – and other public spaces.

Persons: CNN —, Mahsa, ”, Majid Asgaripour, Amini’s, ” Sanam Vakil, Hossein Raeesi, Raeesi, General Saeed Montazerolmahdi Organizations: CNN, Guardian Council, Reuters, UN, Authorities, Chatham, Carleton University Locations: Islamic Republic, Tehran, East, North Africa, London, Iranian, Ottawa, Canada, Iran

CNN —The Iranian government now has access to $6 billion of their funds to be used for humanitarian purposes as a part of a wider deal that allowed five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran to go free. Sources told CNN the funds came from oil sales that were allowed and placed into accounts set up under the Trump administration. The money is now available to the Iranian government for purchase of non-sanctionable items such as food and medicine. Kirby said that statement was “flat out wrong.”“This is not a payment of any kind, it’s not ransom, these aren’t US taxpayer dollars, and we haven’t lifted a single one of our sanctions on Iran – Iran will be getting no sanctions relief,” Kirby said. “The money will then go to qualified vendors to purchase and deliver the food, the medical supplies, into Iran.

Persons: Biden, John Kirby, Trump, Antony Blinken, Ebrahim Raisi, Kirby, ” Kirby, “, ”, Trita, Republican Sen, Tom Cotton of, Mike Pence –, Pence, Sen, Tim Scott, Blinken, Janet Yellen Organizations: CNN, Qatar, Republicans, State Department, Ukraine, Biden, US Treasury Department, Qatari National Bank, Quincy Institute, Republican, House, Tehran – Locations: Iran, South Korea, Qatar, Europe, White, Doha, Washington ,, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Tehran, China, United States

CNN —Iranian authorities detained the father of Mahsa Amini on the one-year anniversary of her death Saturday, Iranian journalists and rights groups have said. Iranian journalist and founder of activist outlet “IranWire” Maziar Bahari told CNN that Amini’s father, Amjad, has been regularly summoned by security officers in the months following his daughter’s death. US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in January placed the number at more than 500, including 70 children. Thousands more were arrested during the months of nationwide protest, the UN said in a report in June, citing research released last year by their Human Rights Committee. Iran executed seven protesters for their involvement in the unrest, according to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Persons: Mahsa, Amini, Maziar Bahari, Amjad, ” Bahari, Amini’s, IranWire, Bahari, Safa, Hengaw Organizations: CNN, Helicopters, Human, News Agency, UN, Rights, Human Rights Committee, UN’s, Human Rights Locations: Iran, Iranian, Kurdish, Saqqez

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced new U.S. sanctions Friday on “some of Iran's more egregious human rights abusers” as he marked the anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by the country's morality police. Amini had been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of laws that require women in public to wear the Islamic headscarf. Her death set off protests in dozens of cities across the country of 80 million people, with young women marching in the streets and publicly exposing and cutting off their hair. Taken in coordination with the U.K., Canada, Australia, and other nations, this is the United States' 13th round of sanctions designations in response to Iran’s crackdown on protests. The U.S. has already sanctioned over 70 Iranian people and entities “responsible for supporting the regime’s oppression of its people," Biden said.

Persons: Joe Biden, ”, Amini, Biden, Antony Blinken, ” Blinken, Jon Gambrell Organizations: WASHINGTON, Treasury’s, Foreign, Iran’s Prisons Organization, paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Press, State Department, Associated Press Locations: Islamic Republic, Iran, Fars, U.S, Canada, Australia, United States, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

☆ Mahsa Amini’s uncle arrested ahead of one-year anniversary of her death
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Teele Rebane | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The uncle of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman whose death in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked nation-wide protests last year, was arrested last week, according to a family member and a human rights group. Safa Aeli, a resident of the Kurdish city of Saqqez, was arrested on Tuesday at his home by 10 intelligence agents, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). A family member told CNN on condition of anonymity that Aeli has since been taken to Tehran, without providing further details out of concern for his safety. The reasons behind his arrest are unknown, but his detention comes just days before the one-year anniversary of Amini’s death. The protests dwindled, but the regime has ramped up its arrests of activists and their relatives ahead of the anniversary of Amini’s death September 16.

Persons: Mahsa Amini, Safa, Aeli, Amini, ” Organizations: CNN, Human, News Agency Locations: Kurdish, Saqqez, Tehran, Iran

CNN —A new draft law that would enshrine harsh punishments for women and girls who fail to wear a hijab in Iran could amount to “gender apartheid,” UN experts said in a statement on Friday. “The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing women and girls into total submission,” the experts said. The proposed legislation, which is currently under review by the Iranian parliament, would establish harsh penalties for women who refuse to wear the veil – including long jail sentences. The 70-article draft law also proposes stiff new penalties for celebrities and businesses who flout the rules and the use of artificial intelligence to identify women in breach of the dress code. The draft law came under review by Iranian authorities just weeks ahead of the one-year anniversary of the mass protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being stopped by Iran’s morality police in Tehran.

Persons: “, ’, Mahsa, ” Organizations: CNN, UN, ” Locations: Iran, Tehran

☆ Rare protests flare in regime-held Syria as Assad seeks international rehabilitation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The protests, which are taking place in areas governed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, have so far shown no signs of abating. The Druze are Syria’s third largest religious minority making up 3% to 4% of the country’s population, according to Minority Rights Group International. While the largest protests are clustered around al-Sir Square in Suwayda city, other, smaller ones are scattered across the governorate, Marouf said. “If protests spread deeper into regime territories, those chances (of violent crackdown) will surge.”All eyes are on Assad’s next moves. If Assad attends, it would be his first appearance on the world stage since the start of the civil war in 2011.

Persons: Bashar al, disgruntlement, Assad, haven’t, ”, Charles Lister, ” Lister, “ Long, ” Rayan Marouf, Marouf, “, ” Marouf, Hafez, Syria’s, Geir Pedersen, Pedersen Organizations: CNN, Group, Middle East Institute, UN, Arab League, Sir, UN Security Council, Sky News, ISIS, Security, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Syria’s, Syria, Washington , DC, Russia, Iran, Suwayda governorate, Suwayda, Jaramana, Damascus, “, Idlib, Aleppo, United Arab, Dubai

☆ Decades After Dictatorship, Chile Mounts Search for Hundreds Who Vanished
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Pascale Bonnefoy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Thirty-six years after Fernando Ortíz’s abduction and disappearance, his family finally received his remains: five bone fragments in a box. No one came out alive from the black site named for the street it was on: Simón Bolívar. It was little more than a house in a rural area east of the capital run by the regime’s intelligence agency, DINA. There were no witnesses or survivors to shed light on the detainees’ fates. Mr. Ortíz was one of 1,469 people who disappeared under Chile’s military rule from 1973 to 1990.

Persons: Fernando Ortíz’s, Ortíz, Augusto Pinochet, DINA Locations: Chile

☆ Fact Check-Video of 'African President' reacting to Trump arrest is satirical
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video of stand-up comedian Benjamin Bankole Bello dressed as his stage character, “President Obonjo of the Republic of Lafta,” urging the release of former U.S. President Donald Trump following his arrest in August is satirical. Several clips of Bellow dressed as the character can be found on his TikTok (here) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/obonjo/) accounts. Ian Hawkins, a spokesperson for Bellow, told Reuters in an email that the clip showed Bello commenting in character as President Obonjo. “President Obonjo of Lafta Republic is a comedy character who has appeared in a TV special on ITVx and at numerous comedy festivals in the UK. Video shows comedian Benjamin Bello, not an “African president.”This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

Persons: Benjamin Bankole Bello, Obonjo, ”, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden, “, Conservative Donald Trump, Bellow, Ian Hawkins, Bello, ” Hawkins, Benjamin Bello, Read Organizations: Facebook, Conservative, “, Reuters Locations: Republic of, Atlanta, Georgia, America, Republic of Lafta, Lafta Republic

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