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Illegal Afghan Immigrant Sexually Assaults Iranian Woman

Rape

A few days ago, an Iranian fire-fighter lost his life to rescue an Afghan worker. Afghans are uninvited yet respected guests of Iranians; however, human rights organizations should know that Iranians have paid a heavy price for the social harms they inflict upon Iranians. The story of this Afghan man, who is called by Iranian media the ‘night hyena’, corroborates this claim.

According to a report by Mizan, as translated by IFP, an Iranian woman referred to Tehran’s Police Department on August 5, 2016, to file a complaint against a wicked Afghan man who had sneaked into her house at 4:30 a.m. She said she was sleeping in her bedroom when he attacked and raped her.

Based on her remarks, this was the second time that she was falling victim to his sexual desires.

“This time he broke into my house on the 1st of August at 1:00 a.m. and assaulted me once again,” she said.

Since the attacker had committed the crime for two times at a short interval and in the same way, Tehran’s Police concluded that he would do it again. Therefore, they conducted undercover surveillance around the plaintiff’s living place.

No more than a few nights later, they noticed a man was climbing up the wall of the woman’s house. He was arrested right away.

Hamed, 24, from Afghanistan, confessed to the allegations and said, “I entered Iran illegally and after a few days of roaming about on the streets, I found the door of a house open in Tehran’s Yousef Abad neighbourhood.”

“I sneaked into her house and threatened her to death if she makes a noise,” he added, confessing that he sexually assaulted her and escaped.

Judicial authorities of Tehran’s Criminal Court have issued the order to publish his photo in media outlets and asked the possible victims to identify him.

Illegal Afghan Immigrant Sexually Assaults Iranian Woman

Iranian Doctor Warns about Dire Health Conditions of Yemenis

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According to a report by Mizan, as translated by IFP, Iranian medical official Mohammad Raeiszadeh announced that Iranian doctors, the Iranian Red Crescent Society, and the Health Ministry are all ready and eager to help the war-stricken people of Yemen.

However, he added, there is no way for the dispatch of doctors to Yemen or reception of Yemeni people in Iran.

“It is a shame for the human being that a nation is slaughtered in its own territory and no route is provided for sending aid to them,” he went on to say.

“We are faced with a humanitarian disaster in Yemen. People in Yemen today suffer from a severe shortage of medical and pharmaceutical equipment as well as skilled doctors and specialists, and no one hears their voice,” Raeiszadeh regretted.

In their latest atrocity against the innocent people of Yemen, Saudi-led warplanes on October 8 targeted a crowded funeral ceremony in Sana’a, killing over 140 people and injuring more than 600 others.

Iran has since voiced its preparedness to send medical aid to the war-torn country or to receive the wounded Yemenis in Iran, but the Saudi-led coalition has refused to allow Iran’s aid in.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

According to UN estimates, over 10,000 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the military campaign.

Iran’s President Offers Condolences to Thailand on King’s Death

President Hassan Rouhani

In a letter to Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha on Saturday, President Rouhani, on behalf of the Iranian government and nation, expressed condolences to the Thai people and royal family on the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran always regards Kingdom of Thailand as an age-old friend and partner and hopes to see the expansion of bilateral relations in all fields,” the president added.

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch who was seen as a father-figure to the nation, died in hospital on Thursday at age 88. He reigned for seven decades after ascending the throne in 1946.

Saudi-Led Coalition Claims It ‘Wrongly Targeted’ Yemen Funeral

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The Oct. 8 strike prompted an international outcry and strong criticism even from Saudi Arabia’s closest Western allies.

“Because of non-compliance with coalition rules of engagement and procedures, and the issuing of incorrect information, a coalition aircraft wrongly targeted the location, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries,” an inquiry team found.

“Appropriate action… must be taken against those who caused the incident, and… compensation must be offered to the families of the victims.”

The strike was one of the deadliest in the coalition’s nearly 19-month-old bombing campaign in support of Yemen’s fugitive former government.

More than 6,700 people have been killed in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country since the coalition first intervened, nearly two-thirds of them civilians, according to the United Nations.

Britain is to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council next week calling for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, after an earlier text condemning the funeral bombing was rejected by Russia as not strong enough.

The inquiry team called on coalition commanders to change their procedures to prevent any repetition of the failings that led to the strike.

“Coalition forces must immediately review their rules of engagement and update their procedures to ensure adherence in future,” the team said, AFP reported.

The air raid, which targeted the funeral of the father of a senior Houthi commander, also wounded at least 525 people, more than 300 of them critically.

The outcry over the number of civilian casualties prompted the coalition to announce an easing of the air blockade it has enforced since March last year to allow the evacuation of the most seriously wounded for treatment abroad.

An Omani aircraft landed in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital Saturday to evacuate 115 of the most seriously wounded, a Houthi official said.

Oman is the only Persian Gulf Arab state that is not part of the coalition fighting the Houthis and has previously organized evacuations from Sana’a of Westerners and others who had been detained by the insurgents.

Human Rights Watch said that the strike on the funeral was an “apparent war crime.”

“While military personnel and civilian officials involved in the war effort were attending the ceremony, the clear presence of several hundred civilians strongly suggests that the attack was unlawfully disproportionate,” the New York-based watchdog said Thursday.

The coalition initially denied responsibility but after condemnation from Western governments, it promised an investigation of the “regrettable and painful” event.

A letter sent to the UN Security Council last weekend “expressed the kingdom’s deep regret” over the “attack”.

There was huge pressure on the coalition to publish the findings of its investigation into the raid as swiftly as possible.

Suicide Bombing in Northern Baghdad Kills 35

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The attack in the Shaab neighborhood occurred at around lunchtime, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by the Daesh-linked Aamaq news agency.

The claim could not be independently verified, but it was carried by a news organization affiliated with the Daesh group, the Associated Press reported.

The attack comes as Iraqi security forces are preparing for an operation to retake the militant-held northern city of Mosul, the country’s second largest city, from the Daesh terrorist group.

In the past the extremists have increased insurgent attacks inside government-held territory far from the front lines after suffering territorial losses on the battlefield.

Iraq has seen several bombings in recent months, though most have had lower death tolls than Saturday’s attack. In July, a massive car bomb in central Baghdad’s popular shopping district of Karradah killed about 300 people and forced the resignation of the country’s interior minister.

Leader Outlines General Policies on Iran Elections

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The proclamation, laying out a grand plan to ensure successful and healthy elections in Iran, has been issued after consultation with the Expediency Council and prepared on the basis of the Clause 1 of Article 110 of the Iranian Constitution.

The text of the general policies on elections have been sent to heads of Iran’s three branches of power and head of the Expediency Council.

In the document, Ayatollah Khamenei has stressed the need to determine the constituencies in the parliamentary elections on the basis of each area’s population to ensure maximum justice in the polls.

The Leader also emphasized that all candidates should be entitled to equal advantages when it comes to using state-run facilities, such as the national broadcasting or other public media outlets.

The document further prohibits any inappropriate action in the electoral campaigns that could jeopardize the national security or incite sectarian and religious rift.

Forbidding the Iranian candidates from receiving any foreign support, either financial or spiritual, the grand plan calls for the formulation of strategies to prevent the violation of electoral regulations or any measure in contradiction to the national unity and interests.

The document also highlights the need to define the framework and regulations for “lawful and responsible activities by the political parties and formations and individuals” in the polls.

As regards the presidential election, the Leader called on the Guardian Council to define and publicize details of the requirements for the political and religious figures with administrative capacity and resourcefulness intending to run for the president.

A written explanation for any decision on the annulment of the votes or removing an applicant from the list of qualified candidates must be available on request from the hopefuls, the document underscored.

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged the employment of modern technologies in the polls and vote counting process in order to maximize the transparency and health of the polls.

The document, which includes 18 articles, is released seven months before the presidential election.

According to the Constitution, nationwide elections are held in Iran to elect the president, the lawmakers, members of the Assembly of Experts and the local councilors.

Nigerian President under Fire for Saying His Wife ‘Belongs in Kitchen’

BUHARI

According to a report by CNN, as covered by ISNA, Buhari’s blatantly sexist remark came during a Berlin news conference with one of the world’s most powerful women, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“I don’t know which party my wife belongs to but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room,” said the president, whose popularity at home has plummeted amid a deep recession.

Buhari was responding to a BBC interview in which his wife, Aisha, a businesswoman and activist, questioned his leadership and suggested she may not back his re-election bid unless he shakes up his government.

Buhari told reporters that he can “claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition” after running for president three times and succeeding on his fourth attempt.

There was no immediate reaction from Merkel, who is called a Machtfrau — a woman of power — in Germany for managing to reach the top as an outsider in a male-dominated world.

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu later took to Twitter to dismiss Buhari’s comments as “banter.”

“Politics sometimes should be spiced with humour,” he tweeted. “Those of us around him know there is never a dull moment with him.”

Shehu tweeted that the fact that a woman, Kami Adeosun, holds one of Nigeria’s most sensitive government posts as finance minister, was evidence of Buhari’s confidence in women.

But critics took to social media to denounce Buhari’s sexist remarks.

US Secretary of Energy: Iran’s Missile Program Was Never Part of Negotiations

moniz

According to a report by Columbia Spectator, as covered by Mehr, at the Energy Leaders Forum at Columbia, United States Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz discussed climate change, clean energy, the US responsibilities in the field of energy security.

Moniz also discussed the details of the Iran Nuclear Deal, another major act established during his time as Secretary of Energy. Moniz highlighted the success of the program and addressed some of the controversies surrounding it.

“The agreement is not criticized for what it is; now any criticism of it comes from what it is not. People ask why it didn’t solve issues like the missile problem … and the reason for that is that it simply was not part of the negotiations,” said Moniz. “In a nutshell, it’s working.”

Elsewhere in his speech, he also highlighted the importance of continuously working on policy and innovation across all aspects of the Department of Energy’s work.

“What we have found is a tremendous synergy between success in the innovation agenda and policy,” Moniz said. “When you put them together, they tend to amplify each other. There is a lot happening right now, and innovation will be at the core of the agenda.”

Moniz went on to stress the importance of not only working towards clean energy, but also developing an infrastructure that ensures the protection of energy resources in the face of crises.

Iran Agrees to Attend Syria Talks in Lausanne after Conditions Accepted

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew to Lausanne on Saturday morning to join his US and Russian counterparts and top diplomats from the UN and regional powers for talks on the settlement of a crisis that has plagued Syria for more than five years.

The decision, however, came as a surprise. Only a day earlier, an informed source at the Foreign Ministry had dismissed reports of Zarif’s attendance in the negotiations.

Sources had announced initially that Iran would absent itself from the Lausanne talks because of a huge difference between its views and those of certain parties in the meeting.

But reports suggest that Tehran put forward its plans to resolve the Syria crisis in a series of subsequent contacts with top Russian and EU diplomats and laid down conditions for attending the Lausanne meeting.

Iran was finally persuaded to take part in the talks after Russia and the other parties accepted part of its conditions and also agreed on an increase in the number of the participants.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, as well as top diplomats from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar take part in the Lausanne talks.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.

Some 470,000 Syrians have been killed throughout the five years of bloodshed, 4.8 million have fled the country, and 6.6 million have become internally displaced by the violence.

Giving Nobel Prize in Literature to Bob Dylan Is Like ‘Pinning Medal on Everest’

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On Thursday, October 13, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, sparking controversy among musicians, novelists and fans.
That evening in Los Angeles, his song-writing peer and friend Leonard Cohen gave his thoughts on Dylan’s award. “To me,” he said, “[the award] is like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain,” Guardian reported.

bob dylanDylan became the first American in 33 years to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for having “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” – and he’s reacted in exactly the way you’d expect Bob Dylan to react; he’s remained silent. The Swedish Academy, who presented the musician with the award, has revealed it is yet to hear from Dylan with board member Odd Zschiedrich stating they’ve spoken to his agent and tour manager, The Independent reported. Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, turned 75 earlier this year. His career has spanned more than five decades and his influence still pervades genres from rock and pop to folk and soul. His stunning lyrical ability has seen him tackle timeless themes from politics to love and he remains a hugely respected cultural presence. The Washington Post reported that: “Dylan remained silent throughout the day about the award. His longtime friend, folk singer and artist Bob Neuwirth didn’t expect he would be tweeting out his excitement.
Dylan’s official Twitter account made only two allusions to the prize, once when announcing and again when retweeting Barack Obama who brands the singer-songwriter “one of [my] favourite poets.”
He is the first American to win since Beloved author Toni Morrison picked up the prize in 1993. While the announcement was a surprise, Dylan has been a popular choice for consideration over the years, despite his work not fitting into the traditional categories of novels and poems usually favoured by the judges.