PARIS: Iranian authorities have destroyed half a dozen homes belonging to Bahais in a new phase of an crackdown that has shaken the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, an NGO has said.
Bahai representatives said 13 community members, including several prominent figures, had already been arrested in raids on Sunday following dozens of arrests over the last two months.
BAGHDAD: Powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, whose bloc won the most seats in Iraq’s elections last year, demanded Wednesday that parliament be dissolved and new national polls be called.
Nearly 10 months on from the last elections, the country still has no government, new prime minister or new president, due to repeated squabbles between factions over forming a coalition.
DUBAI: On August 3, Yazidis around the world will come together to mourn their brothers, sisters, parents, and other loved ones who were massacred by Daesh eight years ago.
It was on that fateful day in 2014 that Daesh hordes invaded the historic Yazidi homeland, Sinjar, in Iraq. The terrorist group murdered 1,268 people on the first day; and throughout the weeks that followed, 6,417 Yazidis were kidnapped, 3,548 of whom were women and underage girls who were thrown into sexual slavery and forced labor.
JERUSALEM: Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on Tuesday for an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of female guards by prisoners at a maximum security prison with the encouragement of their superiors.
“Hearing the testimonies of the female prison wardens in recent days, I am filled with shock and pain, and I feel sick,” Herzog said in a statement. “We must investigate these cases in depth, so that everyone responsible is held accountable with the fullest severity. That is our obligation.”
BEIRUT: The celebration of the 77th Lebanese Army Day on Monday witnessed over 40 female officers graduating from the Lebanese Army Military Academy.
Female officer Lt. Angie Khoury was the top cadet in this year’s graduating class. She read out the oath and all graduates repeated it after her.
The gender split reflects “the progress of Lebanese society and the change in the stereotypical picture of women,” said the National Commission for Lebanese Women in a statement.
