TEHRAN: An Iranian court handed a preliminary death sentence to a man convicted over serial rape, local media reported Saturday, in a case that sparked a #MeToo movement in the country.
Keyvan Emamverdi, a former bookshop owner who studied archaeology, was arrested in August 2020 after at least 20 women accused him of assault, mostly anonymously, using the #rape hashtag on Twitter.
Emamverdi was sentenced to death for “corruption on earth,” said Shima Ghousheh, a lawyer representing five of the plaintiffs, according to ISNA news agency.

BAB AL-HAWA, Syria: Residents of embattled northwest Syria warned Saturday of a “catastrophe” following a Russian veto at the UN Security Council that threatens to end cross-border aid deliveries critical to their survival.
Friday’s veto of a resolution that would have extended authorization for UN aid deliveries through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border by one year amounted to a “siege and famine policy that Russia resorts to across Syria,” charged Mazen Allouch, a border crossing official.

LONDON: Jordanian authorities on Thursday have charged eight people in multiple crimes, primarily offenses that led to death and damage of others’ money, following a gas leak in the southern port city of Aqaba, state news agency Petra reported.
The kingdom’s Public Prosecution Office continued its probe procedures into the chlorine gas leak case and heard testimonies from 25 people who were present at the docking port, in addition to listening to other 135 testimonies during the course of the investigation earlier.

BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia’s decision to drop COVID-19 restrictions for passengers traveling from Lebanon will provide great momentum for air traffic between Beirut, Riyadh, and Jeddah, an industry leader said on Friday.

Jean Abboud, head of the Syndicate of Tourism and Travel Agencies, told Arab News that airlines had started programming their flights to Riyadh and Jeddah from Beirut. Most people were relieved by the move, he added.

NEW YORK: Russia on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended cross-border aid to Syria by one year without Damascus’s backing.
The authorization for aid deliveries across the Syrian-Turkish border at Bab Al-Hawa, which has been in effect since 2014, is set to expire Sunday.
The aid is a lifeline for more than 2.4 million people in the northwestern Idlib region of Syria, under the control of jihadists and rebels.