CAIRO: The case of a four-year-old boy, Shenouda, who was raised by a Coptic couple who found him abandoned outside a church, has sparked a heated debate in Egypt involving human rights activists and lawmakers.

Activists have called for the case to be brought before the House of Representatives in the hope that Egypt’s laws regarding the adoption of children by Christians will be amended.

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.

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the courts would correct any mistakes in an appeal process after the jailing of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, and in the meantime Turks had no right to ignore legal rulings.

In his first direct comments on Wednesday’s conviction of Ekrem Imamoglu — a potential challenger to Erdogan who was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and handed a political ban — Erdogan said he did not care who is the opposition candidate in next year’s elections.

AMMAN: A high-ranking Jordanian police officer who was shot and killed on Thursday in the protest-hit southern city of Maan was laid to rest on Friday in his hometown of Jasrah, 40 km from the capital Amman.

Col. Abdul Razzaq Al-Dalabeeh, deputy police chief of Maan, was shot in the head while officers responded to rioters in Al-Husseiniya. Two others were injured in the clashes in Maan, which has been rocked by demonstrations against increasing fuel prices.

BEIRUT: The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has urged Beirut to ensure a speedy investigation after an Irish soldier was shot dead in the south of the country.

A UNIFIL convoy came under fire near Al-Aqabiya, the Irish military said, wounding three other personnel.

The killing of Pvt. Sean Rooney, 23, in southern Lebanon on Wednesday night, occurred after the vehicle in which he was traveling deviated from a convoy, in an area outside UNIFIL’s scope of work, and the vehicle was targeted.