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Iran minister orders probe into sexual assault of teen footballers

Iran minister orders probe into sexual assault of teen footballers
Iranian Sports Minister Hamid Sajadi vowed “firm response” against those responsible for the incident. (File/Mehr News Agency)
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Updated 21 January 2023
AFP

Iran minister orders probe into sexual assault of teen footballers

Iran minister orders probe into sexual assault of teen footballers
  • The report did not specify the gender of the minors targeted in the alleged assaults
Updated 21 January 2023
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s sports minister has ordered a probe into allegations of sexual assault targeting teenagers at a football academy in the country’s northeast, state media reported Saturday.
“A former media manager for the Shahr Khodro football team has claimed on social media that the parents of 15 players from this club and its academy have filed a complaint against the club and its coaches for sexually assaulting their children,” state news agency IRNA reported.
The report did not specify the gender of the minors targeted in the alleged assaults.
Shahr Khodro football club is based in the shrine city of Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city.
“Minister of Sports Hamid Sajadi two weeks ago ordered an investigation into reports of assault at a football academy for teenagers in Mashhad,” IRNA added.
Sajadi called for a “firm response” against those responsible for the incident, the agency added.
On Friday, the local newspaper Shahrara reported on its website that the families of players from the club had gathered outside the headquarters of the provincial football organization to protest the “tragedy.”
The families decided to bring the matter to the media when their protest failed to elicit a response, the daily added.
A similar controversy erupted in 2017 when an official in the Iranian football federation’s ethics committee said more than 10 teenage members of a club has been sexually assaulted.

Topics: Iran

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Gaza fisherman tests waters in legal fight over Israeli blockade

Gaza fisherman tests waters in legal fight over Israeli blockade
Updated 25 min 38 sec ago
AFP

Gaza fisherman tests waters in legal fight over Israeli blockade

Gaza fisherman tests waters in legal fight over Israeli blockade
  • Palestinians argue it is an effective siege that has crippled Gaza’s economy
  • Fishing zone currently extends to only between 11km and 28km off the Gaza coast
Updated 25 min 38 sec ago
AFP

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza fisherman Jihad Al-Hissi is used to rough waters but he now faces a new storm. An Israeli court may seize his boat after he breached the limits of the enclave’s fishing zone.
The issue is crucial for thousands in the blockaded Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people, where fishing in the Mediterranean Sea remains one of the few economic lifelines.
Hissi, 55, with square shoulders and a scruffy beard, told his story at Gaza’s dock early one morning as fishermen sold their overnight catch of sea bream, prawns and sardines.
For now he has his boat, but its fate is uncertain as Israeli authorities argue before a Haifa court that it should be permanently taken away.
The vessel, used to catch gamberi prawns off southern Gaza near Egypt, is named the “Hajj Rajab,” but its owners have erased the name from its yellow hull.
“I don’t want the Israelis to spot us and seize my boat,” said Hissi, who had a violent encounter with an Israeli naval patrol boat more than a year ago.
Israel says its land, air and sea blockade of Gaza is needed to protect it from rocket and other attacks from Hamas and to prevent arms smuggling to the Islamist militant movement.
Palestinians argue it is an effective siege that has crippled Gaza’s economy and further impoverished its people, while the fishing limits deny it crucial protein.
Last year’s incident came on February 14 when Hissi’s vessel ventured beyond the maritime zone that Israel declared in 2007, the year Hamas seized power in Gaza.
Jihad’s brother Nihad, who was at sea that day, said that “100 meters beyond the area, we were surprised by three Israeli boats with commandos.
“They attacked our boat ... tied us up and arrested us.”
The boat’s cabin is still damaged from the water cannon blasts and the rubber-encased bullets fired by the Israeli forces that day.
Israel, in documents presented to court, accuses Hissi of having “repeatedly violated the security restrictions imposed by the Israeli army in the maritime zone adjacent to Gaza.”
The Israeli non-government group Gisha has helped defend Hissi and in September secured the boat’s return, but Israeli authorities now demand the court “permanently confiscate” the vessel.
The fishing zone allowed by Israel currently extends only to the heavily fished areas between six and 15 nautical miles (about 11 to 28 kilometers) off the Gaza coast.
Hissi argues this is less than the maximum of 20 nautical miles agreed in the 1990s under the Israeli-Palestinian agreements in Oslo.
But he also admits to going even beyond that from time to time, in search of shrimp which nets around $21 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) and can make the difference between profit and loss.
The legal fight is closely watched by thousands of fishermen in Gaza.
If Hissi’s boat is permanently confiscated, this would spell “a serious threat to the thousands of fishermen in Gaza, because it aims to put an end to fishing,” charged Nizar Ayyash, president of the union representing the 4,000 fishermen in Gaza.
The court battle comes amid a rise in Israel’s temporary seizures of fishing boats suspected of smuggling or breaching the fishing zone.
Last year saw 23 boat confiscations, the highest number since 2018, according to the Palestinian non-governmental group Al-Mezan.
The group also recorded 474 security incidents involving Gaza fishermen last year, the most in five years.
Gisha lawyer Muna Haddad argued that the case was “outrageous” and came amid “an unprecedented escalation in targeting those fishermen.”
Haddad accused Israel of misusing provisions of international law on armed conflict regarding the seizure of enemy ships by imposing them on civilians.
In the court documents seen by AFP, Israel claims Hissi “abused” legal protections and that his crew had “threatened” the safety of soldiers during the maritime seizure.
Israeli military officials assured AFP they wanted to support Gaza’s economy — but without compromising Israel’s security.
“We fish to survive,” said Hissi, whose family once lived in Jaffa, now part of Tel Aviv, before fleeing to Gaza during the 1948 war.
“And we will continue to fish even when our profits are low. I don’t know how to do anything else in life anyway.”

Topics: Gaza Israel

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Syria says Israel attacked Aleppo airport, no casualties

Syria says Israel attacked Aleppo airport, no casualties
Updated 22 March 2023
AP

Syria says Israel attacked Aleppo airport, no casualties

Syria says Israel attacked Aleppo airport, no casualties
  • Attack causes material damage in the second attack on the facility this month
  • Airport has been one of the main channels for the flow of aid into the country after the Feb. 6 earthquake
Updated 22 March 2023
AP

DAMASCUS: An Israeli airstrike early Wednesday targeted the international airport of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, causing material damage in the second attack on the facility this month, state media report.
State news agency SANA, quoting an unnamed military official, did not mention if the strike caused any deaths or injuries. It said warplanes fired the missiles toward Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once commercial center, while flying over the Mediterranean.
The airport has been one of the main channels for the flow of aid into the country after the Feb. 6 earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, killing over 50,000 people, including more than 6,000 in Syria.
On March 7, an Israeli airstrike put the airport out of service for several days and flights were rerouted to two other airports in the war-torn country until the damage was fixed.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.
Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Israel has targeted airports and seaports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Topics: Israel Syria

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Probable civilian deaths during British air strikes in Iraq throw doubt on ‘perfect’ war claims

Probable civilian deaths during British air strikes in Iraq throw doubt on ‘perfect’ war claims
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News

Probable civilian deaths during British air strikes in Iraq throw doubt on ‘perfect’ war claims

Probable civilian deaths during British air strikes in Iraq throw doubt on ‘perfect’ war claims
  • UK forces were probably responsible for civilian deaths in at least six strikes on the city of Mosul in 2016 and 2017
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News

LONDON: Civilian deaths as a result of air strikes on Daesh targets in Iraq have been linked to British forces, according to a Guardian investigation released on Tuesday.

Forces in the US-led coalition fighting against Daesh in Iraq have admitted the killings of hundreds of civilians in Iraq in the period after 2014, but Britain’s government and military have long claimed that a “perfect” war was fought, in which no non-combatants or ordinary Iraqis were killed.

However, the report, which was carried out with the watchdog Airwars, concluded that UK forces were probably responsible for civilian deaths in at least six strikes on the city of Mosul in 2016 and 2017.

In the strikes highlighted, the coalition admits the deaths of 26 civilians, and victims of two of the strikes were identified in the report.

A further strike on Jan. 9, 2017 on Mosul, which coalition officials accepted killed two civilians, has been confirmed as a Royal Air Force mission, but British officials deny that the casualties were civilian but rather legitimate militant targets.

British bombing in Iraq as part of the Operation Inherent Resolve coalition efforts against Daesh started in 2014, and in Syria the year after, with more than 4,000 munitions in the two countries, the report concluded.

UK military figures claim 3,052 Daesh militants were killed in Iraq with no civilian deaths, with 1,017 militants killed in Syria with one civilian death, between 2014 and 2020.

“There is no evidence or indication that civilian casualties were caused by strikes in Syria and Iraq,” a Ministry of Defense spokesperson told the Guardian.

“The UK always minimizes the risk of civilian casualties through our rigorous processes and carefully examines a range of evidence to do this, including comprehensive analysis of the mission data for every strike,” the spokesperson said.

However, critics say that the British position is not convincing.

Former military officials have called the claim of no civilian deaths in Iraq “a stretch” and “nonsense,” especially after the 2016 Chilcot report into the UK’s role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq found that not enough had been done to locate injured or killed non-combatants.

If Britain is forced to accept responsibility for civilian deaths, a law passed in 2021 set a six-year cut-off point for compensation claims for survivors, which leaves those in Iraq and Syria unable to make a claim against the government.

 

Topics: Iraq

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Kuwait, UK hold strategic dialogue in London

Kuwait, UK hold strategic dialogue in London
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News

Kuwait, UK hold strategic dialogue in London

Kuwait, UK hold strategic dialogue in London
Updated 22 March 2023
Arab News

LONDON: The first session of strategic dialogues between Kuwait and the UK were held in London on Monday with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in several fields, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

The Kuwaiti side was led by Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah while the British side was chaired by James Cleverly, secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs. 

During the session, Cleverly said although the world has witnessed significant changes, Kuwaiti-British relations had grown stronger. He also lauded Kuwait’s well-balanced foreign policy, which focuses on promoting regional security and peace. 

Sheikh Salem and Cleverly discussed the most recent regional and international developments as well as strategies for enhancing international cooperation. They also coordinated on issues such as the situation in occupied Palestinian territories and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
 

Topics: Kuwait UK

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Houthi court jails Yemeni YouTubers

Houthi court jails Yemeni YouTubers
Updated 3 min 39 sec ago
Saeed Al-Batati

Houthi court jails Yemeni YouTubers

Houthi court jails Yemeni YouTubers
  • The four YouTubers were apprehended by the Houthis from various places in Sanaa and at various periods in December and January
Updated 3 min 39 sec ago
Saeed Al-Batati

AL-MUKALLA: A Houthi-controlled court in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, jailed four Yemeni YouTubers on Tuesday and shut down their internet channels after accusing them of inciting the public against the militia, rekindling indignation against the Yemeni militia and their habit of punishing dissidents through courts.

Abdul Majeed Sabra, a Yemeni lawyer who defends abductees held in Houthi prisons, said the Specialized Criminal Court of First Instance in Sanaa sentenced Ahmad Elaw to three years in prison, Mustafa Al-Mawmari to one and a half years, Ahmed Hajjar to one year, and Hamoud Al-Mesbahi to six months, accusing them of circulating false information to damage national security.

The court ordered the closure of their YouTube channels and a fine of almost $40,000. The court also ordered the confiscation of Elaw’s mobile phones, cameras, and bank accounts.

Waddah Qutaish, the YouTubers’ attorney, said on his Facebook page that the judge read out the judgment without providing any grounds or evidence for granting it, calling the sentence “unjust” and intended to stifle free speech, and stating that he has filed an appeal.

The four YouTubers were apprehended by the Houthis from various places in Sanaa and at various periods in December and January.

The Houthis abducted Hajjar, a well-known Yemeni comedian, actor, and YouTuber, as he walked down Al-Zubairi street in Sanaa in December, just days after he appeared in a video criticizing the Houthis for overtaxing people, failing to pay government salaries, corruption, and failing to address aggravating poverty.

The Houthis kidnapped the other three YouTubers in January after they released videos showing support for Hajar, calling for his release, and criticizing the Houthis once more.

Al-Mawmari is the most popular YouTuber with over 2 million YouTube subscribers and tens of thousands of Facebook fans, followed by Elaw with 800,000 YouTube subscribers.

On Monday, Houthi security services released a video of the YouTubers confessing to inciting the public to revolt against the movement, as well as creating fake content and social media accounts, apologizing for criticizing the militia, and blaming “aggression” for the worsening economic situation in Sanaa, referring to the Yemeni government and the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.

The ruling has provoked protests against the Houthis, who have been accused of attempting to muzzle dissenting voices. “Al-Houthi is an unruly gang that utilizes the court as a weapon for repression…and the abolition of individual liberties,” Mohammed Al-Ahmadi, a Yemeni journalist, said on Facebook.
 

Topics: Yemen Houthis

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