Jerusalem CNN — Israel’s President Isaac Herzog asked Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government on Sunday, allowing the former prime minister to secure the country’s top job for a record sixth time and extend his record as the nation’s longest-serving leader. Netanyahu, who served 12 years as Prime Minister before losing office in 2021, […]
CNN — Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since nationwide protests erupted two months ago, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group has claimed. That figure includes 43 children and 25 women, the group said in an update to its death toll on Saturday – saying that its published number represented […]
Thousands of Iranians protested in the restive southeast on Friday to mark a Sept. 30 crackdown by security forces known as “Bloody Friday” as the country’s clerical rulers battled persistent nationwide unrest. Amnesty International said security forces unlawfully killed at least 66 people in September after firing at protesters in Zahedan, capital of flashpoint Sistan-Baluchistan […]
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem CNN — Israel’s President Isaac Herzog announced Friday he will invite Benjamin Netanyahu to form Israel’s next government, paving the way for him to take the country’s top job for a record sixth time and extend his record as the nation’s longest-serving leader. Herzog will officially issue the mandate to Netanyahu […]
Abu Dhabi and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt CNN — For some political detainees in Egypt, a second nationality can be a matter of life or death, especially when pressure from Western governments becomes the last hope for possible freedom. In Egypt, the plight of a prominent British-Egyptian activist currently on hunger strike in prison is the […]
CNN — Leading Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti posted a picture of herself on Instagram without the mandatory hijab to show support for ongoing anti-government protests that kicked off in Iran nearly two months ago. In the photo, Alidoosti holds a sign that reads “Women, Life, Freedom” in Kurdish, a popular slogan that has been used […]
Afghan women were stopped from entering amusement parks in Kabul Wednesday after the Taliban’s morality ministry said that there would be restrictions on women being able to access public parks. A spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV) confirmed that women would be restricted from accessing parks when […]
Editor’s Note: A version of this article appears in Wednesday’s edition of CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here. CNN — On the easternmost outskirts of Cairo, the Egyptian government is building a giant belt of lakes and parks deep in the desert. Creators […]
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt CNN — The sister of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah is concerned for his life, telling a news conference on the sidelines of COP27 that the family’s does not “know if he’s alive.” Despite Egypt’s police state making it difficult for government critics to speak out freely, Sanaa Seif, who […]
Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here. Jerusalem and London CNN — Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu owes his victory in last week’s Israeli elections partly to a change in election rules promoted by the political […]