IRAN
Headscarf bill advances
The parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear Islamic headscarves in public and those who support them. The bill also extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the mandatory headscarf, known as hijab, and people who organize against it. Those convicted face up to 10 years in prison if the offense occurs in an organized way. The bill requires ratification by the Guardian Council, a clerical body.
UNITED STATES
Officer probed over comment
A Columbus police officer summoned to a home on Friday last week by a father concerned that his 11-year-old daughter was being solicited by a man said that the girl could face charges for sending explicit images of herself. Body camera footage showed the father closing the door on two officers after one of the officers told him his daughter could face charges for producing or recording child sexual abuse images. The parent posted to TikTok a security video of the conversation. The officers’ conduct is being investigated, as well as any crime that may have been committed against the girl, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in a statement on Tuesday.
UNITED STATES
Moose attacks woman
A woman walking her dog on a wooded trail in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains on Wednesday spooked a cow moose and it charged, headbutting the hiker and stomping on her before she escaped back down the trail, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. Authorities said the woman was taken to a hospital, but they declined to provide information on her condition. They said the moose had stomped on her “several times” and that the dog had minor injuries. The attack was the third in Boulder County this year, said Kara van Hoose, a spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The animals are often aggressive with dogs, which they perceive as a threat, she said.
UNITED STATES
Woman rescued from toilet
A woman was rescued on Tuesday from an outhouse toilet in northern Michigan after she climbed in to retrieve her Apple Watch and became trapped. The woman, whose name was not released, lowered herself inside the toilet after dropping the watch at the Department of Natural Resources boat launch at Dixon Lake in Otsego County’s Bagley Township, state police said on Wednesday. First responders were called when the woman was heard yelling for help. The toilet was removed and a strap was used to haul the woman out. “If you lose an item in an outhouse toilet, do not attempt to venture inside the containment area. Serious injury may occur,” state police said in the release.
ISRAEL
Tank theft probed
Authorities are investigating how an unarmed tank was stolen from a military training zone after finding it discarded in a junkyard. The Merkava 2 tank disappeared from a training zone near Haifa, the Israeli army said on Wednesday. The training zone is closed to the public when in use, but is otherwise accessible. Police said that the 65-tonne tank was found abandoned in a scrapyard near a military base. In a video from the scene, the tank towers alongside industrial castoffs. The army said that the tank was decommissioned years ago and was unarmed. It said it had been used most recently as a “stationary vehicle for soldiers’ exercises.” Police said they had arrested two suspects in connection with the theft.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS