Social and Political

Radiozamaneh.com – Maïmouna Doucouré won the 2020 Directing Award at the Sundance film festival for her debut feature “Cuties” (2020). Ironically, the movie has been reviled for what it is criticizing: the hypersexualization of children. The lead character Amy is a pre-adolescent Senegalese girl who joins a slightly deviant clique that is eroticizing their outfits and moves to win a …

Al-Monitor – Iranian hackers who sent a barrage of threatening emails to US voters last month were successful in accessing voter data from at least one state, according to a joint statement issued late last Friday by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Although the state was not identified, alleged personal details of Alaska voters were briefly …

theguardian.com – Coup 53 was heralded by critics this summer as a “powerful and authoritative” documentary “as gripping as any thriller”, and judged by historians as crucial to understanding Britain’s relationship with the Middle East. Made over 10 years by Walter Murch, the celebrated editor of Apocalypse Now and The English Patient, in collaboration with the Anglo-Iranian director Taghi Amirani, it tells the story of …

CBC.ca – More than 850 sign petition for Tirgan to cut ties with Aydin Aghdashloo after allegations of sexual assault Shanifa Nasser · CBC News · Posted: Nov 02, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: November 2 Last month, The New York Times released a report detailing multiple allegations of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct against prominent 80-year-old Iranian contemporary painter Aydin Aghdashloo. (Dave …

Radiofarda – Iran’s air force began an annual drill Monday, state television reported, with its aging fleet of U.S.- and Russian-made jet fighters taking part alongside locally made drones and other aircraft. The drill will see forces from eight air bases take part over two days in exercises that include missile firing and mid-air refueling. This is the second drill …

gatestoneinstitute.org – Iran’s currency, the rial, lost more than half its value so far just in 2020. Iran’s regime is currently running a $200 million budget deficit per week and it is estimated that if the pressure on Tehran continues, the deficit will hit roughly $10 billion by March 2021. This deficit will, in return, increase inflation and devalue the …

Radiofarda – A member of the Scientific Committee of Iran’s National Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters, Majid Mokhtari, says the COVID-19 pandemic is a “grave” issue that addition to quarantine may require “martial law.” Speaking on a TV program, Mokhtari also defended the proposal to close Tehran for two weeks. The Chief-Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Hossein Salami, …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif contracted and later recovered from coronavirus, a foreign ministry official said on Sunday. For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page. Zarif tested positive for coronavirus once and negative on two separate occasions after that, state news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying. Khatibzadeh did not say when Zarif …

VOA – Iran’s daily tally of coronavirus deaths hit a record high of 434 on Sunday, the Health Ministry announced, and the head of a top medical body said the actual toll was at least three times higher than the official count. The deaths, announced by Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari on state TV, take the official toll to 35,298 …

Radiofarda – A prominent Islamic Revolutionary turned dissident, Abolfazl Qadyani, says Iran’s political establishment is an “authoritarian regime” that has blocked all roads towards reforming the country. In a note published last Thursday on an exiled dissident website, Kalemeh, Qadyani asserted that the tyranny dominating Iran has brought the country to a standstill. Qadyani, who lives in Iran, also called …