Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.

Amnesty – Iranian Kurdish prisoner Ramin Hossein Panahi has been on hunger strike since 27 January in protest of being sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial that followed four months of enforced disappearance. He has been transferred to solitary confinement in reprisal. His conviction and sentence violate international law and must be quashed. Read the report in English: …

Al-Monitor – The Turkish military operation in Afrin against Kurdish fighters has sparked different reactions among various parties involved in Syria, based on how each actor interprets the goals and implications of Ankara’s unilateral move. While the United States has appeared to be against the operation, especially given Washington’s support for the Kurdish forces fighting under the banner of the …

Al-Monitor – In a speech commemorating the opening of cultural centers honoring the Iran-Iraq War, which Iran refers to as the “Sacred Defense,” President Hassan Rouhani rejected calls from the United States and Western European countries to rein in Iran’s defensive capabilities. “National strength is for peace,” Rouhani said. “We seek strength for deterrence. We have to be ready to …

CNN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has waded into a highly charged debate over the country’s mandatory hijab law, abruptly releasing a three-year-old report suggesting that nearly half of Iranians were opposed to the government dictating what women should wear.   The release of the report on Sunday by the Iranian Center for Strategic Studies — a research arm of the President’s office …

Newyorker – Acouple of years ago, when Coldplay’s Chris Martin was going through a divorce from the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and feeling down, a friend gave him a book to lift his spirits. It was a collection of poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi, the thirteenth-century Persian poet, translated by Coleman Barks. “It kind of changed my life,” Martin said later, in …