Tag Archives: civil unrest

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here. Istanbul, London and New York CNN  —  The cries of the women outside a Tehran courthouse swell to a collective wail. The …

[ad_1] CNN  —  For months, Leila has barely seen sunlight. “I miss being in the open air…I miss being able to walk freely,” she told CNN. “I miss my family, my room.” Her life now is largely confined to four walls, in a house that is not her own, with …

[ad_1] CNN  —  Iran’s Supreme Leader has praised the country’s Basij paramilitary force for its role in the deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters. Meeting with Basij personnel in Tehran Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the popular protest movement as “rioters” and “thugs” backed by foreign forces and praised “innocent” Basij …

[ad_1] CNN  —  Imprisoned Russian dissident Alexey Navalny has been transferred into a solitary prison cell, according to tweets from himself and his staff, in what he described as a move designed to “shut me up.” Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, explained what happened in a …

[ad_1] CNN  —  “Someone’s crime was that her hair was flowing in the wind. Someone’s crime was that he or she was brave and were outspoken.” These lyrics could cost Iranian rap artist Toomaj Salehi his life. In any other country he could have easily rapped about the day-to-day problems …

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more …

[ad_1] CNN  —  Arman doesn’t sleep much anymore. “In my nightmare, I see someone is following me in the dark, ” he said. “I’m alone and no one is helping me.” He says his life was forever altered in early October, when he was arrested on the streets of Tehran …

[ad_1] CNN  —  The son of an American citizen imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for criticizing the Saudi government said Tuesday evening that his father is “nowhere near being a dissident.” “My father is a senior American citizen who just wants to live freely and happy in the United States where …

[ad_1] Iraqi Kurdistan CNN  —  A teenage dissident trailed behind a group of smugglers in the borderlands of western Iran. For three days, Rezan trekked a rocky mountain range and walked through minefields along a winding path forged by seasoned smugglers to circumnavigate the country’s heavily armed Revolutionary Guards. It …

[ad_1] CNN  —  Nearly a month after the start of nationwide protests, parts of Iran now bear the hallmarks of battle zones, with flares lighting up skies, gunfire ringing out and bloody scenes recorded in video footage. “I am recording this video about the situation in Sanandaj,” said one demonstrator, …