Day: September 10, 2019

An Iranian female soccer fan has died after setting herself on fire outside a court after learning she may have to serve a six-month sentence for trying to enter a soccer stadium, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday.
 
The tragic death immediately drew an outcry among some soccer stars and known figures in Iran, where women are banned from soccer stadiums, though they are allowed at some other sports, such as volleyball.
 
Sahar Khodayari died at a Tehran hospital on Monday, according to the Shafaghna news agency. The 30-year-old was known as the “Blue Girl” on social media for the colors of her favorite Iranian soccer team, Esteghlal.  
 
She set herself on fire last week, reportedly after learning she may have to go to prison for trying to enter a stadium in March to watch an Esteghlal match. She was pretending to be a man and wore a blue hairpiece and a long overcoat when the police stopped her.
 
Khodayari, who had graduated in computer sciences, then spent three nights in jail before being released pending the court case. No verdict had been delivered in her case so far.
 
Esteghlal issued a statement, offering condolences to Khodayari’s family.
 
Former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi – who played 127 matches for Iran and has been a vocal advocate of ending the ban on women – urged Iranians in a tweet to boycott soccer stadiums to protest Khodayari’s death.
 
Iranian-Armenian soccer player Andranik “Ando” Teymourian, the first Christian to be the captain of Iran’s national squad and also an Esteghlal player, said in a tweet that one of Tehran’s major soccer stadiums will be named after Khodayari, “once, in the future.”
 
The minister of information and communications technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, described the death as a “bitter incident.” Female lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri called Khodayari “Iran’s Girl” and tweeted: “We are all responsible.”

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Malawi has crowned Ms. and Mr. Albinism during the country’s first ever beauty pageant for albinos, held in the capital Lilongwe. The Association of People with Albinism organized the event as part of efforts to destroy myths which have led to albino attacks in Malawi and other African countries. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe.

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Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday it would be “extremely inappropriate” for the United States or any other foreign government to interfere in the city’s affairs.  

The embattled leader’s warning was in response to a rally outside the U.S. consulate Sunday held by pro-democracy demonstrators calling for passage of a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Congress aimed at boosting their efforts. 

The legislation would require Washington to annually assess the former British colony’s level of autonomy from Beijing and cancel its trading privileges if that autonomy is compromised.

Sunday’s rally evolved into yet another violent clash between protesters accused of vandalizing subway stations and blocking traffic, and riot police who responded by firing tear gas to force the protesters to disperse.

“The escalation and continuation of violence cannot solve the problems we face in Hong Kong,” Lam said Tuesday, further warning that it would only deepen the conflict.

The demonstrations began in June as a backlash against a proposed extradition bill, which would have permitted criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the ruling Communist Party.  They have since evolved into renewed demands for Hong Kongers to choose their own leaders, establishing an independent investigation of police brutality against protesters, and the unconditional release and exoneration of detainees.  

In a surprise announcement last week, Lam formally withdrew the extradition bill, which was also a key demand of the demonstrators.  She suspended the bill as the protests escalated during the first month, but ignored calls to fully withdraw the measure.

But activists say the decision to withdraw the extradition bill was too little, too late.  

In a speech at a monastery Sunday, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing urged the city’s political leaders to resolve the matter with students leading the pro-democracy protests, calling them the “masters of our future.”

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The Afghan Taliban captured another district in northern Takhar province Monday night — a third to fall into militant control in the province this month. Jawad Hejri, a spokesman for Takhar’s governor, told VOA Afghan security forces retreated from the district center after two days of heavy fighting.

However, provincial officials rejected a Taliban claim of killing 20 security personnel, saying no one was hurt in the attack.

The security forces withdrew to avoid civilian casualties, and reinforcements were being sent from the center of the province, Hejri told Afghan TV channel Tolo News.

Heavy clashes in northern Takhar province have been going on for months and residents had been calling on the central government to provide more support.

Fighting continues in Khwaja Ghar district, which borders the volatile Chah-e-Aab district that fell to the Taliban last week.

Meanwhile Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, claimed Taliban fighters captured Darqad, another district in the province Tuesday morning. His claim was also confirmed by local authorities.

Afghan forces recaptured two districts in neighboring Badakhshan province this week. One of them, Warjod, had been in Taliban control for five years.  

Afghanistan is preparing to hold a presidential election on September 28 opposed by the Taliban. They have told the population to stay away from election related activities, including rallies or polling booths.  

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump called off peace negotiations with the Taliban that his special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had been carrying on for almost a year.

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