Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

IDG 2023 : Save Our Girls in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Nigeria and the Rest of the World

Today, we cannot celebrate the annual United Nations' International Day of the Girl Child with joy, because of the murder of innocent girls in Israel and Gaza since Saturday, October 7, 2023 when the Hamas terrorists attacked Israel in broad daylight and murdered hundreds of innocent people, including children and women.

The video of one of the Israeli girls murdered by Hamas is what Nigerians Report Online is showing today, because we cannot celebrate when fathers and mothers are mourning the murder of their innocent daughters.

The theme of the International Day of the Girl 2023  is "Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being."


This can only be possible if we can guarantee the safety and security of girls in the world.

Girls are still being kidnapped, raped and held as captives by the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in northern Nigeria and by ISIS in the Middle East.

We support every effort to save all girls in location of conflicts; in Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Nigeria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, the Americas and the rest of the world.

Let us pray for all the girls who cannot celebrate the annual International Day of the Girl Child today.

#IDG2023

#InternationalDayoftgeGirl

#girls

#Israel

#Palestine

#Ukraine

#Afghanistan

#Iran

#Nigeria

#rape



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Winners of the 32nd Durban International Film Festival 2011




Asghar Farhadi's Nader and Simin, A Separation won the Best Film prize. The film was already the winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actress and Best Actor at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Iranian film to win the Golden Bear.



The full list of the winners are:




Best Film: Nader and Simin, A Separation (Iran), directed by Asghar Farhadi

A couple has to make a decision to leave Iran to better the life of their child or to stay and take care of a parent suffering from Alzheimers; however, the couple's marriage may end in divorce.


Best South African Feature: Skoonheid (France/South Africa), directed by Oliver Hermanus

Best First Feature: The Dynamiter (USA), directed by Matthew Gordon

Best Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev for Elena (Russia)

Best Actress: Nadezhda Markina in Elena (Russia)

Best Actor: William Patrick Ruffin in The Dynamiter (USA)

Best Cinematography: Mikhail Krichman for Elena (Russia)

Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for Nader and Simin, A Separation (Iran)

Special Mention Feature Film: Skoonheid (South Africa), directed by Oliver Hermanus

Special Mention South African Feature Film: Eldorado (South Africa), directed by Shaldon Ferris and Lorreal Ferris

Best Documentary: Position Among the Stars (Stand van de Sterren) (The Netherlands), directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich

Best South African Documentary: Dear Mandela (South Africa/USA), directed by Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza

Best Short Film: Dirty Laundry (South Africa), directed by Stephen Abbott

Best South African Short Film: Dirty Laundry (South Africa), directed by Stephen Abbott

Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award: Sobukwe, A Great Soul (South Africa), directed by Mickey Madoda Dube
DIFF Wavescape Surf Film Festival Audience Award: A Deeper Shade Of Blue (Australia) directed by Jack McCoy

DIFF Documentary Audience Award: Fire in Babylon (United Kingdom), directed by Stevan Riley

DIFF Feature Film Audience Award: The First Grader (Kenya,United Kingdom,South Africa), directed by Justin Chadwick.





Sunday, February 20, 2011

Asghar Farhadi wins first Golden Bear at the 61st Berlinale




The accomplished Iranian screenwriter and film director Asghar Farhadi’s captivating drama Nader and Simin: A Separation won the Golden Bear for the Best Film at the 61st Berlin Film Festival and was elated to receive his coveted prize at the closing ceremony on Saturday February 19, 2011. This must really be fulfilling for him after winning the Silver Bear for Best Director for his film About Elly in 2009. This is the first time an Iranian film has won the Golden Bear. The male and female actors of "Nader and Simin, A Separation" were honored each with a Silver Bear for their performance.


Asghar Farhadi lifting up his Golden Bear at the 61st Berlinale.


The film is about a middle-class couple Nader and Simin married for fifteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belong to the urban upper middle-class and the couple are on the verge of separation. Simin wants to leave the country with her husband and daughter, as she does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. Her desire is not shared by the stubborn Nader. He has concerns for his father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When Nader decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for a divorce.




Bela Tarr took home the Jury Grand Prix of the Silver Bear for being the runner-up for his film "The Turin Horse".

The other winners emerged in the following order:


Silver Bear - Best Director
Ulrich Köhler
for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness)


Silver Bear - Best Actress
to the actress-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear - Best Actor
to the actor-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear - Outstanding Artistic Achievement
Wojciech Staron for the camera in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

ex aequo

Barbara Enriquez for the production design in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

Silver Bear - Best Script
Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj for
The Forgiveness Of Blood (The Forgiveness Of Blood)
by Joshua Marston

Alfred Bauer Prize
Awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation.

Wer wenn nicht wir (If Not Us, Who)
by Andres Veiel

Click here for more details.



Sunday, April 25, 2010

Iran Can Strike the U.S. in 2015

A photo of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)

Iran can strike the U.S. in 2015


“Iran, with foreign assistance (North Korea), could have the ability to strike the U.S. homeland with an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) by 2015,” said Riki Ellison last Friday in Washington.

Ellison is the Founder and Chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA). He was commenting on the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing held on Capitol Hill Wednesday April 21, 2010.

The purpose of the hearing was to receive testimony on ballistic missile defense policies and programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2011. Ellison is one of the foremost lay experts in the field of missile defense. Ellison's comments include the following statements:


The following is the complete statement made by Riki Ellison.


"Over the past week, Congress held three public hearings on missile defense plans for 2011 and beyond. Hearings were held by the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, the Senate Armed Service Committee led by Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and the Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) on Tuesday and most recently the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee led by the Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) on Wednesday.


"During these hearings, the testimony of President Barack Obama's appointees in the Department of Defense and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, exposed five fundamental elements of the administration's missile defense plan:

1. Iran, with foreign assistance (North Korea), could have the ability to strike the U.S. homeland with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by 2015.

2. In the current administration's plan, the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA), there will be a second shot capability based in Europe to defend the U.S. homeland from an Iranian ICBM in 2020. This is dependent on the development, testing and deployment, of a new SM-3 Block 2B missile and the integration that allows for early intercept by launch and engage on remote sensors including basing Aegis Ashore platforms in
Europe.

3. The administration's current missile defense plan for the defense of the U.S. homeland is to rely on 30 Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI's), 26 based in Alaska and 4 in California until 2032. They would provide protection against a maximum of 15 incoming ICBMs, using two GBIs per ICBM with a shoot, look, and shoot doctrine. Due to distance, parts of Eastern United States will not have the same confidence of protection as the remaining U.S. Homeland from an ICBM threat from Iran.

4. There is a gap of protection and vulnerability against an ICBM launched from Iran at the U.S. homeland, especially to significant parts of the east coast, for a minimum of 5 years in the President's plan for missile defense, provided that Iran acquires ICBM capability by 2015.

5. In regards to a hedge for the existent gap in protection from an ICBM attack from Iran against the U.S. homeland, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly presented three options:

-- Fully outfitting missile field 2 in Fort Greely, Alaska with GBIs adding 8 more GBIs to the existing 30 GBIs,

-- Testing the two-stage GBI, the missile in June of this year, the same missile system intended to be deployed in Poland for the canceled 3rd site of the previous administration.

-- Having additional shot opportunities, against an ICBM from Iran, with two-stage missiles.

"The recent Congressional hearings on missile defense have made it abundantly clear to the American public that a gap exists in the missile protection of the U.S. homeland against Iran. It is also apparent that the administration's plans to develop and deploy a hedge to fill that gap have not adequately been addressed. The administration needs to move forward with urgency for a robust testing and deployment plan of the two-stage GBI on or before 2015 to ensure full protection of the U.S. homeland from Iran.

"The protection of the U.S. homeland from ballistic missiles is the declared and stated number one priority of President Obama's administration missile defense policy."

Source: Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance


CONTACT: Barbara Maxwell of Missile Defense Advocacy, +1-703-299-0060
Web Site: http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/


Recommended:

World Military Strength Ranking

Iran's Ballistic Missile Program


Photo Credit: Capitalism Magazine


Introduction
The Rise of Iran's Arsenal
Current Weapons Stocks
Questionable Capabilities
Help from Abroad





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Monday, May 11, 2009

Iran Must Free Roxana Saberi!

Breaking News: Roxana Saberi will be released from jail


Freedom: Roxana Saberi will be released from jail

10 May 2009 13:00 Africa/Lagos


An Open Letter From the International Women's Media Foundation

WASHINGTON, May 10 /PRNewswire/ --
OPEN LETTER TO:

H. E. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Re: Roxana Saberi

Your Excellency Ayatollah Shahroudi:


We write on behalf of the International Women's Media Foundation ("IWMF"). IWMF is deeply troubled by the arrest, trial, and conviction of journalist Roxana Saberi. We believe her continued imprisonment violates the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as we understand it, and also violates universal notions of free speech, free press, and due process. We write to urge you to intervene on her behalf and respectfully request that you provide a copy of our letter to the honorable judges reviewing her conviction.


IWMF has a strong interest in seeing justice done in Ms. Saberi's case. IWMF is a global network dedicated to strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide as a means to further freedom of the press. For almost two decades, IWMF has been committed to supporting and honoring women journalists around the globe in their efforts to freely gather and report the news.


Ms. Saberi, a citizen of both the United States and Iran, was arrested in Tehran in January of this year, and detained, according to your nation's Foreign Ministry, for reporting without proper government-issued press credentials. Following a one-day trial held last month behind closed doors, Ms. Saberi was convicted of espionage. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, and is currently being held in Evin Prison in Tehran where she awaits a ruling on her appeal.


At the time of her arrest, Ms. Saberi was working as a freelance reporter for a number of international news organizations, including the United States' National Public Radio and the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation, and was writing a book on Iran's culture, art, and politics. These activities represent a fundamental exercise of the rights to free speech and a free press that are hallmarks of a strong government, and vital to the health and prosperity of all nations. They warrant protection, not punishment.


Journalists like Ms. Saberi, who gather news and information from within Iran in order to disseminate it freely around the globe, provide an invaluable service to your nation's people, as well as to the rest of the world. By facilitating the free exchange of ideas and information across borders, their work fosters understanding and tolerance among diverse people, and encourages peace among nations. But to serve these important purposes journalists must be free to ask questions, and to gather information. To the extent that a journalist who is simply investigating a story may be deemed a "spy" engaged in "espionage," it would subject reporters to criminal punishment merely for gathering information and reporting the news. This would be contrary to the most basic understanding of a free press.


We read Chapter 3 of your Constitution, entitled "The Rights of the People," and Chapter XI, entitled "The Judiciary," to include numerous provisions meant to guarantee the right to a fair trial that is open to the public, especially in cases involving political and press offenses. See, e.g., Article 20 [Equality Before The Law]; Article 22 [Human Dignity and Rights]; Article 24 [Freedom of the Press]; Article 165 [Public Trials]; Article 166 [Reasoned Verdicts]; Article 167 [Rule of Law for the Judiciary]; Article 168 [Political and Press Offenses]. But fairness cannot be achieved by secret, one-sided determination of crucial facts that could lead to the imprisonment of an individual. Moreover, a public trial guards against a miscarriage of justice and gives the public confidence that standards of fairness are being observed, that established procedures are being followed, and that deviations from those procedures will become known and thus can be effectively challenged. The fair trial guarantee requires reversal of Ms. Saberi's conviction, which came after a one-day trial held in secrecy.


Ms. Saberi's conviction also should be set aside because the rights to free speech and a free press are human rights that belong to all the world's citizens and are widely recognized in governing documents by many nations. For example, we understand Article 24 of the Iranian Constitution to mean that "publications and the press have freedom of expression except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public." Similarly, Article 35 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides that citizens of that nation "enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and demonstration." Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that "every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference." The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. . . ." And Article 19 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."


As a founding member of the United Nations, Iran has the ability and responsibility to honor the essential human right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through the media that is recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to likewise construe Article 24 of its own Constitution to ensure that journalists are allowed to practice their profession freely, without government interference, intimidation or punishment.


We very much appreciate that you, as the head of your nation's judicial system, have pledged that Ms. Saberi's conviction will be "considered at the appeals stage in a careful, quick and fair way," stating that "fair examination of the case, especially at the appeal stage, is the defendant's right." Each day that Ms. Saberi remains in prison is a grave injustice that injures not only Ms. Saberi, but the people of Iran, and indeed the people of all nations. As Sa'adi, the great thirteenth-century Persian poet, wrote: "All human beings are limbs of each other, having been created of one essence. When time afflicts a limb with pain the other limbs cannot at rest remain."


The world's nations will find no rest until all journalists are permitted to freely gather and report the news anywhere in the world, without fear of retribution or criminal prosecution. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you and your judicial system enforce the Iranian Constitution and international norms of due process and free speech and free press, reverse the conviction of Ms. Saberi, and release her.


Respectfully submitted,

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.
KatieLynn Townsend

Attorneys for The International Women's Media Foundation


CONTACT: Pearl Piatt
Director of Communications, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
for the International Women's Media Foundation
+1-323-547-5129
ppiatt@gibsondunn.com


Source: International Women's Media Foundation; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

CONTACT: Pearl Piatt, Director of Communications of Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher LLP, +1-323-547-5129, or ppiatt@gibsondunn.com, for International
Women's Media Foundation


Web Site: http://www.gibsondunn.com/


NOTE TO EDITORS: About Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., a partner in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is Co-Chair of the firm's Appellate and Constitutional Law Group and its Media and Entertainment Group and Vice-Chair of the Crisis Management Group. Mr. Boutrous represents media organizations, reporters, and others in a wide array of First Amendment, access, subpoena, defamation, freedom of information, prior restraint, newsgathering and copyright matters. See below for a representative list of media cases he has handled. As both a crisis management strategist and a seasoned appellate and media lawyer, Mr. Boutrous has wide-ranging experience handling high-profile litigation, media relations and media legal issues. He routinely advises clients in planning how to respond, and in responding, to crises and other especially significant legal problems that attract the media spotlight and provides strategic counseling to address legal, legislative, regulatory and public relations aspects of such matters. About Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is a leading international law firm. Consistently ranking among the world's top law firms in industry surveys and major publications, Gibson Dunn is distinctively positioned in today's global marketplace with more than 1,000 lawyers and 15 offices, including Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Munich, Brussels, Dubai, Singapore, Orange County, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Century City, Dallas and Denver. For more information, please visit www.gibsondunn.com.


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Oil Prices Rise On Geopolitical Tensions



07/28/08 Tensions in Iran and Nigeria assisted in making front month crude oil prices rise at the end of NYMEX floor trading.