LONDON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US envoy to Iran Robert Malley on Saturday held meetings with civil society groups and human rights activists to discuss the ongoing situation in the Islamic Republic.

“We continue to find ways to respond to the Iranian government’s state-sponsored violence against women and crackdown on its people,” Blinken said in a tweet.

“Today, I met with civil society partners to discuss what more the US can do to support the people of Iran, particularly its brave women and girls,” he added.

AMMAN: Palestinian political leaders, experts, and opinion makers have expressed a high degree of skepticism about the recently announced Palestinian reconciliation agreement.

Rival factions signed an agreement in Algiers on Thursday aimed at resolving 15 years of discord. It states that elections will be held within a year after months of talks mediated by Algeria.

DUBAI: Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi has been prevented from leaving Iran to attend the BFI London Film Festival, where his latest film “Subtraction” is being screened.

The movie made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, which Haghighi was able to attend. He then returned to Tehran, but when he tried to board a flight to London he was stopped by Iranian authorities without any “reasonable explanation,” he said in a video statement.

BEIRUT: French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has urged the swift election of a new Lebanese president after a second vote in parliament to pick a successor to incumbent Michel Aoun failed.
Lebanon “today cannot risk a power vacuum,” Colonna said at the end of a short visit to the country, urging its leaders to live up to their responsibilities.
Electing the next president is up to the Lebanese alone, she stressed, saying that the international community was looking forward to seeing the election process completed.

LONDON: At least 23 children have been killed in a brutal crackdown by the Iranian regime on protests that erupted following the death last month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, according to Amnesty International.

A report released by the rights group said the children, the youngest of whom was just 11 years old, were killed by Iranian security forces in the last 10 days of September.