WASHINGTON: An Iranian human rights group has relaunched a smartphone app designed to help Iranian citizens, especially women, avoid harassment, arrest and punishment by the strict “morality police” who enforce religious observance and public morality, including standards of dress, in the country.

BEIRUT: EU member states’ ambassadors to Lebanon on Tuesday told President Michel Aoun of their “grave and growing concerns” over the deepening economic crisis in the country.

During a meeting with Aoun, the EU’s envoy to Lebanon, Ralph Tarraf, urged the Lebanese leader to immediately implement the reforms needed to resolve the situation.

CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has met his French counterpart Catherine Colonna for bilateral talks away from the UN General Assembly meetings in New York.

Shoukry is keen for France to support efforts to bring stability to certain areas, particularly since the European country’s presidency of the UN Security Council coincides with Egypt’s interest in the current situations in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Sudan.

The two ministers discussed ways to advance cooperation in economic and investment fields, and reviewed their bilateral relations over recent years.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni troops have announced they have taken control of a large valley in Abyan’s southern province from Al-Qaeda, forcing its fighters to abandon their hiding spots and training facilities.
Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, a spokesperson for the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council, said forces had retaken control of the long and steep Omaran valley in the governorate, and were now working to defuse landmines and explosive devices to allow people to return to their villages.

TEHRAN: The Iranian human rights group Hengaw said two men were killed on Monday in protests against the death of a Kurdish woman after her arrest by Iran’s morality police, but there was no immediate official confirmation of the report.

“In Monday’s protests in the town of Divandarreh, at least two citizens — Fouad Qadimi and Mohsen Mohammadi — died after being taken to Kosar Hospital in Sanandaj and 15 others were injured,” Hengaw said on its Twitter account.