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The Football Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) has strongly condemned Iranian professional footballers Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi, who play for the Greek association football club Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis, commonly known as Panionios GSS FC, for participating in a match against an Israeli team.  “Despite numerous negotiations with the two soccer players and all the pressure that the Greek club had placed on them, the pair refused to appear in the first-leg match held in the occupied Palestinian lands. “Nevertheless, the Football Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran censures their participation in last night’s second-leg match (against Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv), and all aspects of the issue are under investigation,” the FFIRI said in a statement released on Friday. Iran’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, in a separate statement, also announced that support for the long-trodden Palestinian nation, Pal...

At least three militants have been killed in a gunfight with Indian forces in the disputed Himalayan region, triggering new protests against the Indian rule. India’s Police Inspector-General Muneer Ahmed Khan announced on Saturday that the gun battle broke out after government troops raided a cluster of homes in the northwestern Sopore district, acting on a tip that the militants were hiding in the area, AP reported. According to Khan, one police official was wounded after the militants returned fire. A new wave of protest rallies and clashes with police forces erupted in several parts of the region as the news of the killings by Indian soldiers spread. The government troops began targeting rock-throwing protesters in the Bandipora neighborhood with live fire, leaving at least three civilians wounded. The latest fighting came two days after Indian officials reported the killing of two government soldiers as well as two Kashmiri militants in armed clashes across the India...

Female ambulance staff at the National Health Service (NHS) face widespread bullying and sexual harassment, a new report has revealed, the latest in a string of institutional sex abuse accusations in the UK.   Women at South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Secamb) told investigators they were asked for sexual favors in return for promotion, according to a report by researchers led by Professor Duncan Lewis from Plymouth University. The independent report, which was commissioned by Secamb, found that female staff suffer from groping and “highly sexualized gazing” by their male colleagues and managers “The researchers heard from several sources about "overt and covert sexualized behavior" within Secamb,” the report said. The report said  the perpetrators include former senior leaders to frontline managers and the general workforce. “For example, female staff talked about sexual favors being sought in return for career progression whilst others ...

Turkey seeks to establish a land route via Iran for trade with Qatar which has relied on both countries for sourcing food since a diplomatic crisis broke out with Saudi Arabia. Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci on Saturday was in Tehran where he was expected to discuss using Iran’s land route to facilitate trade with Qatar, Anadolu quoted him as saying. "We're thinking about alternatives for land trade routes with Qatar but the easiest way is passing through Iran," Zeybekci said, according to the news agency.  He traveled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in of President Hassan Rouhani along with delegates from around the world. It was not immediately clear who was representing Qatar in the ceremony.  Turkey has used a land, air and sea blockade imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to flood the tiny peninsula in the Persian Gulf with its goods but Zeybekci said using cargo planes to carry products was no...

Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit against the US State Department for not processing the visa applications of Iranian and Yemeni citizens who won the chance to immigrate to the US. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the National Immigration Law Center filed the lawsuit on Friday in the US District Court in Washington DC, on behalf of Iranians and Yemenis who won in the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the green card lottery . More than 90 Iranian and Yemeni lottery winners said the US government was refusing to issue their visas after President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban was reinstated by the US Supreme Court, which prevents the entry of people from six predominantly Muslim nations. "This isn't right, fair, or lawful, and we are willing to do what it takes — including going to court — to fight for the rights of our clients," said Esther Sung, an attorney at National I...

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has criticized three European countries for issuing a joint statement with the United States against Iran’s recent test-launch of a satellite rocket. Last week, Iran successfully launched its domestically-manufactured Simorgh satellite carrier, whose mission is to put Iranian satellites into the orbit. Britain, France, and Germany then joined the US in condemning the test, which they described as having been “inconsistent” with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. That resolution was adopted in July 2015 to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and six other countries, including the three European states. But the resolution does not prohibit missile or rocket launches by Iran, which is merely “called upon” by the resolution to refrain from activities related to ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of” carrying nuclear warheads. Iran says it has no such warheads and no such missiles and has put its n...