The people of Saqiz marched to the governor's office after the burial of Zhina Amini's body in Aichi cemetery.

At least 13 people were injured in clashes between citizens and security forces in a series of protests that broke out after the burial of Zhina in her home city of Saqiz. Zhina is sometimes named Mahsa Amini in Iranian and some Arabic media outlets. 

The death of Zhina Amini sparked protests in other cities in East Kurdistan and Tehran University. Civil society organizations in Rojhelat and other parts of Iran have called for a general strike on Monday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called Amini's family, expressed his condolences, and promised to investigate the incident, the official presidential website said. 

"I have ordered the incident to be investigated carefully so that no right is violated. Your daughter and all Iranian girls are my children. I feel like losing one of my loved ones," Iranian president Ibrahim Riasi told Amini's relatives, the official website of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran reported. 

Zhina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish student from Saqiz, was arrested by the morality police on November 13 during a family visit to Tehran for not complying with the hijab law. 

His relatives were informed hours later that he had suffered a stroke. He died in a hospital in Tehran on Friday and was buried in a public ceremony in Saqiz.

Women arrested with Amini reported that Amini was beaten in the detention van, an allegation the police deny. The police maintain that Amini suffered a heart attack, an account of events not accepted by Amini's family.

Tomorrow, Monday will constitute a unique security challenge for the British capital, represented by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. For that occasion, British authorities have mounted the largest security operation in the history of the Kingdom since World War II.

A police official declined to detail how the leaders would travel to Westminster Abbey on Monday, citing security reasons. In a Friday media briefing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy added that London's Metropolitan Police is engaged in its largest policing operation, NBC News reported. 

The United Kingdom will witness a state funeral, the first since World War II, specifically since the funeral of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.

According to the "Washington Post" newspaper, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was consulted about all arrangements, except for the security aspect, before her death.

British security expects the country to witness the largest operation to control security and protection in the history of the Kingdom in six decades, with official expectations for the attendance of hundreds of guests from more than two hundred countries, not to mention millions of people waiting to be crowded in the streets of London.

In the face of these expectations and their sensitivity, the police are trying to balance safety, security and ceremonies for the success of the funeral activities.

Tomorrow, Monday, snipers will be stationed on rooftops in London, while drones will hover over the area, and ten thousand police officers in uniform, as well as thousands of officers in civilian clothes, will participate among the crowds, according to Fortune.

A few days ago, the police searched the main areas through their patrols and trained dogs after calling in all its members for help.

It is also noted that police personnel came from every corner of the country to help. From the Welsh Cavalry to the Royal Air Force, more than 2,500 regular military personnel will be on standby at any moment.

Officials from Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, also review terrorist threats as part of the massive security team working at the funeral.

The participation of presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens in the funeral increases the risks, which calls for significantly tightening security.

About two dozen kings, queens, princes and princesses have been confirmed, from places including Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. King Tubu of Tonga, King Jigme of Bhutan, Yang di-Pertuan, King of Malaysia, Sultan of Brunei and Sultan of Oman will also attend.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will also attend. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also participate in the service. 

Former British Prime Minister and current Prime Minister Liz Truss will also attend the funeral.

On Sunday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi strongly condemned what she described as the "unlawful" border attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia. She used her visit to Russia's military ally to pledge US support for Armenia's sovereignty.

During an interview in Yerevan, Pelosi noted that her visit was essential in the wake of "the illegal and deadly attacks launched by Azerbaijan on Armenian lands", which led to border clashes that killed more than two hundred people.

"We strongly condemn these attacks," Pelosi said. "It was the Azeris who started this, and this must be recognized." She stated that it was clear that the border fighting had erupted due to the Azeri attacks on Armenia and that the chronology of the conflict should be clarified.

Pelosi noted that the United States is listening to Armenia regarding its defense needs, adding that Washington wants to help and support Armenia in what she described as a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.

Last week, a senior Armenian official expressed his dissatisfaction with the response of a Russian-led military coalition to Yerevan's request for help. Armenia asked the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization to intervene but only sent a fact-finding team.

"Of course, we are very upset," Parliament Speaker Alain Simonyan quoted the Interfax news agency as telling national television, likening the CSTO to a pistol that does not shoot.

Remarkably, Armenia has been disappointed with the response of the Russian-led coalition, Pelosi said. Pelosi visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, where she was seen shedding tears and laying a bouquet of roses.

On Saturday, the Congress delegation arrived in Armenia, where a ceasefire held for three days after clashes broke out with neighboring Azerbaijan, which killed more than 200 soldiers from both sides.

Azerbaijan on Sunday criticized US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused Baku of igniting a border conflict with Armenia, and said the "unfounded and unfair" statements represented a severe blow to peace efforts.

"The unjust and baseless accusations leveled by Pelosi against Azerbaijan are unacceptable... It is well known that Pelosi is a pro-Armenian politician," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

She added that the statements were "a serious blow to the efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," describing them as "Armenian propaganda."

The ceasefire went into effect on Wednesday evening after two days of violent clashes, the largest in nearly two years.

Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations over the clashes, with Armenian authorities accusing Baku of unprovoked aggression while Azeri officials said their country was responding to the Armenian attacks.

Pashinyan said at least 135 Armenian soldiers were killed in the clashes. On Friday, the Azeri Defense Ministry announced the killing of 77 soldiers.

The two ex-Soviet states have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the separatist war ended 1994.

The Justice Department on Wednesday announced charges against three Iranian individuals alleged to have launched cyberattacks against the US and critical global infrastructure, Politico reported. 

After the U.S. Department of Justice charged three Iranian hackers yesterday with trying to blackmail organizations in the United States, Europe, Iran, and Israel, including a shelter for victims of domestic violence and a children's hospital, by hacking into their computer systems to demand hundreds of thousands of dollars, Washington announced a 10 million reward. 

The State Department offered a reward of ten million dollars to anyone who helped it arrest the three defendants, who are Mansour Ahmadi (34 years), Ahmed Khatibi Agdah (45 years), and Amir Hossein Neqain (30 years).

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed that this award "demonstrates America's determination to prevent any ransomware cyberattack targeting its infrastructure."

On condition of anonymity, a senior official in the U.S. Department of Justice said that the three accused are likely in Iran, AFP reported.

As of October 2020, the three defendants launched a series of cyber-attacks targeting entities in the US, Britain, Israel, and Russia, as well as inside Iran, according to the indictment of the U.S. Department of Justice published yesterday, Wednesday.

Their targets included small businesses, a power company, a children's hospital in Boston, municipalities, and the American Bar Association (ABA).

Some of their victims agreed to pay the ransom, including a battered women's shelter in Pennsylvania, which paid $13,000 to restore and prevent its disclosure.

As for how they could penetrate this, the investigations revealed that each time, they deliberately exploited flaws in the system to encrypt the data of their victims and demanded that they pay thousands of dollars in exchange for providing them with a decryption key.

In a tweet on the FBI's Twitter account, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Ray said in a video message that "the Director announces the indictment of three Iranian nationals for their roles in a multi-year scheme to compromise the networks of hundreds of companies, organizations, and institutions."

He also confirmed that the FBI had published an alert about "the broader threat posed by cyber-activists linked to Iran," noting Canada, Australia, and Britain also adopted the warning.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Departments of State and the Treasury confirmed that the accused are part of a group of hackers "associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard." The department added that they had imposed sanctions on them, in addition to seven other Iranians and two Iranian companies. 

Iran is accused of being responsible for launching cyber-attacks abroad. A few days ago, the last attack of this kind was when the Albanian government announced that it had cut ties with Tehran, accusing it of being behind a large-scale electronic hacking campaign that targeted its digital infrastructure and security services.

The five-party meeting aims to bring together Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Nechirvan Barzani, House of Representatives Speaker Mohammed Halbusi, Fatah Coalition Leader Hadi Amiri, and Sovereignty Coalition Leader Khamis Khanjar will attend the five-party meeting with Sadr Movement Leader Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf.

The unnamed leader of the Sadr movement said there were constant contacts to organize and prepare for the five-party meeting. Efforts are being made to convince al-Sadr to keep his supporters at bay to take to the streets.

Meanwhile, Fatah coalition leader Ali Fatlaw told Arabi Jadidi confirmed that a meeting between Sadr and several political leaders will be held in Hanan after the 40th anniversary of Imam Hussein to reach an agreement on the formation of a new government.

Since the October 2021 parliamentary elections, the political parties have failed to form a government, and it has been followed by riots and instability ever since. 

Later, Xi and Putin in Samarkand, the main stop on the ancient Silk Road, will be joined by leaders of India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and other countries to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which officially begins on Friday and would last for two days.

The bilateral meeting between the Chinese and Russian presidents is gaining great international attention, amid the aggravating tension between the West on one side and Moscow and Beijing on the other.

While this meeting constitutes something of a challenge to the West, for Putin, who is trying to accelerate the process of refocusing his attention towards Asia in the face of Western sanctions imposed on his country, it is also an opportunity to show that Moscow is not isolated on the world stage.

As for Xi, who is in Central Asia on his first visit outside China since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, he may be able to consolidate his position before the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party scheduled for October, during which he will seek a third new term, according to AFP.

Through his meeting, he will also send a warning message to Washington, which has recently been provoking Beijing through its visits and support for the semi-autonomous island of Taiwan, despite the fact that China, which supports Moscow, has not yet positioned itself seriously in the Russian camp, and has maintained a fine thread in its relationship with Washington.

For example, so far Beijing has not sent weapons to Moscow, and has even repeatedly denied accusations of this kind.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization offers a real alternative to Western-oriented structures," Yury Ushakov, the Kremlin's diplomatic advisor, told reporters last Tuesday frankly.

He also stressed that it is the largest organization in the world, as it includes half of the planet's population and works for a just international order.

In addition to Putin's meeting with Xi, he will also meet separately today with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose country wants to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

On Friday, he will also hold two separate meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It is noteworthy that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, was established in 2001 as a tool for political, economic and security cooperation to compete with Western organizations.

But it is neither a military alliance like NATO nor a political integration organization like the European Union, though, its members work together to meet common security challenges and boost trade.

The new report Life in the Margins released on International Identity Day by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Justice Center, and others finds that nearly five years after the declared end of the conflict, access to civil documentation remains highly limited for displacement-affected households in Iraq. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) that cannot access government offices, families with perceived affiliation to the Islamic State (IS), and women-headed households, in particular face multiple challenges in applying for civil documentation. 

While some progress in issuing civil documentation has been made since 2019 as the number of people lacking civil documentation has decreased, those still lacking crucial forms of ID are at continued risk of exclusion from key public services, including access to healthcare and education.

Documents people lack are as simple as those that prove residence, marriages, births, and deaths, and the new Iraqi unified ID card that is critical for accessing monthly food rations. Bureaucratic and administrative barriers, a lack of capacity within the Civil Affairs Directorates (CADs) that issue documentation, and security clearance requirements as a result of perceived affiliation with IS are all among contributing factors in what the agencies report as a complex web of obstacles preventing vulnerable people from getting the documents they need.

“These households have been relegated to the margins of society without key pieces of civil documentation, which compounds and reinforces other vulnerabilities,” said James Munn, Country Director for NRC in Iraq. “Without your identity papers you can’t access services, you can’t freely move through checkpoints, and you can’t move beyond five years of suffering since the declared end of the conflict.”

Fredrik Pålsson, Country Director for DRC in Iraq, said, “Lack of civil documentation makes situations that are already challenging for families even more difficult. People cannot prove their home belongs to them, they cannot get work, and they fall between the cracks of assistance from aid agencies and the state. For all of Iraq to pursue inclusive recovery, urgent action at the highest levels is needed to help people get the documentation they need.”

Aid groups are calling on the Government of Iraq, donor governments, and the leadership of the aid response to commit to helping people finally get the critical documentation they are entitled to. Support is also required to ensure that groups who face particular challenges traveling to government offices, or those who are at heightened risk of harassment, are able to do so freely.

The IRC’s Country Director Samar Abboud stated, “A lack of civil documentation continues to stand in the way of women and female-headed households achieving their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, employment, and education, for them and their children. They cannot resume their lives when the system is stacked against them like this. There are clear steps officials can take, such as de-linking access to documentation from security procedures that would have an immediate and positive outcome for thousands of vulnerable households. ”

The seven aid groups raise the need to allow IDPs to apply for civil documentation in their area of displacement and to de-link security clearance requirements from civil documentation processes. Amidst the winding down of the humanitarian response, outstanding policy level barriers to access to civil documentation must urgently be addressed.

“In Iraq, legal documentation plays a significant role in people’s resilience; for many, it is indispensable to daily life. We hope that in this period of transition, all actors step up their related programming for those most affected, and that it’s considered a priority in discussions at all levels,” says Adnan Gorani of the Justice Center.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2651 (2022) (to be issued as document S/RES/2651 (2022)), the 15-member organ — taking note of a 12 September request from the Government of Iraq — renewed until 17 September 2023 the mandate of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, also known by the acronym UNITAD.

Reaffirming the terms of resolution 2379 (2017), by which the Team was first established, members decided that any further extension will be decided at the request of the Government of Iraq, or any other Government that has requested the Team to collect evidence of acts committed by ISIL/Da’esh in its territory that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

The Council also requested the Special Adviser to continue to submit and present reports on the Team’s activities to the organ every 180 days.

Kurdsat English reporter in Zakho said that "the map of Greater Kurdistan, which was hanged at the gate of the Faculty Humanities of Zakho University, has been removed after less than a month, and replaced by a small map of the Kurdistan Region."

He said university employees and students say the map was removed due to Turkish concerns, KurdSat English reporter added. 

The removed map was a map of Greater Kurdistan and illustrated all the important Kurdish cities and regions in Turkey, Iran, Iran and Syria. 

Many people expressed their concern with the removal of the map and called it a violation of Kurdistan's freedom.

Turkey doesn't recognize the constitutional polity of the Kurdistan region that is enshrined in the 2005 Iraqi constitution and uses the term "Northern Iraq" to refer to the Kurdistan region, despite a significant trade volume between Turkey and the Kurdistan region. 

Ankara maintains over a hundred military outposts and bases, most located in the Duhok Governorate, home to the Zakho district.

Last July, US intelligence warned of Tehran's plans to send hundreds of bomb-laden drones to Russia to assist in its military operation in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army announced for the first time today, Tuesday, that it encountered an Iranian drone used by Russia on the battlefield, indicating the depth of relations between Moscow and Tehran at a time when the nuclear agreement concluded by Iran with world powers is at stake. 

Last July, US intelligence warned of Tehran's plans to send hundreds of drones loaded with bombs to Russia to help it in its military operation in Ukraine. Although Iran initially denied this, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards recently boasted of arming the global superpower.

The military official and the website said Ukrainian forces faced the drone near Kobyansk amid the Kyiv offensive that broke through Russian lines around Kharkiv on the Eastern Front.

The image indicates that Ukrainian forces brought down the drone without exploding when it fell, as it was designed, although Kyiv immediately withheld releasing any other information. The inscription on the drone indicated that it was an "M214 Jeeran-2" model, whose image does not correspond to any known Russian weapons.

The "Shahid" drone was designed as a triangle with a range of about 2,000 km, although Iran has announced few details about it.

Experts point out that these drones carry bombs described as "loitering munitions." The drone flies to a potentially programmed destination ahead of its flight and either explodes in the air.

The rapprochement of Iran and Russia comes at a time when Tehran faces crushing sanctions due to the collapse of the nuclear agreement in 2018 after the US withdrawal from it. Negotiations on reviving the deal, which saw restrictions on Iran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for lifting sanctions, have again reached a dead end.

Relations between Ukraine and Iran are also strained due to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020, killing all 176 people on board.

In a statement released today, Tuesday, the KWU said, "This is the first time that a senior government official has taken such a historic and bold step to support women's issues and reduce violence and openly say that if I am alone, I will follow these events and not allow them to be forgotten."

On his Facebook page, Kurdistan region deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani wrote an opinion titled "Snakes and Ladders " and said he would keep talking to all relevant authorities and persons concerned with femicide, but still obstacles remain. 

Qubad Talabani is now heading a movement to raise awareness about the dangers of femicide and bring to justice criminals convicted of femicide but still at large. The DPM has begun a wide-ranging initiative that tries to get the government, local authorities and civil society organizations closer together to fight and eradicate femicide in the Kurdistan region. 

Talabani began his Facebook post by narrating a femicide case. After months of endeavors by the security forces to bring to justice a murdered woman, the court brought everything back to square one when it acquitted the criminal.

He concludes, "this war is like a game of snakes and lizards. A snake will bring you down when you think you have taken a few steps with a lizard. We will not let the killers be at large, and we will keep reminding people how disgraced they are. Let God bear my witness; Even if I am alone, I will keep following you. Referring to femicide criminals. 

France will present the confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan that led to the deaths of at least 49 Armenian soldiers to the UN Security Council, the Elysée announced on Tuesday.

"France will present the situation to the UN Security Council, which it currently chairs," the Elysée said after a telephone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Azerbaijani presidency declared that "the Armenian leadership bears full responsibility for the escalation on the border."

The Armenian Prime Minister announced the continuation of hostilities on the border with Azerbaijan on Tuesday morning but at a slower pace. He pointed out that 49 soldiers were killed during the battles.

Earlier, local media reported that an agreement was reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a ceasefire after violent clashes took place at dawn on Tuesday at the two countries' borders, during which heavy weapons were used.

Yerevan had announced that clashes were taking place on Tuesday on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing that Baku forces, backed by artillery and drones, were seeking to "advance" inside the Armenian territory.

In a statement, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that "battles" are taking place at several points on the border, and "the enemy is constantly trying to advance." "Azerbaijani forces continue to use artillery, mortars, drones and high-caliber rifles," it added.

Armenia's Prime Minister Pashinyan held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Macron and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, asking them to respond to Azerbaijan's "aggression", Yerevan announced on Tuesday.

In the separate talks, Pashinyan said he hoped for an "appropriate response from the international community". At the same time, clashes continued on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, according to an Armenian government statement.

Armenia and Azerbaijan announced earlier that large-scale border clashes took place between their forces at dawn on Tuesday, resulting in the killing of Azerbaijani soldiers, whose number was not specified, in the latest escalation of violence between the two countries.

On the other hand, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused the Armenian forces of carrying out "large-scale acts of sabotage" near the border provinces of Dasheksan, Kalpajar and Lachin, noting that its army positions "were bombed, especially with mortars."

The statement added that the Armenian bombing resulted in "losses among the (Azerbaijani) soldiers" without specifying their number.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed his concern over the clashes, calling on the two countries to stop them immediately.

Since the end of the second war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Karabakh enclave in the fall of 2020, the two countries have repeatedly been bordering on border clashes. Last week, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing one of its soldiers in an exchange of fire on the border between the two countries.

These acts of violence threaten to reignite the conflict in the Karabakh region, despite the presence of Russian forces charged with supervising the ceasefire in force between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the end of the second war between them.

After a first war that killed 30,000 people in the early 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed in the fall of 2020 over Karabakh. This mountainous region was separated from Azerbaijan with the support of Yerevan.