Iran announces ‘treatment clinic’ for women who defy strict hijab laws

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The move has been described as ‘chilling’ by activists and rights groups as arrests mount over dress code breaches

The Iranian state has said that it plans to open a treatment clinic for women who defy the mandatory hijab laws that require women to cover their heads in public.

The opening of a “hijab removal treatment clinic” was announced by Mehri Talebi Darestani, the head of the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. She said the clinic will offer “scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal”.

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Australia backs UN resolution recognising ‘permanent sovereignty’ of Palestinians in major departure

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Vote cast with 158 other countries to recognise ‘permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’

Australia has backed in a United Nations resolution to recognise the “permanent sovereignty” of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, marking a major departure from its previous position.

At a UN committee vote on Thursday, Australia voted with 158 other countries, including the UK and New Zealand, on a resolution to recognise the “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources”.

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Alexis Wright wins $60,000 Melbourne literature prize

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The Waanyi writer, who won the Miles Franklin award and Stella prize this year for her novel Praiseworthy, has been recognised for her body of work and contribution to Australian culture

Alexis Wright has been awarded the $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature, capping off an extraordinary year in which she has won more than $200,000 in prize money after the publication of her epic novel, Praiseworthy.

The Melbourne prize for literature, awarded every three years, recognises a Victorian writer whose “body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life”. Past winners include Christos Tsiolkas, Alison Lester and Helen Garner.

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North Korean soldiers fight alongside Russians in Kursk Oblast – Euromaidan Press

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  1. North Korean soldiers fight alongside Russians in Kursk Oblast  Euromaidan Press
  2. 50,000 Russian and North Korean Troops Mass Ahead of Attack, U.S. Says  The New York Times
  3. Ukraine is fighting 50,000 troops in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky says  CNN
  4. US warns Russia potentially aiding North Korea's nuclear program in direct threat to Europe, Asia  Fox News
  5. Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press  Department of State
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Ukraine War Latest Update: Ukraine Braces for Critical Winter Phase as Front Line May Shift 35 km Westward – Kyiv Post

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  1. Ukraine War Latest Update: Ukraine Braces for Critical Winter Phase as Front Line May Shift 35 km Westward  Kyiv Post
  2. Further mass displacement possible in Ukraine if energy sector hit, UN warns  Reuters
  3. Ukraine Is Scavenging for Power-Plant Parts as Mass Blackouts Loom  The Wall Street Journal
  4. Ukraine needs ‘fast and focused’ help with energy security, ERBD Ukraine head says  Kyiv Independent
  5. Can Alternative Energy Get Ukraine Through The Blackouts This Winter? (video)  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
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One dead following blasts at Brazil Supreme Court – BBC.com

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  1. One dead following blasts at Brazil Supreme Court  BBC.com
  2. Explosions Outside Brazil’s Supreme Court Leave 1 Dead  The New York Times
  3. Explosives and timer found on suspect’s body after attack on Brazil’s top court  CNN
  4. Bombings in Brazil’s capital revive fears over fate of democracy  The Washington Post
  5. Judge investigating 2023 coup was court bomb target, say Brazilian police  The Guardian
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CIA official Asif Rahman arrested in leak of secret files on Israel – The Washington Post

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  1. CIA official Asif Rahman arrested in leak of secret files on Israel  The Washington Post
  2. CIA official charged with leaking classified documents about Israeli strike on Iran  USA TODAY
  3. FBI arrests alleged leaker of US intelligence documents related to Israel’s attack plans against Iran  CNN
  4. C.I.A. Official Charged in Leak of Classified Documents About Israeli Military Plans  The New York Times
  5. US government worker charged with leaking classified documents on Israel's plans to strike Iran  The Associated Press
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‘I have lost everything’: southern Africa battles hunger amid historic drought

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Crops have failed in several countries, with 27m people at risk of hunger according to World Food Programme

Emmanuel Himoonga paced his dry field, picking up stalks of maize that had been bleached almost to bone white.

The 61-year-old chief of Shakumbila, a mainly agricultural community of about 7,000 people roughly 70 miles west of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, had seen droughts before.

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Israel accused of crimes against humanity over forced displacement in Gaza

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Human Rights Watch says it has evidence that suggests ‘the war crime of forcible transfer’ of civilians

Israel is using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, which says the policy amounts to crimes against humanity.

The US-based group added it had collected evidence that suggested “the war crime of forcible transfer [of the civilian population]”, describing it as “a grave breach of the Geneva conventions and a crime under the Rome statute of the international criminal court”.

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