Author: Gulf News Week
BBCThe extent of damage to some of Iran’s military and nuclear sites has been revealed for the first time after more than a quarter of a million previously restricted high-resolution satellite images were released.A leading satellite imagery provider, Planet Labs, restored access to images from nearly 800 locations in Iran which they had chosen to restrict following a request from the US government.BBC Verify analysed satellite imagery from two key locations – Esfahan and Bushehr – captured since restrictions began on 9 March.The images show a variety of targets hit from ammunition storage areas to ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear and…
Instagram/@denizgoktasxDeniz Göktaş is seen as one of Turkey’s most popular stand-up comicsStand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş has been placed under arrest by a court in Istanbul after he was held at the city’s main airport over a performance that has attracted 9.4m views on YouTube.Göktaş is accused of “inciting hatred and hostility” in his stage routine, as well as insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.He is the latest performer to be hit by a crackdown on dissent in Turkey that has also targeted campaigners, journalists and other public figures.In recent weeks, access to the social media accounts of numerous LGBT+ organisations and…
District Administration SheraniAt least 32 people were killed and 16 others injured after an overcrowded passenger bus plunged into a ravine in south-western Pakistan.The bus was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, when it crashed in the Dana Sar mountain range, on the border between Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, at about 08:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Friday.A government official at Zhob Hospital told BBC News that a total of 48 people, including a number of women and children, had been on board when the accident happened.The cause of the crash is under investigation, but preliminary reports suggest a steering…
BBC reports from the Strait of Hormuz during fragile ceasefireIt’s a sweltering summer’s day and fishermen are unloading their catch on the docks.One proudly holds several baby sharks tangled in his nets. Shark sandwich is a local delicacy, he explains. Another rides off with two large fish strung over his motorbike.In many ways this looks like an ordinary fishing port, but the docks are in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes and a key focal point of the US-Israeli war with Iran.This is the first time international journalists…
Watch: Iranians mourn late supreme leader as funeral events beginIran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than four months after he was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel.The former Ayatollah’s body will lie in state in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla from Friday, ahead of his burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.Iranian authorities said 12 to 20 million people were expected to attend, which they are calling the “funeral of the century”.It comes as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after…
@TAYLORSWIFTIt looks official: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to celebrate their wedding with a party at New York’s Madison Square Garden this weekend.Speculation about the ceremony has been rife ever since the couple announced their engagement in an Instagram post last August.The couple have said almost nothing about it, but you can’t book New York’s biggest indoor concert venue for an entire weekend without causing a few whispers.The nuptials represent more than two celebrities tying the knot.But for Swifties, this is the culmination of a two-decade fairytale.In anticipation of the big event, here’s a look at how their…
Watch: BBC reports from Madison Square Garden ahead of rumoured Taylor Swift weddingTaylor Swift and her American football-player fiancé Travis Kelce have kicked off rumoured wedding celebrations at Madison Square Garden in New York City.High-profile friends of the couple, from actress Lena Dunham to frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff were spotted Thursday evening in formal attire.Aerial footage showed a stream of black SUVs pulling up to the venue with guests dropped off under a white canopy tent. Media speculation has dubbed the event both a pre-party and possible rehearsal dinner.Around 100 people were expected at the event on Thursday, ahead of…
Watch: Shoko Kawata will make history as the first Japanese mayor to take maternity leaveWhen the mayor of a small town in western Japan announced she was taking maternity leave, she expected some raised eyebrows.But the reaction was far stronger – and more divided – than Shoko Kawata had ever anticipated.The 35-year-old has been plunged into a national debate about whether elected officials should take time off for childbirth, in a country that’s struggling to lift birth rates.”I was so surprised because the reaction was so big,” Kawata tells the BBC.As there is currently no legal framework for local elected…
BBCSixteen years ago, Abdi Nor Iftin was a Somali refugee living in one of the roughest slums in Kenya when he found out he had won the lottery of a lifetime. Out of nearly eight million applicants in 2013, he had been one of the lucky 50,000 granted a US visa through a scheme known as the diversity visa scheme that the US government had begun in the 1990s.Abdi had long dreamt of moving to America. He was so obsessed, his childhood friends even nicknamed him “Abdi America” after he learnt to speak English by watching Hollywood movies. “My whole…
ReutersWarning: This story contains descriptions of abuseInstagram has been running paid adverts promoting child sexual abuse material in India, a BBC Eye investigation has found.The ads, seen by the BBC World Service, use terms including “rape video” and “child video” and link users to channels on the messaging app Telegram, where they can buy the material for as little as 99 rupees (about $1).Ads on Instagram are only published after first being approved by its moderation technology.Later, when the BBC asked Instagram’s parent company Meta for comment, it said it had already disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting…