Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been released on bail after starting a hunger strike to protest against his almost seven-month detention, supporters said on Friday.
The director, a winner at all the big European film festivals, had been arrested months before the current anti-regime protests erupted. But his imprisonment became a symbol of the plight of artists speaking out against the authorities.
President Joe Biden on Thursday underlined his support for the legal "status quo" of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a meeting at the White House with Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Biden, the king and Crown Prince Hussein had a private lunch in which the US president "reaffirmed the close, enduring nature of the friendship between the United States and Jordan," the White House said. They also both spoke with Iraq's prime minister by phone.
Cycling is the newest gem in Saudi Arabia's expanding collection of sporting jewels as the conservative Gulf monarchy and its neighbours invest hugely in sport to burnish their international image and diversify their economies.
This week's Saudi Tour is the first of three stage races in the Arabian Peninsula in February, with competitions also scheduled in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has been jailed for the past six months, said he has begun a hunger strike to protest his detention, according to a statement published by his wife Thursday.
Panahi, whose films have won prizes at all of Europe's main film festivals, was arrested in July even before the current wave of protests that have shaken the regime started in September.
There were expectations last month that the judiciary could order his release, but he remains behind bars in Tehran's Evin prison.
Sudan and Israel said they agreed on Thursday to move towards normalising relations during the first official visit by an Israeli foreign minister to Khartoum.
Sudan in January 2021 formally agreed to normalise relations with Israel in a quid pro quo for the United States removing it from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism", but ties were never formalised.
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, then the intelligence minister, led that same month the first official delegation to the Muslim-majority northeast African country.
The second Emirati to journey into space, martial arts enthusiast Sultan AlNeyadi, weighed up Thursday performing Ramadan in orbit -- and promised to pack his jiu-jitsu suit for the ride.
AlNeyadi, 41, dubbed the "Sultan of Space" by his alma mater, will blast off on February 26 for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
During his six months in orbit -- a record time for any Arab astronaut -- AlNeyadi said he would like to observe the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims typically fast from dawn to sunset.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday denounced the "headlong rush" of Iran's nuclear programme after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Paris to seek a stronger European stance against Tehran.
In a statement released after a dinner meeting in the Elysee Palace, Macron warned that Tehran continuing with the atomic project "would inevitably have consequences".
Iraq's foreign minister on Thursday called for more economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia, namely in investment and electricity, during a visit to Baghdad by his Saudi counterpart.
Fuad Hussein made no mention of resuming talks between Saudi Arabia and arch-rival Iran -- previously mediated by Iraq -- during a joint press conference.
"This important visit comes at a time marked by great challenges, so it is essential to talk and discuss these challenges which affect the region as a whole," Hussein said, alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has been jailed for the last six months, said he has begun a hunger strike to protest his continued detention, according to a statement published by his wife Thursday.
Panahi, whose films have won prizes at all of Europe's main film festivals, was arrested in July even before the current wave of protests that have shaken the regime started in September.
There were expectations last month that the judiciary could order his release, but he remains behind bars in Tehran's Evin prison.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron Thursday, hoping to gain support against Iran's nuclear programme but shadowed by an upsurge of violence in the region.
Israel's Paris embassy said the pair would discuss "the international effort to stop the Iranian nuclear programme".
Netanyahu hopes that Iran's role supplying drones to Russian invaders in Ukraine as well as the crackdown on protests at home will prompt Western allies to drop any pursuit of a revival of the 2015 deal over its atomic drive.
