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Iran court changes jail time to home confinement for pop singer – Lawyer

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By Francesca Hangeior

An Iranian court has changed the sentence against a pop singer who criticised the mandatory headscarf for women to home confinement instead of jail time, due to health issues, his lawyer said.

Mehdi Yarrahi, 42, was arrested in August for releasing an “illegal song” that challenged “the morals and customs of Islamic society”. He was released on bail in October.

In January, the court sentenced Yarrahi to “a total of two years and eight months in prison” on multiple charges.

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Under Iranian law jail sentences run concurrently, meaning he would only have to have served one year behind bars, which will now be changed to home confinement.

“Due to my client’s illness and his need for medical care, the one-year imprisonment was changed to electronic tagging (bound with a movement radius of 1000 metres),” lawyer Zahra Minouei said on X, formerly Twitter, late Sunday.

It was not immediately clear what Yarrahi’s illness was.

She said Yarrahi has been under electronic monitoring since February 20, and the court order included paying a bail of 15 billion tomans (around $270,000).

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The singer released the track “Roosarito”, which means “your headscarf” in Persian, shortly before the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in police custody on September 16, 2022 following her arrest for allegedly flouting Iran’s mandatory hijab law for women.

Hundreds of people, including dozens of security personnel, were killed in protests that broke out across Iran after Amini’s death and nine men were executed for protest-related “crimes.”

Thousands of protesters were also arrested, accused by the authorities of taking part in “riots” fomented by the West.

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In a three-minute video accompanying the release of “Roosarito”, Yarrahi had voiced support for women’s right to choose whether to wear the headscarf and dedicated the song to the “courageous Iranian women” involved in the protest movement.

Yarrahi is a past winner of the best pop singer award at the Fajr Festival, Iran’s most important government-held music event.

His song “Soroode Zan” (Woman’s Anthem), which was released in October 2022, became a protest anthem, particularly on university campuses.

Yarrahi has repeatedly criticised the authorities during his concerts, especially for discrimination in his ethnically diverse southwestern home province of Khuzestan.

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Po!n, betting sites recorded 162m Nigerian visitors in June – Report

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A report by global data and business intelligence platform, StatiSense, has revealed that more than 162 million Nigerians visited porn and betting websites in June 2024.

According to the platform’s most recent data, which lists the top ten websites that Nigerians saw on their mobile devices in June, a sizable percentage of this traffic visited websites with gambling and pornographic content.

A post on StatiSense’s official X page revealed that a variety of search engines, social media apps, and betting platforms were among the most popular websites.

Notably, two pornographic websites, Xvideos and Xnxx, came in second and sixth place respectively with a total of 80.18 million visits.

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In addition, Nigerian mobile users visited sporting websites 176.83 million times. Of these, 83.1 million visits were allocated to sports betting sites Sportybet and Bet9ja, which secured third and fourth places on the list.

Google and Facebook were also among the sites that featured prominently in the report.

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Reps hail Wike, Tamuno over AICL’s improved revenue, infrastructure

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Members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on FCT, led by Hon. Aliyu Muktar Betara have applauded the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike over ongoing infrastructural development projects across the nation’s capital city.

The lawmakers who spoke during an interactive session with the Group Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL), Dr. Maureen Tamuno applauded her ingenuity towards improved revenue generation since her assumption of office.

While presenting her scorecard and strategy adopted in the turnaround of Abuja Investment Company Limited to the Committee, Dr. Tamuno disclosed that AICL only manages the district markets, not the entire markets across the territory.

According to her, Wuse Markets is owned 90 percent by the individuals who bought the shops while AICL owns 10 percent.

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“For example, Wuse Market is owned 90 percent by the owners, we own 10 percent. What Abuja Management does for Wuse market is to manage the facility there through the toll taking which they do collect on our behalf and then they manage the facilities, they manage the refuse collections and they also work with the market association.”

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Tinubu serious in solving economic crisis — Wike

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Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Friday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is serious in solving the economic crisis in the country.

Wike gave the assurance during the inspection of the ongoing construction of the 7.3 kilometers Gaba/Tokulo road in Bwari Area Council.

He pleaded with Abuja residents to give the present administration the needed support to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Addressing reporters during the inspection visit, the FCT Minister expressed satisfaction with the speed and quality of work on the road project and assured that it will be adequately funded to ensure its timely completion by December this year.

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The Minister who revealed that the project was 40 percent complete, said about 70 percent of the contractual sum has been paid to the contractor by the FCT Administration and expressed confidence in the capacity of the contractor to deliver the project within the agreed schedule.

Wike further disclosed that the Gaba/Tokulo road, when completed, will not only enhance transportation in the rural parts of the FCT, but will also improve food security in the nation’s capital by providing access to the farmlands, as well as access to the markets.

He also stressed the commitment of the FCT Administration to providing infrastructure in the FCT Area Councils, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Wike said: “So many people have thought that we are only concentrating in the city. Yesterday, we were in Saburi, today we are in Bwari. Tomorrow, we will be in Kuje, so that people will understand that while we are doing in the city, we are also carrying out development in the satellite towns and the rural areas because by the Renewed Hope Agenda, development is not only to be concentrated within the city but also to take to the rural areas in order to improve the economy.

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“Here is an agrarian area; without this road, how are they going to move their goods? And this is part of the problems we have in terms of food insecurity. People are talking about shortages of food, but if we don’t have means of transportation, that is also a problem.

“We are trying to solve that problem of transportation for farmers to be able to go and bring whatever they have produced for people to consume or to buy”.

Wike, while thanking the people of Bwari for their support for the government, also reiterated that President Tinubu was committed to addressing the economic problems of the country and called for their continued support.

He said: “We thank the people of Bwari and we want to also let them know that the government of President Tinubu is serious about solving the economic crisis we have. All we urge Nigerians is just to be patient.

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