Tunisia: France’s faux pas
French ministers denied Tunisia was a dictatorship and offered Ben Ali’s regime police support to deal with the recent protests. Myriam Francois-Cerrah explains how France found itself on the backfoot
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Tunisia hits the headlines
As Tunisia’s president sacks the government, Jillian C York reports on the “revolution” the western media almost missed and argues it will take a global spotlight to hold Ben Ali to account (more…)
Hair dyeing banned for male students
Six months ago Iran’s government outlawed decadent Western hair cuts for men — ponytails and, at the other extreme, spiky crowns. Guidelines were issued in the form of a catalogue of acceptable styles.
Now another dress code has been sent to several universities banning male students from dyeing their hair and plucking their eyebrows.
Long nails, tattoos, tooth gems and body piercing are also out and the new rules ban women from wearing caps or hats without scarves, and tight and/or short jeans. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency this week published a list of Iranian universities that were sent the code. The basis for their selection has not been revealed.
Meanwhile, in Tehran’s prisons, detainees sleeping on the floor are left without adequate clothing in daytime temperatures of around 0°C. “The cell is so cold at night it’s as though we’re sleeping on ice”, jailed journalist Nazanin Khosravani told her family yesterday.
Khosravani’s mother said, “Despite temperatures severely dropping in recent days, authorities from the Ministry of Information responsible for Ward 209 [at Evin prison] have failed to give Nazanin warm clothing”, the website 30mail reported.
Khosravani, who has been charged with “acting against national security”, has been in prison since November 2010. Her file has yet to reach court for trial.
“It’s forbidden to be you sometimes”
Italian investigative journalist Emilio Casalini has made a documentary film, Iran About, focusing on Iranians and their lack of freedom. Featuring nine interviews in silhouette, the film points to aspects of everyday life that are taken for granted in many parts of the world. (more…)