Confusion grows over fate of Iran’s morality police amid protests
CAIRO — Confusion over the status of Iran’s religious police grew as state media cast doubt on reports the force had been shut down. Despite the uncertainty, it has appeared for weeks that enforcement of the strict dress code has been scaled back as more women walk the streets without wearing the required headscarf.
The mixed messages have raised speculation that Iran’s cleric-run leadership is considering concessions in an attempt to defuse widespread anti-government protests that are entering their third month. The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was detained by the morality police.
Monday marked the start of another three-day nationwide strike called by protesters.
In Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, about a third of the shops were closed, witnesses said. In response, Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi ordered the arrest of anyone encouraging the strike or trying to intimidate shops into shutting down.
The morality police, established in 2005, are tasked with enforcing Iran’s restrictions on public behavior and strict dress codes — particularly on women, who are required to wear the hijab, or headscarf, and loose-fitting clothes.
Outrage erupted after Amini’s death in the force’s custody in mid-September, after she was arrested for allegedly failing to meet the dress code. Since then, the protests have expanded into calls for the ouster of Iran’s clerical rulers.
On Saturday, Iran’s chief prosecutor, Mohamed Jafar Montazeri, said the religious police “had been closed,” in a report published by the semi-official news agency, ISNA. He was also quoted as saying that the government was reviewing the mandatory hijab law.
“We are working fast on the issue of hijab, and we are doing our best to come up with a thoughtful solution to deal with this phenomenon that hurts everyone’s heart,” he said, without offering details.
But late Sunday, Arabic-language state outlet Al-Alam issued a report suggesting Montazeri’s comments had been misunderstood. The report said the religious police were not connected to the judiciary, to which Montazeri belongs. It underlined that no official has confirmed the closure of the morality police.
Favre probe: The Mississippi Department of Human Services on Monday changed its demands against retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a lawsuit that seeks repayment of misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
The department dropped its demand of $1.1 million against Favre, acknowledging he has already repaid that money for an unfulfilled pledge of public speeches.
But it made a new demand of up to $5 million against Favre and a university sports foundation, saying money from an anti-poverty program was improperly used to pay for a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi.
The volleyball facility was a pet project of Favre, and he pledged to lead fundraising efforts for it. Previous filings in the civil lawsuit show text message exchanges between Favre and others about directing money to the volleyball facility from a nonprofit organization that had Human Services
contracts. But until Monday, the Human Services lawsuit had not sought to recoup money for the facility.
Favre is a University of Southern Mississippi alumnus, and his daughter started playing volleyball at the Hattiesburg school in 2017. The volleyball facility, also called a wellness center, was completed in late 2019.
Lady Gaga dog case: The man who shot and wounded Lady Gaga’s dog walker and stole her French bulldogs last year took a plea deal and was sentenced to 21 years in prison Monday, officials said.
The Lady Gaga connection was a coincidence, authorities have said. The motive was the value of the French bulldogs, a breed that can run into the thousands of dollars, and detectives do not believe the thieves knew the dogs belonged to the singer.
James Howard Jackson, one of three men and two accomplices who participated in the violent robbery
and its aftermath, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Jackson and two others drove around Hollywood, the city of West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley on Feb. 24, 2021 “looking for French bulldogs,” prosecutors said previously. They found Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, with the pop star’s three pets.
Jackson shot Fischer during the robbery near the famed Sunset Boulevard, during which two of the dogs were taken.
Avenatti prison sentence:
Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday in Southern California and ordered to pay more than $10 million in restitution after admitting he cheated four of his clients out of millions of dollars.
The sentence should run consecutively to the five years in prison he is
currently serving for separate convictions in New York, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna said during a hearing in Santa Ana, California.
It is the last of three major federal criminal cases to wrap up against the 51-yearold Californian, who rose to fame as he represented porn actor Stormy Daniels during her legal battles with Donald Trump and became one of the former president’s leading adversaries.
A mudslide unleashed by torrential rain buried a bus and two other vehicles in central Colombia, killing at least 27 people and leaving others trapped as rescuers tried to reach them in the wreckage Monday.
The mudslide late Sunday divided a highway in two in the town of Pueblo Rico in the district of Risaralda.
The dead included three children, President Gustavo Petro tweeted. Several more people were rescued and taken to hospitals.
Colombia mudslide:
More than 70 search-andrescue workers using backhoes and other equipment tried to reach the rest.
The public bus was carrying more than 20 people.
Sudan deal: Sudan’s coup leaders and the main pro-democracy group signed a deal Monday to establish a civilian-led transitional government following the military takeover last year.
But key players refused to participate, and no deadline was set for the transition to begin.
The framework — signed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo and the leaders of the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change — appears to offer only the broadest outlines for how the country will resume its progression to democracy.
That process was upended in October 2021, when Burhan unseated the civilian half of Sudan’s ruling Sovereignty Council with Dagolo’s backing.