Month: April 2023

TV footage shows a crowd of people unable to move and many in distress in the Bab al-Yemen area of the city.

Hundreds of people reportedly crowded into the school late on Wednesday to receive donations amounting to about $9 (£7; €8) per person.

The rebel Houthi movement has controlled Sanaa since 2015.

Video posted on social media shows people screaming with dozens of bodies on the ground, some of which are not moving. Other people are seen trying to help.

Two local businessmen who arranged the event had been arrested and an investigation was under way, the interior ministry said.

A spokesman for the ministry blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without co-ordination with local officials.

Many people were also injured with 13 in a critical situation, a health official in Sanaa said.

“Women and children were among the dead,” a Houthi security official told AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.

The Associated Press news agency quoted two eyewitnesses who said Houthi fighters had fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire which resulted in an explosion. This caused panic that led to the crush, they added.

The rebels are said to have then sealed off the school and barred people, including journalists, from approaching.

The Houthis have reportedly agreed to pay $2,000 (£1,600) to each family who lost a relative, while the injured would get around $400 (£322).

The event happened during the final days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Last week a major prisoner swap between warring sides in Yemen started, seen as part of stepped-up efforts to end the devastating eight-year conflict.

Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, blamed Wednesday’s crush on the country’s humanitarian crisis.

“We hold the countries of aggression responsible for what happened and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade,” he said on Twitter.

The interrogator had searched the woman’s phone and come across her intimate conversations with her girlfriend.

Warning: This article contains language that some readers may find offensive.

“What the hell are these chats? Are you a degenerate?” repeated the interrogator, his voice laced with disgust and using an offensive and derogatory Persian word which describes any form of same-sex attraction.

Now out of prison on bail, the woman, who is in her 20s, tells the BBC that she dodged the question by describing the conversation as “jokes that are common between girls”.

She says that the officer appeared to be focused on pressing charges related to the protests and therefore did not pursue the allegations of homosexuality.

Iranian law, which is based on Sharia, considers same-sex relations as crimes that carry a maximum penalty of death.

“But he kept pounding me with that question: ‘Are you a degenerate?’ He also mentioned my girlfriend’s name here and there, asking questions about her sexuality,” she says.

She had planned to make a rainbow-coloured LGBTQ Pride flag and take it to protests. “But I got arrested and a lot has happened since,” she says.

Pointing to the defiant spirit of the younger generations in Iran, she says that it came as no surprise that the LGBTQ community was “more visible during the recent protests”, especially since the movement “has roots in the struggle for human rights”.

In her opinion, this displays “unparalleled courage” of the younger generations and the gulf between them and the top echelons of the Islamic Republic, many of whom are now in their 80s.

“This generation does not bend before barbaric laws and norms. It is bent on consistently remaining true to itself. It stands tall and demands recognition.”

The protests swept across the country following the death in custody in September of Mahsa Amini, a young ethnic Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly”.

The Islamic Republic has responded with deadly force.

According to the Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA), security forces have killed at least 530 protesters – including 71 children – since the protests began. Four men have been executed on protest-related charges following trials that the UN says were unfair and based on forced confessions. Dozens of others who have been convicted are at risk of execution.

During the protest movement, young LGBTQ people have defied the regime’s bans on public shows of affection and same-sex intimacy by removing their hijab and kissing each other in public.

Others have taken to streets with placards in the colours of the Pride and trans flags, reading “Woman, Life, Freedom” – the de facto slogan of the protest movement – as well as “Queer, Life, Freedom”.

Queer is an offensive word to some, but for others it is the preferred term to describe their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Photos have shown activists spray-painting pro-LGBTQ slogans on walls at universities and in parks, including: “Queer, Trans, Freedom”, “The LGBTQ community rises”, and “This is the voice of the LGBTQ community: liberation or setting the night on fire”.

Others have handed out flyers to people on the streets that are hand-painted in the colours of the Pride flag and read: “The Iranian LGBTQ family stands by you.”

Many Iranians on social media have warmly welcomed the increased visibility of the LGBTQ community. Yet the move has triggered a backlash from others.

In addition to the outright homophobic reactions, an old question has resurfaced: “Is it the ‘right time’ to speak of LGBTQ rights in Iran?”

Similar questions have reverberated through Iran’s modern history whenever marginalised groups have demanded rights.

“Is this the right time for that?” was used by many political parties to gag feminists when thousands protested against the introduction of the mandatory hijab rules following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Afsaneh Rigot, a researcher in technology, law and human rights at Harvard University, says: “Seen globally, queer people in Iran face some of the harshest penalties for their existence.”

“They are also criminalised in multiple ways, not only under oppressive laws generally criminalising freedom of expression on and offline, but also laws directly criminalising their identities,” she adds.

These include wearing clothes considered female if a person is assigned male at birth.

Other same-sex acts that are criminalised include same-sex “kissing or touching as a result of lust” and are punishable by flogging. These penalties also apply to children under the age of 18.

A trans non-binary activist in Iran in their early 20s, who say they are defying pressure from the “guardians of cis-heteronormativity”, describe the increased visibility of the LGBTQ community as the “rainbow wave”.

They also note that in response, top officials of the Islamic Republic are intensifying their homophobic rhetoric.

In a speech in Tehran on the anniversary of the revolution on 11 February, President Ebrahim Raisi accused the West of “exploiting women” under the pretext of human rights.

He said those countries were in no place to “set norms for the world, since they are pushing humanity towards the brink of extinction by promoting immoral behaviour like homosexuality”.

Despite all the headwinds, Iran’s LGBTQ community is determined to not be pushed back into the closet again.

Recently, dozens helped a gay beauty blogger make a video collage in which each of them repeated a single sentence: “We are countless.”

The BBC has withheld the identities of some of the people quoted in this article for their own safety.

The scheme, which is aimed at increasing the number of single-use drinks bottle and cans that are recycled, was due to start in August.

But it has faced fierce opposition from many small breweries and distillers.

Humza Yousaf announced the delay as he set out his priorities for his government over the next three years.

Mr Yousaf also confirmed that proposals to restrict alcohol advertising will be sent “back to the drawing board” as part of his efforts to “reset” the government’s relationship with business.

And a six-month trial will see peak rail fares scrapped across the ScotRail network from October.

His statement was largely overshadowed by the arrest of the SNP’s treasurer, Colin Beattie, on Tuesday morning by police officers who are investigating the party’s finances.

The deposit return scheme will see 20p added to the price of a single-use drinks container, which will be refunded to people who return the container to retailer or hospitality premises that offer single-use products.

Some retailers will accept returns over the counter while larger stores, shopping centres and community hubs will operate automated receiving points known as reverse vending machines (RVMs).Bottles and cans could be returned over the counter or through reverse vending machines

Many small businesses fear it will place extra costs and other burdens on them at a time when they are already struggling.

And there have been concerns that thousands of firms could end up being forced out of the Scottish market, and that many products will disappear from the shelves.

The scheme will also require Westminster to grant an exemption to the UK-wide Internal Market Act given possible implications elsewhere in the UK

Mr Yousaf said he remained committed to the deposit return scheme “as a way to increase recycling, reduce litter and help achieve our net zero ambitions”.

He added: “We recognise the uncertainty that continues to be created as a result of the UK government delaying the decision to exclude the scheme from the Internal Market Act. We had hoped for that decision this week – but it has not come.”

The first minister also said that he and Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater – the Scottish Green co-leader who has been driving the introduction of the scheme – had heard the concerns of business over its readiness for launch in August.

He said: “As a result, we will now delay the launch of the scheme to the 1st of March 2024. This provides 10 months for businesses to get ready.

“We will use that additional time to work with businesses, and Circularity Scotland, to address concerns with the scheme and ensure a successful launch next year.”

A package of measures, Mr Yousaf said, would also be put in place to “simplify and de-risk” the scheme.

Ms Slater will give further details on the new package and timetable for the scheme later this week.

The announcement came just minutes after former SNP minister Fergus Ewing described the scheme as a “Green poll tax”.

The Scotch Whisky Association welcomed the delay but stressed that it supported the principles of the deposit return scheme.

But it said the plan in its current form would “hamper the efforts of businesses across the country to reduce waste and bring about a more circular economy”.

The Night Time Industries Association said the scheme continued to be “fundamentally flawed and completely unworkable for large parts of our sector” and that a total redesign was needed.

The Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland welcomed the decision but called for the government to engage in “meaning conversation” to address business concerns.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack also welcomed the pause and said the two governments now had “an opportunity to continue working together on solutions”.

Mr Yousaf also acknowledged that proposals to restrict alcohol advertising, including a ban on sponsorships for sport and live events and ending the sale of products with drinks firms’ logos on, had caused “real concern” to the industry.

He said: “I have therefore instructed my officials to take these ideas back to the drawing board, and to work with the industry, and with public health stakeholders, to agree a new set of proposals.

“I believe that all of us want to reduce the harm caused by alcohol, particularly to young people – but without undermining Scotland’s world-class drinks industry or tourism sector.”

The first minister said he hoped that a way forward could be found “which achieves both of those aims”.

He also confirmed that the legislation process another of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon’s key but controversial policies – the creation of a new National Care Service – would take “slightly more time” to help build consensus on how it should operate.

And he said Scotland would be rejoining two international education league tables that it left in the wake of the country’s schools falling in the rankings.

Mr Yousaf had hoped his speech would allow him to set out what he was billing as a “fresh start for Scotland” after a tumultuous three weeks since he succeeded Ms Sturgeon as first minister and SNP leader.

He pledged his government would be “centred on the principles of equality, opportunity and community” and suggested tax increases could be on the way for higher earners, as he spoke of the need to be “bolder on taxation”.

Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden responded to the delay, saying it would come as a “huge relief” to businesses and consumers.

He added: “Ministers urgently need to get back to the drawing board and come up with something that is radically better than what has been proposed so far.

“Their first port of call should be inviting Scottish business leaders to advise how best to move forward.”

There was a degree of inevitability that the first minister would announce a delay to the rollout of Scotland’s deposit return scheme.

The policy became a political football during the SNP leadership contest with all three candidates promising varying degrees of change.

Businesses have repeatedly raised concerns about how it will be administered with some suggesting smaller firms will be hit hardest.

But the tone of the announcement was interesting.

The delay isn’t because of those expressed business concerns – Humza Yousaf said – but because the UK government has failed so far to grant the legislation an exemption from the Internal Markets Act.

This week – we learned – ministers were anticipating a decision on the exemption from UK government counterparts.

The Scottish Greens are not happy and remember they are in government with the SNP in Scotland. In fact it’s one of their ministers who is responsible for this policy.

They say that climate action is being “held hostage” by the Tory government at Westminster and lay the blame squarely with them.

Mr Yousaf admitted to journalists earlier on Tuesday that Mr Beattie’s arrest was a “very serious matter indeed” and that the timing was “not ideal” in terms of his statement to parliament.

Mr Beattie’s arrest came two weeks after former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – who is married to Nicola Sturgeon – was also arrested before later being released without charge pending further investigation.

Officers spent two days searching Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon’s home in Glasgow, and also searched the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.

Police Scotland launched its Operation Branchform investigation into the SNP’s finances in July 2021 after receiving complaints about how more than £660,000 of donations for a second independence referendum campaign were used.