Iranian Armita Gravand, 16, who has been in a coma since Sunday after what was reported as an assault by Iran's so-called morality police, is under "strict security measures" at Fajr Airforce Hospital, a human rights group told The National.
Ms Gravand, originally from the Kurdish city of Kermanshah in western Iran, was living in the capital Tehran when the incident took place.
"She was physically attacked by authorities in Shohada metro station for what police perceived as non-compliance with the compulsory hijab," the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights said.
"As a result, she sustained severe injuries and was transported to hospital."
Iran's government has denied she was attacked and said Ms Gravand fainted due to low blood pressure.
It made similar claims in September 2022 when Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini died as a result of injuries believed to be sustained while she was in police custody over her dress code.
Her death sparked protests nationwide and beyond calling for the regime to be toppled.
"During the past two days, there has been no news from Armita Gravand's family," Haibat Mohammadi, of Hengaw, told The National.
"The family are under very high pressure by government officials and have been threatened against speaking to anyone, including the media, except those affiliated with the government.
"Close relatives in the hospital have had their mobile phones confiscated after a photo of Armita was leaked to the public."
Shortly after the photo was circulated on social media, Iranian authorities made Ms Gravand's parents "sit in front of state TV cameras and repeat what was dictated to them", reiterating government claims made about the reasons she ended up in a coma, Mr Mohammadi said.
"But as you can see in the picture of Armita, her head is wrapped. What do the bandages around her have to do with low blood pressure?"
"She remains in a critical condition," he added.
Hengaw has called for an "independent medical team" from Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tehran to independently examine Ms Gravand in the presence of a UN team, given what it called Iran's "history of withholding the truth and ongoing denial of crimes", it said, referring to Ms Amini's case.
The US has also expressed "shock and concern" over her case.
We are following news of her condition. We continue to stand with the brave people of Iran and work with the world to hold the regime accountable for its abuses," said Deputy Special Envoy for Iran Abram Paley.
Mr Paley also hit out at Tehran over the arrest of a journalist at the hospital where Ms Gravand is being treated, describing it as an "affront to journalism."
"The Iranian regime should spend more time worrying about how it treats its own people rather than how the media covers its abuses."
Speaking to The National, head of Iran studies at the Emirates Policy Centre (EPC), Mohamad Al Zghool, said while it was unclear whether Ms Gravand's case would spark a fresh round of protests, the momentum since Ms Amini's death has been ongoing.
Iranians had expected the regime would take measures to quell the public anger but instead, the government has tightened laws and heightened executions and arrests of the opposition, Mr Zghool said.
Earlier this year, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged that tens of thousands of people have been detained in crackdowns on protesters in recent months. Human Rights Activists in Iran, which has been tracking the demonstrations, said at least 527 people have been killed by Iranian authorities.
Other groups have criticised the regime for "sham" trials resulting in execution of political prisoners.
"Perhaps one of the most prominent features of the past decade in contemporary Iranian history is the transformation of protests from a phenomenon that repeats every decade to an annual [wave of protests] that even the Iranian regime expects every year," Mr Zghool said.
"This transformation has plunged Iranians into a continuous state of social discontent stimulated by repeated and ongoing causes, which move Iranian society and by the nature of the behaviour displayed by institutions in the face of these protests."
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Avatar%20(2009)
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Black Panther
Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
Five stars
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
RESULT
Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EXPATS
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