clockwise around the Caspian Sea
- World Report 2024: Iran (hrw.org)
Iranian authorities brutally cracked down on the “woman, life, freedom” protests sparked after the September 2022 death in morality police custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian-Kurdish woman, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of protestors. Scores of activists, including human rights defenders, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and dissidents, remain in prison on vague national security charges or are serving sentences after grossly unfair trials. Security forces’ impunity is rampant, with no government investigations into their use of excessive and lethal force, torture, sexual assault, and other serious abuses. Authorities have expanded their efforts in enforcing abusive compulsory hijab laws. Security agencies have also targeted family members of those killed during the protests.
- Total Recall (rogerebert.com)
There may be people who overlook the Arnold Schwarzenegger performance in “Total Recall” – who think he isn’t really acting. But the performance is one of the reasons the movie works so well. He isn’t a superman this time, although he fights like one. He’s a confused and frightened innocent, a man betrayed by the structure of reality itself. And in his vulnerability, he opens the way for “Total Recall” to be more than simply an action, violence and special effects extravaganza.
- Iran (Wikipedia)
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), also known by its Western-given name Persia, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Iraq to the west and Turkey to the northwest, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south.
