Iran’s judiciary opens case against female singer after viral ‘imaginary’ concert
Parastoo Ahmadi/Youtube
(TEHRAN, Iran) — A captivating video of an Iranian woman singer went viral in Iran, showing her performing in an empty venue for an imaginary audience.
Parastoo Ahmadi, a singer and composer, held the performance in one of Iran’s traditional venues while wearing a long black dress and showing her hair — without wearing a mandatory, conservative outfit. She called the performance “Caravansara Concert” and streamed it live on her YouTube channel Wednesday evening.
Within a day of posting, the video amassed nearly 500,000 views on YouTube and a short teaser video of the concert has been viewed nearly 2 million times on Instagram.
By Thursday morning, the Iranian judiciary had opened a case against the singer and the production team, saying it was “an illegal concert.” According to the judiciary news agency, Mizan, the concert “did not comply with the country’s legal and cultural standards.”
The judiciary statement does not specify what charges might be raised against Ahmadi and the production team.
While the concert faces judiciary investigation, some social media users have described the performance as a bold act of defiance against the restrictions the Islamic Republic imposes on women in Iran. Among those restrictions are the ban on women singing solo and showing hair or body parts — except for face and hands — in public places.
Some Iranians have taken to social platforms to hail Ahmadi’s move as “bold and courageous” and others offered praise for her vocal performance. Women’s rights activists said the concert could be seen as a continuation of the women’s resistance movement against the regime, pushing boundaries after the Woman Life Freedom movement.
In 2022 and 2023, hundreds were killed and tens of thousands were arrested, according to rights groups, during the nationwide protests in Iran to defend women’s rights and the betterment of life. The protests were launched after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died in police custody after she was detained for not fully complying with the obligatory hijab rules.
“This uprising has not stopped. Every day it gives birth to new heroes and sends them to the stage to fight the forces of darkness, death, and destruction,” Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Faranak Amidi wrote in a post on her Instagram page. “Not with weapons, violence, blood, and bloodshed, but with art, creativity, vitality, joy, singing, dancing, and stomping,” Amidi added.
In a poignant note on the YouTube video, Ahmadi introduces herself as a girl who wants to sing for the people she loves.
“A right that I could not refuse. Singing for the land I love with all my heart,” she wrote.
At the beginning of her performance, she talked to an imaginary audience and greeted them as if it was a real concert with an audience present.
Some said they find the moment “deeply touching” and “captivating,” as it shows Ahmadi’s love of singing for an audience she is deprived of having and the audience who would have loved to be there, but could not attend.
The Islamic Republic has a record of making cases against artists and singers and have accused and punished them for various charges, including propaganda against the regime.
(LONDON) — There are early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing dozens, a U.S. official told ABC News.
If these indications prove true, they would further underscore Russian recklessness in its invasion of Ukraine, the official added.
The White House referred ABC News to officials in the region as the investigation continues.
At least 38 people are dead and 29 others injured after the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau Airport on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told ABC News.
Many of the 29 survivors were hospitalized, including two children, the spokesperson said.
The aircraft was flying from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia when it crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan, the spokesperson said. The flight had been rerouted to Aktau due to fog in Grozny, Russian news agencies reported.
The prosecutor general’s office of Azerbaijan has launched a criminal case regarding the facts of the crash, officials announced during a press briefing on Wednesday.
“Currently, the investigation process is ongoing in cooperation with the prosecutor’s office of Kazakhstan. All versions are being explored in the criminal case,” Farid Huseynov, a spokesperson for Azerbaijan Airlines, said.
Aviation authorities from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are collaborating to determine the exact cause of the crash, a spokesperson for Kazakhstan’s ministry of emergency situations said.
The plane was carrying 69 people: 64 passengers and five crew members. Based on preliminary data, the passengers included 37 Azerbaijani citizens, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia, officials said.
Embraer, the aircraft manufacturer, released a statement about the crash, saying, “We are closely monitoring the situation, and we remain fully committed to supporting the relevant authorities.”
ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic and David Brennan contributed to this report.
Security forces and emergency workers respond to the scene of a shooting attack that targeted a bus and other vehicles on January 6, 2025 in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, West Bank. Three people were reported killed and others injured, and security forces are still searching for the assailants. The site is located between the Israeli West Bank settlements of Karnei Shomron and Kdumim. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals. A latest round of peace talks to end the 15-month-old war is set to resume in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Lebanon elects army chief as new president
Lebanese Armed Forces chief Joseph Aoun was chosen Thursday to be the country’s next leader.
Aoun’s election came after 12 failed attempts to choose a new president. He will now fill a head of state post left empty for more than two years amid political deadlock and myriad crises.
Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes in the first round of voting, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to clinch the role. Aoun won 99 votes in the second round.
Lawmakers committed to a fresh attempt to fill the presidential role following the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which saw serious damage done to the capital Beirut and the south of the country.
Iran-backed Hezbollah also suffered materiel and personnel losses, its powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah among those killed during the fighting.
Hezbollah backed Suleiman Frangieh — the leader of a Christian party in northern Lebanon with ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad — in the contest. Frangieh withdrew from the race on Wednesday, leaving Aoun as the likely victor.
Gaza’s displaced confined to ‘overcrowded’ schools, UNRWA says
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East warned on Thursday that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still sheltering in “overcrowded” schools as Israel’s 15-month war on the enclave continues.
“Playgrounds for children are homes for the displaced,” UNRWA wrote on X. “More humanitarian aid must come into Gaza and a ceasefire is more critical than ever.”
UNRWA facilities in Gaza have been attacked frequently since the Israeli invasion began, as have school buildings doubling as shelter for Gazans displaced by the fighting.
The vast majority of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.2 million has been displaced at least once since the fighting began.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Gaza death toll passes 46,000
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza announced that 46,006 people have been killed in Gaza since the war with Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023.
The number of injured rose to 109,378, officials said Thursday morning.
At least 70 people were killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry said, and 104 more were injured by Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
US bombs Houthi weapon sites in Yemen
U.S. Central Command conducted “multiple precision strikes” against two Houthi underground storage facilities in Yemen on Wednesday, the command said in a statement.
“The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said. “There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.”
U.S. and British forces — backed by a range of allies — have been bombing the Iran-aligned Houthi organization in Yemen since January.
The strikes are a response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea and elsewhere, launched in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza. The Houthis have also launched direct attacks on Israel and vowed to continue to do so while the war in Gaza continues.
Israel has launched several waves of strikes on Yemen in response. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Israel would continue to act against the Houthis “with force, determination and sophistication.”
American hostage families to attend Trump inauguration
Families of American hostages who are still believed to be held in Gaza will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, a release from the families said Wednesday.
“During the trip, the families plan to meet with officials from the incoming Trump administration, along with members of Congress and their staff,” the release said.
“The families are urging leaders to prioritize the safe return of their loved ones and to take decisive action to bring an end to their prolonged captivity,” it added.
There are seven American hostages still believed to be held captive inside Gaza, according to the families.
Trump said this week that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the remaining Gaza hostages are not released before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
-ABC News’ Nadine Shubailat and Ellie Kaufman
Israel recovers body of hostage found in Gaza tunnel
The Israeli Defense Forces and the Shin Bet “located and returned the kidnapped body” of hostage Yosef Al-Zaydani on Tuesday “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area,” the army said in a release Wednesday. Israel said it has also recovered another body and are working to determine whether it is Al-Zaydani’s son, Hamza.
The Israel Defense Forces said they have identified the body of one hostage, Yosef Al-Zaydani, and are examining the identify of the second body.
The IDF believes the second body is likely Hamza Al-Zaydani, but they are not certain yet, so at this time the IDF is saying they’ve identified one body and are examining the findings of a second body.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “deep sorrow for the bitter news that the Al-Zaydani received today,” in a statement Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
Israeli warplanes bomb West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its fighter jets “struck a terrorist cell” in the occupied West Bank Palestinian town of Tamun.
Unconfirmed reports by local media suggested that two children were among three Palestinians killed.
On Tuesday, the IDF said its aircraft struck and killed two armed Palestinian militants in the area of Tamun after an armed cell opened fire toward Israeli security forces there.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli strikes kill 51 people in Gaza, health officials say
At least 51 people were killed and 78 others were injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
In total, at least 45,936 people have been killed and another 109,274 have been injured by Israeli forces in Gaza since the ongoing war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayad on Tuesday, according to a release from Saar’s office.
The Israeli Foreign Minister was invited by the UAE, the readout said, his visit coinciding with the resumption of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha, Qatar.
The UAE has discussed with Israel and the U.S. the idea of participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, Reuters reported this week.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
Biden, Trump teams ‘very collaborative’ on Gaza push, envoy says
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters that President Joe Biden’s team has been “very collaborative” on working towards a Gaza hostage release deal, with renewed talks ongoing in Qatar.
“We’re just very collaborative together,” Witkoff said following Trump’s Tuesday Mar-a-Lago press conference. “I mean, this is a tense negotiation, so no one has pride of authorship. We are totally outcome oriented. Let’s get them home.”
Witkoff said he speaks every day with Brett McGurk, the top Biden White House official on Middle East policy.
During the press conference, Trump said “all hell will break loose” if the remaining hostages aren’t released before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Witkoff said “there was no exaggeration or embellishment with what the president said.”
“If you get on the phone with the hostage families, it’s harrowing to listen to them,” Witkoff said. “There are people who just want the remains of their children back…it is withering to listen to this, and he [Trump] listens to them all.”
Witkoff said the incoming administration “aspirationally” hopes for a 42-day ceasefire to be enacted before the inauguration.
“President Trump’s persona is such that he’s driving the narrative on these negotiations,” Witkoff added. “He will be in office when that 42-day ceasefire is over. That’s what Hamas cares about — how we move to phase two. That’s what the Israelis care about, how President Trump will be at the end of that ceasefire.”
Witkoff said he’s seen intelligence reports about how many hostages remain alive, and said it’s “not a small amount.”
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Israeli settlers attack West Bank Palestinian villages
There were multiple overnight attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, following a shooting attack that killed three Israelis and injured eight others earlier on Monday.
The Palestinian Authority-run WAFA news agency reported at least two attacks by settlers on Palestinian communities in Bethlehem and Ramallah.
The Yesh Din human rights group reported as many as 100 settlers attacking Palestinian villages, some in the al-Funduq area where Monday’s attack occurred.
Israeli security forces are still searching for the suspected perpetrators of Monday’s shooting attack, which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described as “an act of war.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Blinken hopes for Gaza ceasefire in administration’s final weeks
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday that the U.S. wants a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released within the next two weeks, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks,” Blinken told reporters while in Seoul, South Korea.
Blinken reported “intensified engagement,” including by Hamas, on reaching a deal, though added “we are yet to see agreement on final points.”
“We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages, getting them out, for people in Gaza, bringing them relief, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved,” Blinken said.
“If we don’t get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I’m confident that it will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later,” Blinken added.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
3 Israelis killed in West Bank shooting
Three Israelis were killed in a shooting that targeted a bus and a vehicle in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, security and emergency officials said.
The attack occurred in the village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the Palestinian territory, much of which is under Israeli security control.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service confirmed the death of three victims — two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s. MDA said it provided medical treatment to seven injured people, including the bus driver who is in serious condition.
The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a manhunt for the suspected Palestinian shooters.
“Anyone who follows the path of Hamas in Gaza and sponsors the murder and harm of Jews will pay heavy prices, ” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on his X account, reacting to the attack.
Sending his condolences to the families of the victims, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attackers “will not get away.”
“We will find the abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and with all those who aided them,” his statement said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said in an extensive report Sunday that at least 838 Palestinians — including 173 children — have been killed by Israeli fire and over 6,700 have been injured in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Diaa Ostaz and Somayeh Malekian
WHO director calls for release of Kamal Adwan hospital director
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, said in a statement Saturday that WHO has received no updates about Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of North Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, since he was detained by Israeli forces on Dec. 27th.
“We continue to urge Israel to release him. We repeat: attacks on hospitals and health professionals must end. People in Gaza need access to health care. Ceasefire!” he said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Israeli strikes kill 150 in Gaza, officials say, as peace talks resume
More than 150 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past three days, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The series of airstrikes on dozens of Hamas targets came amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old war and return Israeli hostages home before President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.
Delegations from both Israel and Hamas were dispatched to resume indirect negotiations in Doha on Friday. The talks will be brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
President Joe Biden’s administration, which is helping to broker the talks, urged Hamas to agree to a deal. Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement deal, but it remains unclear how close the two sides are.
-ABC News Nasser Atta, Bruno Nota, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Morgan Winsor
(SEOUL) — South Korean investigators are seeking an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law, according to the Yonhap news agency.
A joint investigation team reportedly announced on Monday they sought the warrant on insurrection and abuse of power charges after Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning.
Under South Korea’s constitution, if a sitting president is accused of insurrection, the police have the authority to arrest him while he is still in office.
A court will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Yoon, which would mark the first presidential arrest in the country’s history.
Yoon declared martial law in a televised speech on Dec. 3. The president said the measure was necessary due to the actions of the country’s liberal opposition, the Democratic Party, which he accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.
The move sparked protests, and hours after the declaration, the National Assembly voted to demand that the president lift the martial law order. A majority of parliament — all 190 members who were present, out of the 300-person body — voted to lift the decree — requiring that it then be lifted, under the South Korean constitution.
Following the National Assembly’s vote, Yoon said he withdrew the troops that had been deployed to carry out martial law and “will lift martial law as soon as we have a quorum in the cabinet.” The State Council then convened to vote to officially lift it.
The country’s Democratic Party called on Yoon to resign following what it called the “fundamentally invalid” declaration of martial law. Without Yoon resigning, the opposition party worked to enact impeachment proceedings against the president.
Yoon has been suspended from his position since Dec. 14, when the National Assembly voted for his impeachment in a 204-85 vote.
Earlier this month, however, Yoon vowed to “fight until the last moment” and said that he had never intended to disrupt the “constitutional order” when he ordered hundreds of troops into the National Assembly on Dec. 3.
The public reaction has been complex and varied, reflecting the deep political, social, and generational divides in South Korea. But overall there is a mass consensus that putting the country under martial law was an inexcusable action, no matter what motivated the president to do so.
“It was an unthinkable, unimaginable situation,” Seo Jungkun, a professor at Kyunghee University in Seoul, previously told ABC News. “President Yoon attempted to suspend the functions of the national assembly. He ordered the removal of lawmakers, therefore he could be charged with treason,” Seo explained, referring to a testimony by Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-geun, who oversaw the special forces dispatched to the National Assembly on the night of the martial law declaration.
ABC News’ Joohee Cho and Hakyung Kate Lee contributed to this report.
