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*Over Protests By Daniel Boffey The twins were 19 and still in high school when they were taken from their beds in the dead of night by masked men later identified as being sent by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). After four months of desperately seeking news from hospitals and state institutions, their mother, Marzieh Nourmohammadi, finally learned their fate: Taraneh and Romina Rahimi had been seized over their decision to join millions on the streets of Iranian cities during the January protests against the regime. The twins were unrecognisable by the time of their mother’s prison visit in…

An Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drug case, official media reported today (Saturday). The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. The state-linked Al-Ahram newspaper said a Cairo court sentenced “Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging on charges of forming an organised criminal gang specialising in procuring materials used in manufacturing narcotics, with the intent to traffic them, and possessing and carrying unlicensed firearms and ammunition." The verdict came…