Moharram

Muharram is the most important Shi’a mourning ceremony and commemorates the death of Imam Husayn. Following the Prophet Mohammad’s death, upheavals and rivalries divided the Muslim community. After the assassination of Ali, prophet’s son-in-law and cousin, Muawiya became the uncontested leader. Ali’s eldest son, Hassan did not have enough support to effectively oppose the new caliph. He made peace and received a handsome pension and lived in Medina where he died under suspicious circumstances. The Shi’ites believe Muawiya who appointed his son Yazid as his successor poisoned him.
Husayn, Ali’s second son and the third Shi’ite imam, refused to swear allegiance to Yazid. He was killed in the battle of Karbala and his martyrdom on the 10th of Muharram in 680 AD has become the most important communal ritual and mourning rite for the Shi’ites. These people believe in the imam as the true leader of the faithful and the authentic interpreter of the Quran. Imams are both leaders and saints. They carry a luminous divine substance. They foresee the future and know about their martyrdom and accept their faith with dignity and courage. Ali himself was the supreme hero who defeated enemies of Islam with his miraculous double-edged sword, dhu’l-fiqar. Shi’ites believe that he was ordained and initiated into the esoteric aspects and the mysteries of the faith by the Prophet. These qualities are carried through his two sons, Hassan and Husayn, both born from his first wife Fatima, the prophet’s daughter. None of his children from his other wives possessed such qualities. Only the descendents from Fatima’s line carry such powers and they are the only true imams and the leaders of the community as far as the Shi’ites are concerned.

Charkhandeh and Perry

Katy Perry was seen exiting a Malibu restaurant just minutes after One Direction member Harry Styles, and reports are circulating that they were possible on a dinner date together. Although nothing has yet been confirmed, an alleged eyewitness claims that although the two came and left separately, they most certainly ate dinner together and had a good time at that.
The reported eyewitness in question told popular gossip website HollywoodLife that they most definitely saw the two pop stars enjoying a meal together at the world-renown Japanese restaurant’s Malibu location, giving the statement that they were both smiling, laughing, and appearing to be experiencing a very good time in each other’s company.
The source said Perry and Styles appeared to be quite good friends and that it looked as though this was not their first occasion spent together.
There is much speculation circulating the internet that the 29-year-old’s possible outing with the Styles is the latest jab in what has become an extremely highly publicized feud between her and newly minted pop singer Taylor Swift, who dated Styles in early 2013. The drama between the two has slowly been brewing all summer, after Swift mentioned to Rolling Stone magazine that she had a frenemy of sorts in the entertainment industry, someone she never knew if they were close or actually hated each other.

Odd Hejab in Tehran

Women in Iran are sharing compelling personal stories and stunning photos of themselves without their headscarves, as they throw their support behind a social media campaign that pushes back against a law that requires Iranian women to cover their hair in public.
The pictures, posted under the hashtag #mystealthyfreedom, feature women of all ages posing with their hair freely showing in different areas of the country.
Journalist Masih Alinejad collects and posts the photos to the "Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women" Facebook page. Since she created the page on May 3, it has garnered more than 223,000 likes as of Friday morning.
In one of the photos, she is running down a London street with her curly brown hair flowing in the wind. She added a comment about how the simple pastime always reminded her that women in her home country weren't free to do the same.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, it became illegal for women in Iran to leave the house without wearing a headscarf. The punishment for breaking the law ranges from small fines to detainment.
To accompany the photo, Alinejad wrote a comment that ended up sparking a lot of attention among her friends and fans back home.
'Every time that I run in London, feeling the wind in my hair, I remember that my hair is like a hostage in the hands of the Islamic Republic government,'" she translated the comment to CTVNews.ca in a phone interview from London.

She then posted a second photo of herself, driving down a road without a hijab, noting that as an Iranian woman she could create her own "moment of freedom" in privacy, when no one else is around.
"It's like 'stealthy freedom' … it's like a guilty pleasure," she said. She added that she was certain that there were other women in Iran who similarly enjoyed these private moments, and asked her followers if they also took photos of these secret "freedoms."

Sending Special Troops

President Obama notified Congress on Monday that about 275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Obama also said the troops are equipped for combat and will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that they are no longer needed. These forces are entering Iraq with the consent of the government there, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

The Pentagon said 170 of the troops arrived over the weekend in Baghdad and another 100 were moved into the region to help with embassy security as some of the staff was being relocated in the area. The embassy remains open and operating.

The announcement comes after Secretary of State John Kerry earlier in the day said the United States is willing to talk with Iran to stem advancing Sunni extremists in Iraq, and he would not rule out possible military cooperation with the longtime enemy.
But the Pentagon quickly tamped down the prospect of consulting with Iran on any potential military intervention. "We are not

U.S. and Iranian officials did talk briefly Monday on the sidelines of nuclear negotiations going on this week in Vienna.

Old but amazing

Iranian Player was penalized for handball in the penalty box when the play had stopped or at least the player thought so. When a penalty kick was awarded, all the players on the pitch knew it was the wrong decision and the penalty taker shot the ball out as an amazing fair-play act.