Author: Carlo Martuscelli

Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist for the newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested in Iran earlier in the month, Italy’s foreign ministry announced on Friday. The arrest took place on Dec. 19 but was only made public by authorities today. The ministry said that the Italian ambassador to Iran Paola Amadei visited the journalist in detention to verify the conditions in which she was being held. Sala, 29, has covered Iran extensively in the past and recently released an episode of her podcast “Stories,” in which she interviewed Zeinab Musavi, an Iranian standup comic who has spoken against the compulsory wearing…

Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that its armed forced had seized the town of Novohrodivka in Ukraine, drawing nearer to the strategically important settlement of Pokrovsk. The military action comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for renewed peace negotiations between the two sides. Speaking to broadcaster ZDF, Scholz said he had talked with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and that they had both agreed on the need for a new peace conference that would also include Russia. The captured settlement is in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the center of intense fighting as Kyiv’s forces are defending against…