All posts tagged: Exiled

‘I intend to go back to my country’: Exiled Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine – Tête à tête

‘I intend to go back to my country’: Exiled Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine – Tête à tête

Published by Sam Flores

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said he intends to return to his country, days after resurfacing in Washington following nearly two months in hiding in Uganda. “I am still under threat,” Wine warned, calling for international sanctions against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his son. Wine fled Uganda in January, days after a presidential election that saw Museveni obtain a controversial seventh term in office and following a military raid on Wine’s home ordered by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is Museveni’s son and the head of the military. His home was later raided again and his wife assaulted. Watch moreUganda: Bobi Wine’s wife tells him to stay in hiding after assault at their home Wine told FRANCE 24 that Kainerugaba “confessed to killing 24 of my friends” and “said publicly that he was looking for me to make sure I am the 25th dead body”. In light of these threats, the raids on his home and the attack on his wife, Wine said he took the decision to flee. ‘I am not going to …

Exiled cricketer says Iranian women players face emotional toll amid refuge in Australia

Exiled cricketer says Iranian women players face emotional toll amid refuge in Australia

Published by Sam Flores

MELBOURNE, March 11 : The Iranian women soccer players offered asylum in Australia face emotional upheaval and a struggle to come to terms with their separation from loved ones at home, a cricketer who fled Afghanistan’s Taliban regime told Reuters on Wednesday. Australia granted humanitarian visas on Tuesday to five Iranian footballers after they sought asylum, fearing persecution if they returned home after they failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match. Another player and support staffer accepted the Australian offer of aid but one changed her mind and decided to return home amid the U.S.-Israeli air-war in Iran, the government said on Wednesday. The saga reminded cricketer Tooba Khan Sawari of the dislocation she felt as a sporting refugee after fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban swept to power in 2021. Sawari was one of a number of women athletes offered asylum in Australia after fearing for their safety in Afghanistan. For Sawari, the hardest part of resettling was not the practical challenge of learning a new language or navigating an unfamiliar reality, but …

Iran’s exiled prince tells Europe to get off the fence and back the war – POLITICO

Iran’s exiled prince tells Europe to get off the fence and back the war – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“The military operation is a humanitarian rescue mission and will save many lives,” Pahlavi said. “Europe’s decision to proscribe the IRGC is welcome but it now needs to go further and support our transition plan to rebuild Iran. Europe has too long sat on the fence. This is the moment of decision. Stand with the Iranian people.”  His comments came after European governments first urged restraint, raising concerns about the risks of war spreading through the region and questioning the legitimacy of the action under international law. France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the escalation of the conflict “dangerous.” France, Germany and the U.K. said the Iranian regime should return to negotiations over its nuclear program.  There were signs that leading European powers were shifting their positions on Sunday to support limited involvement in the conflict in response to growing threats from Iranian retaliation.  On Sunday night, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the U.K. would reverse its earlier position and allow U.S. forces to use its air bases for operations, while the French and German leaders …

Munich Security Conference A ‘Circus’ – Iran Says After Exiled Shah’s Son Invited

Munich Security Conference A ‘Circus’ – Iran Says After Exiled Shah’s Son Invited

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Munich Security Conference, once regarded as a heavyweight diplomatic forum, has devolved into a spectacle that favors “performance over substance,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi complained after his country was snubbed. Organizers barred senior Iranian officials from attending this year’s gathering after deadly protests and unrest shook the country last month, threatening the stability of the Islamic Republic. Tehran has lashed out: “Sad to see the usually serious Munich Security Conference turned into the ‘Munich Circus’ when it comes to Iran,” FM Araghchi wrote Saturday in a series of posts on X. Iran’s former crown prince and now self-styled key opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, via AFP. “The EU appears confused, rooted in an inability to understand what is happening inside Iran… An aimless EU has lost all geopolitical weight in our region,” he added. “Europe’s overall trajectory is dire, to say the least,” Araghchi said, branding the bloc “an empty-handed and peripheral” actor irrelevant to serious negotiations – particularly over Iran’s nuclear program. Instead of inviting Iran – which has permanent representation at the …

Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor officially exiled from Royal Lodge after fresh Epstein claims

Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor officially exiled from Royal Lodge after fresh Epstein claims

Published by Daniella Wilson

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has moved out of Royal Lodge. The former prince left his home of 24 years on Monday night and is currently living at Wood Farm Cottage on the Sandringham Estate. The 65-year-old’s permanent home, Marsh Farm, is currently undergoing renovations. Construction workers have been seen at the site and its understood that the property is having its security measures increased. This includes the installation of a CCTV system and the addition of six-foot wooden fences. A no-fly zone around Sandringham has been extended to include Marsh Farm. © WireImageAndrew Mountbatten Windsor has moved out of Royal Lodge Andrew’s links to Jeffrey Epstein It comes just three months after the King stripped his younger brother of all of his titles, styles and honours following a string of scandals. Andrew had been embroiled in controversy for years over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and allegations, which he denies, that he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager and had been trafficked by Epstein. © Getty ImagesAndrew was stripped of his titles last …

Who is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince encouraging demonstrations in Iran? : NPR

Who is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince encouraging demonstrations in Iran? : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, speaks during a press conference, Monday, June 23, 2025 in Paris. Thomas Padilla/AP hide caption toggle caption Thomas Padilla/AP As the Islamic Republic of Iran nears two weeks of nationwide demonstrations, the government in Tehran has acknowledged the protests while continuing with a crackdown. The death toll from clashes between protestors and government security forces had reached 116 as of early Sunday, with more than 2,600 people detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Among the most prominent cheerleaders for continued action against the government is Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah of Iran, who has issued frequent messages encouraging protesters. Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, announced Saturday that participants in the unrest would be considered an “enemy of God,” A statement, carried by Iranian state television, said even those who “helped rioters” would face that charge, which carries the death penalty. The current wave of protests began on Dec. 28, following a collapse in the national currency, …

Googoosh, the Exiled Pop Star Who United Iran

Googoosh, the Exiled Pop Star Who United Iran

Published by Daniella Wilson

Publicity material for Googoosh: A Sinful Voice, a new memoir by the Iranian singer in exile, calls her a predecessor to Beyoncé and Madonna—a comparison that might seem over-the-top to American readers but in fact sells her short. Googoosh, born Faegheh Atashin, is indeed the greatest pop star in Iranian history, but for her compatriots, she has long represented something more: In a country highly polarized over politics, religion, and education, she straddles all divides. Shiite clerics, Baluch fishermen, and Tehrani teenagers have all spent hours listening to Googoosh. It’s hard to find an Iranian who wouldn’t know the lyrics to one of her songs. What makes this truly remarkable is that she was banned for 21 years from singing, beginning with the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and ending when she was allowed to leave the country in 2000. I grew up in the 1990s in Tehran, the same city she was living in, and in spite of the ban, her music never felt far away. She was a favorite of mine and also of …