A woman in Iran has been arrested after a video of her knocking the turban of a mullah in the country was published by opponents of the ayatollah regime online. The woman appears to have confronted the man after he hit her with his cane and demanded she fix her head covering.

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In video of the incident, which transpited in the Iranian city of Qom, one of the holiest cities in Shiiite Islam, the woman can be seen tussling with the man, knocking off his turban and stomping on it in anger. She is then seen chasing off another religious man who tries to intervene. 

The woman was arrested by Iran's morality police, who enforce legislation requiring head coverings for women in public places, after the video was shared online.

Iranian-American political and women's rights activist Masih Alinejad wrote on her My Stealthy Freedom Facebook page, where Iranian women share images of themselves without hair coverings in an effort to effect change: "An Iranian woman used her right of self-defense against a mullah who hit her with his stick and told her to fix her headscarf. Conclusion; mullah and turban put in their place.

"At the end of the video you see one of them mullahs running away. ##MyCameraIsMyWeapon."

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Israel's biggest Gay Pride event was slated to kick off at noon Friday, after being cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

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Police expected the event to draw the country's biggest crowds since the start of the pandemic, with tens of thousands of revelers and supporters expected to flock to Tel Aviv for the party.

The parade is scheduled to set out at 12 p.m. from Shalag St. at the corner of Herbert Samuel and move toward Charles Clore park at the southern end of the Tel Aviv promenade, for a total distance of 1.7 km. (1.05 miles).

The gay pride parade was scheduled to coincide with a government decision to reinstate masks indoors, but security forces were more concerned about other safety risks to participants, and nearly 1,500 police personnel, as well as MDA paramedics and firefighters, were deployed all along the route of the march.

Sadly, the concerns about participants' safety were not empty.

Detectives from the Tel Aviv District Police arrested on Friday a man carrying various weapons, including an electric taser, nunchuks, and chains. The man, a resident of Tel Aviv in his 30s, had been under surveillance. He was arrested and his weapons confiscated. Later Friday, the man was due to appear at the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court for a remand hearing.

Police have asked the public to keep their eyes open about potential threats and call the 100 hotline to report any suspicious activity.

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Four women and 35 men received their IAF wings at the graduation ceremony for the Israeli Air Force's 182^nd pilot's course held last week at Hatzerim Air Force Base in the Negev.

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The newly-minted IAF pilots include the first woman in four and a half years to become a combat pilot, and she is only the fifth woman to become a fighter pilot since the course opened to women in the 1990s.

Thus far, 62 women have completed the course. Five have been assigned to fighter squadrons, 24 became navigators, 12 were assigned to helicopters, and seven were assigned to serve as transport pilots. Another seven women were assigned to serve as navigators on transport aircraft, and eight women became flight deck operators.

In 2019, Lt. Col. G. became the first woman to serve as commander of an IAF squadron, albeit not a combat one. G., then 35, enlisted in the IDF in 2003 and completed the IAF pilot's course, specializing in transport aircraft. From 2015 to 2017, G. served as deputy commander of the Nachshon Squadron, which operates surveillance aircraft.

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For the first time in the history of the IDF Military Police, a woman has been promoted to the rank of colonel.

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Meital Ben Shushan, a mother of two from Yokneam in northern Israel, will serve in the Military Police Corps' main headquarters.

Ben Shushan first joined the IDF 20 years ago as a warden in an IDF prison for women. After finishing officers training, she served in a number of roles in the Military Police – several of which she was the first woman to hld.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a question of strategy, leading important processes in the corps," Ben Shushan told Israel Hayom.

"It's taking care that our corps stays relevant and grows, that it helps the IDF as a whole with our goal, which is to win wars. It's dealing with people, handling work applications in various corps and outside them to maximize processes and improve them. It's taking the corps forward in every area," Ben Shushan said.

One event from her service remains engraved on her heart. In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, she was put in command of the Military Police for all of southern Israel. She was six months pregnant.

"In an emergency, the Military Police is in charge of all staging areas, handling and directing traffic, setting up checkpoints. I was in charge of 1,000 soldiers and reservists," Ben Shushan said.

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The Israeli Air Force marked yet another significant achievement on Tuesday when IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin promoted Druze officer Awad Suleiman to the rank of colonel in the Aerial Maintenance Unit. Norkin also named Suleiman head of the IAF's Drone Warfare Unit.

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Suleiman is the first Druze airman to attain the rank of colonel in the IAF, although recent years have seen Druze citizens serving in more and more elite air force roles.

In September 2020, Lt. Col. A. made history by being appointed the first Druze commander of the Israel Air Force's commando unit, Shaldag ("Kingfisher").

The appointment made A. the first Druze commander of any of the IDF's four elite units: Sayeret Matkal, its top special forces unit; Shaldag; the Shayetet 13 naval commandos; and Unit 669, which carries out heliborne search, rescue and extraction missions.

A year and a half ago, in June 2019, Lt. G. became the IAF's first Druze Israeli pilot when he successfully completed the 178th's pilot training course.

In addition to welcoming minorities into the upper ranks of the IAF, Norkin also appointed the first woman to serve as bureau chief to the IAF commander when he named Maj. N. to the sensitive post. N. became a navigator on F-16 aircraft in 2016.

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"For the sake of governability, it would be right for every citizen of the country to serve in the IDF or at least perform alternate national service.

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"It is unacceptable that IDF soldiers carry the burden while many others are free from any obligation. It is unacceptable that IDF soldiers put their lives at risk while others invest in their lives," Kochavi said.

Kochavi's statement aligns with the position of Defense Minister and former IDF chief Benny Gantz, who intends to promote legislation making national service mandatory for all.

At a briefing for military correspondents two months ago, Gantz said that only 50% of Israeli citizens served in the IDF, and called that situation "unacceptable, impossible."

Gantz stressed that Israel needed to develop alternative models of national service in order to "increase those who participate in serving the people and the country."

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The English writers' agency The Blair Partnership has signed Dana International to work as a literary agent for writers from the LGBTQ community all over the world.

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Dana International, the agent, has been charged with finding new writers and voices and helping publish their work and bringing that work to an international audience.

The Blair Partnership is one of England's most prestigious literary agencies and its clients include Rowling.

The Israeli star was somewhat surprised when the agency reached out.

"It's not something I ever thought about doing, and admit I was a little worried about disappointing them. It took me two days to say I'd be delighted, and a few days later we were already discussing a few ideas they were happy to listen to, which bolstered my confidence," Dana said.

"I believe that in Israel there are enormous talents who would be huge throughout the world if it weren't for the language barrier. Maybe this project will get some of them published and appreciated," she added.

What piques the new agent's interest?

"I'm interested in reading writers from Russia, the Ukraine, Arab countries and places where homosexuality is outlawed, where the LGBTQ community lives in fear and in secret, and I believe that wonderful work can come from those places," she said.

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