Kurdish Transgender Woman Shot by Brother Had Been Hiding from Family

THE GUARDIAN: Friends of Doski Azad said the 23-year-old makeup artist had received repeated death threats from male family members

Doski Azad who had been supporting herself by working as a makeup artist since her family turned her back on her as a teenager.
The Kurdish transgender woman Doski Azad shot dead by her brother last month, had been living in hiding from her family after repeated death threats, friends have said.

According to friends, Azad had had to move home regularly after several death threats by male members of her family.

Three weeks ago, her body was found dumped in a ditch outside of the city of Duhok, in the Iraqi autonomous Kurdistan region. Her hands had been tied and she had been shot twice. Police have issued an arrest warrant for her brother, who is believed to have travelled from his home in Germany to carry out the killing. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Monday, February 21, 2022

Three American Tourists Held in Iran
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Two men and a woman apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in Iraq's mountainous Kurdistan region. The State Department is seeking consular access.

Reporting from Baghdad -- Three Americans who apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan are in Iranian custody, that country's state-run television reported Saturday.

The Arabic-language Al Alam station quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the Americans, two men and a woman, were detained after they ignored warnings from border guards and crossed into Iran in a remote mountainous area about 55 miles northeast of the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniya.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating reports that the three were missing and couldn't confirm any details. The State Department said in a statement that it had asked the Swiss government, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran, to confirm the reports with the Iranians and to seek consular access. >>> Liz Sly | Sunday, August 02, 2009