Category: Breaking News

By Nairen Nobre

Today, Sunday, 22 February, students at major universities in Tehran and Mashhad staged coordinated gatherings marking the fortieth day memorial of those described as the “eternally remembered” victims killed during the National Revolution. Across campuses, demonstrators openly challenged the Islamic Republic, chanting “Long live the Shah” and other slogans directly confronting the ruling establishment.

The wave of student protests spread across the following institutions:

• Shahid Beheshti University (Tehran)
• Sharif University of Technology (Tehran)
• Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran)
• University of Tehran
• Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
• Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
• Iran University of Science and Technology (Tehran)
• K. N. Toosi University of Technology (Tehran)
• Sajjad University of Mashhad Defiant Slogans Against the Regime

At Amirkabir University of Technology, students held a memorial gathering and chanted:
“We did not give our lives to compromise, nor to praise a murderous leader.”
Students at Shahid Beheshti University voiced some of the most direct accusations against the regime’s security forces, chanting:
“Basij, IRGC, ISIS, you are the same.”
“We fight, we die, we take back Iran.”
“Death to Khamenei.”

At Sharif University of Technology, students raised the historic Lion and Sun flag on campus, a powerful symbol associated with pre-revolutionary Iran and widely seen as a rejection of the Islamic Republic’s rule.

Students at K. N. Toosi University gathered to commemorate and demand justice for those killed during the January Protests, referring to demonstrators who were fatally shot during nationwide unrest.

At Iran University of Science and Technology, students chanted:
“We swear by the blood of our comrades, we will stand until the end.”

Violent Crackdown Underway

Basij forces and Khamenei’s suppression units are reportedly carrying out brutal attacks against students at many of these gatherings.

Eyewitness accounts and videos circulating online suggest that regime-affiliated forces have moved quickly to intimidate, disperse, and physically assault student demonstrators in multiple locations.

A Growing Symbolic Shift

The coordinated nature of the protests, the explicit rejection of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the public display of monarchist symbols signal a widening rupture between Iran’s younger generation and the Islamic Republic’s ruling structure.

As campuses once again become epicenters of dissent, the regime faces a familiar but increasingly defiant challenge: a generation that appears unwilling to retreat despite violent repression.

FAQ

Q1: What is happening in Iran on 22 February 2026?

A: Thousands of students are protesting at 9 major universities in Tehran and Mashhad, chanting “Long Live the Shah” and “Death to Khamenei” during the 40-day memorial of the National Revolution victims.

Q2: Which universities are involved in the uprisings?

A: Shahid Beheshti, Sharif University of Technology, Amirkabir, University of Tehran, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran University of Science and Technology, K. N. Toosi, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, and Sajjad University.

Q3: What is the main slogan of the Iranian students?

A: “Long Live the Shah” — along with “Death to Khamenei” and “Basij, IRGC, ISIS, you are the same.”

Q4: Was the Lion and Sun flag raised?

A: Yes — at Sharif University of Technology. It is the strongest symbol of rejection of the Islamic Republic and a call for the return of the monarchy.

Q5: Is there repression against the students?

A: Yes. Basij and Khamenei’s special forces are carrying out brutal crackdowns: mass beatings, tear gas and arrests on multiple campuses.

Q6: Is this a turning point?

A: Yes. For the first time since 1979, Iranian youth are openly demanding the return of the Shah and massively rejecting the theocratic regime.

Q7: Why are these protests important?

A: They show that Iranian universities have become the new epicenter of resistance and that Generation Z is ready to face extreme repression to overthrow the regime.

Q8: Exact date and context?

A: Sunday 22 February 2026 — 40-day memorial of the victims of the National Revolution. First major coordinated student uprising of 2026.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has just become the first athlete in history to win SIX gold medals at a single Winter Olympics. Today (February 21 2026), the Norwegian superstar crushed the men’s 50km mass start classic in Tesero, Italy, claiming his sixth gold in six events at Milano Cortina 2026 and smashing the 46-year-old record set by Eric Heiden in 1980.

Klæbo finished in 2:06:44, beating teammate Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget by 17.4 seconds in a total Norwegian podium sweep. He now has 11 career Olympic golds – more than most entire countries.

This is not just a win. This is domination never seen before in Winter Olympic history.

How Klaebo rewrote the Olympics forever

•  Gold in every single cross-country event he entered: sprint, 15km, skiathlon, 4x10km relay, team sprint, and now the brutal 50km mass start.

•  He skied over 2 hours in heavy snow and still looked fresh at the finish, arms raised, screaming with joy.

•  Norway took gold, silver AND bronze in the 50km – pure Viking power.

Post-race, Klæbo (still only 29) said: “This is insane. I can’t believe I did all six. This is the greatest day of my life.”

Why the world is losing it right now

•  #KingKlaebo and #6Golds are exploding on X, TikTok and Instagram (already 2M+ posts in 6 hours).

•  Commentators are calling him “the Michael Phelps of snow”.

•  He just passed legends and became the most decorated Winter Olympian ever in a single Games.

Team USA is having its best Winter Olympics in decades with 11 golds, but even they are tipping their hats to “The King”.

FAQ

How many golds did Johannes Klæbo win at 2026 Winter Olympics?

Six – a new all-time record for any athlete at one Winter Games.

What event did Klæbo win on February 21 2026?

The men’s 50km mass start classic – his sixth gold in six races.

Is this the most golds ever in one Winter Olympics?

Yes, breaking Eric Heiden’s 5-gold record from 1980.

How many career Olympic golds does Klæbo have now?

11 – the most ever by a male Winter Olympian.

Did Norway sweep the 50km podium?

Yes – gold, silver and bronze all Norwegian.

How old is Johannes Høsflot Klæbo?

29 years old (born 22 July 1996).

Will Klæbo compete at 2030 Olympics?

He’s already hinting at going for more in the French Alps.

by Patrick Lamcier – Founder of el-ya news, bringing you the biggest global stories every single day.

Official Sources

•  Olympics.com – Live results & official recap

•  NBC Olympics & AP News – Full race report

•  The Guardian & CBS Sports – Historic analysis

•  IBU & FIS – Cross-country federation data

A traditional Catalan Carnival event in the Andorran parish of Encamp on Saturday, February 14-15, 2026, has exploded into an international antisemitism scandal after organizers publicly executed an effigy marked with a Star of David — the central symbol of Judaism — as part of the annual “penjada del rei Carnestoltes” (hanging of the Carnival King).

The performance, promoted by local outlet altaveuandorra (the exact Instagram post and photo you shared), featured a “solemn mass” satire called “ofici solemne per Sant Carnavalí.” Participants in clerical costumes (including figures resembling bishops and priests with crosses) staged a mock trial criticizing Andorra’s housing crisis and “international populisms,” with the effigy explicitly tied to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The puppet, dressed in Israeli flag colors and with a large Star of David painted on its face/head, was paraded, judged, sentenced to death, publicly shot at by traditional riflemen (trabucaires), hanged in the central square, and then burned before a crowd that included families and local officials.

No caricature or photo of Benjamin Netanyahu appeared — the only identifying marker was the Star of David, turning what organizers later claimed was “satire against Netanyahu and the Gaza genocide” into a direct symbolic execution of a core Jewish emblem. The effigy was later “stolen” by rival parish Arlequins de Canillo in the usual inter-town Carnival prank, but the damage was done.

Jewish Community’s Response

Andorra’s tiny Jewish community (around 150-160 people, represented by the Associació Cultural Israelita de les Valls d’Andorra — ACIVA) immediately condemned it as “indignant, pathetic, and pure antisemitism.” President Isaac Benchluch stated: “This is not parody of a politician — they are hanging the Jewish people. We are Andorran Jews, not Israelis, and this attack happened in our own country.”

The community received calls from the Israeli ambassador to France, contacted Andorran leaders, and demanded explicit public apologies from the Comissió de Festes d’Encamp and the local Comú. They called the organizers’ statement (“no intention to offend any religion or people — just political satire”) “insufficient” and “apologia of antisemitism.” Some members noted it felt like a throwback to medieval pogrom imagery.

International Condemnation

The story spread rapidly:

•  The European Jewish Congress called it a “deeply disturbing act that risks normalizing antisemitism and incitement.”

•  Israeli and Jewish media (Ynet, Jerusalem Post, Algemeiner, Diario Judío) labeled it a “mock execution of Israel/Judaism,” with photos of the Star of David effigy being shot and hanged going viral.

•  Parallels were drawn to past European Carnival antisemitism scandals (e.g., Belgian floats in 2019, Spanish Holocaust-mocking parades in 2020).

By Luis Felipe Távora

Brazil is witnessing, not with surprise but with a profound institutional nausea, the collapse of a house of cards that should never have been built. The Banco Master affair, under the stewardship of Daniel Vorcaro, is far more than a case of mismanagement or a fleeting liquidity spasm. It stands as irrefutable evidence that Brazilian democracy has been hijacked by a crony capitalism that has found its safest haven in the marble halls of Brasília.

As an analyst who tracks the hidden currents of power between São Paulo’s Faria Lima and the Praça dos Três Poderes, one must call things by their proper names and lay bare the entrails of a system that has rotted in plain sight. The meteoric rise of Banco Master — growth rates that defied every law of economic gravity — was possible only because a sophisticated legal safety net operated in its rear. Vorcaro’s audacity cannot be separated from the sense of impunity granted by his connections inside the Supremo Tribunal Federal. What the country has seen is the transformation of its highest court into a trading counter where single-judge rulings and strategically timed decisions served as armour for a scheme that siphoned resources and fabricated assets.

The figure of Alexandre de Moraes, frequently portrayed as a bulwark of the institutions, now appears in a far more sinister light: that of a magistrate who, rather than guarding the rigour of the legal order, allegedly deployed his vast authority to intervene with the central bank and facilitate unorthodox manoeuvres — including the grotesque attempt to rescue the bank through the Banco de Brasília and the government of Ibaneis Rocha.

This promiscuous relationship provokes a particular revulsion in a quarter that rarely expresses itself with such visceral force: the elite of Jewish bankers in São Paulo. For these men, who inherited and built institutions grounded in the traditions of financial rigour, conservatism and, above all, ethical discretion, the “Vorcaro style” is pure heresy. A deep sense of repulsion runs through the Jewish financial community of the Paulista capital. They do not regard Daniel Vorcaro as a peer but as a predator who exploits the community’s name and the system’s loopholes to conduct what, in practice, amounts to institutional piracy.

To these old-school bankers, who understand that credibility is the only real asset a nation possesses, the sight of the Supreme Court acting as the legal department of an institution suspected of billion-real fraud is a mortal blow to Brazil’s image in global markets. The indignation rising from the offices along Avenida Faria Lima is not merely moral; it is existential. They know that when a Supreme Court justice intervenes to save an insolvent bank in exchange for political favours, “Brazil risk” ceases to be a line on a chart and becomes an economic death sentence.

My own investigations, supported by international sources, uncover a corruption axis that recognises neither borders nor technical norms. The plan to offload the corpse of Banco Master onto the lap of Banco de Brasília was the final throw of a clique convinced it stands above the law — because, ultimately, it controls those who interpret it. The complicit silence of sections of the media and the inertia of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the face of evidence linking ministerial offices to Vorcaro’s operators are symptoms of an institutional metastasis.

Brazil can no longer tolerate this shadow play. The serious financial elite, international investors and ordinary citizens alike demand that the clean-up begin at the very top. If the Supremo Tribunal Federal proves incapable of purging from its ranks those who have traded the toga for political deal-making, the country will remain an institutional pariah — a place where financial crime is not fought but rubber-stamped with the seal of constitutional approval.

The revulsion emanating from Faria Lima is the final alarm bell. The mechanism has been exposed, and this time notes of disapproval will not be enough to contain the approaching tsunami.