Tehran's in Black

Iran's Islamist hardliners, angry that "Iranian women are progressively defying the rules by wearing shorter, tighter and brighter coats, especially during the scorching summer months," are again cracking down, reports the BBC. Morality cops have staged a series of raids on shopping malls, arresting women and confiscating shop inventories, "especially bright figure-hugging coats."

Hardliners benefitted from the disputed elections earlier this year in which many reformists were prevented from running; they vowed to do something about Iran's "erosion of Islamic values." The mullahs have also prohibited the playing of live music. Beeb analysts say that "the crackdown will be counter-productive in a country with a young, educated and increasingly rebellious population."