DUBAI: An Iranian coroner’s report into the death of Mahsa Amini said she did not die due to blows to the head and limbs but from multiple organ failure caused by cerebral hypoxia, the official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.
The death of 22-year-old Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police has ignited more than two weeks of nationwide protests. Her father has said she suffered bruises to her legs, and has held the police responsible for her death.
The coroner’s report said her death was “not caused by blow to the head and limbs.” It did not say whether she had suffered any injuries. The report did say she fell while in custody due to “underlying diseases.”
“Due to the ineffective cardio-respiratory resuscitation in the first critical minutes, she suffered severe hypoxia and as a result brain damage.”
Mahsa Amini did not die from blows to body: Iranian coroner
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Mahsa Amini did not die from blows to body: Iranian coroner
- Mahsa Amini died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police
- Her death ignited more than two weeks of nationwide protests
China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea
- Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal
The coast guard has continued to strengthen law enforcement patrols in the territorial waters and surrounding areas of Scarborough Shoal since the beginning of November, and “resolutely safeguarding the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” it said in a statement.
Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal.
13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting
- Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40
Peshawar: Sectarian feuding in northwest Pakistan killed 13 more people, a local government official said Saturday, as warring Sunnis and Shiites defied repeated ceasefire orders in recent conflict claiming 124 lives.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram district — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then 10 days of fighting with light and heavy weapons has brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
A Kurram local government official put the death toll at 124 on Saturday after 13 more people were killed in the past two days.
Two were Sunni and 11 Shiite, he said, whilst more than 50 people have been wounded in fresh fighting which continued Saturday morning.
“There is a severe lack of trust between the two sides, and neither tribe is willing to comply with government orders to cease hostilities,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Police report that many people want to flee the area due to the violence, but the deteriorating security situation makes it impossible,” he added.
A seven-day ceasefire deal was announced by the provincial government last weekend but failed to hold. Another 10-day truce was brokered Wednesday but it also failed to stymie the fighting.
A senior security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the total death toll of 124.
“There is a fear of more fatalities,” he said. “None of the provincial government’s initiated measures have been fully implemented to restore peace.”
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between the communities adhering to different sects of Islam.
Iran to begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges, UN watchdog says
- International Atomic Energy Agency only mentioned Iran enriching uranium with new centrifuges to 5 percent purity
- Report further raises tensions over Tehran’s program as it enriches at near weapons-grade levels.
DUBAI: Iran will begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges at its two main nuclear facilities at Fordo and Natanz, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Friday, further raising tensions over Tehran’s program as it enriches at near weapons-grade levels.
The notice from the International Atomic Energy Agency only mentioned Iran enriching uranium with new centrifuges to 5 percent purity, far lower than the 60 percent it currently does — likely signaling that it still wants to negotiate with the West and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
However, it remains unclear how Trump will approach Iran once he enters office, particularly as it continues to threaten to attack Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and just after a ceasefire started in its campaign in Lebanon. Trump withdrew America from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting in motion a series of attacks and incidents across the wider Mideast.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment over the IAEA’s report. Tehran had threatened to rapidly advance its program after the Board of Governors at the IAEA condemned Iran at a meeting in November for failing to cooperate fully with the agency.
In a statement, the IAEA outlined the plans Iran informed it of, which include feeding uranium into some 45 cascades of its advanced IR-2M, IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges.
Cascades are a group of centrifuges that spin uranium gas together to more quickly enrich the uranium. Each of these advanced classes of centrifuges enrich uranium faster than Iran’s baseline IR-1 centrifuges, which have been the workhorse of the country’s atomic program. The IAEA did not elaborate on how many machines would be in each cascade but Iran has put around 160 centrifuges into a single cascade in the past.
It’s unclear if Iran has begun feeding the uranium yet into the centrifuges. Tehran so far has been vague about its plans. But starting the enrichment at 5 percent gives Tehran both leverage at negotiations with the West and another way to dial up the pressure if they don’t like what they hear. Weapons-grade levels of enrichment are around 90 percent.
Since the collapse of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, it has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. US intelligence agencies and others assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program.
The US State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press it was “deeply concerned with Iran’s announcement that it is choosing the path of continued escalation as opposed to cooperation with the IAEA.”
“Iran’s continued production and accumulation of uranium enriched up to 60 percent has no credible civilian justification,” it added.
Iran, as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, has pledged to allow the IAEA to visit its atomic sites to ensure its program is peaceful. Tehran also had agreed to additional oversight from the IAEA as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw sanctions lifted in exchange for drastically limiting its program.
However, for years Iran has curtailed inspectors’ access to sites while also not fully answering questions about other sites where nuclear material has been found in the past after the deal’s collapse.
Iranian officials in recent months, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, had signaled a willingness to negotiate with the West. But Iran also has launched two attacks on Israel amid the war.
Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, said in a post on the social platform X that he met with EU diplomat Enrique Mora, criticizing Europe as being “self-centered” while having “irresponsible behavior.”
“With regard to the nuclear issue of Iran, Europe has failed to be a serious player due to lack of self-confidence and responsibility,” Gharibabadi wrote.
For his part, Mora described having a “frank discussion” with Gharibabadi and another Iranian diplomat. Those talks included “Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights,” he wrote on X.
Schools shut as heavy storm approaches India coast
- Cyclonic storm Fengal is forecast to make landfall in Tamil Nadu state with sustained winds of 70-80 kilometers an hour
- The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one meter that posed a flood risk
BENGALURU: Schools in India’s south were shut and hundreds of people moved inland to storm shelters ahead of a powerful cyclone storm set to hit the region on Saturday.
Cyclonic storm Fengal is forecast to make landfall in Tamil Nadu state with sustained winds of 70-80 kilometers an hour (43-50 mph) in the afternoon, India’s weather bureau said.
The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one meter (three feet) that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas.
Schools and colleges in numerous districts across Tamil Nadu were shut and at least 471 people had been moved to relief camps, the Economic Times newspaper reported.
Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific — are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this week, killing at least 12 people including six children.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.
A warming atmosphere also allows them to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.
But better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls.
Thailand flooding kills nine, displaces thousands
- ‘Very heavy rain’ could continue to affect some areas of the country’s south through next week
- The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents
BANGKOK: Flooding driven by heavy rains in southern Thailand has killed nine people and displaced more than 13,000, officials said Saturday, as rescue teams using boats and jet skis worked to reach stranded residents.
Local media footage showed residents wading through murky, chest-deep water and cars submerged in flooded streets.
“Flooding across eight provinces in southern Thailand has affected 553,921 households and claimed nine lives, prompting agencies to mobilize urgent assistance,” the country’s disaster agency said on its official Facebook page.
More than 13,000 people had been forced to flee their homes, with temporary shelters set up in schools and temples, it added.
Nampa, a resident of coastal Songkhla province, told state broadcaster Thai PBS she was concerned about the dwindling food supplies.
“We are doing fine now, but I am not sure how long can we stay in this condition,” she said.
Two hospitals in nearby Pattani province suspended operations to prevent floodwaters from damaging medical facilities.
In neighboring north Malaysia, the rains have forced the evacuation of at least 80,000 people to temporary shelters this week, with disaster officials there saying at least four people have been killed.
The Thai Meteorological Department has warned that “very heavy rain” could continue to affect some areas of the country’s south through next week.
The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents and designated 50 million baht ($1.7 million) in flood relief for each province.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Friday on social media platform X that the goal was to “restore normalcy as quickly as possible.”
While Thailand experiences annual monsoon rains, scientists say man-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Widespread flooding across the country in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.