Iran protests: Police fire on Mahsa Amini mourners - witnesses - BBC

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By David Gritten

BBC News

Iranian police are reported to have fired on protesters in Saqqez, home city of Mahsa Amini who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab "improperly".

Thousands gathered near the grave of the Kurdish woman and clashed with security, 40 days since her death.

A rights group and witnesses said officers fired live rounds and tear gas at the crowds in the city.

Protests swept across Iran after Ms Amini, 22, died on 16 September.

She had been detained three days earlier by the morality police in the capital, Tehran, and fell into a coma after collapsing at a detention centre.

There were reports that officers beat her with a baton and banged her head against a vehicle, but police denied that she was mistreated and said she suffered a heart attack.

On Wednesday, security forces were deployed in Saqqez and other parts of Kurdistan province, in anticipation of fresh demonstrations on the 40th day of mourning for Ms Amini - a culturally significant occasion for Iranians.

Videos showed thousands of mourners walking along a road, through a field and across a river to bypass roadblocks and reach the graveyard where Ms Amini is buried.

The crowds were heard shouting "Woman, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator" - two of the signature chants of the protest movement - as well as "Down with traitors" and "Kurdistan will be the graveyard of fascists".

Despite the authorities pressure on the family to recall the 40 th days ceremony for #Mahsa_Amini , thousands gather on Mahsa’s grave chanting “Kurdistan will be the graveyard of fascists” “women , life, freedom” pic.twitter.com/ifH9h3DHsv

— @jiyargol (@jiyargol) October 26, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

It was not clear whether members of Ms Amini's family were present.

A source close to the family told the BBC's Jiyar Gol that intelligence agents put pressure on her father to say that they were not holding a ceremony.

Kurdish human rights group Hengaw, which is based in Norway, later tweeted that mourners had marched towards the provincial government's office in Saqqez and that security forces had opened fire on people in Zindan square.

Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed eyewitness as saying: "The riot police shot mourners who gathered at the cemetery... Dozens have been arrested."

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The semi-official Isna news agency reported that "a limited number of those present at Mahsa Amini's memorial clashed with police forces on the outskirts of Saqqez and were dispersed".

Hengaw also reported demonstrations in several cities in Kurdistan. It said police had used live fire in several places, iincluding in Marivan.

• West punishes Iran's feared morality police
• Iran's Generation Z are paying the ultimate price
• A really simple guide to Iran's protests

The first protests took place after Ms Amini's funeral in Saqqez, with women ripping off their headscarves in solidarity.

The protests evolved into one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Women have been at the forefront, waving their headscarves in the air, setting them on fire and even cutting their hair in public.

Another Norway-based organisation, Iran Human Rights, says at least 234 protesters, including 29 children, have been killed by security forces in a crackdown on what Iran's leaders have portrayed as "riots" fomented by foreigners.

Opposition activists said protests marking the 40th day of mourning for Ms Amini were also held in other parts of the country, including Tehran.

Video appeared to show that security forces fired tear gas inside a girls' school in the capital in response to a protest by students.

One young female protester inside Iran told BBC World News: "You cannot imagine how tough it is to go to streets knowing that they are ready to shoot. But we are not afraid.

"It's not about me. It's about the next generation. We want to have a normal life."

She added: "I don't know when our protests will come to an end, but today Iranian society is more awake than ever and we are ready for big changes."

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2022-10-26 19:42:52Z
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Ukraine round-up: Putin watches nuclear tests and a row over a superyacht - BBC

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By Tiffany Wertheimer

BBC News

Russia has carried out its annual nuclear exercises, with its President Vladimir Putin watching them via video link from a big white room at the Kremlin.

His government announced that ballistic and cruise missiles were launched in the Far East and Arctic.

While the US was informed of the drills, they come at a time of heightened tensions with the West over his his invasion of Ukraine.

Without providing any evidence, Russia has accused Ukraine of plotting to use a "dirty bomb" - an explosive device mixed with radioactive material. Western countries have widely rejected those allegations as false, and Ukraine has warned that Moscow itself could be preparing such an attack.

Regardless, Russia is standing by its claims.

Read more here:

• How many nuclear weapons does Russia have?
• What is a ‘dirty bomb’ and why is Russia saying Ukraine could use one?

Will Belarus join the war?

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There are fears that Belarus and Russia could be planning a joint incursion across Ukraine's northern border, after the Kremlin sent thousands of troops to Belarus.

It has prompted a blunt warning from Ukraine -"If the Belarusian army supports Russian aggression, we will respond… with our entire arsenal of weapons."

Belarus shares a border with both Russia and Ukraine, and its authoritarian government, headed by Alexander Lukashenko, is fiercely loyal to the Kremlin.

Belarus is already heavily involved in the war, and is also very dependent on Russia, so if Moscow pressures Minsk to step-up its support - there is not much wiggle room.

Read analysis from Sarah Rainsford, our Eastern European correspondent.

Mercedes pulls out of Russia

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Eight months into the war huge companies continue to leave Russia - Mercedes-Benz is the latest.

The German-based luxury vehicle company stopped manufacturing in and exporting to Russia in early March.

But now it says it will withdraw completely from the Russian market and sell shares in its subsidiaries to a local investor.

Ford confirmed on Wednesday that it had finalised a deal to leave Russia too.

Row erupts over superyacht

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Meanwhile all the way over in South Africa, a row has erupted over a Russian oligarch's superyacht, which has left Hong Kong and is heading to Cape Town.

South Africa's government insists it will allow The Nord to dock - but Cape Town's mayor says it should be turned away.

The Nord belongs to Alexei Mordashov, an ally of Vladimir Putin who has been sanctioned by the EU and US.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says he has a "moral duty" to oppose Russia's "unjust war" and has vowed to block the yacht.

But a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa said: "South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU."

Even if the mayor gets his way - it is not clear how Cape Town officials plan to stop the enormous vessel from docking when it arrives.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

• ANALYSIS: Who is winning the war in Ukraine?
• ON THE GROUND: What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine?
• READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis

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2022-10-26 19:32:43Z
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COVID-19: New report predicts how many daily cases there will be by February - Sky News

Global coronavirus cases are projected to rise slowly in the coming months to about 18.7 million per day by February.

The current daily average is around 16.7 million, according to the University of Washington report.

It is far fewer than last winter when the Omicron variant pushed the estimated peak daily average to about 80 million - and the increase is also not expected to cause a big increase in deaths.

The university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasts average deaths will rise from about 1,660 now to 2,748 on 1 February.

COVID infections in the US are predicted to rise by a third to more than a million per day over the same period, driven by factors such as people being inside more over the winter.

But a surge in Germany has already peaked, according to the study's authors, who expect cases there to fall by more than a third to about 190,000.

The IHME suggests the recent rise in cases and hospitalisations in Germany could be down to Omicron subvariants BQ.1 or BQ.1.1, and that it might spread to other parts of Europe in the coming weeks.

More on Covid-19

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Another Omicron subvariant called XBB is also driving a surge in admissions in Singapore, according to the analysis.

The University of Washington researchers say the variant is more transmissible but less severe.

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They add that the threat from XBB is expected to be diminished by the fact that people previously infected with the BA.5 Omicron subvariant are likely to have immunity against it.

Read more:
Weekly COVID-related deaths up by nearly 40%
New Omicron mutation could evade vaccine antibodies

In the UK, latest figures published last week showed cases were continuing to rise but could be nearing a peak.

The weekly infection survey from the Office for National Statistics showed an estimated two million people had the virus in the UK in the week ending 10 October.

That's about one in 30 people and a rise of 15.4% on the week before.

But there were hints that the spread was beginning to slow in many parts of England - which accounts for the bulk of cases.

The UK Health Security Agency is still urging people over the age of 50 to come forward for another booster because they are at higher risk of serious disease if infected.

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2022-10-26 03:55:08Z
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Indonesian woman's body found inside python, say reports - BBC

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By Fan Wang

BBC News

A woman in Indonesia's Jambi province was killed and swallowed whole by a python, according to local reports.

Jahrah, a rubber-tapper reportedly in her 50s, had made her way to work at a rubber plantation on Sunday morning.

She was reported missing after failing to return that night, and search parties sent out to find her. A day later villagers found a python with what appeared to be a large stomach.

Locals later killed the snake and found her body inside.

"The victim was found in the snake's stomach," Betara Jambi police chief AKP S Harefa told local media outlets, adding that her body appeared to be largely intact when it was found.

He said the victim's husband had on Sunday night found some of her clothes and tools she had used at the rubber plantation, leading him to call on a search party.

After the snake - which was at least 5m (16ft) long - was spotted on Monday, villagers then caught and killed it to verify the victim's identity.

"After they cut the belly apart, they found it was Jahrah inside," Mr Harefa told CNN Indoneisa.

Though such incidents are rare, this is not the first time someone in Indonesia has been killed and eaten by a python. Two similar deaths were reported in the country between 2017 and 2018.

• How can a snake eat a human?

Pythons swallow their food whole. Their jaws are connected by very flexible ligaments so they can stretch around large prey.

One expert had earlier told the BBC that pythons typically eat rats and other animals, "but once they reach a certain size it's almost like they don't bother with rats anymore because the calories are not worth it".

"In essence they can go as large as their prey goes," said Mary-Ruth Low, conservation & research officer for Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

That can include animals as large as pigs or even cows.

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2022-10-26 07:46:47Z
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St Louis: Student and teacher killed in school shooting - BBC

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A student and a teacher have been killed in a shooting at a high school in St Louis, Missouri that ended with the gunman being shot dead by police.

The attack at the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School on Monday also left seven injured, with others reporting narrow escapes.

The gunman has been identified as a 19-year-old former student.

Police say he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and was carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The two victims were identified as student Alexandria Bell, 15, and Jean Kuczka, a 61-year old physical education teacher.

The seven injured - three girls and four boys - all had non-life-threatening injuries, according to local media.

Police are still investigating potential motives. A handwritten note left at the scene by the gunman attempted to explain his reasoning for the shooting, police said, and referenced feelings of unhappiness.

On Tuesday, St Louis Police Chief Michael Sack said the gunman was carrying more than 600 rounds of ammunition. Some were strapped to his chest, while others were found in a bag or had been dumped in the school's stairwells.

"This could have been much worse," he said, adding that he was urging people to come forward if they know of someone suffering from mental distress or who is speaking about "causing harm to others".

FBI agents are now helping the investigation.

During the attack, students were forced to barricade classrooms, jump from windows and run from the building to escape.

One student told the KMOV local news station that the attacker had walked up to a friend and asked her: "You ready to die?"

Raven Terry said: "We just ran real, real fast... and we were just crying, all shaken up about it."

Taniya Gholston, 16, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper that the gunman had entered her classroom and tried to shoot her.

"I was trying to run and I couldn't run," she said. "Me and him made eye contact but I made it out because his gun got jammed."

She said she overheard the attacker saying "I'm tired of this damn school".

• America's gun culture - in seven charts
• Can warning signs stop a mass shooting?

Police said the gunman graduated last year from the school and had no history of criminal behaviour.

One of the victims, Jean Kuczka, had taught at the school since 2008, according to an online biography, and was a grandmother of seven.

"My mom loved kids," her daughter Abigail Kuczka told the Post-Dispatch, adding that she had died protecting her students.

The second victim, 15-year-old Alexandria Bell, was just a month away from her 16th birthday.

"My daughter was planning on coming out here to California and celebrate her birthday with me," her father Andre Bell told local TV network KSDK. "But now we have to plan her funeral".

The seven students wounded in the attack are all either 15 or 16 years old and are in stable condition.

Mr Sack said that four suffered gunshot or graze wounds, while two had bruises and one apparently broke an ankle after jumping from a third-floor window.

"Our children shouldn't have to experience this," St Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said at a news conference after the shooting.

"They shouldn't have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today."

Data from the Education Week outlet show there have been at least 35 school shootings, in which at least one person was killed or injured, so far this year.

Earlier on Monday, a teenager in Michigan pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including terrorism and first-degree murder, after a rampage at his high school last November.

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2022-10-25 20:34:15Z
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Ukraine war refugees asked not to return this winter - BBC

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By Hugo Bachega in Kyiv & Merlyn Thomas in London

BBC News

Ukrainian refugees should not return until spring to help ease pressure on the energy system after a wave of Russian attacks, the government said.

"The networks will not cope," said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. "You see what Russia is doing."

"We need to survive the winter," she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian air strikes had destroyed more than a third of the country's energy sector.

Ms Vereshchuk said that although she would like Ukrainians to return in the spring, it was important to refrain from returning for now because "the situation will only get worse".

"If it is possible, stay abroad for the time being," she added.

Ukraine's economy has suffered badly since the war began. Mr Zelensky has called on the world for help urgently to cover an expected budget deficit of $38 billion (£33 billion).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Ukraine would need $3 billion every month to survive the next year - and $5 billion if Moscow's bombardment intensified.

The deputy mayor of the western city of Lviv, Serhiy Kiral, told the BBC on Saturday that Russia's strategy was to damage critical infrastructure before the winter, and bring the war to areas beyond the front line.

Russia began attacking Ukraine's energy networks in retaliation for an attack on Russia's rail and road bridge to Crimea on 8 October.

Areas targeted by the latest attacks include the Cherkasy region, south-east of the capital Kyiv, and the city of Khmelnytskyi, further west.

On Friday Mr Zelensky accused Russia of planting mines at a hydroelectric dam in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which is under the control of Moscow's forces.

He said that if the Kakhovka hydropower plant was destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people would be in danger of flooding. Russia has denied planning to blow up the dam and said Ukraine was firing missiles at it.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the UN's refugee agency has recorded about 7.7 million refugees from Ukraine across Europe, including Russia, out of a population of about 44 million.

More on the conflict in Ukraine:

• Why Russia's "dirty bomb" claims may be scare tactics
• Russia accused of sabotaging Ukrainian water pipes
• The ships full of gas waiting off Europe's coast

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2022-10-25 18:38:31Z
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Ukraine war: UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Ukrainian sites - BBC

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The UN's nuclear watchdog IAEA says its inspectors have regularly visited two sites in Ukraine at the centre of Russian claims that Kyiv is preparing a so-called dirty bomb.

Inspectors would return in the coming days following a Ukrainian request, director general Rafael Grossi said.

Russia has not offered any evidence for its allegations, which Nato dismisses.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned it meant Russia itself could be preparing an attack of this kind.

So-called dirty bombs contain radioactive material, such as uranium, which is scattered through the air when its conventional explosive detonates. They don't need to contain highly refined radioactive material, as is used in a nuclear bomb, which makes them cheaper and easier to manoeuvre.

The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] said it had received an invitation from the Ukrainian government to carry out "verification activities" at two unspecified locations, adding that the agency's inspectors have visited both sites regularly.

Mr Grossi said the IAEA "inspected one of these locations one month ago and all our findings were consistent with Ukraine's safeguards declarations."

"No undeclared nuclear activities or material were found there," he said.

• What is a 'dirty bomb'?

Russia's state-run news agency, RIA Novosti, said it had identified two sites - the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv - as the locations central to the alleged Ukrainian operation.

Moscow is expected to repeat the allegation during a meeting of the UN's Security Council on Tuesday. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Russian representative to the council, Vassily Nebenzia, said his country would "regard the use of the dirty bomb by the Kyiv regime as an act of nuclear terrorism".

"Our Ministry of Defence has also received information that this provocation can be carried out with the support of Western countries," Mr Nebenzia wrote in his letter.

Moscow's allegations, made by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies. In a joint statement on Monday, the US, UK and French foreign ministers condemned the claims as "transparently false" and said the "world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation".

Meanwhile, President Zelensky said during his nightly address on Monday that "if Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this".

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Western intelligence officials have been keen to stress that there is no indication that Russia is preparing to use so-called dirty bombs or other nuclear devices.

The Russian claims come as Ukrainian forces continue to gain ground in the southern Kherson region. Kyiv's forces launched a counter-attack in the region in August and its forces have slowly moved towards the regional capital of Kherson city.

In recent days, Moscow-installed officials have fled the city and urged civilians to evacuate over the Dnieper river into Russian controlled territory.

But Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, warned state media that Russian troops in the region were preparing the defend the city rather than retreat.

"They are creating the illusion that all is lost. Yet at the same time they are moving new military units in and preparing to defend the streets of Kherson," Mr Budanov said.

Regional authorities have said that some men who chose to remain behind in the city would have the option of joining local militias to defend it, raising fears that Moscow could force men into military formations. Such actions would constitute war crimes under the Geneva convention.

Kherson is the only major Ukrainian city - a regional capital - that Russian forces have managed to capture during its invasion.

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2022-10-25 07:08:59Z
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