Mahsa Amini: Iran police say woman's death was 'unfortunate' - BBC

WANA NEWS AGENCY

Tehran's police chief says the death of a woman in custody was an "unfortunate" incident he does not want repeated.

Mahsa Amini, 22, fell into a coma last week, hours after morality police held her for allegedly breaking hijab rules.

Witnesses accused officers of beating her, but Police Brig-Gen Hossein Rahimi denied such "cowardly accusations".

Her death sparked protests in the capital and western Iran, where two people were reportedly killed in clashes with riot police on Monday.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show a crowd throwing stones in the town of Divandarreh and later running after coming under fire.

Other footage showed protests in the capital, where women removed their headscarves and shouted "death to the dictator" - a chant often used in reference to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On day 3, several cities have joined anti-regime protests, including the city of #Divandareh, #Mahsa_Amini pic.twitter.com/qhNDtu81t4

— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) September 19, 2022

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

Ms Amini, an ethnic Kurd who was from the western city of Saqez in Kurdistan province, died in hospital on Friday after spending three days in a coma.

She was detained outside a metro station in Tehran on Tuesday by morality police. They accused her of breaking the law requiring women to cover their hair with a headscarf, and their arms and legs with loose clothing.

According to witnesses, she was beaten while inside a police van that took her to a detention centre.

Police rejected the allegation and said she suffered "sudden heart failure" while waiting with other women at the facility to be "educated".

They released CCTV footage that showed a woman they identified as Ms Amini talking with a female official, who grabs her clothing. She is then seen holding her head with her hands and collapsing to the ground.

The interior minister said on Saturday that Ms Amini "apparently had previous physical problems".

However, her father told pro-reform news outlets on Sunday that she was "fit and had no health problems". He also said his daughter had suffered bruising to her legs and that the CCTV footage showed an "edited version" of events.

On Monday, Brig-Gen Rahimi expressed sympathy to Ms Amini's family, but insisted that she suffered no physical harm.

"The evidence shows that there was no negligence or inappropriate behaviour on the part of the police," he told reporters.

The death triggered widespread criticism of the actions of the morality police, which recently launched a crackdown on "improper clothing".

Protests erupted in Saqez after her funeral on Saturday, with security forces reportedly opening fire on a crowd that marched towards the local governor's office.

There were also clashes between protesters and riot police in Sanandaj, Kurdistan's capital, on Saturday and Sunday.

Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said on Sunday that at least 38 people were injured in the two cities.

Hengaw reported the deaths of two protesters following Monday's clashes in Divandarreh, which is located between Saqez and Sanandaj. It also said a 10-year-old girl was shot in the head in Bukan, a city in West Azerbaijan province.

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Major quake strikes Mexico on 'cursed' anniversary of temblors, at least one dead - Reuters Canada

MEXICO CITY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday on the anniversary of two devastating temblors, killing at least one person, damaging buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling outside for safety.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video address a person had died in the Pacific port of Manzanillo after a wall collapsed in a store. Authorities also reported damage to two hospitals in the western state of Michoacan near the epicenter, which was in a sparsely populated part of Mexico.

The magnitude 7.6 quake hit shortly after 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) near the western coast and close to the Michoacan border with the state of Colima - where Manzanillo is located, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake was relatively shallow, at only 15 km (9 miles) deep, which would have amplified its impact.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for parts of Mexico's coast, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 meters (3 to 9 feet) above the tide level were possible.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as destructive quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

"It seems like a curse," Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer in the city's central Roma neighborhood, said of the quake's timing as helicopters flew overhead, surveying the city.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the country's most prestigious seats of higher learning, said there was no scientific explanation for three major quakes on the same day and attributed it to pure coincidence.

But others could not quite believe it.

"It's this date. There's something about the 19th," said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. "The 19th is a day to be feared."

Thousands of people were killed in the Sept. 19, 1985 earthquake and more than 350 died in the Sept. 19, 2017 quake.

Before announcing the death in Manzanillo, Lopez Obrador had said there was material damage near the epicenter. Images posted on social media showed buildings badly damaged.

Mexican authorities said the seismic alert had sounded nearly two minutes before the quake struck, giving residents time to evacuate their homes.

Still, some people in the capital struggled to grasp it was a real quake as the government had already sounded the alarm earlier in the day as a practice exercise commemorating the past earthquakes on the same day.

POWER OUT

In Coalcoman, Michoacan, not far from the epicenter, pictures showed shingles knocked off homes and building walls cracked by the force of the quake. In one store, merchandise was scattered across the floor.

Power was knocked out in parts of Roma in Mexico City, some 400 km (250 miles) from the epicenter. The national power utility said outages hit 1.2 million users.

Residents of Roma stood on the streets cradling pets, while tourists visiting a local market with a guide were visibly confused and upset. Traffic lights stopped working, and people clutched their phones, sending text messages or waiting for calls to get through.

Clara Ferri, who owns an Italian bookshop in Roma, said she told a customer to get out as soon as she heard the windows rattle, her senses attuned to the sounds of incipient earthquakes after 16 years in the location.

"It was like the dentist's drill for me," she said.

The rumbling grew in intensity, and as Ferri gathered with neighbors at an intersection, she looked up to see the eight-story building that houses her shop sway from side to side.

When she returned, shelves had toppled like dominos, sending over 1,000 books into heaps on the floor.

Officials roped off the sidewalk, which was littered with masonry that appeared to have fallen off the building. Residents trickled out with pets and suitcases, preparing to spend the night elsewhere, and a woman carefully escorted her 89-year-old uncle in his blue-and-white striped pajamas.

Additional reporting by Isabel Woodford, Stefanie Eschenbacher, Anthony Esposito, Raul Cortes and Mexico City Newsroom; writing by Dave Graham; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Guizhou: 27 dead, 20 injured in China after Covid quarantine bus overturned in a ravine - CNN

CNN  — 

A bus transferring dozens of people to a Covid-19 quarantine facility in China’s southwestern province of Guizhou overturned in a ravine early Sunday morning, killing 27 and injuring 20, local authorities said in a news briefing.

According to Lin Gang, deputy mayor of Guiyang, the bus was taking 45 residents from the provincial capital city of Guiyang to Libo county, a remote and mountainous town located 155 miles away, for quarantine. The bus departed Guiyang at 12:10 a.m. (12:10 p.m. Saturday ET) and overturned on the expressway at 2:40 a.m..

The cause of this accident is still under investigation, Lin said.

People walk by a closed store at a neighborhood designated as a medium-risk area on July 8, 2022 in Shanghai, China.

VCG/Getty Images

Zero-Covid at what price? Chinese researchers tread on sensitive ground

It’s still unclear why a quarantine bus would set off after midnight to transport people to another city for quarantine. China’s transport regulation prohibits long-distance passenger buses to be operated between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m..

Local authorities have been facing pressure to achieve the goal of “zero Covid.” The Guiyang Evening Paper said Saturday that the city had prepared 20 buses and 40 bus drivers to transport close contacts of Covid patients to other cities.

And as of Saturday, the city had transferred more than 7,000 people to other cities and nearly 3,000 more were waiting to be bused out of Guiyang.

News about the deaths sparked a huge outcry on Chinese social media, with many questioning the country’s increasingly stringent zero-Covid policy.

Many posts of the accident published by state media have banned people from commenting, and searching results of Guizhou on Chinese social media appear to be filtered.

Guizhou province has ramped up Covid-19 testing and quarantine measures due to its outbreak. The province reported 712 new cases on Saturday, more than other provinces combined, according to China’s National Health Commission.

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Millions in Japan told to evacuate as Typhoon Nanmadol approaches - Al Jazeera English

Authorities warn of ‘unprecedented’ waves and winds from Typhoon Nanmadol, urge four million people on Kyushu Island to evacuate.

At least four million people in southern Japan have been ordered to evacuate as a powerful typhoon bears down on the region, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that caused electricity blackouts and paralysed ground and air transportation.

The super typhoon was near the southern island of Yakushima, packing maximum surface winds of 162km/h (101mph) as it slowly headed north to Kyushu, the country’s third-largest and southernmost island, where it could make landfall later in the day, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Sunday.

Nanmadol is forecast to turn east and reach Tokyo on Tuesday.

The NHK broadcaster said local authorities have ordered four million people living on Kyushu to evacuate, with the JMA predicting that the island could receive as much as 500mm (20 inches) of rain and wind gusts of up to 250km/h (155mph).

The agency also warned residents in the affected area of flooding, landslides, as well as “unprecedented” levels of powerful winds and waves, and urged them to evacuate early.

Local authorities have reported no major damage or injuries so far.

This September 17 satellite image by NASA shows Typhoon Nanmadol, which is approaching southwest Japan [NASA Worldview, EOSDIS via AP]

In the hard-hit Kagoshima prefecture, more than 9,000 residents took shelter at evacuation centres on Sunday. In the neighbouring Miyazaki prefecture, another 4,700 people were evacuated.

Kyushu Electric Power Co said more than 93,000 homes across the island are without electricity on Sunday because of damage to power lines and facilities.

Footage on NHK television showed a pachinko pinball parlour with part of its glass wall shattered by wind gusts in Kanoya city in Kagoshima. Elsewhere in the prefecture, an elderly woman suffered a minor injury as she fell, NHK said.

Hundreds of domestic flights in and out of the region have been cancelled and more are planned to be grounded in western Japan through Tuesday as the typhoon heads northeast, according to Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

Public transportation, including trains and buses, in Kagoshima and Miyazaki was suspended throughout Sunday.

Railway operators said bullet trains on Kyushu have been suspended.

The storm is forecast to curve east and pass over Japan’s main island of Honshu early next week before moving out to sea by Wednesday.

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24 Hours in the Queue to View Queen Elizabeth II's Coffin - The Wall Street Journal

David Xue, Fred Li, Wendy Tan, Macy Ma and Zihan Zhang

All studied together in London

“Everybody is here to celebrate,” said Mr. Li. “However, they all seem to ignore the damage that the British Empire has done to other countries in the world, and that is partly because it is a story that is not properly told here.”

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Hurricane warning issued for Puerto Rico ahead of Tropical Storm Fiona - CNN

CNN  — 

Tropical Storm Fiona is poised to whip the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on approach Saturday and may strike the latter as a hurricane on Sunday, posing a significant flooding and mudslide threat to the larger US territory, forecasters say.

A hurricane warning was issued Saturday for Puerto Rico, reflecting forecasters’ belief that it will strengthen to a hurricane – with sustained winds of at least 74 mph – by the time it’s near or over the island Sunday night.

Hurricane watches, meanwhile, are in effect for the US Virgin Islands as well as parts of the Dominican Republic, the National Hurricane Center said.

“The center of Fiona is expected to move near or south of the Virgin Islands (Saturday) evening, approach Puerto Rico (Saturday night), and move near or over Puerto Rico Sunday night” before moving near the Dominican Republic on Monday, the hurricane center said.

Fiona’s biggest threat may be the rain it’s expected to dump on Puerto Rico: generally 12-16 inches, with 20 inches in isolated areas there, forecasters say.

“These rains are likely to produce flash and urban flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain, particularly southern and eastern Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic,” the hurricane center said.

Fiona, having whipped Guadeloupe and other northeastern Caribbean islands with heavy rain and strong winds Friday and early Saturday, was centered over the Caribbean about 130 miles southeast of St. Croix of the US Virgin Islands as of 11 a.m. ET Saturday, the NHC said.

It had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph – short of the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane, though strengthening is expected as the weekend progresses.

Tropical storm conditions – including winds of at least 39 mph – were expected to reach the US and British Virgin Islands starting Saturday afternoon and spread across Puerto Rico on Saturday night.

CNN Weather

Hurricane conditions were expected on Puerto Rico on Sunday and Sunday night – and are possible on the US Virgin Islands on Saturday night, the hurricane center said.

The storm also could be at hurricane strength when it passes over or near the Dominican Republic on Monday, forecasters said.

Fiona became a tropical storm over the Atlantic on Wednesday before entering the eastern Caribbean on Friday.

CNN Weather

Expectations of heavy rain

Here is how much rain is expected in each location, according to the hurricane center:

• Leeward Islands, including Guadeloupe, and the northern Windward Islands: 2-4 inches on top of what they’ve already received.

• British and US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico: 4-6 inches, with isolated areas of 10 inches possible.

• Puerto RIco: 12-16 inches, with isolated areas of 20 inches possible.

• Dominican Republic: 4-8 inches, with isolated areas of 12 inches possible. particularly on the far eastern coast.

• Haiti: 1-3 inches, with isolated maximum totals of 4 inches.

• Turks and Caicos: 4-10 inches.

CNN Weather

This is the first time in more than three years that Puerto Rico has been issued a hurricane watch or warning. The last time was in August 2019, when Hurricane Dorian passed the island as a Category 1 storm.

A few tropical storms have passed the island since then, but Dorian was the last storm at hurricane strength to pass within 50 miles, CNN meteorologists said.

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Man Grabs Queen Elizabeth’s Coffin At Westminster Hall Lying In State, Swiftly Arrested – watch - Deadline

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