Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Says 2 Members Killed in Fire

Footage of an underground research center to develop ballistic missiles, aired by Iranian state TV in February 2019. According to experts the facility is built West of Tehran. (ISNA)
Footage of an underground research center to develop ballistic missiles, aired by Iranian state TV in February 2019. According to experts the facility is built West of Tehran. (ISNA)
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Says 2 Members Killed in Fire

Footage of an underground research center to develop ballistic missiles, aired by Iranian state TV in February 2019. According to experts the facility is built West of Tehran. (ISNA)
Footage of an underground research center to develop ballistic missiles, aired by Iranian state TV in February 2019. According to experts the facility is built West of Tehran. (ISNA)

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Monday that two of its members died from injuries they suffered in an unexplained fire the day before.

The Guard said the fire erupted Sunday in a warehouse at what it described as a “research self-sufficiency center” west of the capital, Tehran.

At least three Guard members were injured, two of whom later died. The statement did not provide any further details, The Associated Press reported.

The Guard runs the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, which the US Treasury sanctioned in 2017 over its work “researching and developing ballistic missiles."

It wasn't immediately clear whether the site struck by Sunday's fire was involved in missile development.

There was no immediate footage of the blaze on social media or other reports pinpointing the site of the fire, although the Guard runs many facilities on the outskirts of Tehran.

Missile and other sensitive sites in Iran have seen fires before. The most notable came in 2011, when a blast at a missile base near Tehran killed Revolutionary Guard commander Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who led the paramilitary force’s missile program, and 16 others.

Initially, authorities described the blast as an accident, though a former prisoner later said the Guard interrogated him on suspicion that Israel caused the explosion.



Fireworks Shop Explosion Kills 12 in China

Fire performers carry a dragon during a molten iron fireworks performance known as "fire dragon steel flowers" ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Fire performers carry a dragon during a molten iron fireworks performance known as "fire dragon steel flowers" ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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Fireworks Shop Explosion Kills 12 in China

Fire performers carry a dragon during a molten iron fireworks performance known as "fire dragon steel flowers" ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Fire performers carry a dragon during a molten iron fireworks performance known as "fire dragon steel flowers" ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

An explosion at a fireworks shop in central China killed 12 people on Wednesday, the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Setting off fireworks and firecrackers is common during holiday celebrations in China, especially around Lunar New Year, which fell on Tuesday.

While many larger cities, including the capital Beijing, have banned the practice in recent years -- in part due to pollution -- towns and rural areas are often filled with the sounds of exploding firecrackers and "missile" fireworks for days on end during the holiday period.

"At approximately 2 pm on the 18th, there was a fire and explosion at a firework and firecracker shop in Zhengji town" in Hubei province, CCTV said, citing local authorities.

"The fire covered an area of around 50 square meters and has already resulted in 12 deaths."

The cause of the explosion is under investigation, CCTV added, according to AFP.

On Sunday, an explosion at a fireworks shop in eastern China's Jiangsu province killed eight and injured two.

In response to that incident, the Ministry of Emergency Management urged fireworks enterprises nationwide to strengthen supervision and undertake a "full inspection" of safety risks and hazards.

It also warned citizens against unsafe practices like test-firing or smoking outside of shops.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China's Shanxi province killed eight people this month.

And in late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighboring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.


Vatican Says It Will Not Participate in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ 

Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Vatican Says It Will Not Participate in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ 

Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)

The Vatican ‌will not participate in US President Donald Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday while adding that efforts to handle crisis situations should be managed by the United Nations.

Pope Leo, the first US pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, was invited to join the board in January.

Under Trump's Gaza plan that led to a fragile ceasefire in October, the board was meant to supervise Gaza's temporary governance. Trump thereafter said the board, with him as chair, would ‌be expanded to ‌tackle global conflicts.

The board will hold its ‌first ⁠meeting in Washington ⁠on Thursday to discuss Gaza's reconstruction.

Italy and the European Union have said their representatives plan to attend as observers as they have not joined the board.

The Holy See "will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States," Parolin said.

"One concern," he said, "is that ⁠at the international level it should above all ‌be the UN that manages ‌these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted."

The ⁠Gaza truce has been repeatedly violated with hundreds of Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since it began in October.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed over 72,000, caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced Gaza's entire population.

Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in a late 2023 attack.

Leo has repeatedly decried conditions in Gaza. The pope, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, rarely joins international boards. The Vatican has an extensive diplomatic service and is a permanent observer at the United Nations.


Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Poland has barred Chinese-made vehicles from entering military facilities due to concerns their onboard sensors could be used to collect sensitive data, the Polish Army said on Tuesday evening.

The army said in ‌a statement ‌that such vehicles ‌may ⁠still be allowed onto ⁠secured sites if specified functions are disabled and other safeguards required under each facility's security rules are in place.

To ⁠limit the risk ‌of ‌exposing confidential information, the military has ‌also banned connecting company ‌phones to infotainment systems in vehicles manufactured in China.

The restrictions do not apply ‌to publicly accessible military locations such as hospitals, ⁠clinics, ⁠libraries, prosecutors' offices or garrison clubs, the army said.

It added that the measures are precautionary and align with practices used by NATO members and other allies to ensure high standards of protection for defense infrastructure.