Calls for Civil Disobedience in Iran

People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Calls for Civil Disobedience in Iran

People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Demonstrations were renewed in several Iranian cities with increasing pressure on authorities to release the detainees amid calls for civil disobedience.

Protesters called for extensive participation to commemorate the mid-Nov 2019 protests, and schoolgirls made a "national appeal" to gather and participate in the three-days marches starting Tuesday.

Students of several universities continued their two-month protest movement, with several strikes at the Sharif University of Technology, the Tehran University of Art, and Al-Zahra University.

Students carried on with their protest and demanded the release of their detained colleagues and political prisoners.

A video circulated on social media showed a march at Qazvin University in support of activist Hossein Ronaghi, whose health has deteriorated in Evin Prison.

Hasan, Ronaghi's brother, said Hussien was transferred to Dey General Hospital. He called on Iranians to gather in front of the hospital to prevent security forces from moving him back to prison.

Ronaghi has been on a hunger strike since his arrest on Sept. 24 during the protests fueled by Mahsa Amini's death.

On Monday, the Iranian judiciary said that Ronaghi was taken to hospital and his health was "stable," denying claims that he had been physically injured before the hospitalization.

"Ronaghi's general state of health is stable, and he will soon be released from the hospital," according to AFP, citing the Iranian judiciary website, Mizan.

The website noted that authorities decided to send him to a hospital outside the prison to avoid any possible deterioration in his clinical condition and for him to receive additional treatment.

Later, Mizan published a photo of Ronaghi's meeting with his mother at the hospital. Reports said that the authorities allowed his parents to enter the hospital to visit him and check his condition.

The family reported that Ronaghi's kidneys had developed hydronephrosis due to the hunger strike and that he could not walk because his leg was broken during detention.

According to his brother, Ronaghi also began refusing water on Saturday in protest of the authorities' refusal to release him for treatment.

The activist has previously published articles in newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, criticizing the human rights situation in Iran.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization expressed concern over reports of Ronaghi's deteriorating health.

Director of the organization Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said that Ronaghi's life was in great danger, adding that Iranian officials, especially Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, bear the responsibility for the safety of detainees.

Video also emerged on social media showing the moment Mehdi Hazrati, 17, was shot by security forces in Karaj during a march on Nov. 03 when mourners were paying tribute to Hadis Najafi at the cemetery to mark 40 days after she was killed in the city.

The head of the judiciary in Alborz described the incident as "suspicious," noting that the security personnel at the scene were not carrying firearms.

Meanwhile, an Iranian official in Khorasan announced the death of a Basij security force member during the unrest.

The French Press Agency said that the Basij member was shot by "rioters and anti-revolutionary elements" while he checked their identification cards in Mashhad.

Iranian authorities have adopted various tactics to quell the protests, which have become one of the country's most significant challenges since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Security forces used live ammunition, tear gas, and paintballs.

Iran accused the Western countries of orchestrating the protest. The UK, Canada, the EU, and the US imposed sanctions on Tehran over its human rights violations.

The activist HRANA news agency said 341 protesters had been killed in the unrest, including 52 minors. Thirty-nine members of the security forces had also been killed, while nearly 15,820 have been detained in 140 cities, it said.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations (CCITTA) called for an expansion of strikes and civil disobedience, calling on citizens to refrain from paying water, electricity, and gas bills.

The committee criticized 43 years of "self-punishment" imposed by the authority and blamed it for the "artificial inflation."

The statement noted that 70 percent of the Iranian people live below the poverty line.



14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
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14 Injured in Japan After Stabbing, Liquid Spray Attack, Official Says

This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)
This photo taken on November 28, 2025 shows the view from the lobby of a high-rise building in Tokyo. (AFP)

Fourteen people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, an emergency services official said on Friday.

"Fourteen people are subject to transportation by emergency services," Tomoharu Sugiyama, a firefighting department official in the city of Mishima, in Shizuoka region, told AFP.

He said a call was received at about 4.30 pm (0730 GMT) from a nearby rubber factory saying "five or six people were stabbed by someone" and that a "spray-like liquid" had also been used.

Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

The Asahi Shimbun daily quoted investigative sources as saying that the man in his 30s was someone connected to the factory.

He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media said.

Asahi also said that he was apparently armed with what it described as a survival knife.
NHK said the man told police that he was 38 years old.

The seriousness of the injuries was unknown, although NHK said all victims remained conscious.

Sugiyama said at least six of the 14 victims had been sent to hospital in a fleet of ambulances. The exact nature of the injuries was also unclear.

The factory in Mishima is run by Yokohama Rubber Co., whose business includes manufacturing tires for trucks and buses, according to its corporate website.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws.

However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.

A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo's Toda-mae metro station.

Japan remains shaken by the memory of a major subway attack in 1995 when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and making more than 5,800 ill.

On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum cult dropped bags of Nazi-developed sarin nerve agent inside morning commuter trains on March 20, 1995, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.


Turkish Authorities Say they Have arrested Suspected ISIS Member Planning New Year's Attacks

File photo: Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
File photo: Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
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Turkish Authorities Say they Have arrested Suspected ISIS Member Planning New Year's Attacks

File photo: Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
File photo: Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkish authorities said Friday that they have apprehended a suspected member of the extremist ISIS group who was planning attacks on New Year's celebrations.

State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Ibrahim Burtakucin was captured in a joint operation carried out by police and the National Intelligence Agency in the southeastern city of Malatya.

Security officials told Anadolu that Burtakucin was in contact with many ISIS sympathizers in Türkiye and abroad and was also looking for an opportunity to join the ongoing fighting in conflict zones.

Authorities also seized digital materials and banned publications belonging to ISIS during the raid of his home.

The arrest was reported a day after Istanbul's prosecutor's office said Turkish authorities carried out simultaneous raids in which they detained over a hundred suspected members of the militant ISIS group who were allegedly planning attacks against Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.


China Sanctions US Defense Firms, Individuals Over Arms Sales to Taiwan

The Taipei 101 building is seen among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on December 18, 2025. (AFP)
The Taipei 101 building is seen among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on December 18, 2025. (AFP)
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China Sanctions US Defense Firms, Individuals Over Arms Sales to Taiwan

The Taipei 101 building is seen among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on December 18, 2025. (AFP)
The Taipei 101 building is seen among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on December 18, 2025. (AFP)

China's foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and ​20 US defense firms, including Boeing's St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.

The measures freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them, the ministry said.

Individuals on ‌the list, ‌including the founder ‌of ⁠defense firm ​Anduril Industries ‌and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.

Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services.

The move follows Washington's announcement last week of $11.1 ⁠billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ‌ever US weapons package for ‍the island, drawing ‍Beijing's ire.

"The Taiwan issue is the ‍core of China's core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said ​in a statement on Friday.

"Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan ⁠issue will be met with a strong response from China," the statement said, urging the US to cease "dangerous" efforts to arm the island.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.

The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales ‌are a persistent source of friction with China.