Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'

People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
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Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'

People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)

An Iranian court has issued a second death sentence in three days against a "rioter" for violence linked to protests that flared over Mahsa Amini's death, the judiciary said.

"A revolutionary court sentenced to death another defendant accused of terrorizing people in the street using a bladed weapon, setting fire to the motorcycle of a citizen, and attacking a person with a knife," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said late Tuesday.

"The accused is an enemy of God for using bladed weapons that caused terror," it reported.

Iran on Sunday handed down the first death sentence over the protests that erupted on September 16, when Amini died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.

Among the charges issued against the first convict were "setting fire to a government building, disturbing public order, assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security," as well as for being "an enemy of God and corruption on earth", Mizan said at the time.

Five others were sentenced to prison terms of between five to 10 years for "gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and disturbing public order", Mizan said.



Chinese Carrier Sails Through Northeast Taiwan Waters 

The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
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Chinese Carrier Sails Through Northeast Taiwan Waters 

The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)
The Liaoning seen in Hong Kong waters in 2017. (AFP)

A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan on Wednesday and continued towards the southeast of Japan's Yonaguni Island, Taipei's government said.

"During this period, the armed forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement.

The voyage came after the Chinese military tailed a US aircraft that flew through the politically sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Beijing's army said, vowing to "resolutely defend national sovereignty".

"On September 17, a US P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait," Li Xi, a senior captain and spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement.

"Theater troops are on constant high alert to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability."

Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and claims jurisdiction over the waterway that separates the island from the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have sailed through the Taiwan Strait several times in recent years as Beijing intensified military and political pressure on the island.

Taiwan's military has reported near daily sightings of Chinese warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island.

On Wednesday, the defense ministry said nine Chinese military aircraft, 13 naval vessels and one official ship were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday).

It said in a second statement that a further 15 Chinese warplanes were detected on Wednesday, of which 12 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait "in conducting air-sea joint training" with Chinese naval vessels.

"The People's Liberation Army also fired multiple launched rockets in the inland Gansu area," it added.