Iran Protesters Call For Three-Day Strike from Monday

People walk in a street on a rainy day in Tehran, Iran, 04 December 2022. (EPA)
People walk in a street on a rainy day in Tehran, Iran, 04 December 2022. (EPA)
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Iran Protesters Call For Three-Day Strike from Monday

People walk in a street on a rainy day in Tehran, Iran, 04 December 2022. (EPA)
People walk in a street on a rainy day in Tehran, Iran, 04 December 2022. (EPA)

Protesters in Iran called on Sunday a three-day strike this week as they seek to maintain pressure on authorities over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, with protests planned on the day President Ebrahim Raisi is due to address students in Tehran. 

Raisi is expected to visit Tehran University on Wednesday, celebrated in Iran as Student Day. 

To coincide with Student Day, protesters are calling for strikes by merchants and a rally towards Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square, according to individual posts shared on Twitter by accounts unverified by Reuters. 

They have also called for three days of boycotting any economic activity starting on Monday. 

Similar calls for strike action and mass mobilization have in past weeks resulted in an escalation in the unrest which has swept the country - some of the biggest anti-government protests since Iran's 1979 revolution 

The activist HRANA news agency said 470 protesters had been killed as of Saturday, including 64 minors. It said 18,210 demonstrators were arrested and 61 members of the security forces were killed. 

Iran's Interior Ministry state security council said on Saturday the death toll was 200, according to the judiciary's news agency Mizan. 

The nationwide protests began after Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, died in the custody of Iran's morality police on Sept. 16, after she was detained for violating the hijab restrictions governing how women dress. 

Residents posting on social media and newspapers such Shargh daily say there have been fewer sightings of the morality police on the streets in recent weeks as authorities apparently try to avoid provoking more protests. 

On Saturday, Iran's Public Prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was cited by the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency as saying that the morality police had been disbanded. 

"The same authority which has established this police has shut it down," Montazeri was quoted as saying. 

Iran's Interior Ministry, which is the authority in charge of the morality police, has yet to comment on the status of the force, which is tasked with monitoring Iranians' clothing and public behavior. 

Montazeri said the morality police was not under the judiciary's authority, which "continues to monitor behavioral actions at the community level." 

Top Iranian officials have repeatedly said Tehran would not change its mandatory hijab policy, nor the way it enforces this policy. 

Executions 

State media said four men convicted of cooperating with Israel's spy agency Mossad were executed on Sunday. 

They had been arrested in June - before the current unrest sweeping the country - following cooperation between the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards, Tasnim news agency reported. 

Tehran has long accused arch-enemy Israel of carrying out covert operations on its soil. Tehran has recently accused Israeli and Western intelligence services of plotting a civil war in Iran. 

Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that the country's Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence handed out to the four men "for the crime of cooperating with the intelligence services of the Zionist regime and for kidnapping". 

Three other people were handed prison sentences of between five and 10 years after being convicted of crimes that included acting against national security, aiding in kidnapping, and possessing illegal weapons, the Mehr news agency said.  



Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Faces Foreign Aid Shortfall of up to 50 billion Euros Next Year

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
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Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Faces Foreign Aid Shortfall of up to 50 billion Euros Next Year

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File Photo/The AP

Ukraine is facing a foreign aid shortfall of 45-50 billion euros ($53-59 billion) in 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

He added that if Kyiv did not receive a first tranche of a loan secured by Russian assets by next spring, it would have to significantly cut drone production.

Speaking in Brussels as EU leaders were set to take a decision on Moscow's seized sovereign wealth, Zelenskiy said this would mean that Ukraine would have far fewer drones than Russia, and would not be able to conduct long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities.


China Says Arms Trade With Cambodia, Thailand Unrelated to Border Conflict

Flags flutter at an entrance of Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone in Rayong province, east of Bangkok, Thailand, April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
Flags flutter at an entrance of Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone in Rayong province, east of Bangkok, Thailand, April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
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China Says Arms Trade With Cambodia, Thailand Unrelated to Border Conflict

Flags flutter at an entrance of Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone in Rayong province, east of Bangkok, Thailand, April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
Flags flutter at an entrance of Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone in Rayong province, east of Bangkok, Thailand, April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

China said on Thursday its arms trade with Thailand and Cambodia is unrelated to the current conflict between the Southeast Asian neighbours, with which Beijing has close ties.

"We hope relevant parties will refrain from making subjective speculation and malicious hype," the Chinese Defense Ministry said in response to reports that Thai troops seized Chinese-made weapons from Cambodian positions as border clashes between the two nations reignited, Reuters reported.

Beijing hopes the two countries can reach a ceasefire as soon as possible, the ministry said, adding that China will continue to advocate for peace and talks.

Border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia resumed this month and have killed more than 40 people and displaced over half a million in both countries.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in separate calls with his Thai and Cambodian counterparts on Thursday, also called for an immediate ceasefire and criticised "false information" that he said was aimed at smearing China's ties with the two countries.

"As a friend and close neighbour of both Cambodia and Thailand, China least wants to see the two sides engage in armed conflict, and is deeply saddened by civilian casualties caused by the clashes," the Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as saying.

China will continue to play a constructive role in facilitating peace, Wang said, urging both countries to protect the safety of Chinese projects and personnel.

Beijing last week warned Chinese citizens to leave border areas after media reports of injuries.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday a special envoy for Asian affairs would be visiting Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday to conduct mediation.


UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
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UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)

Police in London arrested two people who called for “intifada” during a pro-Palestinian protest, which followed a decision by authorities to toughen enforcement of hate speech laws after a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

The arrests Wednesday came hours after police in London and Manchester, England, announced a crackdown on protesters using slogans such as “globalize the intifada.” The Arabic word intifada is generally translated as “uprising.”

While pro-Palestinian demonstrators say the slogan describes the worldwide protests against the war in Gaza, Jewish leaders say it inflames tensions and encourages attacks on Jews, including the attack that killed 15 people on Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney, The Associated Press said.

London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said they decided to take a tougher stance after Bondi Beach and an Oct. 2 attack on a Manchester synagogue that left two people dead.

“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as `globalize the intifada,’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” they said in a joint statement released Wednesday. “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence.”

In the hours before Wednesday night’s demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group that was banned as a terrorist organization earlier this year, London police warned protesters to be aware of the earlier announcement.

Two protesters were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offenses” after they shouted slogans calling for intifada during the protest outside the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Police Service said on social media. A third person was arrested for trying to interfere with the initial arrests.

The term “intifada” is used to describe two major Palestinian uprisings against Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the first beginning in 1987 and the second beginning in 2000. During the recent conflict in Gaza, the slogan “globalize the intifada” has been widely used by pro-Palestinian protesters around the world.

The debate over such language comes after antisemitic hate crime and online abuse soared in Britain following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza that followed.

Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the initial attack on Israel. More than 70,660 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing Israeli campaign in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.