Iran’s Rare Cheetah Cub Dies of Kidney Failure

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
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Iran’s Rare Cheetah Cub Dies of Kidney Failure

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)

The last survivor of three critically endangered Asiatic cheetah cubs born in captivity in Iran died in hospital Tuesday from kidney failure, state media reported.

"Pirouz who was admitted to the Central Veterinary Hospital due to kidney failure last Thursday, died after undergoing dialysis," the official IRNA news agency said.

"The loss of Pirouz and ineffectiveness of all the efforts made by the treatment team in the past few days to save the animal saddens me and all my colleagues, and we apologize to everyone that we could not keep this animal alive," hospital director Omid Moradi told IRNA.

Pirouz, meaning "victorious" in Persian, had become a source of national pride since its birth in May last year at a wildlife refuge in northeastern Iran.

Two other cubs born with him died that same month, but Pirouz survived at a time when only a dozen members of the species are left in the wild.

The Asiatic cheetah -- Acinonyx jubatus venaticus -- is threatened with "dangerous ongoing decline" and is critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

According to a 2017 study referenced by IUCN, the sub-species is confined only to Iran where there were "less than 50 mature individuals."

The world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour, cheetahs once stalked habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal.

They are still found in parts of southern Africa but have practically disappeared from North Africa and Asia.

Iran began a United Nations-supported cheetah protection program in 2001.

In January 2022, deputy environment minister Hassan Akbari said Iran was home to only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs -- down from an estimated 100 in 2010.

Iran's environment department had hoped the birth of the cubs in captivity would help increase the cheetah population.



Trump Says Coca-Cola to Switch to Cane Sugar in US

Partial view of the Coca-Cola Company's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 2025. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP/File
Partial view of the Coca-Cola Company's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 2025. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP/File
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Trump Says Coca-Cola to Switch to Cane Sugar in US

Partial view of the Coca-Cola Company's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 2025. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP/File
Partial view of the Coca-Cola Company's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 2025. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP/File

Beverage giant Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its US production, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday on social media.

The company currently uses high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in its domestic beverages -- a sweetener that has long drawn criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement, AFP said.

"I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"I'd like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them -- You'll see. It's just better!"

The US president did not explain what motivated his push for the change, which would not impact his well-known favorite beverage, Diet Coke.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has re-installed a special button in the Oval Office which summons a helping of the sugar-free carbonated drink.

Coca-Cola did not immediately confirm the ingredient shift.

"We appreciate President Trump's enthusiasm for our iconic Coca‑Cola brand. More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca‑Cola product range will be shared soon," the company said in a short statement.

HFCS became popular in the 1970s, with its use skyrocketing thanks to government subsidies for corn growers and high import tariffs on cane sugar.

Any shift away from corn is likely to draw backlash in the Corn Belt, a Midwestern region that has been a stronghold of support for Trump.

Both HFCS and sucrose (cane sugar) are composed of fructose and glucose. However, they differ structurally: HFCS contains free (unbonded) fructose and glucose in varying ratios -- 55/45 in soft drinks -- while sucrose consists of the two sugars chemically bonded together.

These structural differences, however, don't appear to significantly affect health outcomes.

A 2022 review of clinical studies found no meaningful differences between HFCS and sucrose in terms of weight gain or heart health.

The only notable distinction was an increase in a marker of inflammation in people consuming HFCS. Overall, both sweeteners appear similarly impactful when consumed at equal calorie levels.

Despite this, Mexican Coke -- which is made with cane sugar -- is often sold at a premium in US stores and prized for its more "natural" flavor.

Trump's prized Diet Coke is sweetened with aspartame -- a compound classified as a "possible carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).