Iran Lawmakers Demand Severe Punishment for ‘Rioters’ as Protests Rage

Demonstrators light candles during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Athens, Greece, October 29, 2022. (Reuters)
Demonstrators light candles during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Athens, Greece, October 29, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iran Lawmakers Demand Severe Punishment for ‘Rioters’ as Protests Rage

Demonstrators light candles during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Athens, Greece, October 29, 2022. (Reuters)
Demonstrators light candles during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Athens, Greece, October 29, 2022. (Reuters)

Hardline Iranian lawmakers urged the judiciary on Sunday to "deal decisively" with perpetrators of unrest, as the country struggles to suppress the biggest show of dissent in years.

Widespread anti-government demonstrations erupted in September after the death of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the strict dress code imposed on women.

"We ask the judiciary to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes and with all those who assisted in the crimes and provoked rioters," 227 lawmakers from Iran's 290-seat, hardline-led parliament said in a statement, according to state media.

The activist HRANA news agency said that 318 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Saturday, including 49 minors. Thirty-eight members of the security forces had also been killed, it added.

State media said last month that more than 46 security forces, including police, had been killed. Government officials have not provided an estimate of any wider death count.

Iranian leaders have vowed tough action against protesters they have described as rioters, blaming enemies including the United States of fomenting the unrest.

Demonstrations continued in many cities on Sunday, from Tehran to central city of Yazd and northern city of Rasht, according to rights groups and videos on social media.

Reuters could not verify the rights groups' reports independently, or the social media posts and footage.

In the Kurdish city of Marivan, rights group Hengaw said security forces opened fire on crowds who had gathered after the funeral of another woman, Nasrin Ghaderi, to protest against her death.

Hengaw said Ghaderi died in a coma on Saturday after suffering severe blows to her head by the security forces while demonstrating in Tehran.

A prosecutor, cited by state media, said Ghaderi had a pre-existing heart issue and had died of "poisoning", without going into further detail. There was no immediate official comment on the report of gunfire.

Weeks after Amini's death, a coroner's report denied Amini had died due to blows to the head while in custody, as claimed by her parents, and linked her death to past medical conditions.

Students in a dozen universities, including in the northern cities of Rasht and Amol, held protests on Sunday chanting "death to Dictator", a reference to Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to the unverified videos on social media.



Police Official Killed in Roadside Bombing in Southeast Iran

Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Police Official Killed in Roadside Bombing in Southeast Iran

Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

A provincial police official was killed in a roadside bombing on Friday in southeastern Iran, the semi-official Fars ⁠news agency reported.

The ⁠police official had been travelling near ⁠Zahedan, capital of the impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a drug trafficking route.

The incident follows ⁠clashes ⁠between security forces and armed groups including militants and separatists.

Gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying Iranian army personnel in Sistan-Baluchistan, killing one person and injuring three others on Thursday, state media reported.

"A minibus transporting personnel from a division stationed along the Makran coast... came under armed attack this morning," the official IRNA news agency said.

The agency gave the dead man's name, but did not specify whether he was army personnel.

In a separate incident in the same province, "a police patrol while carrying out its mission... came under a terrorist attack by armed outlaws," provincial police said in a statement on Thursday carried by IRNA.

"Several terrorists were wounded and fled the scene... while a police officer was martyred," it added.

Last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed six members of a "terrorist" group in Zahedan, IRNA reported.

The IRNA report ⁠said security forces had discovered and confiscated explosive packages. It did not identify the six people killed and gave no further information on the incident.


Two Powerful Earthquakes and Multiple Aftershocks Rock Panama

Rescue workers walk past a building damaged by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Panama City, Panama, 09 October 2026. (EPA)
Rescue workers walk past a building damaged by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Panama City, Panama, 09 October 2026. (EPA)
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Two Powerful Earthquakes and Multiple Aftershocks Rock Panama

Rescue workers walk past a building damaged by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Panama City, Panama, 09 October 2026. (EPA)
Rescue workers walk past a building damaged by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Panama City, Panama, 09 October 2026. (EPA)

A second powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck Panama Friday afternoon following a series of aftershocks, the US Geological Survey said. It came after a magnitude 7.7 quake shook the Central American country, collapsing buildings near its epicenter and prompting evacuations.

The first earthquake shook Panama on Friday morning, collapsing buildings near its epicenter and prompting evacuations across the country.

The quake, which was felt as far away as neighboring Colombia, was centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, in the central province of Herrera, the US Geological Survey said. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

The USGS initially reported the quake as magnitude 8, then revised it to 7.6 and later to 7.7.

Visibly shaken residents of Panama City gathered outside as they waited for news of the quake’s impact on Friday.

“We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared," Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press by phone. “Everyone is outside, scared.”

Multiple aftershocks continued to rattle Panama, including several measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2. Seismologists at the University of Panama recorded more than 45 aftershocks, though many were too weak to be felt.

Calls for calm and reports of collapsed buildings Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called for calm on Friday, writing on X: “What happened should not be used to cause alarm or disorder.”

Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service said on the Telemetro Reporta news channel that damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos. He said there were no reports of damage in the capital, which is known for its hundreds of skyscrapers.

Smith said several injuries have been reported, including one person struck by debris from a partially collapsed structure in the city of Penonomé, around 93 miles (150 km) from the capital. He confirmed a partial collapse and cracks at the cathedral in the district’s main square, as well as damage in the governor’s office building and the Dos Continentes hotel. No casualties were immediately reported.

Local news outlets also reported that the Church of San Atanasio, a colonial-style Catholic church in Panama’s Los Santos province, had collapsed. The church was declared a National Historic Heritage Site in 1938. Elsewhere, including in Veraguas province, large fissures ran along roadways.

Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, one of the region's busiest airports with more than 20 million travelers in 2025, said it would temporarily suspend operations and activated evacuation plans. It said operations would resume once security conditions have been checked.

The Panama Canal Authority said operations were continuing normally along the key global trade route. It said its priority was the safety of employees, vessels and crews and that specialized technical teams were inspecting facilities for possible damage.

Tsunami warnings

The last major earthquake to cause widespread damage in Panama struck in 1991. A magnitude 7.4 quake, centered in nearby Costa Rica killed 23 people, injured 559, and left thousands of people homeless in the border Bocas de Toro region.

Earthquakes are common, especially along Panama's border with Costa Rica and its Pacific coast, because of the interaction of several tectonic plates, including Cocos, Nazca, and Caribbean plates.

Panama lies along the “Ring of Fire,” a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin, where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning Friday for the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala. It warned that waves ranging from 3 to 9 feet (1 to 3 meters) above tide may occur in some coastal areas of Panama.

Alerts were also issued in El Salvador and as far as Chile’s Easter Island, about 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) off Chile’s mainland coast. Chile's government placed the island under a precautionary advisory.

Nearby countries sent messages of support Friday afternoon. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, whose country was recently hit by earthquakes, expressed his solidarity with the Panamanian people and their government during what he called “difficult times.”

“Panama is not alone! You can count on Colombia’s support and our full willingness to provide whatever assistance is needed,” he wrote on X.

The US Embassy in Panama said it was “closely monitoring” the aftermath of the quake and accounting for the welfare of its citizens in Panama, a well-known retirement destination for Americans.


Trump Says Putin Agrees to Major Release of Diesel to US, Global Markets

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Columbus Day celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 9, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a Columbus Day celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Putin Agrees to Major Release of Diesel to US, Global Markets

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Columbus Day celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 9, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a Columbus Day celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 9, 2026. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russia had agreed to immediately supply diesel to US and global markets in an effort to lower fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, although analysts said the amounts would likely not reduce prices greatly. 

The move comes as the price of diesel, used in agriculture, heating homes and trucking, is near a record high. The November 3 congressional elections will determine control of Congress. 

Trump said on social media he had a "highly successful" discussion with President Vladimir Putin in which they agreed that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to US and global markets. 

An envoy for Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post ‌on X shortly ‌after the call. 

The unusual move comes after the US imposed sanctions on Russian energy companies ‌over ⁠Russia's full-scale war ⁠with Ukraine that began in 2022. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticized Trump's move. "Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will 'repay' the diesel with further terror and perfidy," he said on X. 

The US Treasury Department issued a general license on Friday allowing importation of Russian diesel until April 7. 

Trump said Russia would supply another 500,000 tons in November and a further 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." Even more would follow, Trump said, "based on the condition of their diesel refineries," which have been damaged by Ukrainian attacks. 

'NOTHING BURGER' 

Analysts said the agreement was unlikely to lead to sustained lower fuel prices. "I cannot overstate how much of a nothing burger ⁠this is," Rory Johnston, an oil market researcher and founder of CommodityContext.com, said on ‌X, adding that Russia usually exports much more diesel when its refinery fleet is ‌not under attack. 

The 300,000 tons to be immediately delivered is equal to about 2.25 million barrels of diesel. The US exports about ‌1.5 million barrels of diesel per day. 

"It's clearly not a fix, but another stream to aid a very tight diesel ‌market," said Jim Mitchell, an analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. 

Diesel prices, which can drive inflation, are up 70% since the US and Israel launched the war with Iran on February 28. The wars in Iran and Ukraine have triggered a severe global fuel supply crunch, pushing average US diesel prices to $6.28 a gallon on Thursday, according to the AAA motorist group. 

The price climb is despite two recent moves by ‌Trump to boost supplies of the fuel: pressuring allies to release emergency reserves and expanding access to tax-exempt red-dyed diesel, which is normally used for farm equipment. 

US diesel futures fell ⁠sharply following news of ⁠the deal and were trading at $4.64 a gallon, down more than 4.8%. 

"Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority," Trump said. 

DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT 

Three industry sources said earlier on Friday that Trump will issue a directive in the coming days to some US department heads to find ways to control diesel prices. 

The directive, which they said could take the form of a presidential memo, will push officials to find ways to bypass local and state regulations blocking energy production and use the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to increase output of oil and fuel. 

Under the DPA, the president can authorize US-backed loans or loan guarantees to expand domestic manufacturing of critical materials and to require companies to prioritize government contracts for essential goods. 

The White House has been weighing how to use the DPA to expand refining capacity as the war with Iran exposes US vulnerability to supply disruptions and price spikes. 

Refining executives told administration officials last month that federal money would be better directed toward making refineries more efficient or expanding plants rather than financing a new refinery, which would be more costly and take years to complete.