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Footballer Union ‘Sickened’ as Iranian Player Risks Death Sentence 

Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces a charge that carries the death penalty. (AFP)
Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces a charge that carries the death penalty. (AFP)
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Footballer Union ‘Sickened’ as Iranian Player Risks Death Sentence 

Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces a charge that carries the death penalty. (AFP)
Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces a charge that carries the death penalty. (AFP)

The world union of professional footballers FIFPRO said it was "shocked and sickened" by the risk of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months.  

Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan's judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted Sunday by Iran's ISNA news agency.  

Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of "rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh" -- or "enmity against God" -- a capital crime in the country. 

"FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women´s rights and basic freedom in his country," the union wrote on its Twitter page late Monday.  

"We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment."  

The alarm comes after a global outcry following the execution by Iran in the past days of two young men arrested over the protests.  

Nasr-Azadani, who played at Under-16 level for the national team, began his football career with Tehran team Rah-Ahan, with whom he played for the first time in Iran's top flight league.  

The defender briefly played for Tractor SC under former Wales coach John Toshack and is currently at FC Iranjavan Bushehr.  

Former Iranian international star Ali Karimi, a strong supporter of the protests, backed the footballer in a tweet, saying "Do not execute Amir".  

The Iranian national team took part in the World Cup in Qatar and staged their own protest by refusing to sing the national anthem in their opening match against England.  

However, they rolled back to sing the anthem for subsequent matches against Wales and the USA.  

Iran is facing protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after she was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.  

According to Amnesty International, 11 people have been confirmed to have been sentenced to death over the protests and at least another nine, including Nasr-Azadani, risk being sentenced to death.  

Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have been encouraged by its foreign foes.  

Prominent former international star Voria Ghafouri was arrested in Iran last month after he backed the protests and condemned the crackdown but was later released on bail. 

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World

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.

World

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.

World

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.