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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.

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World

Rain and Strong Winds Kill 18 in Pakistan's Karachi

Travelers crowd a railway station on their way home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, in Karachi Pakistan, 18 March 2026. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Travelers crowd a railway station on their way home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, in Karachi Pakistan, 18 March 2026. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Rain and Strong Winds Kill 18 in Pakistan's Karachi

Travelers crowd a railway station on their way home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, in Karachi Pakistan, 18 March 2026. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Travelers crowd a railway station on their way home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, in Karachi Pakistan, 18 March 2026. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Heavy rain and strong winds left at least 18 people dead in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi, city authorities and rescue services said on Thursday.

Thirteen people died when a wall collapsed on Wednesday, while five people, including two women, were killed elsewhere in the city.

"According to initial reports, the deceased were drug addicts who had taken shelter in the building due to the rain," the Rescue 1122 emergency service said of the 13 victims.

Light to moderate rain fell across Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, but was heavier in some areas, meteorologists said.

Rain in March is common in Punjab province in east-central Pakistan but unusual in Sindh, which is in the southeast.

"This kind of extreme weather event hasn't happened for a long time," Pakistan Meteorological Department's senior official Ameer Hyder Laghari told AFP.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab urged residents to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movement, warning that many trees had fallen and crews were working to clear roads.

Forecasters said more rain and thunderstorms with strong winds and possible isolated hailstorms could continue to affect Karachi and other parts of Sindh province as a westerly weather system moves across the region.

Pakistan, where 45 percent of people live below the poverty line, is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with limited resources dedicated to adaptation.

While South Asia's seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic.

Last year, monsoon rains in Pakistan killed more than 1,000 people.

World

Iran Executes 3 Individuals Arrested Over January Protests

Motorists drive past a billboard of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran on March 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Motorists drive past a billboard of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran on March 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Executes 3 Individuals Arrested Over January Protests

Motorists drive past a billboard of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran on March 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Motorists drive past a billboard of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran on March 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran executed three men on Thursday convicted of killing two police officers during unrest earlier this year, state media reported, saying the sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The judiciary said the men were found ⁠guilty of murder ⁠and “Moharebeh” (waging war against God), including carrying out acts it said were in favor of Israel and the ⁠United States. The executions were carried out in the religious city of Qom.

Authorities said the three had taken part in attacks using knives and other weapons during protests on January 8, killing two police ⁠officers.

Iranian ⁠officials have repeatedly accused foreign adversaries, including Israel and the US, of involvement in the nationwide unrest earlier this year, which was repressed in the biggest crackdown in the country’s history.

World

US Detects Drones over Base where Rubio, Hegseth Live, Washington Post Reports

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell (Reuters)
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell (Reuters)
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US Detects Drones over Base where Rubio, Hegseth Live, Washington Post Reports

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell (Reuters)
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell (Reuters)

US officials detected unidentified drones above an army base in Washington where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth live, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing three people briefed on the situation.

The officials have not ‌determined where ‌the drones came from, the ‌report ⁠said, citing two ⁠of the people.

The drones over Fort McNair prompted officials to weigh relocating Rubio and Hegseth, the report said.

However, the secretaries have not ⁠moved, the report added, citing a ‌senior ‌administration official.

The newspaper said the US ‌military was monitoring potential threats ‌more closely because of the heightened alert level over the US and Israeli war against Iran.

Reuters could ‌not independently verify the report immediately.

The Pentagon and the ⁠US ⁠State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell declined to discuss the drones with the Washington Post.

"The department cannot comment on the secretary’s (Hegseth's) movements for security reasons, and reporting on such movements is grossly irresponsible," he told the Post.