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UN Rights Office: Iran has Executed More Than 200 People this Year

A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
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UN Rights Office: Iran has Executed More Than 200 People this Year

A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran has executed 209 people so far this year, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office said on Tuesday, describing its record as "abominable" and calling for them to halt.
"The UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk today expressed dismay at the frighteningly high number of executions this year in Iran," Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva press briefing.

"On average so far this year, over 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, making it one of the world's highest executors," she added, saying most were for drug-related offences.

Iran hanged two men Monday convicted of blasphemy, authorities said.

The streak of executions, including members of ethnic minority groups in Iran, comes as monthslong protests over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's morality police have cooled.

Already, at least four people charged over alleged crimes from the demonstrations have been put to death. The protests reportedly saw over 500 people killed and 19,000 others arrested.

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China, Taiwan Spar Over Legality of Coast Guard Patrols East of Island

A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
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China, Taiwan Spar Over Legality of Coast Guard Patrols East of Island

A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Army M109A2 self-propelled howitzer fires during a live-fire training exercise in Taichung on June 9, 2026. (AFP)

China and Taiwan sparred on Wednesday over the legality of Chinese coast guard patrols to the east of the island, after the government in Taipei said merchant ships had been "harassed" close to its waters.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, was angered after Japan and the Philippines said last month they would begin formal talks on their maritime boundaries, viewing that as involving waters off Taiwan.

Late on Saturday, ‌Chinese state ‌media reported ships had been sent to ‌carry ⁠out a "special maritime ⁠traffic law-enforcement operation" in the waters east of Taiwan in response to the Japanese and Philippine announcement.

Taiwan said those ships had in recent days been "harassing" commercial shipping by asking them for information about their point of origin and destination and claiming jurisdiction.

"The relevant mainland authorities' ⁠law-enforcement patrols in the relevant waters are a ‌just act to safeguard ‌national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," Zhang Han, a spokesperson ‌for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in Beijing.

The ‌Chinese coast guard is conducting "law-enforcement patrols" in the waters east of Taiwan in accordance with the law, and China will continue to strengthen its control over those waters, she said.

The patrols ‌have angered Taiwan's government, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese ⁠people can decide ⁠their future.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said China was "using so-called 'law enforcement' as a pretext to pursue expansion".

"The Chinese communists have no right to intervene in matters concerning the waters east of Taiwan, whether they involve Taiwan's sovereignty or jurisdiction," he said.

China is a "trouble-maker that is damaging the status quo," Lin said.

Beijing recognizes no claims of sovereignty by Taiwan's government and has rejected multiple offers of talks by President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a "separatist."

World

Death Toll From Philippines Quake Rises to 46

People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Death Toll From Philippines Quake Rises to 46

People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
People sit outside their house on an earthquake-cracked street a day after the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Rescuers in the southern Philippines pulled a body from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket on Wednesday, as the death toll from a major earthquake climbed to 46.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor just off the coast of Mindanao on Monday brought down buildings, triggered landslides and set off tsunami warnings across a swathe of the southern island.

Joey Deluvio, 39, was one of two employees at a supermarket in General Santos City that has been the focus of recovery efforts despite the constant threat of aftershocks.

Life-detecting equipment had traced a "weak pulse" earlier in the operation, local rescuer Michelle Chua told AFP on Wednesday, but "when they got to the body... there were no signs of life".

Deluvio's body was found pinned between two beams, Chua added.

The national disaster agency raised the death toll to 45 on Wednesday, while the number of people missing jumped dramatically from four to 17.

However, the figure for fatalities did not include Deluvio, the civil defense office confirmed.

Most of the additional dead were from Davao Occidental province, and most had been killed in landslides or collapsing buildings, civil defense official Rafaelito Alejandro said in a radio interview.

World

More Than 1,100 Migrants Rescued Off Mauritania in Past Fortnight

File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
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More Than 1,100 Migrants Rescued Off Mauritania in Past Fortnight

File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy
File photo of migrants rescued off the coast of Mauritania. Photo: Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy

More than 1,100 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Mauritania in less than two weeks, its coastguard said Tuesday, signaling a resurgence in migration along the perilous Atlantic route.

Thousands of people, most of them young, have tried to reach Europe from west Africa in recent years, mainly via Spain's Canary Islands, on overcrowded and often dilapidated boats known as pirogues.

The latest departures took place a few days after the major Muslim festival of Tabaski at the end of May, following a lull for several months.

Given the new uptick "at this rate, arrivals could reach an unprecedented level this year,” Ahmed Moulaye, director of the Mauritanian coastguard's irregular migration unit, told AFP.

Moulaye said 1,187 migrants were rescued in Mauritanian waters since May 28.

The eight intercepted pirogues came from the nearby countries of The Gambia and Senegal but the nationalities of those on board were not specified, Pierre Beziz, a European diplomat stationed in the capital, Nouakchott, told AFP.

One was stopped around 2:00 am (0200 GMT) on Tuesday off Mamghar, some 200 km (120 miles) north of Nouakchott, according to the coastguard.

The migrants were taken to new temporary reception centers in Nouakchott and the northwest city of Nouadhibou which are funded by the European Union.

The individuals were registered to determine whether they are vulnerable or eligible for international protection.

A recent tightening of maritime controls in Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco has led to a shift in the departure points of clandestine boats bound for the Canary Islands.

Migrants are now departing from further south, particularly from the coasts of The Gambia and Guinea, lengthening the time spent at sea and increasing the dangers.

Many African migrants have turned to the clandestine route as Europe drastically restricted the issuance of visas and strengthened border control.

Thousands of people have died or disappeared attempting to reach Europe along the route in recent years.