Tornadoes Kill 10 People in Eastern China

This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Tornadoes Kill 10 People in Eastern China

This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings after a tornado hit the city of Suqian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on September 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Two tornadoes within hours killed 10 people and seriously injured four others in eastern China, state media said Wednesday.
The first tornado hit parts of Suqian city in Jiangsu province on Tuesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said. It destroyed 137 homes and damaged crop land and pig farms. Five people died and four were injured.
A second tornado in the evening killed five people in Yancheng city, which is in the same province about 190 kilometers southeast of Suqian, The Associated Press reported.
Videos posted online of the first tornado showed cars that had been tossed about, including at least one flipped onto its side, and debris swirling in the air above a several story-high building.
CCTV said that power and road service had been restored in the Suqian area.
Tornadoes are rare in China but have caused deaths in Jiangsu in recent years. One person in the province was killed in a tornado last year and four died in 2021. Another tornado killed eight people in the city of Wuhan the same day.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.