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Taiwan Hospital Fire Leaves at Least 8 Dead as Typhoon Batters Island's South

A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
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Taiwan Hospital Fire Leaves at Least 8 Dead as Typhoon Batters Island's South

A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

A fire at a hospital in southern Taiwan killed at least eight people on Thursday morning as the island was being battered by a typhoon.
The fire occurred in Piingtung county, which has been hit hard by Typhoon Krathon, which made landfall in the afternoon with torrential rains and heavy winds and has brought parts of the island to a standstill, The Associated Press said.
The deaths were attributed to smoke that arose from a source still under investigation. Dozens of other patients were evacuated and moved to shelters nearby.
Soldiers from a nearby base were mobilized to aid medical workers and firefighters in the evacuation of patients and putting out the flames.

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UN Says Iran Executed over 900 People in 2024, Including Dozens of Women

Iranians visit the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, on January 7, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians visit the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, on January 7, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Says Iran Executed over 900 People in 2024, Including Dozens of Women

Iranians visit the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, on January 7, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians visit the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, on January 7, 2025. (AFP)

The number of people executed in Iran rose to 901 last year, including 31 women, some of whom were convicted of murdering their husbands after suffering abuse or being forced into marriage, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

Most of the executions were for drug-related offenses, but political dissidents and people connected with mass protests in 2022 over the death in police custody of a 22-year-old woman were also among the victims, the UN statement said.

"It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement sent to journalists. "It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions."

In total, at least 901 people were executed by hanging last year in the country, compared with 853 in 2023, the UN rights office said. That represented the highest number since 2015, when 972 people were executed.

The 2022 protests, which sparked some of the worst turmoil since the 1979 revolution, followed the death in police custody of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's mandatory dress code.

At least 31 women were executed in 2024, UN rights office spokesperson Liz Throssell told reporters at a Geneva press briefing, representing what she said was the highest number in at least 15 years.

"The majority of cases involved charges of murder. A significant number of the women were victims of domestic violence, child marriage or forced marriage," she added.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who won election as Iran's president in July 2024, made promises during his campaign to better protect the rights of women and minorities.