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Iran Pardons Journalists Who Reported Woman's Death that Triggered Unrest

Iranian people hold pictures of Mahsa Amini with their hands painted in red during a protest outside the Iranian Consulate following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 11 October 2022. (EPA)
Iranian people hold pictures of Mahsa Amini with their hands painted in red during a protest outside the Iranian Consulate following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 11 October 2022. (EPA)
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Iran Pardons Journalists Who Reported Woman's Death that Triggered Unrest

Iranian people hold pictures of Mahsa Amini with their hands painted in red during a protest outside the Iranian Consulate following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 11 October 2022. (EPA)
Iranian people hold pictures of Mahsa Amini with their hands painted in red during a protest outside the Iranian Consulate following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Türkiye, 11 October 2022. (EPA)

Iran's top judicial authority has pardoned two journalists who uncovered the death of a young woman in police custody that triggered nationwide protests in 2022, the judiciary's news outlet Mizan said on Tuesday.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi had been sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison respectively by an Iranian Revolutionary Court in October 2023 for their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman in custody of the morality police for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code.

"Following the approval by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of a list of pardons that was prepared by the judiciary's head, these individuals were pardoned," Mizan said, adding that the pardons were applied on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Reuters reported.

Last year, both journalists were temporarily released after 17 months in prison, and later acquitted of the charge of "collaboration with the US" in an appeal court.

Other charges such as "colluding against national security" and "propaganda against the regime" remained, but have now been cleared by the pardon and the journalists' judicial case is now closed.

Protests that followed Amini's death led to the worst unrest in Iran since the revolution. The authorities have blamed the United States for fomenting the demonstrations, which Washington denies.

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World

World Bank Announces Water Security Plan for One Billion People

A girl carries jerrycans on a wheelbarrow after collecting water from a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP)
A girl carries jerrycans on a wheelbarrow after collecting water from a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP)
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World Bank Announces Water Security Plan for One Billion People

A girl carries jerrycans on a wheelbarrow after collecting water from a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP)
A girl carries jerrycans on a wheelbarrow after collecting water from a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP)

The World Bank announced a plan Wednesday that aims to improve secure water access for a billion people within the next four years.

The new "Water Forward" program aims to "expand reliable water services and strengthen systems against droughts and floods."

The Bank said its own funds and technical advice would help improve water supplies to some 400 million people by 2030, with the balance coming from partners.

Regional development banks, OPEC's development fund, and the BRICS-aligned New Development Bank are among institutions that will participate, the World Bank said.

The global lender did not specify how much capital it would commit to the initiative.

Some four billion people -- half the world's population -- face water scarcity, due in part to "unclear policies, weak regulations, and financially unsustainable utilities that have slowed progress and deterred investment," the Bank said.

The global lender said that 14 countries had already voluntarily committed to reform and strengthen their water sectors under the new program.

The focus on governance issues -- not simply physical water infrastructure -- is promising, David Michel, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

"In many countries, the water sector fails to fully deploy the funds already allocated to it."

However, the Bank's initiative "faces a long and difficult road ahead," he warned.

The issue of access to safe drinking water, in particular, has been highlighted during the war in the Middle East, with desalination plants in Iran and across the region damaged in bombardments.

Beyond conflicts and immediate drinking water needs, the World Bank said that better water security was needed to grow the global economy.

"Strong water systems are foundational to healthy economies that can attract private investment and create jobs," the Bank said.

World

China FM Tells Iran Beijing Supports ‘Momentum of Peace Talks’

Members of the media raise hands to ask questions as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing, China, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the media raise hands to ask questions as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing, China, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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China FM Tells Iran Beijing Supports ‘Momentum of Peace Talks’

Members of the media raise hands to ask questions as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing, China, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Members of the media raise hands to ask questions as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing, China, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)

China's top diplomat told his Iranian counterpart that Beijing "supports maintaining the momentum of the ceasefire and peace talks" in a phone call on Wednesday, as negotiators from Pakistan landed in Tehran to discuss a second round of US-Iran talks.

Peace talks are "in the fundamental interests of the Iranian people and are also the shared hope of regional countries and the international community," Wang Yi said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

He said China was willing to continue to play a "constructive role" towards peace in the Middle East after a first round of Iran-US talks in Islamabad at the weekend failed to reach an agreement.

World

Toll from Türkiye School Shooting Rises to Nine

Turkish security forces and emergency staff stand at the courtyard of a high school where an assailant opened fire, in Siverek, south east Türkiye, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, (Mevlut Bayraktar/IHA via AP)
Turkish security forces and emergency staff stand at the courtyard of a high school where an assailant opened fire, in Siverek, south east Türkiye, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, (Mevlut Bayraktar/IHA via AP)
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Toll from Türkiye School Shooting Rises to Nine

Turkish security forces and emergency staff stand at the courtyard of a high school where an assailant opened fire, in Siverek, south east Türkiye, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, (Mevlut Bayraktar/IHA via AP)
Turkish security forces and emergency staff stand at the courtyard of a high school where an assailant opened fire, in Siverek, south east Türkiye, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, (Mevlut Bayraktar/IHA via AP)

The toll from Türkiye's second school shooting in as many days now stands at nine people dead, the interior minister said on Wednesday.

"We regret to report nine deaths (...) and 13 wounded. Six of them are currently in intensive care, three of whom are in critical condition," Mustafa Ciftci said in a statement from the city of Kahramanmaras in the center of the country, where a 13-year-old student opened fire earlier in the day.

It marked the second school shooting in Türkiye in two days. On Tuesday, an ex-student opened fire with a shotgun at his former high school in Siverek district of Sanliurfa province, wounding 16 people before killing himself in a showdown with police.

Until this week, such school shootings were rare in Türkiye.

State-run broadcaster, TRT, identified the shooter as Isa Aras Mersinli, and said his father was detained for questioning.

Turkish authorities imposed a ban on the broadcast of “traumatic” images from the shooting, warning media organizations to limit coverage to statements from officials.

Earlier, media reports said that authorities sent police and ambulances to the school in the Kahramanmaras' Onikisubat district, after gunfire was heard there. Images from the scene showed at least two people being put into ambulances.

Parents rushed to the school after hearing reports of an armed attack, NTV television reported, adding that police took security measures around the school.