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Iran Hangs Two Men Over Involvement in Killing Police Officers

An Iranian woman walks past a portrait of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in a street of Tehran, Iran, 31 October 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a portrait of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in a street of Tehran, Iran, 31 October 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Hangs Two Men Over Involvement in Killing Police Officers

An Iranian woman walks past a portrait of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in a street of Tehran, Iran, 31 October 2026. (EPA)
An Iranian woman walks past a portrait of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, in a street of Tehran, Iran, 31 October 2026. (EPA)

Iranian authorities on Tuesday hanged two men after convicting them of involvement in the killing of four police officers during January protests in central Iran, the judiciary said.

"Amirhossein Maleki and Amirhossein Ebrahimi, two armed perpetrators of the January 2026 crime in Isfahan whose brutal and atrocious actions led to the martyrdom of four police officers, were hanged," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

The executions were carried out "after their cases underwent a thorough legal review and their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court", following appeals by the defendants, the report said.

A wave of protests erupted in Iran in December over a surge in foreign currency rates and soon escalated into anti-government demonstrations, peaking on January 8 and 9.

Tehran has accused its arch-foes Israel and the United States of fomenting the protests.

According to official figures, more than 3,000 people, including police and security personnel, were killed during the clashes, while rights groups based abroad have cited higher figures.

According to Mizan, the pair "were among the main perpetrators of the crime" and "were armed and present at the scene and had committed multiple criminal acts".

The judiciary said they "were sentenced to death on charges of moharebeh (waging war against God) and corruption on earth, through actions against national security".

In early October, authorities executed Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raissi for their involvement in the same case.

The number of executions in Iran has surged since the start of the Middle East war, which was started in late February by the United States and Israel.

Amnesty International says Iran carries out more executions than any country except China.

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World

Bomb Threat Alert Forces Passenger Plane from London to Make Unplanned Landing in Poland

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
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Bomb Threat Alert Forces Passenger Plane from London to Make Unplanned Landing in Poland

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)

A passenger plane from London made an unscheduled landing at Warsaw-Modlin airport in Poland after a bomb threat alert on Tuesday, forcing the airport to close until further notice, the airport ‌said in ‌a statement according to Reuters.

Security services ‌were ⁠verifying the reported ⁠threat, it added.

"At 9:54 a.m., a bomb threat alert was announced on board an aircraft operating a flight on ⁠the route London Heathrow (LHR) – Warsaw ‌Chopin ‌Airport (WAW). At 10:01 a.m., a ‌Boeing 737 MAX aircraft landed ‌at Warsaw/Modlin Airport," it said.

"Due to the situation, Warsaw/Modlin Airport remains closed until further ‌notice. The services are underway to verify ⁠the reported ⁠threat and ensure the safety of all people present at the airport."

There are 181 people aboard the plane, it said. A spokesperson for Polish airlines LOT confirmed it was a LOT flight.

World

Gunmen Kill Two Police Officers Escorting Polio Workers in Pakistan

FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
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Gunmen Kill Two Police Officers Escorting Polio Workers in Pakistan

FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa

Gunmen attacked a police vehicle assigned to protect a polio vaccination team, killing two officers and wounding another in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, a police official told AFP.

Militants opened fire on the officers' vehicle while it was travelling near the Afghan border in Mohmand district, police official Ali Rehman Khan said, without specifying which group they believed was behind the attack.

"Two police personnel were martyred and another was injured in the attack. However, no polio vaccination staff were present in the police vehicle," he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting in the border province where security forces are battling an intensifying militancy they say emanates from Afghanistan -- an accusation its Taliban government denies.

In a separate incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district, four police officers on their way to provide security for a polio vaccination team were abducted on Monday and efforts were underway to recover them, district police official Abdul Samad told AFP.

Pakistan is one of two countries, along with Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, but militants have killed hundreds of police officers and health workers over the past decade as part of a campaign against the Pakistani state.

Polio, a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under five, can result in lifelong paralysis but is easily prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of a vaccine.

Misinformation about the vaccine is widespread in rural Pakistan, including false claims that it is part of a CIA plot to prevent Muslims from having children.

Attacks on polio vaccination workers and their police escorts have previously been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups it is linked to.

World

Spanish Police Dismantle Madrid Housing Protest Camp

Over time, the Sol camp mushroomed into a sprawling warren of tents and tarpaulin. Oscar DEL POZO / AFP
Over time, the Sol camp mushroomed into a sprawling warren of tents and tarpaulin. Oscar DEL POZO / AFP
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Spanish Police Dismantle Madrid Housing Protest Camp

Over time, the Sol camp mushroomed into a sprawling warren of tents and tarpaulin. Oscar DEL POZO / AFP
Over time, the Sol camp mushroomed into a sprawling warren of tents and tarpaulin. Oscar DEL POZO / AFP

Police on Tuesday dismantled a sprawling tent camp in Madrid which had spearheaded protests over Spain's housing crisis for more than a month and prompted early elections, police and activists said.
Officers closed off much of the Spanish capital's emblematic Puerta del Sol square on Tuesday morning as municipal cleaning staff swept away remaining debris, tents and tarpaulin, AFP reporters saw.
The Madrid camp sprang up in September, after Spain's chronic housing crisis burst into the center of public debate following the eviction of an 87-year-old pensioner from her lifelong Madrid home.
The eviction sparked nationwide protests against runaway housing costs and a lack of tenant protections, with tens of thousands of demonstrators hitting the streets.
The Madrid camp has since mushroomed into a sprawling warren of tents and tarpaulin that hosted hundreds of people in a mini-city equipped with a canteen, a clinic and a space for meetings.
On Tuesday, the central government's delegation in the Madrid region said the eviction took place overnight "without incident or episodes of violence", reporting that 334 people were removed and two arrested.
Firefighters, social services and 400 national and municipal police officers took part in the operation, the delegation added.
In a post on Telegram, protest organizers called it "a violent police operation" that left several people injured after being hit or as a result of tear gas.
Flor, a homeless woman who said she had joined the camp from the start, told AFP hundreds of anti-riot police burst into the square in the early hours of the morning.
"They dragged us out, they hit us. They didn't let us take away anything," said the tearful 43-year-old, adding that "all my documents, my phone" had been left behind.
- Housing crisis anger -
After it was set up, Madrid's tent camp was imitated in other cities including Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.
Attempting to placate the public discontent over housing, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government presented two housing decrees that included curbs on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.
But his minority coalition government failed to pass the laws in parliament last month, prompting Sanchez to bring forward to November 29 a general election that was scheduled in 2027.
The Madrid camp sparked tensions between the leftist national government and the conservative-run city and regional authorities, who complained that the protesters were damaging Madrid's image by occupying a central square normally full of tourists and commuters.
Housing costs have soared in Spain in recent years, with rents in Madrid often consuming more than half of the average wage for modest households.
The Bank of Spain estimates the country of around 50 million people is short of 700,000 homes, based on the gap between demand and new construction.
Spain has little public housing, while rents have been driven up by increased demand, including from tourism and population growth linked to immigration, analysts say.
Residents of the most sought-after destinations such as Barcelona also complain that short-term tourist accommodation has dried up supply and driven up prices.