UN: ‘alarm’ over death penalty in Iran, at least 93 executions in August

Today's news: Defying CPI arrest warrant, Putin visiting Mongolia to strengthen economic and industrial relations; 1School bus crashes into a group of parents and children outside a school in Shandong, 11 dead; Explosion on the south-western outskirts of Kabul, six dead and 13 injured; Flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Yagi killed 13 people in the Philippines.

IRAN
At least 93 people were killed by capital execution in Iran in August, bringing the number of people who ended up in the hands of the executioner in 2024 to more than 400. This is the alarm raised yesterday by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), which reports more than double the number in the previous month of July and appeals to the authorities in Tehran to stop executions ‘immediately’.

MONGOLIA - RUSSIA
In spite of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) of which Mongolia is a member country, Vladimir Putin visited Ulaanbaatar overnight. Today, the Kremlin leader met with his counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, receiving a warm welcome and a guard of honour. A trip also considered a ‘challenge’ against the CPI, Kiev, the West and pro-rights groups calling for his detention. The focus of the meeting was on economic and industrial projects.

CHINA
A school bus crashed into a crowd outside a middle school in Tai'an, Shandong Province, eastern China, this morning, killing 11 people including parents and students, another is in ‘critical’ condition and at least 12 are not seriously injured. The driver allegedly ‘lost control’ of the vehicle, which ran over those on the side of the road.

AFGHANISTAN
A powerful explosion hit the south-western area of Darul Aman, in Kabul, yesterday afternoon, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others, according to the Ministry of the Interior, relaying police sources. Taliban spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee said that ‘details’ of the incident ‘will be shared at a later date’. The perpetrators are unknown.

PHILIPPINES
Flooding and mudslides have killed 13 people as Tropical Storm Yagi (Enteng) and its heavy rains hit Manila and surrounding provinces.and are now headed for China. In a hillside community in Antipolo, east of the capital, three people were killed, including two schoolchildren and a 27-year-old pregnant woman, who were swept away by a landslide.

KAZAKHSTAN
The President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, announced in a message to the nation that the referendum on the construction of a new nuclear power plant will be held on 6 October. The head of state then reminded that ‘the country is in dire need of efficient and ecologically sustainable sources of energy’, and the debate on the matter is ‘a sign of a listening state’.

AZERBAIGIAN
President Ilham Aliev's ‘New Azerbaijan’ party won 68 out of 125 parliamentary seats in the early elections on 1 September and another 44 seats were won by pro-majority candidates. The remaining 12 will be represented by minor parties, which always support the president. Only one opposition seat: Erkin Gadirli of ‘Republican Alternative’.

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