"An explosion took place in Amasra around 18:15 yesterday. All our institutions for search and rescue and support from many parts of Turkey, as well as competent institutions of the Ministry of Energy, from AFAD to the Ministry of Health, from Kızılay to UMKE. All of our search and rescue and health personnel were mobilized until today. We wish that we could make this statement to you without any loss in front of us. From this time on, a great mobilization and great effort was made in the works carried out 300-350 meters underground," Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters. 

Speaking at the scene, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, "during the accident, a total of 110 workers were working, while 49 workers were in risky areas, and 21 people were transferred to the hospital. Rescue operation is underway for those trapped underneath. 

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan postponed his visit to Diyarbakir today due to the mining explosion in the Amasra, according to the statement made by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications. Turkish media reported that Erdogan will go to Bartin today and coordinate the rescue efforts on the spot. 

Turkish media reported visits by most Turkish leaders, mostly party leaders. The large attention given to the incident comes before the Turkish general elections scheduled for 2023. 

People's Democratic Party (HDP) canceled its 10th-anniversary celebrations planned for tomorrow and said, "we express our condolences to the miners who lost their lives in the mining disaster in Amasra and our condolences to their families and people. Due to this great and painful loss." Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also tweeted his sympathy for the victims in a tweet."

Three hundred one miners died after a fire erupted inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, considered Turkey's worst mine disaster in 2014. 

KurdSat’s reporter said, “clashes between Turkish armed groups have been going on in Afrin, Bab, and Sari Kani for two days. The Syrian Liberation Council (SLC), formerly Al-Nusra Front, has controlled Basuta town from Faylaq al-Sham.

The groups try to control border crossing between them and the Syrian government and between them and the SDF-controlled regions or Rojava, these border crossings are a source of revenue for these groups, and the clashes are to control more of them, Said KurdSat's reporter. 

Clashes erupted on September 29 between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)-affiliated National Liberation Front in Syria’s Norther Western Regions of Afrin and Sari Kani (Serêkaniyê). Turkey invaded Afrin and Sari Kani in the past few years. 

“In the earlier clashes, Turkey intervened to settle the disputes, but in the current dispute Ankara has remained silent despite many casualties, and the death toll and casualties are yet to be revealed,” KurdSat’s Dara Barakat in Rojava said. 

Clashes erupted between SLC on the one hand, and the Hamza Division on the other, on Tuesday evening In the Euphrates Shield area. SLC controlled Hamzah Division’s headquarters, including the Al-Ziraa prison, which housed Kurdish prisoners whose fate was a mystery before the takeover. 

These clashes come following Hamza Division’s killing of Abu Ghanoum and his family, KurdSat’s reporter said. Mohammed Abu Ghanoum was affiliated with SLC and was killed last Friday. 

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights released its weekly report on the Iran protests and revealed the names of those killed in the past week in Rojhelat or Western Iran. "Two detainees were tutored and murdered," Hengaw wrote in the report. 

The Human rights watchdog also published the cities whose protesters were killed. "Sanandaj, Oshnovieh, Urmia province, Urmia, West Islamabad, Kermanshah, Sonqor, Divandareh, Piranshahr, Saqqez, Ilam, Dehgolan, Quchan, Mariwan, and Salas-e Babajani," had their protesters killed. 

Hengaw also reported 2500 protesters arrested since the unrest began. "The identities of more than 550 of these people have been confirmed for Hengaw, including 80 women rights activists, and 30 minors," the group said. 

"At least 28 children have been killed in protests that have swept Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini," Al-Arabiya reported. 

Condemning the unrest in Iran, the International Human Rights Watchdog wrote on its website, "right now there is a crisis of impunity in Iran, and it has emboldened the Iranian authorities to kill hundreds of protesters and torture and ill-treat."

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said, "A bullet used by security forces during demonstrations in Sanandaj city pierced two-sided glass, and a 20-centimeter wall," Hengaw Human Rights Organization (HOHR) reported. Yesterday night, the situation in Sanandaj escalated as hundreds poured into the streets and confronted the security forces. Iran security forces appear firing over people in Sanandaj in a video circulated on social media.

"Security forces direct fire killed a 9-year-old child on Saturday night in Sanandaj; the child died while in his mother's hug," Hengaw reported. Iran has severely restricted internet and communications, making it difficult for activists and human rights groups to pass updates on Iran's situation. 

Local sources claimed that Iran lost control of some Sanandaj streets and deployed drones to surveil the city as its forces were prevented from going into the city's neighborhoods. A drone was hovering over Sanandaj on Monday night. According to Hengaw, reinforcements were sent to Sanandaj to regain Iran's control. It posted on Facebook that "special forces were dispatched to the city on 15 buses."  

Amnesty International in Iran tweeted a video that showed different rounds used against civilians in Sanandaj and said," it had received several reports of increased use of weapons, tear gas and shooting against demonstrators in Sanandaj, including tear gas fired into peoples' homes.

"The countries around the world should immediately raise their level of protest with Iranian ambassadors and ask them to immediately end the suppression of protests and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly," the human rights watchdog said. 

 

The Director General of Education of Kurdistan Province suddenly announced this morning that the schools in Sanandaj will be closed, citing Prophet Mohammad's birthday as the reason. Although such holidays are announced days before, Mawlid al-Nabawi is a holiday in Iran every year.  

Iranian local media reported that suspended all schools in the province of Sanandaj for today due to protests by teachers and students against the death of Zhina Amini.

Iran security forces have arrested Kurdish artists and singers for expressing their support for women's rights in Iran. The protests that have covered all of Iran initially sparked in Iranian Kurdish cities that protested against the death of Zhina Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police. Kurds in Iran took to the streets and demanded justice.   

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the country guarantees that the European Union freezes the assets of those responsible for the violent suppression of Iranian protests and prevents them from entering the Union.

According to Deutsche Welle, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Sunday she would ensure the European Union imposes entry bans on individuals who are responsible for cracking down on protesters in Iran. 

 

Speaking to "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper Baerbock said the EU would also freeze their assets in the bloc. Baerbock criticized Iranian authorities, saying, "anyone who beats up women and girls in the streets, abducts people who want nothing more to live freely … is on the wrong side of history."

   

On Saturday, Kurdish cities in Iran went on a general strike at the request of activists and civil society organizations. Demonstrations continue in the streets and universities of Rojhelat. More than 2,000 people, including over a hundred female activists, have been arrested in Kurdish cities since the protests began.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights wrote on October 8, that 185 people, including 19 children, were killed in the nationwide protests across Iran, and over a third of the killing was in Sistan and Baluchistan province. 

 

 

RSF tweeted that since September 16, Iranian security forces have detained over 28 journalists and called for their release. 

Iran has arrested many journalists that covered the death of Zhina Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish girl who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police. The police detained journalist Nilofar Hamidi of Sharq daily, who went to the hospital where Amini was in a coma and helped expose the case to the world.

The organization explained it has the names of 28 journalists arrested by the Iranian authorities and called on the international community not to allow the Iranian government to respect freedom of the press in the country. 

According to RSF, Iran is one of the world’s ten worst countries for press freedom and remains one of the worst places for journalists. According to RSF’s website, since January 2022, one journalist has been killed in Iran. 

Before the announcement, a US official revealed that the United States intends to announce sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports.

The official confirmed a Bloomberg News report that said the sanctions would focus on entities that facilitate the oil trade and would be part of a broader plan to tighten sanctions on Tehran in the coming weeks.

Last September, a bipartisan US House of Representatives introduced legislation that would toughen US sanctions against Tehran.

The Iran Sanctions Consolidation Act (SISA) legislation will create a necessary deterrent by targeting the country's energy sector and making it more challenging to finance its proxy groups or ballistic missile development programs.

The Nuclear Deal Is At Stake

The new sanctions come while the Biden administration is still discussing the final details of a new nuclear deal with Iran.

The European Union submitted on August 8, 2022, after long and complex rounds of negotiations that started last April (2021) in Vienna and lasted for 16 months, a final text to overcome the impasse in reviving the Iran deal.

The European coordinator of the nuclear talks, Joseph Borrell, received the first Iranian response in mid-August, followed by the American response to the Iranian remarks and demands. Later, Tehran's reaction came and put the talks in the wind.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that he wouldn't oppose another round of negotiations if the US deems it so and that Washington has reached out to Iranian officials at the US for direct talks between the two to resolve matters between them quicker.

 

Another injured protester died in Piranshahr city, Hangaw Human Rights Organization reported. The death toll has risen to 20, bringing the total to 76 deaths since the protests began.

According to Hangaw, 70 women have been arrested in eastern cities since Monday, and the identities of 52 of them have been revealed.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the death of Zhina Amini saddened everyone, and no one should be afraid to express their views. Raisi said a medical report on Zhina's death would be released in the coming days.

Mahsa Amini or Zhina Amini's death has caused domestic and international outrage. Amini dead in the custody of Iranian moral police, even though the precise whereabouts of her death remain a mystery. 

Officially at least 41 people have died since the unrest began, mostly protesters but including members of the security forces.

Last night, protests took place in Tehran, Yazd, Marivan, Kermanshah and Sanaa. Protesters took control of the streets, and security forces confronted the demonstrators, resulting in many casualties.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said about the suppression of the protests, "There is full democracy in Iran; Come and see it for yourselves. "He told all related authorities are working to investigate the death of Zhina Amini.

He called the images and videos of the suppression of protesters "fake". He added that there is "freedom of expression and freedom of people to do what they want" in the streets of Tehran.

Amir Abdollahian said that Mahsa Amini of Zhina Amini's death "has saddened all of us" and added, "All branches of power in Iran are working to see what happened."

According to the latest Hangaw Human Rights Organization report, 18 Kurds were killed in the protests. The Iranian Human Rights Organization said the death toll had risen to 58.

The protests over the death of Zhina Amini in the custody of the Iranian moral police have turned into a broader protest for women's rights in Iran.  

Some female protesters have removed and burned their hijabs in the rallies and cut off their hair, some dancing near large bonfires to the applause of crowds that have chanted "zan, zendegi, azadi" or "woman, life, freedom".

Protests continue in Rojhelat, and in Paveh, protesters set fire to security forces' vehicles. Recent protests at the death of Zhina Amini first erupted in Kurdish areas of Iran and later spread to more than 50 cities and towns, the largest since the protests over rising fuel prices in 2019.

According to the latest report of Hangaw Human Rights Organization, nine people were killed, with over 450 injured and 500 others arrested in the demonstrations.

Security forces killed three youngsters in Shno city, according to Salim Haqiqi, a Kurdish writer who recently received an honorary doctorate for human rights. Milan Haqiqi, one of the victims killed in Shno, is Haqiqi's son. 

Online communication was severely restricted following a grave escalation of the protests, and the government shut down Whatsapp completely, while Instagram was only accessible through a VPN. Most Iranians access the internet through VPN, and Instagram's partial shutdown is because the Iranian government primarily uses Instagram to communicate its message to its people. 

Iran's government took similar measures to restrict internet communication in the 2019 fuel price protests. Around 1,500 people were killed in the 2019 uprisings.

On Sunday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi strongly condemned what she described as the "unlawful" border attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia. She used her visit to Russia's military ally to pledge US support for Armenia's sovereignty.

During an interview in Yerevan, Pelosi noted that her visit was essential in the wake of "the illegal and deadly attacks launched by Azerbaijan on Armenian lands", which led to border clashes that killed more than two hundred people.

"We strongly condemn these attacks," Pelosi said. "It was the Azeris who started this, and this must be recognized." She stated that it was clear that the border fighting had erupted due to the Azeri attacks on Armenia and that the chronology of the conflict should be clarified.

Pelosi noted that the United States is listening to Armenia regarding its defense needs, adding that Washington wants to help and support Armenia in what she described as a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.

Last week, a senior Armenian official expressed his dissatisfaction with the response of a Russian-led military coalition to Yerevan's request for help. Armenia asked the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization to intervene but only sent a fact-finding team.

"Of course, we are very upset," Parliament Speaker Alain Simonyan quoted the Interfax news agency as telling national television, likening the CSTO to a pistol that does not shoot.

Remarkably, Armenia has been disappointed with the response of the Russian-led coalition, Pelosi said. Pelosi visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, where she was seen shedding tears and laying a bouquet of roses.

On Saturday, the Congress delegation arrived in Armenia, where a ceasefire held for three days after clashes broke out with neighboring Azerbaijan, which killed more than 200 soldiers from both sides.

Azerbaijan on Sunday criticized US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused Baku of igniting a border conflict with Armenia, and said the "unfounded and unfair" statements represented a severe blow to peace efforts.

"The unjust and baseless accusations leveled by Pelosi against Azerbaijan are unacceptable... It is well known that Pelosi is a pro-Armenian politician," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

She added that the statements were "a serious blow to the efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," describing them as "Armenian propaganda."

The ceasefire went into effect on Wednesday evening after two days of violent clashes, the largest in nearly two years.

Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations over the clashes, with Armenian authorities accusing Baku of unprovoked aggression while Azeri officials said their country was responding to the Armenian attacks.

Pashinyan said at least 135 Armenian soldiers were killed in the clashes. On Friday, the Azeri Defense Ministry announced the killing of 77 soldiers.

The two ex-Soviet states have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the separatist war ended 1994.

The people of Saqiz marched to the governor's office after the burial of Zhina Amini's body in Aichi cemetery.

At least 13 people were injured in clashes between citizens and security forces in a series of protests that broke out after the burial of Zhina in her home city of Saqiz. Zhina is sometimes named Mahsa Amini in Iranian and some Arabic media outlets. 

The death of Zhina Amini sparked protests in other cities in East Kurdistan and Tehran University. Civil society organizations in Rojhelat and other parts of Iran have called for a general strike on Monday.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called Amini's family, expressed his condolences, and promised to investigate the incident, the official presidential website said. 

"I have ordered the incident to be investigated carefully so that no right is violated. Your daughter and all Iranian girls are my children. I feel like losing one of my loved ones," Iranian president Ibrahim Riasi told Amini's relatives, the official website of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran reported. 

Zhina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish student from Saqiz, was arrested by the morality police on November 13 during a family visit to Tehran for not complying with the hijab law. 

His relatives were informed hours later that he had suffered a stroke. He died in a hospital in Tehran on Friday and was buried in a public ceremony in Saqiz.

Women arrested with Amini reported that Amini was beaten in the detention van, an allegation the police deny. The police maintain that Amini suffered a heart attack, an account of events not accepted by Amini's family.

 

France will present the confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan that led to the deaths of at least 49 Armenian soldiers to the UN Security Council, the Elysée announced on Tuesday.

"France will present the situation to the UN Security Council, which it currently chairs," the Elysée said after a telephone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Azerbaijani presidency declared that "the Armenian leadership bears full responsibility for the escalation on the border."

The Armenian Prime Minister announced the continuation of hostilities on the border with Azerbaijan on Tuesday morning but at a slower pace. He pointed out that 49 soldiers were killed during the battles.

Earlier, local media reported that an agreement was reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a ceasefire after violent clashes took place at dawn on Tuesday at the two countries' borders, during which heavy weapons were used.

Yerevan had announced that clashes were taking place on Tuesday on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing that Baku forces, backed by artillery and drones, were seeking to "advance" inside the Armenian territory.

In a statement, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that "battles" are taking place at several points on the border, and "the enemy is constantly trying to advance." "Azerbaijani forces continue to use artillery, mortars, drones and high-caliber rifles," it added.

Armenia's Prime Minister Pashinyan held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Macron and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, asking them to respond to Azerbaijan's "aggression", Yerevan announced on Tuesday.

In the separate talks, Pashinyan said he hoped for an "appropriate response from the international community". At the same time, clashes continued on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, according to an Armenian government statement.

Armenia and Azerbaijan announced earlier that large-scale border clashes took place between their forces at dawn on Tuesday, resulting in the killing of Azerbaijani soldiers, whose number was not specified, in the latest escalation of violence between the two countries.

On the other hand, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused the Armenian forces of carrying out "large-scale acts of sabotage" near the border provinces of Dasheksan, Kalpajar and Lachin, noting that its army positions "were bombed, especially with mortars."

The statement added that the Armenian bombing resulted in "losses among the (Azerbaijani) soldiers" without specifying their number.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed his concern over the clashes, calling on the two countries to stop them immediately.

Since the end of the second war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Karabakh enclave in the fall of 2020, the two countries have repeatedly been bordering on border clashes. Last week, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing one of its soldiers in an exchange of fire on the border between the two countries.

These acts of violence threaten to reignite the conflict in the Karabakh region, despite the presence of Russian forces charged with supervising the ceasefire in force between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the end of the second war between them.

After a first war that killed 30,000 people in the early 1990s, Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed in the fall of 2020 over Karabakh. This mountainous region was separated from Azerbaijan with the support of Yerevan.

A Yemeni national went viral on social media after posting a video clip declaring that he performed Umrah in Mecca for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

A screenshot from a social media video showing a Yemeni national in Mecca holding a banner that reads: "Umrah for the soul of Queen Elizabeth II, we ask Allah to accept her in heaven and among the righteous."

It comes after a widely circulated story on social media claiming that the Queen was a descendant of Prophet Mohammad. The story likely originated from an article run by The Times. In 2018 Times ran a news story titled "the Queen may be a child of Prophet Muhammad," citing the Royal family tree.

In the video, the Yemeni man in Mecca is holding a banner that reads: 'Umrah for the soul of Queen Elizabeth II, we ask Allah to accept her in heaven and among the righteous.'

A man dedicating an Umrah pilgrimage to the late Queen Elizabeth II from the Grand Mosque of Mecca was arrested by Saudi police on Monday, Middle East Eye reported.

The Saudi Public Security agency said on Twitter that the man was arrested for violating the Umrah rules by carrying a sign after he posted a video of himself during his pilgrimage with a banner that read: "Umrah for the soul of Queen Elizabeth II, we ask Allah to accept her in heaven and among the righteous."

It added that he had been referred to the public prosecution for investigation.

The arrest came after criticism leveled against the Yemeni national on social media. Islamic Sharia permits Muslims to perform the Umrah pilgrimage on behalf of deceased Muslims but not people of other faiths.
Queen Elizabeth, who died on Thursday aged 96, was a devout Christian who also served as the supreme governor of the Church of England.

In an interview with a pro-government television channel on Monday, an Egyptian scholar of Egypt's Al-Azhar University denounced the Yemeni man for carrying out an "unislamic act," Saudi media reported.

"The late Queen Elizabeth II does not have to perform Hajj or Umrah because she is not a Muslim," the scholar, Ashraf al-Najjar, told TeN TV.

"Hajj and Umrah are for Muslims," he said. "Islam has designated Mecca and Medina only for Muslims to hold these rituals, so it is not permissible for a non-Muslim to enter them."