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Death toll in Iran explosions, rise to 103

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Two explosions have killed at least 103 people and injured scores more at a memorial ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the US killing of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the most powerful men in the Middle East.
A senior official called the blasts a “terroristic” attack, without elaborating on who could be behind them.

Eyewitness reports spoke of two explosions 10 minutes apart in the south-central city of Kerman, while some reports spoke of four different explosions, suggesting that the incident was a highly sophisticated attack.

According to Irna news, the first explosion occurred 700 metres (0.4 miles) from Suleimani’s burial place and the second was one kilometre (0.6 miles) away.

State-run media in Iran cited Babak Yektaparast, a spokesperson for the country’s emergency service, as saying 73 people had been killed and 170 wounded. State television later reported that the death toll had climbed to 103.

Initially, local officials said it was not known if the explosions were owing to gas canisters, or suicide bombers. Later officials said the explosions occurred in two bombs that were detonated remotely, and classified the incident as terrorism.

The blasts occurred on the roads leading to Golzar Shohada, the Garden of Martyrs cemetery in Kerman. Suleimani’s body is buried in the cemetery along with 1,024 other people regarded as martyrs, and the site has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of the so-called “axis of resistance” against the US and the west.

Suleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020 and was seen as the leader directing Iranian proxy forces in Iraq and Syria.

It was not immediately clear if the apparent attack was a result of an domestic group or a group directed by Israel.

Iran only recently said it had eradicated a group backed by the Mossad, the Israeli state secret service.

A representative of Kerman province accused agents of Israel of committing the offence, the first elected representative reported to make such an attribution. Sepatately, Kianush Jahanpur, the former spokesman of Iran’s health ministry, said on social media: “The answer to this crime should only be in Tel Aviv, Haifa.”

Some analysts said it was unusual for Israel to undertake a generalised attack on civilians with no high-level military targets and so did not fit a previous pattern of behaviour in what Israel has done to date inside Iran. Israel rarely comments on international operations.

On 25 December, an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed a top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), prompting Tehran to threaten that Israel would “certainly pay” for its actions.

Iranian state media identified the commander as Razi Mousavi, a senior adviser of the Quds Force, saying he had been killed in an airstrike near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Israel has in the past carried out the targeted assassinations of nuclear scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear programme.

Hospitals in Kerman and surrounding areas have been put on alert to treat the injured.

(theguardian.com)

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Last hospital in North Gaza governorate evacuated after Israeli order

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The last hospital providing health services in the North Gaza governorate is out of service after the Israeli military ordered its immediate evacuation, the facility’s director has said.

Dr Mohammed Salha told the BBC patients were evacuated from al-Awda hospital in Jabalia on Thursday evening after “two weeks of siege”, and there was now “no health facility working in the north”.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is yet to respond to enquiries.

It comes as efforts continue to secure a ceasefire. Hamas says it is “thoroughly reviewing” a US plan, which the White House has said has been “signed off” by Israel.US President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed a deal was “very close”. But Hamas has said the plan does not satisfy its core demands including Israel’s commitment to ending the war.

The deal would reportedly involve a 60-day pause in fighting, with Hamas releasing 28 hostages – alive and dead – in the first week, with the remaining 30 hostages freed once a permanent ceasefire is in place. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released, while humanitarian aid would be sent to Gaza via the United Nations and other agencies.

Israel has continued its military operation in the territory – at least 72 people were killed in strikes over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday.

On Thursday evening, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of areas including the al-Awda hospital, saying there was terrorist activity in the region which warranted the IDF to “expand its offensive activity”.

(BBC News)

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India says over 1,000 nationals deported by US since January

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More than a thousand Indians have “come back or [been] deported” from the United States since January, India’s foreign ministry has said.

Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that around 62% of them came on commercial flights, without providing more details.

This comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s campaign against undocumented migrants to the US. Trump had earlier said that India “will do what’s right” on the deportation of illegal migrants.

In February, the US had deported more than hundred Indians on a US military flight, with reports saying some of them were brought back shackled.

“We have close cooperation between India and the United States on migration issues,” Mr Jaiswal said during the ministry’s weekly briefing, adding that India verifies nationalities before “we take them back”.

In total, the US is said to have identified about 18,000 Indian nationals it believes entered the country illegally.

Earlier this month, the US Embassy in India issued a warning that overstaying in the US could lead to deportation or a permanent ban on entry in the country, even for those who entered legally.

Mr Jaiswal also spoke about the Trump administration’s updated policy on student visas which is likely to impact Indian students planning to enrol in US universities.

The US had announced on Thursday that it had halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students as it considered expanding the screening of their social media activities.

“While we note that issuance of a visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit, and they will be able to join their academic programs on time,” Mr Jaiswal said.

Mr Jaiswal also said that 330,000 Indians students had gone to the US for studies in 2023-24 – which makes India the largest source of international students in the country.

On Thursday, expanding its new visa policy, the US further announced that it was working to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”.

(BBC News)

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US trade court blocks Trump tariffs

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A US federal court has blocked President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, in a major blow to a key part of his economic policies.

The Court of International Trade rules that the emergency law invoked by the White House does not give the president unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country.

It also blocks the separate levies the US imposed on China, Mexico and Canada.

Within minutes the Trump administration lodged an appeal, saying: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency”.

So there will be no change at the border just yet, business reporter Katie Silver writes – as the decision goes through the appeals process.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five small businesses that import goods from abroad.

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