CNN Business
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Edward Lawrence, a journalist at the BBC, was arrested by police in Shanghai at the scene of protests on Sunday evening, in keeping with the BBC and as captured on what seems to be cell phone footage of the arrest.

While he has since been launched, a BBC spokesperson has expressed excessive concern about his therapy, saying he was “beaten and kicked by the police.”

Protests have erupted across China in a uncommon present of dissent in opposition to the ruling Communist Party, sparked by anger over the nation’s more and more expensive zero-Covid coverage.

Among the 1000’s of protesters, a whole lot have even known as for the removing of Chinese chief Xi Jinping, who for practically three years has overseen a technique of mass-testing, brute-force lockdowns, enforced quarantine and digital monitoring that has come at a devastating human and financial price.

The BBC assertion reads in full: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai. He was held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.”

The assertion continues, “It is very worrying that one of our journalists was attacked in this way whilst carrying out his duties. We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught Covid from the crowd. We do not consider this a credible explanation.”

At an everyday press briefing Monday, China’s overseas ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian acknowledged the detention of Lawrence, however claimed that he didn’t establish himself as a journalist earlier than he was led away by police.

“China always welcomes foreign journalists to report in the country in accordance with the law and has provided lots of assistance,” Zhao stated. “At the same time, foreign journalists should comply with Chinese regulations when they are reporting in China.”

Public protest is exceedingly uncommon in China, the place the Communist Party has tightened its grip on all elements of life, launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, worn out a lot of civil society and constructed a high-tech surveillance state.

At least two clips of the arrest have been posted on-line by a Twitter consumer who says they witnessed the scene. One clip, filmed from above, reveals at the least 4 law enforcement officials standing over a handcuffed man whose face is obscured.

In a second clip of a person carrying the identical clothes, Lawrence’s face is clearly identifiable, as police shortly led him away, and then shouts, “Call the consulate now.”

The witness who shared the movies stated they noticed the journalist get “sieged and dragged to the ground by several cops.”

It is unclear what occurred in the lead-up to Lawrence’s arrest. The video obtainable on-line begins together with his arrest and doesn’t present what occurred prior.

In an interview with Sky News on Monday, the UK authorities known as Lawrence’s arrest a “considerable concern.”

“There can be absolutely no excuse whatsoever for a journalist that was simply covering the process going on for being beaten by police,” stated UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps.

Lawrence wasn’t the solely overseas journalist detained by Chinese police on Sunday. Michael Peuker, China correspondent for Swiss broadcaster RTS, was additionally briefly detained whereas reporting reside from a protest in Shanghai, RTS stated.

“The tension is at its peak here. As a proof, I am now surrounded by three police officers, I will be taken to the police station after this live hit,” Peuker stated on air. “I will leave you now and go to the police station,” he added.

Peuker stated on Twitter that he was launched moments later.

CNN
 — 

Iranian officers stated they’ve identified the “Iran International agent” arrested Thursday as Elham Afkari, the sister of well-known Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, who was executed two years in the past, in line with state news company IRNA.

London-based news channel Iran International has grow to be one of the go-to sources for a lot of Iranians in search of news on the nation’s ongoing protests in the country.

The opposition tv broadcaster, which was known as a “terrorist” group by the Iranian intelligence minister on Tuesday, has denied any affiliation with Elham.

In an announcement despatched to CNN, the London-based broadcaster stated Elham “is not an employee of Iran International, nor is she an associate or agent of the company.”

Her brother, Navid Afkari, was convicted of killing Hassan Torkman, a water firm safety worker, throughout a protest in Shiraz in 2018.

Initially, Afkari confessed to the crime, however in courtroom he retracted these phrases, arguing that he had been tortured into making a false confession.

“It should be noted that she [Elham Afkari] is the sister of Navid Afkari, the killer of martyr Torkman, an employee of the regional water company of Fars province,” IRNA reported.

“Intelligence operatives have been monitoring the activities of Elham Afkari for the past few years,” IRNA stated, including that “she was one of the main leaders in organizing recent riots.”

State media shared footage allegedly displaying Elham’s arrest. The footage present a lady seated within the backseat of a car with barred home windows, with a black blindfold over her face.

Saeed Afkari, Elham and Navid’s brother, confirmed his sister’s arrest on Twitter on Thursday, saying that Elham’s three-year-old daughter was additionally lacking.

He later stated Elham had been taken to a division of Iran’s intelligence ministry, and that his sister’s partner and daughter had been launched.

“Elham was taken to No.100 intelligence ministry department,” he tweeted.

Since Navid Afkari was executed, his household has confronted many courtroom circumstances over involvement within the demonstrations in 2018.

Vahid Afkari, one of his brothers, stays in solitary confinement, in line with the rights group Iran Human Rights.

Founded in 2017, Iran International has been on the forefront of masking current demonstrations following the dying in custody of Mahsa Amini – a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian lady detained by morality police for allegedly not carrying her hijab correctly.

However, the 24-hour news channel’s protection of the demonstrations has introduced it underneath the scrutiny of the Iranian authorities.

This week, Iran International stated two of its British-Iranian journalists working within the United Kingdom have been warned by police of a “credible” plot by Iran to kill them.

In an announcement Monday, the Farsi-language broadcaster stated it was “shocked and deeply concerned” by the alleged deadly threats, whereas accusing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being half of a “significant and dangerous escalation” of Tehran’s “campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad.”

“Two of our British-Iranian journalists have, in recent days, been notified of an increase in the threats to them,” Iran International stated within the assertion.

“The Metropolitan Police have now formally notified both journalists that these threats represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families.”

Iran International didn’t identify the journalists for safety causes.

The Committee to Protect Journalists stated that as of Monday not less than 61 journalists have been arrested in Iran for causes together with masking the protests, reporting on the dying of protesters, and taking images of demonstrations, in line with a report from the group.

Kherson area, Ukraine
CNN
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Day after day, on the town after city, a police officer and prosecutor go door to door in Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Treading muddy streets, previous houses broken by artillery strikes, they search for these left behind. The two males type a specialist unit that’s traveled from the capital, Kyiv.

A mom and daughter come out to their yard. “We are looking for sexual crimes,” the prosecutor, Oleksandr Kleshchenko, says.

Until early October, this space of the nation was occupied by Russian troops. Burnt-out automobiles litter the fields. The letter ‘Z’ – a logo utilized by Russian forces – marks the partitions.

The scars of struggle run deep right here. Russia has used sexual violence as a “weapon of war” – a deliberate “military strategy” – in its conquest of Ukraine, United Nations investigators have said. They have even relayed allegations of Russian troopers carrying Viagra.

Russian authorities have denied accusations of struggle crimes in Ukraine.

In two weeks of work within the Kherson area, the staff from Kyiv has documented six allegations of sexual assault. The actual quantity is sort of actually a lot greater, they are saying.

Tatiana, age 56, says she is one of the victims. CNN is withholding her final title and that of her village to guard her identification.

Walking over damaged glass, she reveals us into her brother’s home, the place she says two Russian troopers compelled their means by way of her door on August 26.

“They walked around those rooms,” she says. “One stayed there, and the other one, who raped me, came in here. He came in, walked a little bit around the room and here in this place, he started groping me.”

“I told him, ‘No, no, I am not of the age that I can give you something, look for younger girls.’”

He pinned her towards the wardrobe, she says, and tore at her garments. “I was crying, begging him to stop, but with no success,” she says. “The only thought I had was to stay alive.”

He warned her to not inform anybody, she remembers. “I didn’t tell my husband right away,” she says, in tears. “But I told my cousin, and my husband overheard. He said, ‘You should have told me the truth, but you kept silent.’”

“I was very ashamed,” she says. “I wish that he and all his kin were dead.”

She spent three days at dwelling, in a daze, too ashamed to step exterior. Then, in a rare act of bravery, she says she confronted the Russian soldier’s commander.

“His commander found the head of his unit. He came to see me and told me, ‘I punished him severely, I broke his jaw, but the most severe punishment is ahead.’ Like shooting. The commander asked me, ‘Do you mind this?’ I said, ‘I don’t mind, I wish all of them will be shot.’”

Although the prosecutor, Kleshchenko, and police officer Oleksandr Svidro are trying particularly for proof of sexual crimes, in every single place they go they’re confronted with the horrors of occupation.

In these liberated villages, practically each constructing has been broken by struggle. Many houses have been diminished to rubble.

At their first cease on the day CNN accompanied the investigators, in Bila Krynytsya, a crowd ready for meals handouts surrounded the prosecutor.

The village was behind Russian traces, however by no means instantly occupied. Those gathered spherical shout that they’ve been deserted for months, with no assist from both Russia or Ukraine.

“Did you report [the damage] to anyone?” the prosecutor asks. “Who would we report it to?” replies a person within the crowd.

A person within the crowd tells the investigators that he was held by Russian troopers and subjected to mock execution. It’s exhausting to listen to, tales of torture like this are frequent right here, however that’s not the topic of their work at the moment.

Despite the dissatisfaction of these villagers, Ukraine’s counteroffensive on this half of the nation has buoyed public hopes that victory may truly be potential – or at the least that Kyiv may liberate key Russian-held cities, equivalent to Kherson.

Starting slowly on the finish of the summer time, after which in giant measure originally of October, Ukrainian forces have regained a whole lot of sq. miles of territory that Russia held because the early days of its full-scale invasion.

A brief drive down roads pockmarked by shelling, in Tverdomedove, a mom and daughter inform Kleshchenko that they haven’t heard of any sexual crimes of their one-road hamlet.

Their neighbor, 71-year-old Vera Lapushnyak, sobs uncontrollably. The Russians have been variety once they first arrived, she says.

“They said they came to protect us,” she remembers. “But from whom, why – we didn’t know.”

She was widowed greater than 30 years in the past – she says her husband died in a bike accident – and her son joined the army quickly after Russia’s invasion on February 24. She determined to go away, she says, about three months after Russian troops occupied her village.

Months later, after the Ukrainian army liberated her village in a lightning counteroffensive, she returned. Shelling had diminished her roof to its rafters.

“I don’t know where to sleep now,” she says, in tears. “There are no windows or doors. I sleep like a bum.”

She reveals us inside. The ceiling of her bed room has utterly collapsed. She’s moved her mattress to the one room that also has an intact window.

“I don’t know where to put it so that (the ceiling) won’t fall on my head,” she says. “If it would fall and kill me that would be better, so I won’t suffer. But I want to see my son again.”

As the solar units on the finish of an extended day, the two-man staff arrives in Novovoznesens’ke, a village the place they’ve uncovered two extra instances of rape, allegedly by Russian troopers. The subsequent day, they return to Kyiv, to submit their findings.

Of course, many of these allegations might be inconceivable to show; many don’t actually have a suspect. For now, the staff information its experiences, and its investigators proceed their work, hoping to have the ability to file prices sooner or later.

The United Nations says it has investigated instances in Ukraine of “sexual and gender-based violence” towards individuals starting from 4 to 82 years outdated. As of September, 43 prison proceedings had been initiated, in keeping with the UN.

The police officer, Svidro, says most instances of sexual violence go totally unreported.

The work takes its toll. “It’s psychologically difficult,” he says. “You understand every person is distressed. But this is important work.”

CNN
 — 

Iranian safety forces have arrested eight individuals over the death of a 16-year-old teenager, Nika Shahkarami, in Tehran final month, Iranian media mentioned on Tuesday.

Family members informed BBC Persian that her whereabouts was unknown for 10 days earlier than they discovered her physique in a morgue within the capital.

Her aunt, Atash Shahkarami, told BBC Persian in an interview Friday that her niece left her house on September 20 round 5 p.m. native time, and that she was involved along with her till 7 p.m.

The aunt mentioned she was informed by Shahkarami’s buddy that {the teenager} posted a narrative to Instagram exhibiting her burning her scarf, and that Shahkarami informed her she was being adopted by safety brokers.

After that, the household misplaced contact with Shahkarami, the aunt informed BBC Persian. The household discovered her 10 days later at a morgue in at a detention heart within the capital.

“When we went to identify her, they didn’t allow us to see her body, only her face for a few seconds,” Atash Shahkarami informed BBC Persian.

State-aligned information company Tasnim mentioned Shahkarami was discovered lifeless on September 21 within the yard of a home in Tehran. Tasnim mentioned that police watched surveillance footage of Shahkarami coming into an adjoining constructing and that it stays unclear how she died. Tasnim mentioned there’s “no evidence” of claims by “foreign media” that that {the teenager} was killed by the police.

The semi-official Fars News company on Wednesday revealed CCTV footage that it claimed confirmed the final moments of Shahkarami’s life.

The video, which the company mentioned it obtained from police and judicial authorities, exhibits an individual stroll into an alley and enter a house, flattening their face masks as they stroll via the door. The individual just isn’t instantly identifiable.

The video’s timecode signifies that it was filmed simply after 12 a.m. native time; lights within the doorway of a neighboring house and shadows on the road counsel that the video was recorded at evening.

“This is the last video of Nika Shahkarami, 7 hours before her body was discovered,” Fars News mentioned, claiming that it confirmed {the teenager} going right into a half-finished house close to her aunt’s alley whereas speaking on her cell phone.

The eight individuals arrested had been employees within the constructing the place Shahkarami allegedly entered, Tasnim reported.

Tehran’s prosecutor Ali Salehi mentioned a judicial legal case has been launched and expressed his condolences to Shahkarami’s household, state-run IRNA mentioned.

CNN reached out to the household for remark.

Shahkarami’s death comes as nationwide protests take Iran by storm following the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian girl who died after being detained by the nation’s morality police for a way she was dressed.

Girls and girls throughout the nation have been protesting in school and college campuses and out on the streets. Social media movies present Iranian ladies and ladies chanting “death to the dictator” and are seen taking off their obligatory headscarves, referred to as hijabs, in protest.

Anti-regime demonstrations have additionally penetrated the Islamic Republic’s energy bases, together with the Shia holy cities of Mashhad and Qom. Ethnic minorities – notably Kurds within the nation’s north and northwest, and Baloch individuals within the southeast – have additionally staged protests, enduring what seem like a few of the most brutal crackdowns, with scores reportedly killed.

The ferocious clampdown on protesters from Iranian authorities has drawn consideration from the US, which is anticipated to concern new sanctions this week towards legislation enforcement officers and people straight concerned, a supply aware of the deliberate motion told CNN.

President Joe Biden, who has moved rapidly to throw his help behind the demonstrators, issued an deliberately obscure assertion Monday promising additional prices “on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protestors.” A supply informed CNN these prices are anticipated to be within the type of extra sanctions this week, with extra motion to probably comply with.

On Wedneday, state-affiliated media and different retailers shared video of pro-government demonstrators on the streets of Tehran – a lot of them ladies – waving flags and holding indicators in help of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

School instructor Fatemeh Shahvelayati who was on the gathering informed Agence France-Presse: “Hijab was the excuse of our enemies to destroy our unity, while we all lived together with different beliefs and it was never a problem.”

A day earlier, CNN noticed ladies from a vocational highschool in Tehran protesting on a avenue close to their college. They had been heard shouting “woman, life, freedom” and “dignified Iranian support” in addition to “death to the dictator” – a well-liked chant heard amid demonstrations throughout the nation over the previous days.

In a tribute to her niece posted on Instagram, Atash Shahkarami wrote: “May hundreds and hundreds of courageous individuals be born from the death of courageous individuals!