Here is some international news in brief.
Posted at 8:08 a.m.
At least 901 people were executed in Iran last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, deplored on Tuesday. International flights resumed at Damascus International Airport on Tuesday, for the first time in almost 13 years.
At least 901 people reportedly executed in Iran in 2024
At least 901 people were executed in Iran last year, including around 40 in a single week in December, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, deplored on Tuesday.
“It is very worrying to note that the number of people subject to the death penalty in Iran is increasing from year to year,” commented Mr. Türk in a press release, believing that “it is high time that Iran an end to this wave of executions.”
At least 853 people were executed in 2023 in Iran, according to the High Commissioner.
During a press briefing, a spokesperson for the High Commission, Liz Throssell, explained that the figures come “from different human rights organizations […] which we consider reliable, HRANA, Hengaw and Iran Human Rights”.
According to the statement, most executions in 2024 were for drug offenses, but dissidents and people linked to the 2022-2023 protests were also executed.
The Office also reports an increase in the number of women executed.
According to Iran Human Rights, Iranian authorities have executed at least 31 women in 2024, a record since this non-governmental organization began in 2008 to record the application of capital punishment in the Islamic republic.
Agence France-Presse
Resumption of international flights at Damascus airport
International flights resumed Tuesday in an atmosphere of jubilation at Damascus international airport, for the first time since the takeover of power in Syria by a coalition led by radical Islamists, which ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
In the arrivals hall, Syrians carrying multi-colored balloons and bouquets of flowers greeted passengers on the first Qatar Airways plane to land in the capital in almost 13 years.
Some of the passengers knelt down to kiss the ground, noted an AFP photographer. Others, their shoulders covered with the new Syrian flag, that of the uprising against the power of Bashar al-Assad, adopted by the authorities in place, sang revolutionary songs in chorus.
“I’m waiting for my brother who I haven’t seen for 17 years, he couldn’t come […] because of the regime,” Reem Taghleb, a 37-year-old woman from the Damascus region, told AFP.
“He took the first plane. […] Our joy is great for his return, and for freedom in our country,” she adds.
A festive atmosphere also reigned in the departure hall, with some passengers making the victory sign, according to AFP correspondents.
Agence France-Presse
Joe Biden creates two American national monuments
Joe Biden is due to announce on Tuesday the creation of two new US national monuments, vast protected areas located in California, to strengthen his environmental legacy in the final days of his presidency.
Before the imminent entry of his rival Donald Trump into the White House, the 82-year-old Democratic president is making an official trip to proclaim recognition of the Chuckwalla National Monument, which will cover 252,000 hectares near Joshua Tree National Park, in the southern California.
The measure aims to protect the region from drilling, mining, photovoltaic farms and other industrial activities. It follows pressure from indigenous tribes historically attached to these lands.
Mr. Biden will also create the Sattitla National Monument, in the far north of the state, on the border with Oregon, providing this area with the same environmental guarantees.
“The breathtaking canyons and winding paths of Chuckwalla National Monument are unparalleled in beauty,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first indigenous minister in the United States.
“President Biden’s action today will protect important spiritual and cultural values linked to the land and wildlife,” and will allow “future generations to have the opportunity to discover what makes this region so unique,” he said. she added.
Agence France-Presse
