International
The Iranian Army claims that it has located the helicopter in which Raisí was traveling
The Iranian Army claims that it has located the “exact” position of the helicopter in which the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisí, was traveling, thanks to a signal from the device and another from the mobile of one of the crew members.
“The exact location of the helicopter accident was identified,” said the commander of the army of East Azerbaijan, General Asghar Abbasqolizadeh, according to the official agency IRNA.
“Now we are going with all the military forces to the area and we hope to give good news,” Abbasqolizadeh added.
Previously, the vice president of executive affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, had stated that he had contacted on several occasions two passengers of the helicopter in which Raisí was traveling and that he had to make a forced landing in a mountainous area of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan.
Mansouri indicated that three helicopters left Tabriz, capital of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, at 13:00 local time (11.30 GMT) and about 30 minutes later contact with the aircraft in which Raisí was traveling was lost.
Along with the president were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, and the leader of the Friday prayers of Tabriz, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.
After the loss of contact, a large device was launched that already has at least 65 rescue teams, but the operations have been affected by bad weather, rain and dense fog in the mountainous area where the incident has occurred, when it has already darkened in Iran, the Red Crescent reported.
Hundreds of people have gathered at the mausoleum of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashad to pray for the health of the Iranian president.
Iranian state television broadcast images of the prayers in the important mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth imam of the Shiites, located in Mashad, hometown of the 63-year-old president.
The parishioners prayed the “tawsassul”, which means invocation and is used to invoke something or someone before God, led by a cleric, according to the television.
For his part, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, calls for calm after hours of unsuccessful searches after the helicopter in which the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, was traveling, made a forced landing.
“The people of Iran should not worry, there will be no interruptions in the country’s functions,” Khamenei said in a meeting with the families of the members of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran, the IRNA agency said.
The Iranian supreme leader called to pray for the health of the president and his companions, including the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amir Abdolahian.
“We hope that Almighty God will return the respected and honorable president and his companions into the arms of the nation. Everyone should pray for the health of this group of servants,” the religious begged.
The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, ordered several departments and the Iraqi Red Crescent to lend their capabilities to Iran to help find the helicopter in which the Iranian president was traveling.
The Iraqi Government said in a statement that Al Sudani ordered the Ministry of the Interior, the Iraqi Red Crescent and other competent authorities to “present the capabilities available to the Islamic Republic of Iran to help find the Iranian president’s helicopter, which disappeared in northern Iran.”
The note did not provide more details about the search device provided by Iraq, which borders Iran in the west.
Similarly, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was willing to help Iran in the search operation for the damaged helicopter in which its president, Ebrahim Raisí, was traveling, who is in unknown whereabouts.
“As a neighboring country, friend and brother, Azerbaijan is willing to offer any support,” Aliyev said on his social networks.
Aliyev, who prayed to Allah for the well-being of Raisi, met this morning with his Iranian counterpart to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River, a common border between the two countries.
As well as the Armenian authorities offered Iran their help in the search operation for the damaged helicopter.
“Armenia, as a close and friendly neighbor of Iran, is willing to offer all the necessary support,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In addition, Russia and several Arab countries announced their willingness to provide Iran with the necessary assistance to search for the helicopter and investigate the accident.
On the other hand, the Houthi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the department follows “with great concern the unfortunate news about the helicopter accident that transported the Iranian president and his loyal companions.”
The European Union (EU) activated at Iran’s request the Copernicus map system, designed to respond to emergencies, to help locate the crashed helicopter.
“After the request for assistance made by Iran, we are activating the Copernicus rapid response map service in view of the helicopter accident that allegedly transported the Iranian president and his Minister of Foreign Affairs,” European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, announced on social network X.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, also said in X that he is “following closely” together with the EU member countries and their partners all the information that comes around this event.
For its part, Turkey sent a team of 32 rescue expert mountaineers to Iran to help in the search.
“Iran has asked our country, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for a rescue helicopter with night vision,” the Turkish public emergency service, AFAD, says in a message in X.
From the Turkish provinces of Van and Erzurum, in the east of the country, six vehicles have already left with 32 rescue experts on the mountain to go to the search area, AFAD adds.
In addition, 15 other rescue mountaineers are prepared in several Turkish cities to intervene as well, the message says.
International
Fire in India’s Jhansi Hospital kills 10 newborns
At least 10 newborns have died following a fire in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Jhansi, India, which was attributed to a faulty oxygen machine, authorities reported on Saturday, adding that 39 babies were rescued.
“Unfortunately, 10 infants have died,” said Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, regarding the fire that occurred on Friday night.
The fire started at 10:30 PM (17:00 GMT) at the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical University in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The rescued babies, all only a few days old, were moved to another area of the hospital for treatment.
Dr. Narendra Senga, the director of a medical faculty attached to the hospital, also confirmed the death toll of 10 infants.
International
Seven british citizens arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking 1.2 tons seized
Seven British citizens were arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking in an operation that led to the seizure of 1.2 tons of the drug, which is made from cannabis resin, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported on Saturday.
“National Police agents, in collaboration with the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK, have dismantled an organization allegedly dedicated to transporting drugs in trucks in Marbella and Elche,” the ministry stated in a press release.
“Agents seized 1,200 kilos of hashish and arrested seven British citizens,” the report specified.
The drugs were found in Marbella and Fuengirola, in southern Spain, as well as in Elche, in the southeastern region.
Part of the hashish was hidden in “large plastic barrels filled with fine mortar sand.”
In addition, the police seized over €63,000 in cash, five passenger vehicles, and a heavy-duty truck.
All of the detainees have been placed in pretrial detention.
Spain serves as the gateway for most of the hashish sold in Europe, due to its proximity to North Africa, the main production area.
In 2022, Spain seized 324.7 tons of hashish, according to the latest available official annual data.
International
Sinaloa cartel network dismantled in Spain following kidnapping and ransom incident
Fourteen members of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel were arrested in Spain following an investigation that began with the kidnapping and murder of an associate, the Spanish National Police announced on Sunday.
“The dismantled criminal network, based in Catalonia, is allegedly involved in the kidnapping and death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of the region,” explained the National Police in a statement. The victim had traveled from Italy to meet with some of the leaders of the gang.
The criminal organization was “mainly composed of Mexican individuals” and was “linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.”
The victim, a 46-year-old man, was allegedly working for the organization and had traveled to Barcelona from Italy to meet with leaders of the criminal network. The kidnapping took place between late May and June, and the victim’s family in Kosovo alerted the police after receiving a ransom demand of €240,000 (approximately $253,000). The family paid part of the ransom, $32,000 in cryptocurrency.
The victim’s body, whose nationality was not disclosed, was found in August in a forest, showing signs of violence and in an advanced state of decomposition.
The arrested individuals are allegedly connected to drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder. They received packages from Mexico containing methamphetamine soaked into pieces of clothing, which were sent to Catalonia. Once in Spain, they extracted the drug in a laboratory they operated.
The Sinaloa cartel is named after the northwestern Mexican state where it was founded and remains one of the most important criminal organizations in the world, despite the incarceration of two of its historic leaders, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, in the United States.
Fire in India’s Jhansi Hospital kills 10 newborns
Seven british citizens arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking 1.2 tons seized
Sinaloa cartel network dismantled in Spain following kidnapping and ransom incident
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