Video appears to show Iranians running as shots ring out in Tehran on Jan. 12 during protests held against the downing of the Ukrainian plane and misleading explanations from senior officials in the wake of the tragedy.
ISTANBUL — Iranians gathered at universities Monday for a third straight day of protests, after Iran’s military admitted it shot down a Ukrainian airliner it mistook for a hostile aircraft last week.
Videos from Sunday night showed demonstrators fleeing from tear gas and in one case a woman bleeding in the leg — a wound that protesters said was caused by live ammunition, according to the Associated Press.
Reuters also reported hearing sounds of gunfire in videos posted on social media along with images of pools of blood on the street. In a televised statement, Tehran’s police chief denied that police shot at protesters and said they are under orders to show restraint.
Another video showed students at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, which lost 13 students and alumni in the crash, chanting against the cleric-led government. Other videos, which could not be verified, included squads of riot police in central Tehran.
“All of Enghelab Street until Azadi Square is full of security forces,” said Sahar, 32, a resident of Tehran. She declined to give her full name out of fear of reprisals from security forces.
On Sunday evening, riot police fired tear gas at demonstrators gathered near the Shademaan metro station in Tehran, according to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
Protesters are calling for accountability in the accidental downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which killed all 176 people on board.
Iranian officials initially denied reports that the plane was brought down with a surface-to-air missile but later admitted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful security institution, shot it down by mistake amid heightened tensions with the United States.
The crash occurred early Wednesday just hours after Iran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. troops. The barrage was retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad earlier this month.
Trump said that he would only take action if Iran killed an American, a person briefed on the discussion told NBC.
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The report brings into question the Trump administration's justification for killing Soleimani in a drone strike earlier this month. Administration officials have claimed the killing of the top Iranian commander was necessary due to an imminent threat of attacks Soleimani was plotting.
Critics of the decision have questioned how imminent the attacks were. Democrats widely condemned the attack and many members of Congress claimed the intelligence did not support the decision, based on information they were briefed on.
“There have been a number of options presented to the president over the course of time," a senior administration official told NBC. The official added that it was “some time ago” that presidential aides put killing Soleimani on the list of potential responses to Iranian aggression.
The idea of killing Soleimani came in 2017 during conversations then-national security adviser H.R. McMaster was having with administration officials about Trump’s broader national security strategy, officials told NBC. Then, the idea was reportedly one of possible elements of a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and “was not something that was thought of as a first move,” a former senior administration official involved in the discussions said.
It reportedly became a more serious idea under Bolton, who replaced McMaster in April 2018.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond for comment when contacted by The Hill Monday morning.
LONDON — Senior British royals were set on Monday to hash out details of Prince Harry and Meghan’s plans in an unprecedented summit triggered by the couple's shock announcement that they planned to "step back" from their traditional roles.
Harry and Meghan, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, said in a statement posted on social media and their own new website on Wednesday, that they would split their time between North America and the U.K. as they "carve out a progressive new role within this institution."
“This bombshell had been dropped on the royal family and yet they still hadn't met to discuss it face to face,” said NBC royal contributor Camilla Tominey.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves church on Sunday at her Sandringham estate in eastern England.Chris Radburn / Reuters
“I think people really couldn't relate to that so the idea of a face-to-face meeting was urgently needed as is a solution to this problem. [The royals] don't want it to be strung out over weeks. They want it done in days,” she added.
The meeting will take place at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham estate in the east of England. Heir to the throne Prince Charles will have made his way there after returning to the U.K. from Oman, where he paid his condolences after the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Prince William will also be at the meeting.
The family will need to work out how exactly Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne, and Meghan will continue to support the queen, while also working to become “financially independent.”
The couple's decision has captivated the nation as well as its newspaper headlines, with much speculation on what prompted their announcement. On Monday, William and Harry issued a joint statement publicly denouncing an "offensive" newspaper report about their relationship.
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"Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a U.K. newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge," said the statement issued by the offices for William and Harry, according to Reuters.
Last year, there were rumors in the press of a rift between Harry and William, who were once very close, and in June, Harry and Meghan confirmed that they were separating from William and Kate's Royal Foundation charity to start their own initiative, Sussex Royal.
Harry seemed to confirm the distance between the brothers in the interview with Bradby in Africa when he said that he and William were on “different paths.”
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan split off in June from the charity they ran together with Harry's brother Prince William, seen here on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018.Tolga Akmen / AFP - Getty Images file
Just days after returning from a six-week break away from their royal responsibilities, Meghan, an American actress who appeared in the television series “Suits,” flew back to Canada where she left their son, Archie, who was born in May. She may call into the meeting, a palace source told NBC News, and other people whom "the royals want in the room" might also attend.
“As the ultimate decision maker in all this and also the wisest head there with six decades on the throne, the queen is probably the best moderator of the situation,” said Tominey.
Despite the desire to come to a swift conclusion on the couple’s future role, there is "genuine agreement and understanding that any decisions will take time to be implemented," the palace source said.
Since the announcement, news of the family drama has captivated the nation and dominated news headlines.
"Things are quite broken but from what I'm told William is very keen to see if he can try and support Harry and Meghan in their new lifestyle, in the new path that they take. Everyone is hopeful that at some point down the line they'll reconcile," said Roya Nikka, the royal correspondent for The Sunday Times newspaper.
This solution could well end up being a blueprint for future royal siblings. William has three children, Prince George, who is third in line to the throne, as well as Princess Charlotte, who is four years old, and Prince Louis, who will turn two in April.
“This is going to be the test case, and the decisions made here could affect the likes of Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis because they may find themselves in a similar situation when they reach adulthood,” said Tominey.
The couple’s decision comes less than two years after their celebrity-studded fairy-tale wedding at a medieval church on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Harry and Meghan, who is mixed race, were hailed for modernizing the monarchy and bringing a breath of fresh air into a centuries-old institution.
At the time, there was optimism about Meghan's ability to fit in with the rest of the royal family and adapt to the demands of her new role.
“I know that the fact that she'll be really unbelievably good at the job part of it as well is a huge relief to me because she'll be able to deal with everything else that comes with it,” said Harry, in an interview with NBC News’ British partner ITV after the couple announced their engagement.
However, it didn’t take long for negative headlines to emerge, with Britain’s notoriously sharp tabloids probing everything from Meghan’s own troubled relationship with her family to the couple’s trips on private planes, while promoting environmental causes.
"To begin with it was easy because everyone loved them and all the press was positive, but then when stuff did start to go negative, their instinct wasn’t to just take it on the chin," said ITV anchor Tom Bradby, who interviewed the couple for a documentary filmed during a trip to Africa in September. "Their instinct was that it was unreasonable and unfair and that you should try to fight it."
In October, the couple revealed a lawsuit against the parent company of the Mail on Sunday for misuse of private information, among other claims. At the time, Harry released a scathing statement accusing the tabloid press of a "ruthless campaign" against his wife.
Taal Volcano in the Philippines, south of Manila, erupted Jan. 12. Videos posted on social media that day showed smoke and ash filling the sky.
MANILA — An erupting volcano spewed lava into the air and spread ash across the Philippines on Monday, as desperate residents packed up their belongings and waited for help, while others fled so quickly they left behind their sandals.
In one town, officials had to abandon evacuation centers and rework their plans after its location was deemed too risky.
Thousands have sought safer ground as the Taal volcano erupts for the first time since 1977, blowing clouds of ash as far away as Manila, 60 miles to the north. Officials have warned that the volcano, which sits on an island in a lake and is among the Philippines’ most active, could reach a hazardous “Level 5” incident — involving an ongoing magma eruption — within hours or days.
The volcano’s ructions intensified on Sunday, prompting the provincial government in Batangas to declare a state of calamity. There have been no reports of casualties so far.
Manila’s airport resumed partial operations on Monday after being closed for about a day, affecting hundreds of flights.
In the lakeside town of Taal, where a mandatory evacuation order is in force, Mayor Pong Mercado said Monday his government had to abandon 11 evacuation centers and move to a larger city as it was too close to the volcano. Under a gray sky and with frequent tremors jolting the ground, many residents gathered their belongings and waited to be rescued.
“The traffic [is at] a turtle’s pace because of the ashfall. It’s thick, almost zero visibility,” said Mercado. “It’s okay for now because it’s daytime — it will be harder to see at night.”
Evacuees without cars were making their way out by foot on muddy roads, their children and pets in tow. Some also ushered out their livestock, while farmers lamented to the local press that the loss of their animals would affect their livelihood.
Eloisa Lopez
Reuters
Residents living near the erupting Taal volcano evacuate in Agoncillo, Batangas City, Philippines, on Monday.
At a school-turned-shelter in the town of Bauan, church volunteer Gia Pauline Fabie, 24, estimated that more than 60 evacuees had arrived, some from Taal. She said there were a lot of children — one of whom she noticed had lost a flip-flop during the rush of evacuation.
“When they arrived, the first thing they asked for were toiletries because they wanted to take a bath,” said Fabie.
Church workers were scouring the town and collecting people without anywhere else to stay the night.
Taal is among more than 20 active volcanoes in the Philippines, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. According to the NASA Earth Observatory, Taal consists of multiple stratovolcanoes. Its primary feature is the three-mile-wide Volcano Island, which has 47 craters and is surrounded by water.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said magma eruptions occurred in the volcano early Monday, characterized by a lava fountain, lightning and thunder. The volcano produced at least 75 earthquakes.
Ezra Acayan
AFP/Getty Images
Vehicles covered in volcanic ash are seen Monday in Lemery, Batangas province, Philippines. Authorities have warned that a hazardous eruption is possible.
The eruption interrupted wedding celebrations in Tagaytay City, a hilltop tourist destination that overlooks the lake, making it a popular spot for couples to tie the knot.
John Dan Ramos, 25, was attending his cousin’s wedding on Sunday when the guests noticed the column of ash rising in the distance. By the time the wedding ended, about 200 guests found themselves stranded for the night, worried that the ashfall would make it perilous to leave. They ate leftovers and picked their own spots to rest.
“I slept under a table. It was to each his own,” said Ramos.
On Monday, with earthquakes increasing, they knew they had to flee. Ramos and his cousins managed to get out by car, navigating steep and slippery roads, he said.
At the lakeside town of Talisay, roughly 15 minutes by boat from the island where the volcano lies, Mariel Ann Gabales, 30, managed to leave late Sunday local time. She and about 10 others, including her grandparents and cousins, got into a van sent by relatives. Clutching packed clothes and their three dogs, they arrived in Lipa City past midnight after a three-hour journey.
Electricity was out, and it was raining. Gabales said they drove slowly through the dark along slippery roads, but noted the sense of community as people tried to help each other.
“The windshields were covered [with ash] — and a lot of strangers would pour and spray water on them to help,” she said.
But she heard from friends in the area that many residents had stayed behind, worried about their houses.
“You know how some old [people] can be. Sometimes their houses are more important than their lives,” she said. “I hope they get rescued right away.”
Eloisa Lopez
Reuters
Residents look at the erupting Taal Volcano in Tagaytay City, Philippines, on Monday.
The sudden eruption of a Philippine volcano over the weekend has forced tens of thousands from their homes and grounded 500 flights in the country's main airport.
Red-hot lava gushed out of Taal volcano Monday, which pumped out ash that blew 62 miles north to capital Manila, closing its airport. Experts have warned that the eruption could get worse, and officials were planning to evacuate hundreds of thousands.
There have been no reports of casualties or major damage so far after the eruption Sunday, but thousands of people had to be moved to safety from the danger zone in volcano's vicinity.
Officials at the Philippine government disaster management agency told NBC News on Monday that more than 24,500 people have already been evacuated.
But some residents could not move out of ash-blanketed villages due to a lack of transport and poor visibility, while others are refusing to leave their homes and farms.
“We have a problem, our people are panicking due to the volcano because they want to save their livelihood, their pigs and herds of cows,” Mayor Wilson Maralit of Balete town told the Philippine's DZMM radio.
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Residents living near the erupting Taal Volcano are evacuated on Monday. Eloisa Lopez / Reuters
Irene de Claro, a mother of four, worried about her father, who stayed in their village in Agoncillo town in Batangas while the rest of the family fled in panic.
“My father is missing. We don’t know too what happened to our house because the ash was up to our knees, it was very dark and the ground was constantly shaking when we left,” de Castro told The Associated Press in Batangas. “Most likely there’s nothing for us to return to. We’re back to zero.”
On Monday, flight operations partially resumed, but airport officials told NBC News they were closely monitoring volcanic activity and could suspend operations at any time.
Government work and classes in schools in a wide swath of towns and cities were also suspended, including in Manila.
Taal had been restive for months until it suddenly rumbled back to life over the weekend, blasting steam, ash and pebbles up to nine miles into the sky, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Taal Volcano boomed to life on Sunday, spilling volcanic ash.Kester Ragaza/Pacific Press / Getty Images
The government volcano-monitoring agency raised the danger level around Taal three notches to level 4, indicating “an imminent hazardous eruption.”
It said Monday the volcano continued to erupt, producing “weak sporadic lava fountaining” and generating steam-laden plumes about 1.2 miles tall.
The office of President Rodrigo Duterte warned of the health risks of volcanic ashfall, which can cause irritation and breathing problems, particularly among the elderly and children. Residents in affected areas are being told to use face masks or wet cloth when going outside.
The president’s own plane had difficulty taking off after the eruption caused zero visibility in some areas in the south, Philippine News Agency reported Monday.
One of the world’s smallest volcanoes, Taal is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which lies along the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Taal Volcano in the Philippines, south of Manila, erupted Jan. 12. Videos posted on social media that day showed smoke and ash filling the sky.
MANILA — An erupting volcano spewed lava into the air and spread ash across the Philippines on Monday, as desperate residents packed up their belongings and waited for help, while others fled so quickly they left behind their sandals.
In one town, officials had to abandon evacuation centers and rework their plans after its location was deemed too risky.
Thousands have sought safer ground as the Taal volcano erupts for the first time since 1977, blowing clouds of ash as far away as Manila, 60 miles to the north. Officials have warned the volcano, which sits on an island in a lake and is among the Philippines’ most active, could reach a hazardous “Level 5” incident — involving an ongoing magma eruption — within hours or days.
The volcano’s ructions intensified on Sunday, prompting the provincial government in Batangas to declare a state of calamity. There have been no reports of casualties so far.
Manila’s airport resumed partial operations on Monday after being closed for about a day, affecting hundreds of flights.
In the lakeside town of Taal, where a mandatory evacuation order is in force, Mayor Pong Mercado said Monday his government had to abandon 11 evacuation centers and move to a larger city as it was too close to the volcano. Under a gray sky and with frequent tremors jolting the ground, many residents gathered their belongings and waited to be rescued.
“The traffic [is at] a turtle’s pace because of the ashfall. It’s thick, almost zero visibility,” said Mercado. “It’s okay for now because it’s daytime — it will be harder to see at night.”
Evacuees without cars were making their way out by foot on muddy roads, their children and pets in tow. Some also ushered out their livestock, while farmers lamented to the local press that the loss of their animals would affect their livelihood.
Eloisa Lopez
Reuters
Residents living near the erupting Taal volcano evacuate in Agoncillo, Batangas City, Philippines, on Monday.
At a school-turned-shelter in the town of Bauan, church volunteer Gia Pauline Fabie, 24, estimated that more than 60 evacuees had arrived, some from Taal. She said that there were a lot of children — one of whom she noticed had lost a flip-flop during the rush of evacuation.
“When they arrived, the first thing they asked for were toiletries because they wanted to take a bath,” said Fabie.
Church workers were scouring the town and collecting people without anywhere else to stay the night.
Taal is among more than 20 active volcanoes in the Philippines, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. According to the NASA Earth Observatory, Taal consists of multiple stratovolcanoes. Its primary feature is the three-mile-wide Volcano Island, which has 47 craters and is surrounded by water.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said magma eruptions had taken place in the volcano early Monday, characterized by a lava fountain, lightning and thunder. The volcano had produced at least 75 earthquakes.
Ezra Acayan
AFP/Getty Images
Vehicles covered in volcanic ash are seen Monday in Lemery, Batangas province, Philippines. Authorities have warned a hazardous eruption is possible.
The eruption interrupted wedding celebrations in Tagaytay City, a hilltop tourist destination that overlooks the lake, making it a popular spot for couples to tie the knot.
John Dan Ramos, 25, was attending his cousin’s wedding on Sunday when the guests noticed the column of ash rising in the distance. By the time the wedding ended, around 200 guests found themselves stranded for the night, worried the ashfall would make it perilous to leave. They ate leftovers and picked their own spots to rest.
“I slept under a table. It was to each his own,” said Ramos.
On Monday, with earthquakes increasing, they knew they had to flee. Ramos and his cousins managed to get out by car, navigating steep and slippery roads, he said.
At the lakeside town of Talisay, roughly 15 minutes by boat from the island where the volcano lies, Mariel Ann Gabales, 30, managed to leave late Sunday local time. She and around 10 others, including her grandparents and cousins, got into a van sent by relatives. Clutching packed clothes and their three dogs, they arrived in Lipa City past midnight after a three-hour journey.
Electricity was out and it was raining. Gabales said they drove slowly through the dark along slippery roads, but noted the sense of community as people tried to help each other.
“The windshields were covered [with ash] — and a lot of strangers would pour and spray water on them to help,” she said.
But she had heard from friends in the area that many residents had stayed behind, worried about their houses.
“You know how some old [people] can be. Sometimes their houses are more important than their lives,” she said. “I hope they get rescued right away.”
Eloisa Lopez
Reuters
Residents look at the errupting Taal Volcano in Tagaytay City, Philippines, on Monday.
