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Iran says loud noise heard near Karaj was rocket fired by IRGC in training exercise

The loud noise heard near the Iranian town Karaj, west of the capital Tehran, was caused by a rocket fired by the Revolutionary Guards during a training exercise, state news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.

“The loud noise heard this afternoon in the suburbs of Karaj was caused by the firing of a rocket during a training exercise… managed [by] one of the Guards' headquarters, which has caused some speculations and rumors online,” a spokesman for the IRGC said.

“Such exercises are not uncommon, and we call upon our dear compatriots not to pay attention to the rumors spread by the opponents and enemies of the Iranian nation,” the statement added.

Karaj is a sensitive location in Iran, as it hosts a centrifuge-parts workshop in the Tessa complex which Tehran said was sabotaged in June last year. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium.

Iran is currently negotiating with Western countries in Vienna to revive the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal.

Currently, tensions are high over whether or not the Vienna talks to revive the accord would succeed.

The US has long been saying that if diplomacy failed with Iran, it was willing to turn to “plan B”, without specifying details.

Meanwhile, Washington-ally Israel has grown impatient and has repeatedly announced it is preparing for a military strike on Iranian nuclear targets and would act unilaterally if necessary.

Iran conducted war games in December as a warning to Israel and the Revolutionary Guards said they would respond to any Israeli attacks on its nuclear program by targeting all the sites used to launch the attacks.

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Watch: Fox News reporter reunites with son on live TV after Denver school shooting


A video showing a Fox News reporter reuniting with her son on live television outside a Denver high school where a shooting had taken place has gone viral on social media.

Alicia Acuna was reporting live on the scene outside East High School when she saw her son walk out with a group of other students.

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Denver-based Fox News reporter @aacuna1 sees and embraces her son as he leaves East High school after today’s shooting. pic.twitter.com/jPt60YhhO6

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) March 22, 2023

The young man ran up to his mom who stepped off camera for a brief moment to hug him and check if he was alright.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. There’s no way you would have let your kid walk by. He’s okay. He’s good. He was the one telling me what was happening,” she told her colleagues in the studio during the broadcast.

The shooting took place as school administrators were searching for weapons on student Austin Lyle, according to news reports.

The two people – one in serious but stable condition and the other in critical condition – were taken to a nearby hospital where they are being treated.

Lyle, who had a history of violating school policies, shot the two administrators before fleeing the scene, reports said. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday night in the mountains southwest of Denver.

According to the Naval Postgraduate School database, shootings in US schools have more than tripled in the five years leading to 2021.

An average of 130 school shootings have occurred every year across the US in the past five years, the database revealed.

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Messi mania grips Argentina in first match as World Cup champs


Messi mania gripped Buenos Aires as the Argentina national team led by Lionel Messi beat Panama 2-0 on Thursday in a friendly match that was essentially a celebration of their World Cup victory last December.

Although the world champions dominated the game, they didn’t get a goal until the 78th minute of the second half, when Thiago Almada scored after a free kick by Messi hit the goal post.

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Ten minutes later, it was Messi’s turn and he scored the 800th goal of his professional career with a perfectly executed free kick. He is now one short of the 100-goal mark for the national squad.

After the match, the celebrations got into full swing and Messi took center stage, smiling from ear to ear as he received awards and accolades.

“I want to thank you for all the love we’ve been receiving . . . We told you we were going to do everything possible to win this,” a visibly emotional Messi said as he was handed the microphone. “Let’s enjoy this because we went a long time without winning it, and we don’t know when we’ll win it again.”

When it was coach Lionel Scaloni’s turn to speak, the first thing he did was lead the packed stadium on a chant praising Messi.

“Eternally grateful to this group of players,” Scaloni said as tears streamed down his face and thanked fans for their support.

The players’ families later joined them in the pitch and each of the players proceeded to lift a replica of the World Cup trophy in celebration. The players then walked around the pitch waving to fans as fireworks lit the night sky.

Earlier in the day, news channels carried live images of the players traveling to the stadium with a police escort as excited fans waited to see the team’s first game since it beat France in a thrilling final in Qatar.

Outside the Monumental Stadium there was a party-like atmosphere from early in the afternoon as somebody impersonating Pope Francis blessed a World Cup replica, children almost universally donned Messi’s No. 10 jersey and street sellers hawked Messi dolls.

Amid the celebrations there were also recriminations as many fans lamented they’d bought tickets for several times their face value from resellers that ended up being fake. The frustration led to scuffles with law enforcement that fired tear gas to disperse the angry fans.

“This World Cup was a miracle,” Marcelo Saracho, 49, said while dressed up like the pope, an Argentine, but with his cheeks painted in the light blue and white colors of the national flag.

Messi, the Paris Saint-Germain star who only last week was whistled by a group of fans of the French club that had been knocked out of the Champions League, received a massive ovation when he and his Argentina teammates entered the stadium filled with 83,000 fans.

When the anthem played the cameras zoomed in on Messi, who looked to be holding back tears as fans sang along triumphantly.

“I can’t believe I’m here,” Sofía Clavero, 12, said as her eyes welled up with tears while describing how she was eager to see her “idol” for the first time on the field.

The match culminated a week in which Messi, 35, was widely celebrated as a hero after helping Argentina win its third World Cup title, a marked change for the player who once suffered the indifference and even apathy from many Argentina fans who blamed him for the team’s failings in previous championships.

It all started Monday night when hundreds of fans mobbed a steakhouse in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo when word spread that Messi was inside having dinner. He needed a police escort to leave but was all smiles as people shouted “Messi I love you” and “Thank you, Leo.”

The next day, a group of fans realized the car next to them on the highway was carrying the man who is often described as the world’s best soccer player. They immediately started shouting, “I love you, Messi!” and “Let’s go, Messi!”

That’s when Messi proceeded to roll down his window and wave. The brief video of the encounter quickly went viral.

On Wednesday, the hosts of a morning network TV show went wild when they received an audio message from Messi.

“Good morning everyone,” Messi said in the message that the hosts huddled to hear. “I’m happy to be here, to enjoy everything we keep experiencing after what happened in December, and excited to enjoy tomorrow’s game.”

To avoid any issues, the players were taken to the stadium six hours before the start of the match flanked by a security operation that involved dozens of law enforcement officers. Plans for the transfer had been kept under wraps to avoid a repeat of what happened in December when a celebratory open-top bus throughout the capital had to be cut short when millions of fans made it impossible for the vehicle to advance.

Tickets to Thursday’s match sold out quickly but the game was just one chapter of the celebration that included local musicians and a trailer of a documentary about the World Cup-winning squad. The fan who wrote “Muchachos,” which became the unofficial anthem for the Argentina squad in Qatar, was also present.

The party continues next Tuesday when the team will play another friendly match against Curaçao in Argentina’s central Santiago del Estero province.

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Russia’s Medvedev: Moscow forces may go to Kyiv or Lviv: RIA


Russian forces may have to advance as far as Kyiv or Lviv in Ukraine, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview to Russian news agencies.

“Nothing can be ruled out here. If you need to get to Kyiv, then you need to go to Kyiv, if to Lviv, then you need to go to Lviv in order to destroy this infection,” RIA Novosti quoted Medvedev as saying on Friday.

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