By FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iran does not appear to be actively enriching uranium but that the agency has recently detected renewed movement at the country’s nuclear sites.

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Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that despite being unable to access Iranian nuclear sites, inspectors have not seen any activity via satellite to indicate that the Islamic Republic has accelerated its production of uranium enriched beyond what it had compiled before the 12-day war with Israel in June.

“However, the nuclear material enriched at 60% is still in Iran. And this is one of the points we are discussing because we need to go back there and to confirm that the material is there and it’s not being diverted to any other use,” Grossi said in an interview at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “This is very, very important.”

Grossi said, however, that inspectors have seen movement around the sites where the stockpiles are stored. Without additional access, the IAEA has had to rely on satellite imagery, which can only show so much, he said.

That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, Grossi warned. Iran long has insisted its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western nations say Tehran had an organized atomic bomb program until 2003.

Iran and the IAEA signed an agreement last month in Cairo to pave the way for resuming cooperation, including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, that has yet to be implemented. The agreement came after Iranian officials suspended all cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog following the war with Israel in which the U.S. struck several Iranian nuclear sites.

Since that agreement, a series of U.N. sanctions have been reimposed on Iran over what European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal have deemed Iran’s lack of compliance with the IAEA and the breakdown of peace negotiations with the U.S. That has complicated the tenuous relationship between the IAEA and Iran, but Grossi said that inspectors are inside the country as of Wednesday.

The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not immediately return a request for comment.

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American airstrike in April on a prison run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that killed over 60 detained African migrants should be investigated as a possible war crime, activists said Wednesday.

The call by Amnesty International renews scrutiny on the April 28 strike in Yemen’s Saada province. The attack came as part of an intense campaign of airstrikes waged under U.S. President Donald Trump targeting rebels for disrupting shipping through the Red Sea corridor amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The U.S. military’s Central Command has yet to offer any explanation for the strike on the prison, which previously had been hit by a Saudi-led coalition also fighting against the Houthis and had been known to hold detained African migrants trying to reach Saudi Arabia through the war zone.

“We take all reports of civilian harm seriously and are working to release the assessment results for Operation Rough Rider soon,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command.

Dozens killed

After the strike, the Houthis displayed debris likely from two, 250-pound precision-guided GBU-39 small-diameter bombs used by the U.S. military, Amnesty said. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty, all Ethiopian migrants detained while trying to reach Saudi Arabia, told the rights group that they saw no Houthi fighters posted inside the building.

Amnesty said the strike appeared to be an “indiscriminate attack” as it assessed there was no clear military objective. International law prohibits striking sites like hospitals and prisons unless the structures are being used to plan attacks or stockpile weapons — and even then, every precaution should be made to avoid hurting civilians.

Amnesty said the Houthis recently put the death toll in the strike at 61, lower than the 68 it initially reported. Gunfire could be heard in footage filmed after the airstrikes, with the Houthis saying their guards fired warning shots around the time of the strikes.

The April strike recalled a similar strike by a Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in 2022 on the same compound, which caused a collapse killing 66 detainees and wounding 113 others, a United Nations report later said. The Houthis shot dead 16 detainees who fled after the strike and wounded another 50, the U.N. said.

The Houthis denied any misconduct in the April strike, but Amnesty noted the rebels’ “ongoing crackdown on … activists, journalists, human rights defenders and humanitarian workers” limited its ability to investigate. The Houthis hold at least 59 United Nations staffers and more aid group workers, with the rebels seizing electronics at U.N. offices in recent days. The Iranian-backed rebels, under economic pressure, also increasingly have been threatening Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as well.

“I didn’t actually believe that it was possible that the U.S. would carry out an airstrike on the same compound, resulting in a significant level of civilian harm,” said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “It kind of defies belief that the U.S. would not have known.”

US campaign believed to have killed other civilians

The U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis began over the rebels’ attacks on shipping under U.S. President Joe Biden. However, the attacks sharply escalated under Trump’s Operation Rough Rider, hitting some 1,000 targets in Yemen.

Those strikes hit power stations, mobile phone infrastructure and military targets in Yemen. However, activists say the attacks also killed civilians, particularly an April strike on an oil depot that killed more than 70 people.

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Airwars, a United Kingdom-based group studying casualties in aerial warfare, believes strikes in the Operation Rough Rider at least 224 civilians during the weekslong campaign — nearly as many civilians killed over more than 20 years of American strikes on the country.

U.S. Army Gen. Michael Kurilla, CENTCOM’s former commander, promised details on civilian casualties in the Yemen campaign “absolutely” would be made public during congressional testimony in June, though that has yet to happen.

“One of the things that was relatively devastating is again you’re talking about people who left Ethiopia to travel to Yemen because they’re trying to get to the Gulf” to earn money for their families back home, Beckerle said. “They have to have their family send money to them in Yemen to deal with the effects of the injury.”

The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a sexual assault case reported Tuesday night in Vadnais Heights. Anyone with information about the attack or suspect or who has video footage from the scene is asked to come forward.

A woman reported she was walking just before 8 p.m. on the sidewalk near the intersection of Centerville Road and Pondview Drive when a man ran up from behind, forced her off the path and sexually assaulted her, according to the sheriff’s office.

After the attack, the woman ran to a nearby home seeking help and was then taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the suspect fled north from the scene toward Ramsey County Road 96.

The suspect is described as a white male with brown, curly hair (short on the sides) and no facial hair. He was believed to be in his mid-20s, stood about 6 feet tall and had a muscular build. He was wearing a black jacket, black pants and glasses, which the victim removed from his face during the struggle, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies and K9s searched the area, collected evidence and interviewed nearby residents and employees at businesses who may have witnessed or overheard the attack.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

Anyone with information about the suspect, or who has video footage from the area near the time of the assault, is asked to call the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office at 651-266-7331.

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Kids ‘n Kinship provides friendships and positive role models to children and youth ages 5-16 who are in need of an additional supportive relationship with an adult. Here’s one of the youth waiting for a mentor:

First name: Aaron

Age: 9

Interests: Aaron loves sports. He hopes to play on a soccer or basketball team, and would like to learn how to play football. His favorite things about school are recess and lunch, and math and gym are OK, too.  He is a pretty picky eater, he says, and his favorite food is noodles.

Personality/Characteristics: His guardian describes Aaron as “very smart, very sweet, and little sensitive.” Aaron likes being around people and likes to be funny. He says he has a lot of friends and was proud of himself for helping a new girl at school during recess.

Goals/dreams: Aaron’s 3 wishes would be 1) to have the super power to stop time or be invisible, 2) to have infinite money to buy a big house, but not mansion, and 3) to get a new car for his mom. When he grows up he dreams of being a famous soccer player and becoming a CEO of a new phone company.  His guardian hopes a mentor will be another supportive adult in his life, and someone to help answer all his curiosities about life and give new experiences as he grows!

For more information: Aaron is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship in Dakota County. To learn more about this youth mentoring program and the 39+ youth waiting for a mentor, sign up for an Information Session, visit www.kidsnkinship.org or email programs@kidsnkinship.org. For more information about mentoring in the Twin Cities outside of Dakota County, contact MENTOR MN at mentor@mentormn.org or fill out a brief form at www.mentoring.org/take-action/become-a-mentor/#search.

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