Tag Archives: females (demographic group)

Health

Fight menstrual cramps with food. Here’s how

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CNN
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About 85% of girls suffer painful bloating, cramps and abdominal pain during their monthly periods — and for some the problems can last for years.

“Since menstrual pain is a leading cause of school absenteeism for adolescent girls, it’s important to explore options that can minimize the pain,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, in a statement. She was not involved in the study.

But there are behavioral adjustments girls and young women can make to reduce pain, according to a new analysis of studies. “Diet modification could be a relatively simple solution that could provide substantial relief for them,” said Faubion, who is also the medical director for The North American Menopausal Society, of the research findings.

The abstract, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of NAMS, explored the connection between diet and dysmenorrhea, the medical term for painful periods. The lead author, Serah Sannoh, told CNN she became interested in the topic due to her own menstrual pain, which has plagued her since adolescence.

“I found diets high in inflammatory foods such as animal meats, oil, sugars, salts, and coffee contribute to an increased risk of pain during a woman’s period,” said Sannoh, who conducted the research as an intern at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. She is currently a medical student at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

“A lot of the things that young people like to eat are are highly inflammatory … lunch meats, foods full of sugars and trans fats. But if you go on an anti-inflammatory diet — fruit, vegetables, olive oil, like the Mediterranean diet — you’ll get less cramping,” said NAMS board member Dr. Monica Christmas, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.

The scientific evidence has shown eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep and exercising are effective measures in curtailing the duration and severity of cramps, Christmas said. But she noted it’s important women see a health care provider: “Make sure that there’s not some other medical condition that might also be contributing to the symptoms.”

As your body prepares to menstruate, endometrial cells that built a lining in the uterus to welcome a fertilized egg begin to break down. As they do, those cells release large amounts of fatty acids called prostaglandins to make the uterine layer contract and expel the unused tissue. The body also releases prostaglandins naturally during labor to open the cervix for birth.

Prostaglandins act like hormones, causing blood vessels and smooth muscles to constrict, resulting in cramping and pain. Researchers have found prostaglandin levels are higher and uterine contractions are stronger and more frequent in women with menstrual pain than women who have little or no pain, according to American Association of Family Physicians.

Eating inflammatory foods only adds to the discomfort, studies have found. Highly processed and high-sugar foods and fatty, greasy foods are common culprits — a 2018 study found college students who ate more snacks had more pain during their periods.

Another 2018 study of Spanish college students found women who drank cola and ate meat were more likely to suffer pain during their cycle than women who ate more vegetables and fruits. In fact, a 2020 study found women who ate fewer than two servings of fruit a day were more likely to suffer pain during their menstrual cycle.

Part of the problem is an imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, Sannoh found. Omega-3 fatty acids — found in foods such as salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters, walnuts, chia and flaxseeds — are anti-inflammatory. Studies have linked them to a reduction in risk for many chronic diseases triggered by inflammation.

Omega-6 fatty acids keep skin, hair and bones healthy and help regulate metabolism, in addition to their role in the reproductive system. But too many of these fatty acids can cause inflammation when the body ultimately breaks them down into arachidonic acid, which lowers the body’s pain threshold.

“From my research, I found out that people with diets high in omega-6 fatty acids, especifically those derived from animal-based products, have a higher presence of arachidonic acid in the body, which increases the amount of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins that help the uterus contract,” Sannoh said.

“When you have a diet that balances omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and you decrease the amount of inflammatory foods that you ingest, that will decrease the painful menstrual experience,” she added.

Two separate studies from 2011 and 2012 revealed women who took omega-3 fatty acid supplements reduced the intensity of menstrual discomfort enough to lower their use of ibuprofen for pain relief. And a 1996 study found a highly significant relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and milder menstrual symptoms in teens.

Changing your diet is not the only way to fight menstrual pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, reduce the production of prostaglandins, which is why they are a mainstay of treatment for cramps, Christmas said.

However, these pain medications also have side effects. According to a 2015 Cochrane Library review of evidence, NSAIDs are linked to bloating, diarrhea, dizziness, indigestion, headaches, heartburn, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting and on rare occasions, raised liver enzymes.

Certain oral birth control pills also lower the production of prostaglandins in the uterine lining, which then reduces both blood flow and cramping. Doses of less than 35 micrograms were “effective and should be the preparation of choice,” according to a 2009 Cochrane Library review.

But if you are not interested in using these methods — or want extra relief — give an anti-inflammatory diet a try. Sannoh put her research into practice by decreasing her intake of red meat and other inflammatory foods such as sugar and coffee, and told CNN that it did decrease her menstrual pain.

There’s an added benefit to adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, Christmas said.

“These diets are also associated with less high blood pressure, less cardiovascular disease, less diabetes, less arthritic issues, decreased morbidity and mortality, especially after menopause,” Christmas said.

“So if you can get people who are young to eat better, exercise, and live a healthier lifestyle, they’re going fare better as they age.”

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Sports

NWSL abuse report: Fans are outraged and players are exhausted after damning women’s soccer abuse report. Here’s what’s next

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CNN
 — 

The United States Women’s National Team play England in a friendly at Wembley on Friday. But as the world champion takes on the European champion, back in the US, women’s professional soccer is reeling from an independent investigation that found systemic abuse and misconduct within the sport.

Players have been described as “horrified and heartbroken and frustrated and exhausted,” as harrowing details emerge from the report, according to Becky Sauerbrunn, one of the stalwarts of the US women’s national soccer team.

“It’s hard,” midfielder Lindsey Horan said Wednesday at a media availability in London. “We’re angry. We’re pissed off and personally I feel like in a weird spot just because you know, I learned new things in this investigation that I didn’t know before and I wanted to wait and read it for myself and to be a part of an organization that was in this is really hard for me.”

“This investigation came forward and obviously we’re thankful for that, but it took way too long. This whole thing was prolonged incredibly, and I sit here and I’m like, it’s not done. This is all over the world.”

US Women’s National Team (USWNT) star Megan Rapinoe reiterated that women soccer players are angry and exhausted, telling a press conference Thursday: “Those people are in positions that have responsibilities and they didn’t fulfill those responsibilities. They didn’t protect the players at all amidst year, after year, after year. I feel like it’s impossible to overstate that every single year someone said something about multiple coaches in the league about multiple different environments,” she said.

“None of those people have shown they deserve to be around this beautiful game.”

United States Women’s National Team defender Crystal Dunn added she hoped the report will be the turning point for the sport.

“I think this report coming out was kind of the nail in the coffin,” Dunn said at a press conference in London on Wednesday. “It’s going to allow a lot of accountability that hasn’t really taken place and I think I am quite hopeful that the healing phase can now really take place.”

The report, led by former acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates, was based on more than 200 interviews and revealed the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) under the US Soccer Federation (USSF) failed to provide a safe environment for players.

US Soccer initiated its investigation a year ago by hiring Yates and the legal firm King and Spalding to review allegations, conduct interviews, and recommend solutions.

The federation says it gave Yates and the firm full autonomy and access in order to produce a complete, independent report.

Last year the 12-team NWSL was thrown into chaos following a report by The Athletic detailing allegations of sexual coercion and misconduct against Paul Riley, who coached three NWSL franchises over eight seasons.

He was fired by the North Carolina Courage after The Athletic cited players on the record alleging that for years, Riley used his influence and power to sexually harass players and in one incident, coerce a player into having sex with him.

Riley denied the accusations in the report. CNN has not been able to reach Riley for comment.

By the end of the season, “half of the league’s teams had parted ways” with their coaches after player complaints, the Yates report notes.

The Yates report features submitted first-hand accounts from players who describe alleged abuses from head coaches as well as team management.

Monday’s report states that sexual misconduct and abuse was far more widespread than just one coach or incident, but centers on allegations of sexual misconduct by coaches Riley, Rory Dames and Christy Holly, and the alleged failure of executives to investigate or act.The report further states that while their findings focus on the three named coaches, the three were “not the only coaches who mistreated players.”

Paul Riley was fired by the North Carolina Courage after The Athletic cited players on the record alleging that for years, Riley used his influence and power to sexually harass players and in one incident, coerce a player into having sex with him.

“Paul Riley’s abuse was prolonged and wide-ranging. It spanned multiple leagues, teams, and players. It included emotional misconduct, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct,” the report says. Before coaching the Courage, Riley had coached two other NWSL teams – the Portland Thorns and the Western New York Flash.

Investigators found that Riley’s conduct was “generally ignored or accepted” until The Athletic reports emerged.

The report corroborated accounts made by players to The Athletic, and “found evidence that they were not alone.”

The report found that in 2015, a player reported Riley to the Portland Thorns and the league for sexual misconduct.

After a one-week investigation, the Thorns terminated him citing “violations of several provisions of Riley’s employment contract for cause,” including “gross negligence or wilful misconduct” in performing his duties, Yates found, citing a letter from Thorns’ general manager.

The Thorns did not make this information public, the Yates report found, instead saying that Riley would “not be retained” for the 2016 season and thanked him for his service. Soon afterwards, Riley took another coaching job in the league.

In response to The Athletic’s 2021 reporting, Riley responded to a list of questions about his alleged conduct with an email where he stated that the majority of the allegations are “completely untrue.”

Christy Holly was fired from Racing Louisville after the team determined that he had engaged in long-term and egregious sexual misconduct against a player, according to the report – though at the time, the team merely said they fired him “for cause.”

Holly’s behavior, which allegedly began before his stint at Racing Louisville and carried on in the time he spent with the team, included unwanted sexual contact, coercive text messages, abuse of power, and retaliation, according to the report.

One player who trained with Holly during her off-season, Erin Simon, according to the report, said Holly sent her inappropriate texts, including photographs of his penis and a video of himself masturbating, and asked her to send sexual pictures and a video of herself back, which she said she felt “guilted” into doing, with Holly constantly telling her to “loosen up,” and insisting that having “fun” with him would improve her performance on the field.

When he was her coach at Racing Louisville, Simon said that Holly invited her to his house to watch game film, but instead showed her pornography, touched her, told her he wanted to have a threesome with her and another former player, and masturbated in front of her, forcing her to touch his penis, Yates’ report says.

According to the report, in another incident, after being called over by Holly to watch game footage together, Simon recalled that during this session, Holly told her he was going to touch her “for every pass [she] f**ked up.” Simon said that he pushed his hands down her pants and up her shirt as she tried to cross her legs and push him away, laughing in the meantime so as not to anger him.

CNN has been unable to reach Holly for comment.

According to the report, Holly admitted that he lost his job at Louisville due to his “unique” relationship with Erin Simon.

“He admitted to texting Simon, including sending and soliciting sexual photos. But he denied that any sexual conduct continued at Racing Louisville,” the report added.

Racing Louisville FC said in a statement Wednesday that the Yates report “served as a harsh reminder that appointing Christy Holly as Racing Louisville FC’s first coach was a mistake. We have learned from that mistake, and we apologize to Erin Simon, to our players past and present and to our fans,” they added.

They added “while our former coach was terminated within 24 hours of us being alerted to the behavior, we know that wasn’t enough and that we failed our locker room by creating a space where this behavior could occur.

“We have worked hard every day since then to ensure a safe environment that puts players in a position to succeed. This includes implementation of club-wide anonymous reporting services and a re-evaluated hiring process for staff.”

In the report, Yates noted that while Dames had a reputation for developing successful players and teams, he was “equally renowned for his tirades against the young girls who played for him.”

Dames was the former head coach for the Chicago Red Stars and is the current owner and former president and coach of the Eclipse Select Soccer Club, an elite youth soccer organization of boys’ and girls’ teams in suburban Chicago.

The report concludes that “Dames created a sexualized team environment and verbally and emotionally abused players and staff,” and allegedly “made inappropriate sexual and suggestive remarks to youth female players, asked about their boyfriends and sex lives, and sought information about their personal lives.”

One player’s allegations “recounted an instance where Dames gave her a ride after practice and ‘ask[ed] me all kinds of questions about sex … and wouldn’t take me home until I answered the questions,’” while another alleged Dames would “give girls tips on sex” and say things like: “you should be shaved and bare down there,” and “I hope you are giving your boyfriend a good time.”

A sports psychologist asserted that Dames created “a culture of fear” and was emotionally and verbally abusive, with players describing him as “condescending,” “manipulative,” “aggressive,” “insulting,” and “an intimidator,” the report noted.

Dames denies engaging in any misconduct as a coach, sexual or otherwise, according to his lawyer.

“He will address the misstatements of fact and false and defamatory statements in the report but his hands are tied at this time as U.S. Soccer referred all of the matters in the Yates’ report to SafeSport. Upon advice of counsel, Mr. Dames has declined to discuss these matters publicly in any detail,” said his lawyer.

The damning report found that verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct – had become systemic in the NWSL, with many teams and coaches implicated, and with numerous victims.

“Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players.”

This, investigators noted, was worsened because league owners and the federation “did not institute the most basic of workplace protections.”

For most of the league’s existence, it has had no anti-harassment policy, no anti-retaliation policy and no anti-fraternization policy, the scathing report noted.

Meanwhile, for the most part, the league did not have ways for players to report inappropriate behavior, while teams generally lacked human resource departments and didn’t perform adequate checks when hiring coaches.

National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman issued a statement Tuesday saying the league is committed to “implementing reform and disciplinary action” based on the Yates report and the findings of the league and union’s ongoing investigation.

“We have asked the Joint Investigative Team to consider the recommendations set forth in the Yates Report when making their recommendations to the NWSL. Moreover, we have asked the Joint Investigative Team to review – and investigate as necessary – the findings in the Yates Report when concluding their report,” the NWSL added in a statement sent to CNN Thursday.

The report noted that high-ups in soccer failed to properly investigate or make public reports of abuse by coaches, allowing them to move to other teams.

“Teams, the League, and the Federation not only repeatedly failed to respond appropriately when confronted with player reports and evidence of abuse, they also failed to institute basic

measures to prevent and address it, even as some leaders privately acknowledged the need for workplace protections,” the report noted.

“As a result, abusive coaches moved from team to team, laundered by press releases thanking them for their service, and positive references from teams that minimized or even concealed misconduct. Those at the NWSL and USSF in a position to correct the record stayed silent.

“In general, teams, the NWSL, and USSF appear to have prioritized concerns of legal exposure to litigation by coaches—and the risk of drawing negative attention to the team or League—over player safety and well-being,” the report noted.

CNN has reached out to U.S. Soccer and the NWSL for comment on these specific allegations.

U.S. Soccer referred CNN to its previous statements, where it committed to addressing the report’s recommendations and said it would, among many steps, establish a new Office of Participant Safety to oversee U.S. Soccer’s conduct policies and reporting mechanisms; publish soccer records from SafeSport’s centralized disciplinary database to publicly identify individuals in the sport who have been disciplined, suspended or banned; and mandate a uniform minimum standard for background checks for all U.S. Soccer members at every level of the game.

In her report, Yates noted that some teams didn’t fully cooperate with investigators, despite releasing statements which suggested otherwise.

“The Portland Thorns interfered with our access to relevant witnesses and raised specious legal arguments in an attempt to impede our use of relevant documents,” the report noted.

“Racing Louisville FC refused to produce documents concerning Christy Holly and would not permit witnesses (even former employees) to answer relevant questions regarding Holly’s tenure, citing non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements it signed with Holly.

“The Chicago Red Stars unnecessarily delayed the production of relevant documents over the course of nearly nine months,” investigators noted.

CNN has reached out to Racing Louisville FC, the Chicago Red Stars and the Portland Thorns for comment.

Portland Thorns FC and Portland Timbers’ president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson and president of business Mike Golub have been fired, the organization said on Wednesday, while Thorns and Timbers’ club owner Merritt Paulson announced on Tuesday that he was removing himself immediately from all team-related decision making until the findings of an the investigation being conducted by the NWSL and the players union (NWSLPA) are released.

In his Tuesday statement, Paulson apologized for his organization’s role in “a gross systemic failure to protect player safety and the missteps we made in 2015.”

The allegations have drawn fierce criticism from players.

Becky Sauerbrunn, one of the stalwarts of the US women’s national soccer team, said Tuesday that players are angry and want immediate changes.

“The players are not doing well. We are horrified and heartbroken and frustrated and exhausted. And we are really, really angry. We are angry that it took a third-party investigation,” Sauerbrunn stated at the beginning of a scheduled press conference on Tuesday.

The two-time World Cup winner added that “people in authority and decision-making positions have repeatedly failed to protect us.”

Sauerbrunn, a 10-year NWSL veteran who is in her third season with the Portland Thorns, continued, “Every owner and executive and US Soccer official who repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players, who have hidden behind legalities and have not participated fully in these investigations, should be gone.

“At the bare minimum, the recommendations that are in the Sally Yates report should be immediately implemented by US Soccer and by the league (NWSL).”

Fan groups for the Portland Thorns and the men’s team, the Portland Timbers, say they have suspended ties with the two teams in response to the revelations made about team management in the report.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday, the supporter groups known collectively as 107IST, said “While we were prepared for the worst, nothing prepared us for what was contained in the USSF/ Sally Yates report.

“It’s time to build a bonfire,” they said, calling for changes in key leadership positions.

The league said Monday it would review the findings, and that its own investigation in conjunction with the players’ union is ongoing. That investigation is expected to be released in November.

National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman issued a statement Tuesday updating the status of a joint investigation being conducted by the league and players union (NWSLPA) after owners of the Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars each said they would step back from their respective clubs.

Both franchises are named in the report. “The NWSL is supportive of the important steps taken by the Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars today,” Berman said in a written statement.

She also said the league is committed to “implementing reform and disciplinary action” based on the Yates report and the findings of the league and union’s ongoing investigation.

“While it will take time, we are fully prepared to take the necessary steps to protect the health and safety of our players, staff and other stakeholders in order to create the League that our players, fans, partners and staff deserve and expect,” she said.

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Business

Here’s who made Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list for 2022

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The competition to be listed among Fortune’s Most Powerful Women has gotten a little stiffer this year. In recognition of just how global business has become, Fortune decided to merge its domestic and international lists of top corporate women leaders.

Still, in some ways, this year’s top 10 list is similar to last year’s with a few exceptions.

Coming in at No. 1 for the second year running is CVS Health president and CEO Karen Lynch, who is leading the highest-ranking Fortune 500 and Global 500 company ever run by a woman. On her watch – she took the helm in February 2021 – the company’s revenue jumped 9% and its share price gains (up 42%) well outpaced performance of the S&P 500. CVS, meanwhile, continued to be a central player in the fight against Covid, and Lynch implemented a mental health program to help prevent suicide among its Aetna members.

Ranking close behind Lynch once again are Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture (No. 2); Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi (No. 3); and Mary Barra, chair and CEO, GM (No. 4).

But the No. 5 spot went to Jessica Tan, co-CEO and executive director of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd, which is the 25th largest company in the world. Fortune notes that despite China’s Covid lockdowns and “skittish consumer sentiment,” Ping An under Tan’s leadership beat profit expectations in the first half of 2022 and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

Also new to the top 10 relative to Fortune’s domestic list last year is Emma Walmsley, CEO of global drugmaker GSK. She spun off her company’s $13 billion consumer health unit. “That leaves the now exclusively pharma-focused GSK with a pile of cash to invest in promising drug and vaccine candidates,” Fortune notes.

Two executives, meanwhile, fell out of the top 10 from last year: Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of TIAA; and Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Alphabet. But neither fell far, ranking as No. 11 and 12, respectively.

Here are the top 10 women executives on Fortune’s 2022 Most Powerful Women list:

1. Karen Lynch, president and CEO, CVS Health

2. Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture

3. Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup

4. Mary Barra, chair and CEO, GM

5. Jessica Tan, executive director and Co-CEO, Ping An Insurance

6. Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS

7. Rosalind Brewer, CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance

8. Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK

9. Gail Boudreaux, president and CEO, Elevance Health

10. Abigail Johnson, chair and CEO, Fidelity Investments

(For more on each of these executives, here is Fortune’s full list of the top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Please note a subscription is required.)

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Science

NASA, SpaceX to send first Native American woman to orbit

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CNN
 — 

The first Native American woman ever to travel to Earth’s orbit will take flight this week on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The astronaut, NASA’s Nicole Aunapu Mann, will serve as mission commander.

The former US Marine Corps pilot’s role can be thought of as the crew’s quarterback.

Mann’s historic journey — and her first trip to space since joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013 — is on track to kick off Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, when Mann and her three crewmates will ride in their spacecraft atop a 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) SpaceX rocket set to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They’ll travel to the International Space Station for a five-month stay, joining a long list of astronauts to serve as full-time staff aboard the orbiting laboratory, which has hosted humans for nearly 22 years.

On her trip, Mann will carry some mementos: her wedding rings, a surprise gift for her family, and a dream catcher that her mother gave her.

“That will be a special part of my childhood and of my community and my family,” Mann told reporters during a news conference Saturday, just after arriving by plane to the launch site.

Her crewmates will also represent a broad swath of cultural backgrounds. She’ll fly alongside fellow NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, who is from Minnesota; Koichi Wakata of Japan’s space agency, called JAXA, or Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Anna Kikina, a Roscomos cosmonaut who joined this mission as part of a US-Russian ride-sharing agreement.

“I am very proud to represent Native Americans and my heritage,” Mann said. “I think it’s important to celebrate our diversity and also realize how important it is when we collaborate and unite, the incredible accomplishments that we can have.”

Mann grew up in Northern California and is a registered member of the Wailacki tribe of the Round Valley reservation, which encompasses several Indigenous tribes that were forced onto the same post-colonial reservation in the mid-1800s.

“A lot of my extended family still lives in that area,” Mann told Indian Country Today in August. “We actually got together a couple of weeks ago for a family reunion. So it’s really important, I think, for us to continue to create those bonds.”

A colonel in the Marine Corps, Mann began a military career as a second lieutenant in 1999, according to NASA’s website. Two years later, she began flight training and went on serve two deployments, supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to NASA. She then earned a spot as a test pilot, flying F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft.

Mann said she realized only later in life that she wanted to be an astronaut — and that such a role was feasible.

“I was in my mid 20s,” she told reporters in August. “I realized that being an astronaut was not only something that was a possible dream, but actually something that’s quite attainable. I think as a young girl, I just didn’t realize that that was an opportunity and a possibility.”

After being selected for NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013, Mann waited years to be assigned to a mission. And after being slotted into her role on Crew-5, Mann spent 18 months in intensive training, including practicing spacewalks underwater and studying Russian to better communicate with her cosmonaut counterparts.

READ MORE: The big numbers that make the Artemis I mission a monumental feat

Mann’s mission, dubbed Crew-5, will mark the sixth astronaut launch that SpaceX has carried out in partnership with NASA since 2020 as part of a broader effort to outsource human spaceflight and other ISS activities to the private sector.

In her role as commander, Mann will be responsible for ensuring the spacecraft is on track from the time it launches until it docks with the ISS and again when it returns home with the four Crew-5 astronauts next year. Never before has a woman taken on the commander role on a SpaceX mission, though a couple women served in that position during the Space Shuttle Program, which NASA retired in 2011.

In the years after NASA was formed in the mid-20th century, astronauts were all White men — even through the final days of the space agency’s famed Apollo program. That only changed when Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, and she was followed shortly after by the first Black person in space, Guion Bluford.

READ MORE: Meet the space trailblazers of color who empowered others to dream

Since then, NASA has worked to make its astronaut corps more diverse. The space agency’s new, cornerstone human spaceflight program, called Artemis, aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.

The Artemis program hasn’t taken off yet, as NASA is still working to get its mega moon rocket off the ground. But Mann was selected as one of 18 astronauts that could be assigned to the program’s first moon landing mission.

The diverse group of Artemis astronauts have been taking turns traveling to the ISS, where they conduct science experiments and keep of the maintenance of the aging space station as well as prepare for a possible journey to deep space later this decade.

“What we are going to do in low-Earth orbit is a stepping stone to achieve those goals of exploration into deep space,” Mann said, using the term “low-Earth orbit” to refer to the area of space where the ISS orbits. “We’re going to gain a ton of experience flying in low-Earth orbit, and any of us could be assigned to an Artemis mission in the future. And hopefully we’ll walk on the moon together one day. “

On Saturday, Mann also commented on the importance of having astronauts with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds.

“We hope that this will inspire young children throughout the world that come from varying, different backgrounds,” she said. “In fact, I hope it inspires adults as well to follow your dreams and to realize that the limitations that we may have had in the past are starting to be broken down.”



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Entertainment

Loretta Lynn, coal miner’s daughter turned country queen, dies at 90

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CNN
 — 

Loretta Lynn, the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” whose gutsy lyrics and twangy, down-home vocals made her a queen of country music for seven decades, has died. She was 90.

Lynn’s family said in a statement to CNN that she died Tuesday at her home in Tennessee.

“Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the statement read.

They asked for privacy as they grieve and said a memorial will be announced later.

Lynn, who had no formal music training but spent hours every day singing her babies to sleep, was known to churn out fully textured songs in a matter of minutes. She just wrote what she knew.

She lived in poverty for much of her early life, began having kids by age 17 and spent years married to a man prone to drinking and philandering – all of which became material for her plainspoken songs. Lynn’s life was rich with experiences most country stars of the time hadn’t had for themselves – but her female fans knew them intimately.

“So when I sing those country songs about women struggling to keep things going, you could say I’ve been there,” she wrote in her first memoir, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” “Like I say, I know what it’s like to be pregnant and nervous and poor.”

Lynn scored hits with fiery songs like “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” which topped the country charts in 1966 and made her the first female country singer to write a No. 1 hit.

Her songs recounted family history, skewered lousy husbands and commiserated with women, wives and mothers everywhere. Her tell-it-like-it-is style saw tracks such as “Rated X” and “The Pill” banned from radio, even as they became beloved classics.

 “I wasn’t the first woman in country music,” Lynn told Esquire in 2007. “I was just the first one to stand up there and say what I thought, what life was about.”

 She was born Loretta Webb in 1932, one of eight Webb children raised in Butcher Hollow in the Appalachian mining town of Van Lear, Kentucky. Growing up, Lynn sang in church and at home, even as her father protested that everyone in Butcher Hollow could hear.

Her family had little money. But those early years were some of her fondest memories, as she recounts in her 1971 hit, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”: “We were poor but we had love; That’s the one thing that daddy made sure of.”

As a young teenager, Loretta met the love of her life in Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, whom she affectionately called “Doo.” The pair married when Lynn was 15 – a fact cleared up in 2012, after the Associated Press discovered Lynn was a few years older than she had said she was in her memoir – and Lynn gave birth to their first of six children the same year.

“When I got married, I didn’t even know what pregnant meant,” said Lynn, who bore four children in the first four years of marriage and a set of twins years later.

“I was five months pregnant when I went to the doctor, and he said, ‘You’re gonna have a baby.’ I said, ‘No way. I can’t have no baby.’ He said, ‘Ain’t you married?’ Yep. He said, ‘You sleep with your husband?’ Yep. ‘You’re gonna have a baby, Loretta. Believe me.’ And I did.”

The couple soon headed to Washington state in search of jobs. Music wasn’t a priority for the young mother at first. She’d spend her days working, mostly, picking strawberries in Washington state while her babies sat on a blanket nearby.

But when her husband heard her humming tunes and soothing their babies to sleep, he said she sounded better than the girl singers on the radio. He bought her a $17 Harmony guitar and got her a gig at a local tavern.

It wasn’t until 1960 that she’d record what would become her debut single, “Honky Tonk Girl.” She then took the song on the road, playing country music stations across the United States.

After years of hard work and raising kids, telling stories with her guitar seemed like a break.

 “Singing was easy,” Lynn told NPR’s Terry Gross in 2010. “I thought ‘Gee whiz, this is an easy job.’ ”

The success of her first single landed Lynn on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and, soon, a contract with Decca Records. She quickly befriended country star Patsy Cline, who guided her through the fame and fashion of country stardom until her shocking death in a plane crash in 1963.

 Cline “was my only girlfriend at the time. She took me under her wing, and when I lost her, it was something else. I still miss her to this day,” Lynn told The Denver Post in 2009. “I wrote ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man,’ and she said, ‘Loretta, that’s a damn hit.’ It shocked me, because you don’t expect somebody like Patsy Cline to tell you that you have a hit. Right after she passed, I put the record out, and it was a hit.”

Lynn’s struggle and success became the stuff of legend, an oft-repeated story of youth, naivete and poverty.

From “Fist City” to “You’re Lookin’ at Country,” Lynn always sang from the heart, whether she was telling off a woman interested in Doo or honoring her Appalachian roots. But her music was far from conventional.

She rankled the conservative country establishment with songs like “Rated X,” about the stigma fun-loving women face after divorce, and “The Pill,” in which a woman toasts her newfound freedom thanks to birth control – “They didn’t have none of them pills when I was younger, or I’d have been swallowing them like popcorn,” Lynn wrote in her memoir.

She documented her upbringing in the bestselling 1976 memoir “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” co-written with George Vecsey. A 1980 biographical film by the same name won an Academy Award for actress Sissy Spacek and brought Lynn wider fame. Lynn’s success also helped launch the music careers of her sisters, Peggy Sue Wright and Crystal Gayle.

Lynn’s legend faced questions in 2012 when The Associated Press reported that in census records, a birth certificate and marriage license, Lynn was three years older than what most biographies stated. It didn’t mar Lynn’s success, but did make the oft-repeated tales of her teen marriage and motherhood less extreme.

“I never, never thought about being a role model,” Lynn told the San Antonio Express-News in 2010. “I wrote from life, how things were in my life. I never could understand why others didn’t write down what they knew.”

Lynn always credited her husband with giving her the confidence to first step on stage as a young performer. She also spoke in interviews, and in her music, about the pain he caused over their nearly 50 years of marriage. Doolittle Lynn died in 1996 after years of complications from heart problems and diabetes.

In her 2002 memoir, “Still Woman Enough,” Lynn wrote that he was an alcoholic who cheated on her and beat her, even as she hit him back. But she stayed with him until his death and told NPR in 2010 that “he’s in there somewhere” in every song she wrote.

“We fought one day and we’d love the next, so I mean … to me, that’s a good relationship,” she told NPR. “If you can’t fight, if you can’t tell each other what you think – why, your relationship ain’t much anyway.”

Lynn won numerous awards throughout her career, including three Grammys and many honors from the Academy of Country Music. She earned Grammys for her 1971 duet with Conway Twitty, “After the Fire is Gone,” and for the 2004 album “Van Lear Rose,” a collaboration with Jack White of the White Stripes that introduced her to a new generation of fans.

 She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, and her song “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and in 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 President Barack Obama said Lynn “gave voice to a generation, singing what no one wanted to talk about and saying what no one wanted to think about.”

Her career and legend only continued to grow in her later years as she recorded new songs, toured steadily and drew loyal audiences well into her 80s. A museum and dude ranch are dedicated to Lynn at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

“Working keeps you young,” she told Esquire in 2007. “I ain’t ever gonna stop. And when I do, it’s gonna be right on stage. That’ll be it.”

Lynn was hospitalized in 2017 after suffering a stroke at her home. The following year she broke a hip. Her health forced her to quit touring.

In early 2021, at the age of 89, she recorded her 50th album, “Still Woman Enough.”

The title song, which she sang alongside successors Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire, sounded like a mission statement that captures the ethos of her career:

“I’m still woman enough, still got what it takes inside;

I know how to love, lose, and survive;

Ain’t much I ain’t seen, I ain’t tried;

I’ve been knocked down, but never out of the fight;

I’m strong, but I’m tender;

Wise, but I’m tough;

And let me tell you when it comes to love;

I’m still woman enough.”

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Sports

Investigation finds systemic abuse and misconduct within women’s professional soccer

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CNN
 — 

An independent investigation has found systemic abuse and misconduct within women’s professional soccer in the United States.

The report, led by former acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates and released Monday, was based on more than 200 interviews and reveals the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) under the US Soccer Federation (USSF) failed to provide a safe environment for players.

“Our investigation has revealed a league (NWSL) in which abuse and misconduct — verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct — had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims,” the report reads. “Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players.”

The report comes about a year after the 12-team NWSL was thrown into chaos following a report by The Athletic detailing allegations of sexual coercion and misconduct against Paul Riley, who coached three NWSL franchises over eight seasons. He was fired by the North Carolina Courage after The Athletic cited players on the record alleging that for years, Riley used his influence and power to sexually harass players and in one incident, coerce a player into having sex with him.

Riley denied the accusations in the report. CNN has not been able to reach Riley for comment.

In the wake of that report, then-NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird resigned and the league called off all matches scheduled for that weekend. By the end of the year, half of the league’s teams had parted ways with their coaches after player complaints, the Yates report notes.

Monday’s report states that sexual misconduct and abuse was far more widespread than just one coach or incident.

“In well over 200 interviews, we heard report after report of relentless, degrading tirades; manipulation that was about power, not improving performance; and retaliation against those who attempted to come forward,” the report states. “Even more disturbing were the stories of sexual misconduct. Players described a pattern of sexually charged comments, unwanted sexual advances and sexual touching, and coercive sexual intercourse.”

The league said Monday it would review the findings.

“We recognize the anxiety and mental strain that these pending investigations have caused and the trauma that many — including players and staff — are having to relive,” the league said in a statement.

The league’s own investigation in conjunction with the players’ union is ongoing, the NWSL said.

The Yates report features submitted first-hand accounts from players who describe abuses from head coaches as well as team management.

In one case, a head coach allegedly asked a player to review match footage 1-on-1 at his house only to show pornography instead. According to the report, the same manager “sexually coerced” that player and “grabbed and groped her in public, but out of view.”

There are multiple allegations or findings in the report of sexual harassment and misconduct by head coaches.

The report notes abusive coaches were able to move from team to team despite accusations levied against them because the league and the federation feared the organizations could be named in any potential defamation or employment lawsuits.

Yates recommends a public “list of individuals disciplined, suspended, or banned by USSF, a USSF Organization Member, or SafeSport.”

The US Center for SafeSport is an organization authorized by Congress and designed to end sexual, emotional and physical abuse in Olympic sports.

“This is very emotional for me, and honestly I’m having trouble absorbing everything in the report,” US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone told reporters during a video conference call. “I think it will take some time to really read through it and think about the actions and inactions of certain people and then will take us some time to think about what needs to be done in terms of discipline.”

Earlier, she said the US Soccer Federation, as the national governing body for soccer, “is fully committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that all players — at all levels — have a safe and respectful place to learn, grow and compete.”

The NWSL players association praised the players who cooperated with the investigation and spoke up about the abuse and misconduct.

“As difficult as this report is to read, it has been even more painful for Players, whether known or unknown, to live it. We appreciate their efforts to seek the truth in support of our work to transform NWSL,” the association said.

“These stories have inspired us to engage in collective action to bring about change. By sharing our stories, Players are reclaiming the League and the sport,” the association added.

US Soccer initiated the investigation a year ago by hiring Yates and the legal firm King and Spalding to review allegations, conduct interviews and recommend solutions. The federation says it gave Yates and the firm full autonomy and access in order to produce a complete, independent report.

A US Soccer statement noted the federation’s board of directors had voted to release the full report on Monday while preserving “victim privacy and confidentiality.”

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World

Why Iranian women are cutting their hair

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Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

A weeping Iranian woman is seen kneeling by her dead brother’s coffin as she slashes through her hair with a pair of scissors. Her relatives wail for justice as she tosses strands onto the coffin.

They were grieving for 36-year-old Javad Heydari, who was fatally shot last week at one of the anti-government protests that have gripped Iran.

Images like these have galvanized women across the world to join Iranian women protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in hospital on September 16, three days after being pulled off the streets of Tehran by morality police and taken to a “re-education center” for lessons in modesty.

From the Middle East, Europe and across the United States, women around the globe have shown solidarity with Iranian women’s plight in rallies and demonstrations. Some have also cut or shaved their hair in public or while being filmed.

These protests are different, says celebrated Iranian author

Now in their 12th day, protests have swept through more than 40 Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran. Iranian security forces have been cracking down on protesters, with hundreds arrested and at least 41 killed, according to state media. Some human rights organizations say the death toll is as high as 76. CNN cannot independently verify these figures.

So, why are women cutting their hair?

For many Iranian women, cutting off hair – a sign of beauty that is decreed to be hidden in the Islamic Republic – is a poignant form of protest.

“We want to show them that we don’t care about their standards, their definition of beauty or what they think that we should look like,” said 36-year-old Faezeh Afshan, an Iranian chemical engineer living in Bologna, Italy, who was filmed shaving off her hair. “It is to show that we are angry.”

Afshan attributes the practice of cutting off hair to historical cultural practices. “In our literature, cutting the hair is a symbol of mourning, and sometimes a symbol of protesting,” she told CNN. “If we can cut our hair to show that we are angry… we will do it.”

The practice is cited in Shahnameh, a 1,000-year-old Persian epic and a cultural mainstay in Iran written by Ferdowsi. Made of nearly 60,000 verses, the poem tells the stories of the kings of Persia and is one of the most important works of literature in the Persian language. In more than one instance through the epic work, hair is plucked in an act of mourning.

“Women cutting their hair is an ancient Persian tradition… when the fury is stronger than the power of the oppressor,” tweeted Wales-based writer and translator Shara Atashi. “The moment we have been waiting for has come. Politics fueled by poetry.”

In the Shahnameh, after the hero Siyavash is killed, his wife Farangis and the girls accompanying her cut their hair to protest injustice, Atashi told CNN.

The characters portrayed in the poem “are in everyday use as symbols and archetypes,” she said, adding that the poem has helped shape the identities of Iranians, Afghans and Tajiks for 1,000 years.

“But there is haircutting in the poetry of Hafez and Khaqani too, always about mourning and protests against injustice,” she said, referring to other Persian poets.

Women burn their hijabs after woman’s death in police custody

The practice is also common in other ancient cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh, a 3,500-year-old poem from ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) covers themes of grief and despair, where cutting or pulling out one’s hair is used to express anguish. The poem is considered to be one of the world’s oldest works of literature and is said to have influenced neighboring cultures.

Shima Babaei, an Iranian activist residing in Belgium who said she was arrested by Iran’s notorious morality police in 2018 for publicly removing her hijab as a sign of protest, told CNN that hair cutting had “historical meaning” for Iranians. Women who lose a direct relative would sometimes cut their hair as a sign of mourning and anger, she said.

Iranian women open up about hijab law and morality police

“For us, Mahsa was our sister,” she said. “And so, in this way, we are protesting.”

Cutting hair, said Atashi, “is itself a ceremony of mourning to better expose the depth of suffering at the loss of a loved one.” And in today’s context, she adds, it is a sign of “protest against the killing of our people.”

Saudi king names MBS as prime minister

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has named his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) as the kingdom’s prime minister and another son Prince Khalid as defense minister, according to Saudi state media.

  • Background: The crown prince was promoted from defense minister and has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia for several years. Khalid previously served as deputy defense minister. MBS said the kingdom has increased its self-sufficiency in military industries to 15% from 2% and plans to reach 50% under the newly appointed defense minister, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. King Salman will still preside over the cabinet meetings he attends, the decree showed.
  • Why it matters: MBS has changed Saudi Arabia radically since rising to power in 2017, leading efforts to diversify the economy from its dependence on oil, allowing women to drive and curbing clerics’ powers. His reforms, however, have come with a crackdown on dissent, with activists, royals, women rights’ activists and businessmen jailed.

Turkey summons German envoy after politician likens Erdogan to ‘sewer rat’

Turkey’s foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador to Ankara on Tuesday to protest comments made by a senior German politician who likened President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a “little sewer rat,” Reuters reported. “We condemn in the strongest terms the insulting statements made by Wolfgang Kubicki, the vice-speaker of the German Federal Parliament, about our president in a speech during the Lower Saxony state election campaign,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a statement.

  • Background: Kubicki confirmed to Reuters that he made the comment during an election campaign rally while trying to draw attention to a rise in the number of illegal migrants moving from Turkey along the so-called Balkan route towards Germany. “A sewer rat is a small, cute, but at the same time clever and crafty creature that also appears in children’s stories,” Kubicki said, citing the popular animated movie “Ratatouille” as an example.
  • Why it matters: Turkey is a candidate for EU membership but negotiations have long been stalled amid disagreements on a number of issues including Ankara’s human rights record, migration and geopolitics. Insulting the president is a criminal offense in Turkey, where Erdogan and his ruling AK Party have held power for two decades.

At least 4 Palestinians killed, dozens wounded in one of this year’s deadliest Israeli West Bank raids

At least four Palestinian men were killed and 50 wounded during an Israeli military raid in Jenin Wednesday morning, Palestinian officials said, making it one of the deadliest Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank this year, which has already seen over 100 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the raid was related to an attack in Tel Aviv in April which left three people dead, and that the suspects Wednesday fought back with explosives and gunfire.

  • Background: For months, Israel has been regularly raiding cities in the West Bank, focusing especially on Jenin and Nablus, saying it is targeting militants and their weapons caches before they have the chance to cross into Israel and carry out attacks. The operation, dubbed “Breaking the Wave” by the IDF, was launched after a series of attacks on Israelis. At least 20 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in attacks targeting civilians and soldiers in Israel and the West Bank so far this year.
  • Why it matters: This is already the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2015, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 35 of those killed have been in Jenin. Israel says most killed were engaging violently with soldiers during military operations, but dozens of unarmed civilians have been killed as well, human rights groups including B’Tselem have said.

Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Henna, a reddish-brown dye famously used for body art in many parts of the Middle East, may be making its way to joining the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

In the process of being nominated by the UAE and the Arab League, henna has long been part of Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian heritage and identity.

Dating back thousands of years, the temporary dye is used to create elaborate designs mainly on one’s hands, often for religious festivals and celebrations.

Representatives from 16 Arab countries met this month to discuss the nomination, according to the Abu Dhabi government media office, stressing that henna plays an important role in Arab and Gulf culture and identity.

UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage includes both inherited as well as modern traditions, and is meant to promote practices that contribute to “social cohesion” and encourage a shared sense of identity.

The list includes practices such as falconry, yoga, and Arabic calligraphy.

By Nadeen Ebrahim



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World

Mahsa Amini: Iran women protest and burn their hijabs over death of woman who died in police custody

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CNN
 — 

In the video, a massive crowd cheers as a woman lifts a pair of scissors to her hair – exposed, without a hijab in sight. The sea of people, many of them men, roar as she chops off her ponytail and raises her fist in the air.

It was a powerful act of defiance Tuesday night in the Iranian city of Kerman, where women are required to wear hijabs (or headscarves) in public, as outrage over the death of a woman in police custody fuels protests across the country.

Iranian authorities said Wednesday that three people, including a member of the security forces, have been killed in the unrest, which has stretched into a fifth day.

Human rights groups have reported that at least seven people have been killed.

The death last week of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran by morality police – a dedicated unit that enforces strict dress codes for women, such as wearing the compulsory headscarf – has sparked an outpouring anger over issues ranging from freedoms in the Islamic Republic to the crippling economic impacts of sanctions.

The protests are striking for their scale, ferocity and rare feminist nature; the last demonstrations of this size were three years ago, after the government hiked gas prices in 2019.

After starting Saturday at Amini’s funeral in Iran’s Kurdistan province, the demonstrations have swept much of the country, leading to clashes with security forces trying to quell them.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made no mention of the protests during a speech on Wednesday to veterans and military commanders commemorating the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

The prosecutor in the western city of Kermanshah said two people were killed during “riots” on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The official IRNA state news agency said a police “assistant” was killed and four others injured during protests in Shiraz, the capital city of Fars province in southwestern Iran.

A 23-year-old in Urmia and a 16-year-old in Piranshahar were shot dead during protests on Tuesday, bringing the total number of demonstrators killed to seven, according to two Kurdish human rights groups monitoring violations in Iran – Kurdistan Human Rights Network and Hengaw, a Norwegian-registered organization.

Iranian authorities did not confirm the deaths.

Thousands took to the streets Tuesday night, with videos of protests emerging from dozens of towns and cities – ranging from the capital Tehran to more traditionally conservative strongholds like Mashad.

Footage shows some protesters chanting, “Women, life, freedom.” Others can be seen setting up bonfires, scuffling with police, or removing and burning their headscarves – as well as destroying posters of the country’s Supreme Leader and shouting, “Death to the dictator.”

In one video in Tehran, young protesters march around a bonfire on the street at night, chanting: “We are the children of war. Come on and fight, and we’ll fight back.”

Almost all the provincial towns in Iran’s Kurdish region, including Kermanshah and Hamedan, have seen demonstrations as well.

Witnesses tell CNN that the Tuesday night demonstrations appeared to be “flash protests” – meaning groups form and disperse quickly, to avoid run-ins with Iran’s security forces after the escalating violence of the last week.

A source said there was at least one instance of a heavy-handed police response on Tuesday, near Iran’s Enghelab (“Revolution”) Square on the western side of Tehran University – historically a rallying point for protests.

“Two young men were hit and beaten up by plainclothes police and anti-riot police, then dragged to the van in front of (the) subway entrance gate,” an eyewitness told CNN. “A wounded girl lying on the sidewalk was taken by ambulance to the hospital, and five others arrested on the north side of Enghelab Square.”

Hengaw said 450 people have been injured in the protests.

Amini was stopped and detained by Iran’s morality police last Tuesday. Iranian officials said that she died last Friday after suffering a “heart attack” and falling into a coma following her arrest.

However, her family said she had no pre-existing heart condition, according to Emtedad news, an Iranian pro-reform media outlet which claimed to have spoken to Amini’s father.

Edited security camera footage released by Iran’s state media appeared to show Amini collapsing at a “re-education” center where she was taken to receive “guidance” on her attire.

Iran’s morality police are part of the country’s law enforcement and are tasked with enforcing the strict social rules of the Islamic Republic, including its dress code that mandates women wear a headscarf, or hijab, in public.

An aide to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei promised a “thorough investigation” into Amini’s death during a meeting with her family in their home on Monday, according to Iran’s semi-official Nour News agency.

Abdolreza Pourzahabi, Khamenei’s representative in Iran’s Kurdish province, said the Supreme Leader “is sad” and that the family’s sorrow “is his sorrow too,” according to Nour.

He added that he hopes the family shows “good will to help bring back calm in society.”

During a news conference, also on Monday, Greater Tehran Police Commander Hossein Rahimi denied “false accusations” against the Iranian police, saying they had “done everything” to keep Amini alive.

He added that Amini had not been harmed physically during or after she was taken into custody, and called her death “unfortunate.”

In the wake of Amini’s death, internet monitoring website Netblocks has documented internet outages since Friday – a tactic Iran has previously used to prevent the spread of protests.

On Monday, the watchdog said that “real-time network data show a near-total disruption to internet connectivity in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province.”

Iran’s minister of communications, Issa Zarepour, said that internet services could be disrupted for “security purposes and discussions related to recent events,” by security forces, the country’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

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