According to preliminary findings, the soldiers brought the ordnance into their room after finding it at a firing zone – contrary to regulations.

“By using physiological and psychological methods, they broke my will, drove me to madness and forced me to do whatever they wanted,” former high-ranking defense ministry official Ali Reza Akbari said in an audio several days before his execution. “By the force of gun and death threats they made me confess to false and corrupt claims.”

"I am now focused on two critical roles that I believe I bear as president at this hour: averting a historic constitutional crisis and stopping the continued rift within our nation," Herzog says.

  China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December, offering hard numbers for...