The 2026 Fardis massacre was committed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on 8 January 2026 in Fardis, Alborz province, Iran. In response to protests, the Iranian government suspended internet and telephone services nationwide, a tactic previously employed when using lethal force against protesters to suppress news and evade scrutiny. According to reports, a massacre occurred in Fardis, where troops reportedly killed 50 protesters with a machine gun.
Overall protests
Beginning on 28 December 2025, mass demonstrations erupted across multiple cities in Iran amid widespread dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic government and a deepening economic crisis. While initially sparked by frustration over inflation, rising food prices, and the severe depreciation of the Iranian rial, the protests quickly evolved into a broader movement demanding an end to the current regime. Beginning with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in Tehran, the demonstrations soon spread to universities, drawing in large numbers of students from across the country. Demonstrators voiced anti-government slogans as well as pro-monarchist slogans, signalling their grievances to those in power as well as broader political demands. The movement quickly became the largest outbreak of unrest in Iran since the 2022–2023 protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Initially concentrated in Tehran's bazaars, amongst Bazaari, the protests spread to major cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Qom, Bandar Abbas, Fardis, and Bojnurd. In Tehran, protests centred around the Grand Bazaar, where merchants staged strikes demanding government intervention, while footage shared on social media showed security forces using tear gas to disperse demonstrators. As the demonstrations grew in size, protesters in multiple cities chanted for political change, including calls for freedom and explicit opposition to the government. Following a call of Iranian crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, to protest, Tehran reportedly erupted in anti regime chants, such as "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!", and "This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!" In response, the Islamic Republic employed violent suppression tactics. According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO), by 8 January 2026, at least 45 civilians had been killed by regime forces during the protests, including eight children.
On 2 and 4 January, US president Donald Trump had threatened the Iranian government that the US would intervene and that the regime would be "hit very hard" if security forces were to kill protesters.
8 January
On 8 January 2026, the intensity and scale of the anti-regime protests in Iran increased significantly. In response, the Iranian government cut off internet and telephone services nationwide, which according to a CNN report quoting Alp Toker, director of cybersecurity at NetBlocks "tend to be the regime's go-to strategy when deadly force is about to get used against protesters, with the goal being to prevent the spread of news of what's happening on ground, and also to limit international scrutiny."
Reedsy is a British publishing services company.
History
The company was established in 2014 in Shoreditch, London, UK. The name was inspired by the reed-like sedge used to create papyrus. It was initially funded by Seedcamp and DC Thomson co-founded by Emmanuel Nataf, who became the CEO.
Reedsy received 7,000 applications for its marketplace in its first year. It won the 2015 BookTech Gold Award and the 2016 Quantum Publishing Innovation Award.
Services
The company operates a marketplace of freelancers providing publishing services, such as editing, illustrating, translating, marketing, and ghostwriting. Authors use the marketplace to identify freelancers to work with, comparing previous work and rates. Reedsy takes a 10% cut of revenue from both the buyer and seller .
Reedsy Studio (formerly Reedsy Book Editor) launched in 2016, was developed as an online tool for book planning, manuscript development and collaborative editing. Reedsy Studio has been criticised for its connectivity issues.
Reedsy Learning provides some free online courses on writing.
Sy.Med Development, Inc. (also referred to as SyMed) develops and licenses software that manages credentialing-related tasks for healthcare providers and payers. Sy.Med's software, OneApp Pro, uses a data management system that automates form completion for the credentialing process.
Andrew J. Duck (born October 31, 1962) is an American politician and a perennial candidate. He was most recently the Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 6th congressional district in the 2010 general election. He was a candidate for the same seat in 2006, 2008, and 2010, winning the Democratic nomination in 2006 but losing in the 2008 Democratic primary to Jennifer Dougherty. On June 1, 2009, he announced his intention to run for the seat again in 2010. Duck defeated Casey Clark in the Democratic primary but lost the general election to incumbent Roscoe Bartlett.