Rocket launched amid protest wave

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Saturday launched a new satellite-carrying rocket, state TV reported, seeking to demonstrate the force’s space prowess even as antigovernment protests rage across the country.

Iranian state TV said the Guard successfully launched the solid-fueled rocket and aired footage of the blastoff from a desert launch pad. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard’s aerospace division, said he hoped the rocket would soon carry a new satellite, named Nahid, into orbit.

The Guard’s announcement came in the seventh week of protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained after allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. The protests have morphed into one of the biggest challenges to the government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Security forces, including paramilitary volunteers with the Revolutionary Guard, have violently cracked down on the demonstrations, killing more than 300 people, according to rights groups.

On Saturday, student unions in Iran reported protests in at least six major universities across the country. Universities have been hubs for unrest, fueling the protest movement despite the crackdown.

Climate protesters block private jets

Hundreds of climate protesters blocked private jets from leaving Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Saturday in a demonstration on the eve of a U.N. climate meeting in Egypt.

Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion protesters surrounded

private jets to prevent them leaving and others rode bicycles around the planes. Dewi Zloch of Greenpeace Netherlands said the activists want “fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary shorthaul flights and private jets.”

Military police said they arrested a number of protesters for being on the airport’s grounds without authorization.

Responding Friday to an open letter from Greenpeace, Schiphol’s new CEO Ruud Sondag said the airport is targeting “emissions-free airports by 2030 and net climate-neutral aviation by 2050.”