SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — K-pop star and TV celebrity Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul on Sunday, police said.

Police said an acquaintance found the 28-year-old dead at her home in southern Seoul and reported it to authorities.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately known. Police refused to provide further details.

Goo made her debut in 2008 as a member of the girl group Kara, which had big followings in South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. She later worked as a solo artist and appeared on many TV shows.

In May, Goo was reportedly found unconscious at her home and was hospitalized.

She was embroiled last year in public disputes with an ex-boyfriend who claimed to be assaulted by her. Goo accused the man of having threatened to circulate a sex video of her. The case made her the subject of tabloid fodder and malicious online messages.

In October, another K-pop star and actress, Sulli, was found dead at her home near Seoul. The 25-year-old was known for her feminist voice and outspokenness that was rare among female entertainers in deeply conservative South Korea. Before her death, she appeared in a TV show and spoke out against online backlash she received over her lifestyle.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Machine gun fire answers rock-throwing protesters. Motorcycle-riding Revolutionary Guard volunteers chase after demonstrators. Plainclothes security forces grab, beat and drag a man off the street to an uncertain fate.

As Iran restores the internet after a weeklong government-imposed shutdown, new videos purport to show the demonstrations over gasoline prices rising and the security-force crackdown that followed.

The videos offer only fragments of encounters, but to some extent they fill in the larger void left by Iran’s state-controlled television and radio channels. On their airwaves, hard-line officials allege that foreign conspiracies and exile groups instigated the unrest. In print, newspapers offered only PR for the government or had merely stenographic reporting at best, the moderate daily Hamshahri said in an analysis Sunday.

They don’t acknowledge that the gasoline price hike Nov. 15, supported by its civilian government, came as Iran’s 80 million people already have seen their savings dwindle and jobs scarce under crushing U.S. sanctions. President Donald Trump imposed them in the aftermath of unilaterally withdrawing America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Authorities also have yet to give any overall figures for how many people were injured, arrested or killed during the several days of protests that swept across some 100 cities and towns.

Amnesty International said it believes the unrest and the crackdown killed at least 106 people. Iran disputes that figure without offering its own. A U.N. office earlier said it feared the unrest may have killed “a significant number of people.”

Starting Nov. 16, Iran shut down the internet across the country, limiting communications with the outside world. That made determining the scale and longevity of the protests incredibly difficult. Some recycled days-old videos and photographs as new, making it even more difficult.

Since Saturday, internet connectivity spiked in the country, allowing people to access foreign websites for the first time. On Sunday, connectivity stood nearly at 100% for landline services, while mobile phone internet service remained scarce, the advocacy group NetBlocks said.

The restoration brought messaging apps back to life for Iranians cut off from loved ones abroad. It also meant that videos again began being shared widely.

Recently released videos span the country. One video from Shiraz, some 680 kilometers (420 miles) south of Tehran, purports to show a crowd of over 100 people scatter as gunfire erupts from a police station in the city. One man bends down to pick up debris as a person off-camera describes demonstrators throwing stones. Another gunshot rings out, followed by a burst of machine gun fire.

In Kerman, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran, the sound of breaking glass echoes over a street where debris burns in the center of a street. Motorcycle-riding members of the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s paramilitary Guard, then chase the protesters away.

Another video in Kermanshah, some 420 kilometers (260 miles) southwest of Tehran, purports shows the dangers that lurked on the streets of Iran in recent days. Plainclothes security forces, some wielding nightsticks, drag one man off by the hair of his head. The detained man falls at one point.

“Look, (the agents) wear styles like the youth,” one man off-camera says, swearing at them.

On Sunday, it remained unclear if and how widespread any remaining demonstrations were. The acting commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Ali Fadavi, repeated the allegation that America was behind the protests, without offering any evidence to support his claim.

“Why did (the Americans) get angry after we cut off the internet? Because the internet is the channel through which Americans wanted to perform their evil and vicious acts,” Fadavi said. “We will deal with this, Islamic Republic supporters, and our proud men and women will sign up to make a domestic system similar to the internet with operating systems that (the Americans) can’t (control) even if they want.”

That likely refers to what has been known as the “halal net,” Iran’s own locally controlled version of the internet aimed at restricting what the public can see. The system known as the National Information Network has some 500 government-approved national websites that stream content far faster than those based abroad, which are intentionally slowed, activists say. Iranian officials say it allows the Islamic Republic to be independent if the world cuts it off instead.

But while Fadavi earlier said the protests were put down in 48 hours, he also acknowledged the scope of the unrest by comparing it to Operation Karbala-4, one of the worst military disasters suffered by Iran during its bloody 1980s war with Iraq.

That scope could be seen in one video. In the capital, Tehran, footage earlier aired by the BBC’s Persian service shot from a car purports to show a tableau of violence on Sattarkhan Street, as anti-riot police officers clashed with protesters.

In the video, a woman’s scream rises over the shouts of the crowd as plainclothes security forces wearing white surgical masks accost one man, who puts his hands up to his face and hunches over to shield his body. Men walk backward to watch the chaos amid police with batons and riot shields, then run.

A woman in a green headscarf argues with one anti-riot police officer in front of a car.

“What do you say?” the police officer asks.

“He kicked my car,” she responds.

“Move,” the police officer orders. “Whom do you want to blame in this situation?”

Someone chases a man in front of a bank as people curse. The car makes a right-hand turn onto another street. A police officer off-camera shouts: “Come here!”

“Go, go, go!” a woman in the car cries out.

The car speeds away, passing burning debris. The clip ends. It lasts only 35 seconds.

TOKYO (AP) — Pope Francis voiced concern about nuclear power Monday after meeting with victims of Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster, saying the development of future energy sources must take environmental considerations into account.

Francis didn’t explicitly urge a ban on nuclear energy during his emotional encounter with victims. But he recalled that Japan’s Catholic bishops called for the abolition of nuclear power plants in the aftermath of the “triple disaster,” in which three reactors at a nuclear plant in Fukushima melted down after an earthquake triggered a tsunami.

The meltdown coated the area in radioactive fallout and at one point forced the displacement of 160,000 people. Nine years later, more than 40,000 people still can’t return home.

After comforting some of the evacuees who gathered in Tokyo, Francis said the Fukushima accident will not be fully resolved until the scientific, medical and societal concerns it raised are addressed.

“In turn, this involves, as my brother bishops in Japan have emphasized, concern about the continuing use of nuclear power; for this reason, they have called for the abolition of nuclear power plants,” he said.

Going forward, he said, “important decisions will have to be made about the use of natural resources, and future energy sources in particular.”

During his first full day in Japan on Sunday, Francis visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima — where two U.S. atomic bombs were dropped in World War II — and said both the use and possession of nuclear weapons was “immoral.”

He has not articulated a formal position on nuclear power, but the Vatican has previously called for the “safe, secure, and peaceful, development and operation of nuclear technologies.” Francis, however, has made environmental concerns a pillar of his papacy and has now heard first-hand from Hiroshima and Fukushima survivors of the health and environmental effects of radiation exposure.

Francis spoke after listening to searing testimony from Fukushima victims, including Matsuki Kamoshita, a 17-year-old high school student from Iwaki on the eastern coast of Fukushima.

Kamoshita wrote to the pope last year begging that he visit Fukushima to see for himself the impact. He was rewarded with a papal audience at the Vatican, and on Monday a chance to address the pope in public to tell his story.

The day after the tsunami, Kamoshita’s parents and his younger brother evacuated and eventually ended up in Tokyo to escape the radiation. Instead of sympathy, he said he faced bullying at school, where he was treated as if he were “infectious.”

In his speech to the pope Monday, Kamoshita lamented that the government had “given up” on housing evacuees while continuing to pursue nuclear power as a state policy.

“It will take many times longer than my lifetime to restore the contaminated land and forests,” he told the pope. “So, for us who live there, adults have a responsibility to explain without concealing anything about radioactive contamination, exposure and possible damage in the future. I don’t want them to die before us, having lied or not admitting the truth.”

Kamoshita asked for the pope to pray that political leaders find another path.

“And please pray with us that people from all over the world will work to eliminate the threat of radiation exposure from our future,” he said.

After he finished, he approached the pope, who took him in his arms for a long embrace.

The pro-nuclear government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to restart as many reactors as possible to keep the nuclear industry and technology alive, especially as it seeks to showcase its recovery ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Areas that used to be under the no-go zone in Fukushima have opened following decontamination efforts, prompting people to return home and resulting in cuts to government financial support for evacuees.

“Regardless of the position on what to do with nuclear energy, its victims here are suffering under the government policy that has marginalized them,” said Kazuko Ito, secretary general of Human Rights Now.

Ito welcomed Francis’ visit as a chance to “shed light on the issue and let their voices be heard.”

Francis’ meeting with the victims kicked off a busy day of activities in Tokyo, including a private audience with Emperor Naruhito, a rally with young people and Mass at the Tokyo Dome.

Present in the crowd of 50,000 for the Mass was Iwao Hakamada, a former professional boxer who has become a leading symbol for the anti-death penalty movement in Japan. Hakamada, 83, converted to Catholicism during his decades on death row for murders he says he did not commit.

Francis has said the death penalty is “inadmissible” in all cases, and one of his main messages while in Japan was to “respect all life.” Local organizers confirmed Hakamada was at the Mass, but the Vatican declined to say if the pope met with him as his supporters had hoped.

During his meeting with young people, Francis denounced what he called an “epidemic” of bullying that is afflicting youth in Japan and elsewhere.

“We must all unite against this culture of bullying and learn to say “Enough!” Francis told the students, three of whom recounted the pressures they face in a hyper-competitive society, their feelings of inadequacy and cruelty they sometimes face from their classmates that drives some to suicide.

At the end of the day, the pope delivers his main political speech to Abe and government authorities.

Francis wraps up his weeklong trip to Asia with a speech Tuesday at Sophia University, Japan’s main Catholic university founded by his Jesuit order a century ago.

Story: Nicole Winfield and Mari Yamaguchi

ADELAIDE, Australia (Xinhua) — Good news for the Australians – the two giant pandas from China will stay in South Australia for another five years.

According to the Adelaide Zoo, it has signed the agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association to extend the loan of the two giant pandas, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, for five more years.

“We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Wang Wang and Fu Ni will stay at Adelaide Zoo until late 2024,” Zoos SA (South Australia) Chief Executive Elaine Bensted said on Sunday.

“From young to old, everyone who visits our Bamboo Forest falls in love with Wang Wang and Fu Ni. They are always a delight to watch, whether they’re exploring their habitat, laying in the sun, climbing trees, or eating bamboo,” she said.

Phil Ainsley, director of life sciences at Adelaide Zoo, said the agreement offered an opportunity to contribute to global panda research.

“We look forward to continuing to help Giant Panda conservation and gain a better understanding of pandas living in the southern hemisphere,” he said.

Adelaide Zoo is the second oldest zoo in Australia, with a history of more than 130 years and more than 2,500 animals. Pandas Wang Wang (meaning Net Net) and Fu Ni (meaning Lucky Girl) arrived in November 2009 as the first pair of pandas in the southern part of the globe.

According to Bensted, ever since they settled down in Adelaide, the pair have attracted 4 million visitors.

Chinese Vice Consul General in Adelaide Pi Lijun said the pair, now already animal stars in the zoo, have played a positive role in improving people-to-people relationship between China and Australia. “Signing the agreement is undoubtedly good news to people who love those pandas,” he said.

“The pandas provide the opportunity for us to continue to enhance understanding at a people-to-people level,” said Simon Birmingham, minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.

He noted that behind the agreement were the research links between the two countries regardless of the challenges. “We are also committed to continuing to pursue the partnership between Australia and China through positive ventures such as this one.”

To celebrate the five-year extension and encourage visitors, the zoo has slashed ticket prices to 5 Australian dollars (about 3.4 U.S. dollars) for children up to 15 years old during Nov. 25-30 2019.