Ten people have been killed overnight in anti-government protests sweeping Iran, according to state TV.

“In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people were killed in several cities,” it said. At least 12 people have now died since protests began on Thursday.

On Monday, President Hassan Rouhani said the protests and criticism were an opportunity, not a threat.

He said the country should work together to fix its economic problems.

He said: “Our nation will deal with this minority who chant slogans against the law and people’s wishes, and insult the sanctities and values of the revolution.”

Mr Rouhani had previously said that citizens were free to protest, but not violently. </s> Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in wealthy eastern Caracas Thursday amid a tropical downpour to support a protest movement that is gaining steam even as it turns more deadly. Venezuela officials confirmed earlier in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of anti-government protests now entering its third week.

Start the conversation, or Read more at US News & World Report. </s> Iran protests continue for fifth day, at least 10 killed

DUBAI (Reuters) – Anti-government demonstrations continued for a fifth day in Iran on Monday, after 10 people were killed during the biggest protests since the pro-reform unrest of 2009. </s> Nine more reported dead in Iran as protests enter sixth day </s> At least two people taking part in protests in the southwestern Iranian town of Izeh, 450 kilometers southeast of Tehran, were killed overnight, a local MP told ILNA news agency. This brings to at least four the number of fatalities in the ongoing protests. Thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets across Iran since Thursday. The anti-government protests were prompted mostly by discontent over economic hardship and alleged corruption. </s> MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – More than 20 people were taken to the hospital amid anti-government protests in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, the country’s National Assembly deputy Jose Manuel Olivares said.

"13 electrocuted patients arrived [at the hospital], of whom 8 died and 1 is in grave condition!" Olivares wrote on Twitter on Friday, adding in another post that "Also came 8 patients injured by gunfire, 1 died in the emergency department of the University Hospital of Caracas."

Earlier on Friday, local media reported that the death toll from ongoing protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stood at 10, with one person having been killed overnight in Caracas.

Executive Director of Venezuelan NGO (non-governmental organization) Foro Penal (Criminal Forum) Alfredo Romero wrote on Twitter on Friday that 1,289 people have been arrested amid protests in Venezuela since April 4.

Venezuelan National Assembly deputy Marialbert Barrios said on Thursday that a total of 585 people were arrested during anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mass anti-government protests started in Venezuela at the beginning of April after the country’s Supreme Court decided to take on the legislative functions of the National Assembly, which is currently controlled by the opposition. The court’s decision was reversed, but protesters remained on the streets, demanding the resignation of the court’s members. </s> CARACAS, VENEZUELA—Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in wealthy eastern Caracas Thursday amid a tropical downpour to support a protest movement that is gaining steam even as it turns more deadly.

Venezuela officials confirmed earlier in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of anti-government protests now entering its third week.

The public prosecutor’s office says it will investigate the death of 36-year-old Miguel Colmenares. He was shot at a protest in the central city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday.

Read more:Venezuelans rally to oppose President Maduro as officials attempt to break up crowd

Gruseny Calderon was killed during the same protest. Congressman Alfonso Marquina says the 32-year-old protester was injured by rubber bullets that pierced his lung and liver. </s> Ten people have been killed overnight in anti-government protests sweeping Iran, according to state TV.

“In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people were killed in several cities,” it said. At least 12 people have now died since protests began on Thursday.

The unrest continued despite a call for calm from President Hassan Rouhani.

In his first intervention, President Rouhani warned on Sunday that violence would not be tolerated.

Mr Rouhani acknowledged grievances over Iran’s economic situation, a lack of transparency and corruption, but defended his record.

The Iranian president said that citizens were “completely free to express their criticism of the government or stage protests… in a way that would lead to the improvement of the country’s conditions” but warned against violent acts.

Nevertheless, protests continued overnight. Police used tear gas and water cannon to quell a rally in Tehran’s Engheleb Square and demonstrations were reported in Kermanshah and Khorramabad in the west, Shahinshahr in the north west and the northern city of Zanjan.

The demonstrations, which erupted on Thursday in Iran’s second city of Mashhad, are the biggest show of dissent seen since the huge rallies of the Green Movement were brutally suppressed in 2009.

Mass demonstrations – referred to as the Green Movement – were held by millions of opposition supporters against the disputed election victory of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

At least 30 people were killed and thousands arrested in the wave of protests, which drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. </s> (Bloomberg) -- The death toll from a week of demonstrations against rising inflation and food shortages in Sudan rose to more than 37 people, Sudanese doctors said.

“The number is higher than 37 as new protesters have been killed,” the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a statement.

Amnesty International said Dec. 24 it had credible reports that 37 protesters had been shot dead by security forces in the first five days of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the north African nation. Police used live bullets and tear gas Tuesday to break up a rally in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, demanding that President Umar al-Bashir step down after almost 30 years in power.

The doctors group said it was tallying the number of people killed in the protests. Last week, the government said at least eight people had been killed and hasn’t made any further comment on the death toll.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Alamin in Nairobi at malamin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Eric Ombok, Shaji Mathew
Ten people die at the protests overnight, with twelve deaths total so far as the protests enter their fifth day.