In a ward of an affiliated hospital of Harbin Medical University, Heilongjiang province, a 21-year-old woman weighing only 25kg (around 55 pounds) is lying on the bed.
The young woman, named Xiaoqian, was a weight loss addict with her height 1.67m and weight 55kg. She suffered from anorexia nervosa when she was 18 because her mother was strict with her weight In addition to studying art, she was sensitive about body shape.
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"You are getting fatter," a plain description spoken out by her roommate made her determination to trim weight. She started the suicidal losing weight journey since then for three years.
She only absorbed 450kcal a day, which is one third the proportion of a normal human basal metabolism. Xiaoqian started to replace her normal meals with meal replacement powder, enzymes, nutritional powder, L-Carnitine and other health products. She also dieted from three meals a day to one meal.
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The more weights she lost, the more she refused to eat. She counted calories ingestion by grains of rice, skipped after dining and vomited food she had eater to make herself feel better.
Three years later, Xiaoqian reduced 30kg and weighed only 25 and she was as thin as a stickman. She was too weak to walk; her arms were covered with red rashes; her back was bruised; her skin became brittle after her ankles turned swollen. The wound cracked like a mouth, making her mother heartbreak.
Xiaoqian's mother took pictures to the doctor and the director of the Department of Nutrition of Harbin Medical University thought she had a blood disease when first saw the photo.
"Xiaoqian's photo is shocking, blood stasis, ulceration, and skinny bones," Director Zhang immediately asked the mother to send Xiaoqian to hospital for treatment.
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On May 17, Xiaoqian was found suffering from anorexia nervosa, severe malnutrition, multiple organ dysfunction syndromes after preliminary examination. Her BMI was 9 while a normal person reaches 18.
Director Zhang also found Xiaoqian received only 450 calories daily, only accounted for 30% of normal people's basal metabolism. "It's a miracle. She is still alive."
On May 27, Xiaoqian accidentally fell to cause cerebral hemorrhage of her left brain. Although it was resolved after surgery, the blood pressure soared to 180 on the next day.
Dr Chu Ming, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, said that this is related to her anorexia nervosa. Due to long-term severe malnutrition, degeneration of brain tissues and very poor elasticity, her body functions was equivalent to 60-year-old elderly.
After the operation, Xiaoqian fell into a coma and there were no obvious signs of recovery for more than 10 days. The doctor who came to the consultation sigh, "The situation is serious. She will very likely be a vegetative person even survived."
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However, another miracle happened at the end of June. Xiaoqian woke up and turned into another person to ask for food. What's more surprising is that she lost all the memories of these three years she tried hard to keep fit. The doctor speculated that she had a memory impairment due to a traumatic brain injury.
Even though her weak body cannot adapt to the sudden massive intake, she is now recovering and raised 10kg (22 pounds) in weight.
Xiaoqian said she hopes to reach 60kg (132 pounds) and Doctor Zhang said, "We thought it would be nice for her to survive. We didn't expect the current state to gradually turn back to a normal person."
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday as tensions remained high with the United States over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.
Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation because Iran is located on a key East-West route for airlines.
“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”
Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.
The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.
In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.
Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”
The change in tone by the U.S. and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.
Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A woman mourns next to the flag-draped coffins of a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, during their funeral ceremony, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man hands out posters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a funeral ceremony for a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People take part in a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, Berlin Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Policemen protect the British Embassy during a protest by hardline supporters of the Iranian government, as people ride on their motorbike in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
