Iran

Iran: contract workers demand rights

A deadly explosion at the Abadan refinery has crystalized the precarious situation facing Iranian oil workers, who are mobilizing to demand an end to neoliberal measuresthat deny them the right to unionize.

The Andes

Afro-Colombian community leader assassinated in MedellĂ­n

Ana Fabricia CĂłrdoba, a leader of displaced Afro-Colombians seeking return of their usurped lands, was slain by an unidentified gunman on a city bus in MedellĂ­n. Her daughters received a phone threat that they would “end up the same way.”

Palestine

West Bank mosque torched in “price tag” attack

The mosque in the village of Maghayer near Ramallah suffered damage and threatening graffiti in a pre-dawn vandal and arson attack—with scrawled slogans calling it a “price tag” by Israeli settlers.

Europe

African migrants die amid Euro-backlash

Refugees fleeing the violence in North Africa continue to die at sea, prompting an investigation by the Council of Europe—and a move by Italy and France to rewrite the EU’s policy that permits internal passport-free travel.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: endgame for strongman Saleh?

After days of fierce fighting in Sanaa, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly fled the country for Saudi Arabia. Amid the chaos, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninusla seized control of the southern town of Zinjibar.

Africa

Somalia: thousands displaced as Shabab battle Sufis

Thousands of families have been displaced in weeks of fighting between the Ahlu Sunna sufi militia and fundamentalist Shabab insurgents in central Somalia. Drought conditions in the countryside have worsened the plight of the displaced.