The Andes

Venezuela: 15 cops sentenced in unionists’ deaths

A court in the Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui state has handed down prison sentences to 15 police agents for the January 2009 shooting deaths of two unionists at a Mitsubishi Motors Corp plant.

Iran

Iran: appeal for prison hunger strikers

Iranian political prisoners have an issued an appeal for support of the demands of 17 hunger strikers at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, who have refused food for the past two weeks.

Palestine

Israel: police demolish Bedouin village

Personnel of the Israel Lands Administration, backed up by a large police contingent, demolished the homes of some 300 residents in the “unrecognized” Bedouin village of al-Arakib in the Negev.

Greater Middle East
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GOR

The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that they have temporarily halted their campaign against ISIS after they were bombarded for the second time in four days by Turkish forces. With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an promising to "wipe out" the Kurdish YPG militia, calling them "terrorists," his forces in northern Syria attacked YPG positions east of the Euphrates River. The YPG, or People's Protection Units, constitute the central pillar of the US-backed SDF, which Washington continues to support with some 2,000 embedded troops. At least 10 YPG fighters were reported killed in the Turkish shelling of territory in the Kurdish autonomous canton of Kobani. The SDF said in a statement: "Turkish attacks in the north and ISIS attacks in the south against our troops had forced us to stop our current operation temporarily against ISIS in its last pocket… We call upon the international community to condemn the Turkish provocations." The statement claimed that YPG fighters responded to the shelling with artillery and machine-gun fire, destroying a Turkish military vehicle and border post. (Image of SDF fighters via Rudaw)

The Andes

Bolivia: protests paralyze Potosí

The southern Bolivian city of Potosí has been paralyzed by strikes and protests for over a week, with roads blocked, businesses closed and the airport under occupation.

The Andes

Colombia: hip-hop artist assassinated —again

Community activist and hip-hop artist Marcelo Pimienta Sánchez AKA “MC Chelo,” 23, was shot dead by unknown assailants near his home in the conflicted Comuna 13 district of Medellín.

Mexico

Oaxaca: land conflicts turn bloody

The long-ruling PRI lost its hold on power in Oaxaca last month, but violence is escalating in the state’s Mixtec region, where PRI-linked paramilitary groups terrorize peasant communities.