Last Monday, 14 October, violence erupted in Spain’s Northeast province of Catalonia following the sentencing of pro-independence leaders. Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan politicians to nine-to-13 years in prison. The longest jail term was given to Oriol Junqueras, former vice president of the region and the most prominent politician on trial, who had been...
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HONG KONG: WEEK 20 AND GETTING WORSE
Now in its 20th week, hundreds of thousands of protesters joined a planned march on Sunday, 20 October, despite the ban imposed by police. Many protesters ignored the government edict against masks that hide facial identity from police monitoring. While the march started out peacefully, within two hours it erupted into violence, as some protesters...
LEBANON: ARAB SPRING 2.0
Last Thursday, in response to Lebanese government plans to impose new taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and some social media platforms and apps, protesters gathered near the parliament building in Beirut. Riot police were dispatched to confront them, and the bodyguard of a Lebanese official opened fire at protesters. Demonstrations spread outside of the capital city...
GUINEA: PROTESTS ESCALATE
Anger over President Alpha Conde’s referendum to extend his time in office led to thousands of protesters taking to the streets in the African country. At least nine people were killed and more than 70 wounded. According to one doctor treating the wounded, some of the protesters were shot at close range.
CHILE: STATE OF EMERGENCY
Once again, as with the nature of all these protests, “It’s the economy, stupid,” government corruption, and anti-elite anger. Last weekend, Santiago, the capital city, saw looting and riots by citizens angry over increased subway fares, one of a number of proposed rate hikes in public service operations, including a 10 percent hike in electricity...
HAITI: NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
Weeks of clashes between police and protesters escalated last Friday in the capital of Port-au-Prince, as thousands took to the streets. The new uprising came just hours after a reporter from a Haitian radio station, Nehemie Joseph, who had been actively covering previous anti-government demonstrations, was found dead in his car from multiple bullet...
TUNISIA: OUT WITH THE OLD
In a major upset, voters in Tunisia elected a law professor who was barely known across the country and did little campaigning. Kais Saied soundly defeated the incumbent, Nabil Karoui, a wealthy media mogul. According to the head of the Columbia Global Centers in Tunis, an education center in Tunisia, “Saied is the real anti-system...
CHAOS IN KASHMIR
Last Sunday, Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded fire across the border of Kashmir known as the Line of Control (LoC). At least ten people were reported killed. Conditions in Kashmir have been tense since 5 August, when India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and then deployed thousands of additional troops to crackdown on any resistance. India...
DEM DEBATE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
They call them debates! In reality, it’s “The Presidential Reality Show.” A Made-for-TV side show. Need proof? Watch last week’s fourth Democratic presidential “debate.” On complex matters of health care, the economy, war and peace, etc., the contestants were allotted the grand total of 75 seconds to answer questions provided by the Presstitute’s from CNN,...
NUCLEAR DEBRIS? NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!
In Japan, just over a week ago, thousands of bags filled with debris from the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown were swept into a river during the recent typhoon. The facility where the bags were stored was flooded with torrential rainfall and heavy winds caused by the storm, named “Hagibis,” one of the most powerful...