[AlbertC]

Kurds in Turkey increasingly subject to violent hate crimes

By Pelin Ünker

An elderly Kurdish man was attacked in hospital; a man and his son were gunned down on the street — and no charges were filed. Human rights experts see a worsening situation due to Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.

Kurds in Turkey increasingly subject to violent hate crimes | DW | 22.10.2019

An elderly Kurdish man was attacked in hospital; a man and his son were gunned down on the street — and no charges were filed. Human rights experts see a worsening situation due to Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.

m.dw.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iraq's young protesters count cost of a month of violence

More than 250 have died and thousands injured in anti-government protests
By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Baghdad

Tue 29 Oct 2019 10.17 GMT

Iraq's young protesters count cost of a month of violence

More than 250 have died and thousands injured in anti-government protests

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power

Demonstrations from Baghdad to Beirut reveal the extent to which Shia dominance across the region has weakened

Martin Chulov
Sun 24 Nov 2019 09.13 GMT

How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power

Demonstrations from Baghdad to Beirut reveal the extent to which Shia dominance across the region has weakened

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iraqi forces kill 13 protesters, deploy military to stem unrest

More than 350 people have been killed and thousands wounded in nearly two months of protests against the ruling elite.

Iraqi forces kill dozens of protesters, deploy military to stem unrest | DW | 28.11.2019

The death toll rose throughout Thursday as Iraqi authorities continued its bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters. Thousands have been wounded and hundreds killed in nearly two months of demonstrations.

m.dw.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iraqi PM says he will resign after weeks of violent protests

Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s move comes after call for change of leadership from top cleric

Reuters in Baghdad
Fri 29 Nov 2019 13.06 GMT

Iraqi PM says he will resign after weeks of violent protests

Adel Abdul Mahdi bows to pressure following 50 deaths in latest security crackdown

www.theguardian.com

 

[jje1000]

Iran shows the power of what a regime can get away with when the internet gets turned off:

In many places, security forces responded by opening fire on unarmed protesters, largely unemployed or low-income young men between the ages of 19 and 26, according to witness accounts and videos. In the southwest city of Mahshahr alone, witnesses and medical personnel said, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps members surrounded, shot and killed 40 to 100 demonstrators — mostly unarmed young men — in a marsh where they had sought refuge.

Altogether, from 180 to 450 people, and possibly more, were killed in four days of intense violence after the gasoline price increase was announced on Nov. 15, with at least 2,000 wounded and 7,000 detained, according to international rights organizations, opposition groups and local journalists.

Only now, nearly two weeks after the protests were crushed — and largely obscured by an internet blackout in the country that was lifted recently — have details corroborating the scope of killings and destruction started to dribble out.

The worst violence documented so far happened in the city of Mahshahr and its suburbs, with a population of 120,000 people in Iran’s southwest Khuzestan Province — a region with an ethnic Arab majority that has a long history of unrest and opposition to the central government. Mahshahr is adjacent to the nation’s largest industrial petrochemical complex and serves as a gateway to Bandar Imam, a major port.

[...]

For three days, according to these residents, protesters had successfully gained control of most of Mahshahr and its suburbs, blocking the main road to the city and the adjacent industrial petrochemical complex. Iran’s interior minister confirmed that the protesters had gotten control over Mahshahr and its roads in a televised interview last week, but the Iranian government did not respond to specific questions in recent days about the mass killings in the city.

Local security forces and riot police officers had attempted to disperse the crowd and open the roads, but failed, residents said. Several clashes between protesters and security forces erupted between Saturday evening and Monday morning before the Guards were dispatched there.

When the Guards arrived near the entrance to a suburb, Shahrak Chamran, populated by low-income members of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority, they immediately shot without warning at dozens of men blocking the intersection, killing several on the spot, according to the residents interviewed by phone.

The residents said the other protesters scrambled to a nearby marsh, and that one of them, apparently armed with an AK-47, fired back. The Guards immediately encircled the men and responded with machine gun fire, killing as many as 100 people, the residents said.

The local reporter in Mahshahr said the total number of people killed in three days of unrest in the area had reached 130, including those killed in the marsh.

With Brutal Crackdown, Iran Is Convulsed by Worst Unrest in 40 Years (Published 2019)

What started as a protest over a surprise increase in gasoline prices turned into widespread demonstrations met with a systematic repression that left at least 180 people dead.

www.nytimes.com

 

[SunriseChampion]

I watched a documentary from the BBC today that aired rather recently. It was about the slave trade (I kid you not) in Arab countries.

It focussed on Kuwait and implicated the usual big tech companies for hosting the apps that are used to sell people for pennies on the dollar.

Enjoy! (It's fucking sad)

 

[Videodrome]

Israel is having a third election in the span of a year.

 

[AlbertC]

Turkey renews military pledge to Libya as threat of Mediterranean war grows

Ankara ready to defend government in Tripoli in latest policy to inflame tensions with US, EU, Greece and Middle East countries

Patrick Wintour in Doha
Sun 15 Dec 2019 05.48 GMT

Turkey renews military pledge to Libya as threat of Mediterranean war grows

Ankara ready to defend government in Tripoli in latest policy to inflame tensions with US, EU, Greece and Middle East countries

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Amnesty says more than 300 killed in Iran protest crackdown

The rights group described a brutal campaign to kill protesters and mass arrests to intimidate. Revised estimates say the death toll in a three-day crackdown in November was at least 304.

More than 300 killed in Iran protest crackdown: Amnesty – DW – 12/16/2019

The rights group described a brutal campaign to kill protesters and mass arrests to intimidate. Revised estimates say the death toll in a three-day crackdown in November was at least 304.

m.dw.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iraqi MPs back plan to expel US troops

Iraqi MPs have passed a resolution calling for foreign troops to leave the country after the US killed a top Iranian general in a drone strike at Baghdad airport last week.

Qasem Soleimani: Iraqi MPs back call to expel US troops

The resolution calls for foreign troops to leave the country after the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

www.bbc.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iran ends nuclear deal commitments as fallout from Suleimani killing spreads

Iraqi parliament votes to expel US-led troops, while hundreds of thousands march in Iran

Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent, and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Baghdad

Sun 5 Jan 2020 19.23 GMT

Iran ends nuclear deal commitments as fallout from Suleimani killing spreads

Iraqi parliament votes to expel US-led troops, while hundreds of thousands march in Iran

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words

A landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has in effect collapsed, four years after it went into effect. Here's how it got to this point.

Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words

A landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is close to collapse - but what happened?

www.bbc.com

 

[Johnny Au]

Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words

A landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has in effect collapsed, four years after it went into effect. Here's how it got to this point.

Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words

A landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is close to collapse - but what happened?

www.bbc.com

It is time the Doomsday Clock to move even closer to midnight.

 

[AlbertC]

NATO pulls some troops out of Iraq amid Soleimani flare-up

NATO says it is temporarily moving some of its personnel out of Iraq due to tensions between the US and Iran in the region. The decision follows a similar move by Germany to withdraw some troops from the capital.

NATO temporarily pulls some troops out of Iraq – DW – 01/07/2020

NATO says it is temporarily moving some of its personnel out of Iraq due to tensions between the US and Iran in the region. The decision follows a similar move by Germany to withdraw some troops from the capital.

www.dw.com