Thousands in Chile walk out on general strikeThere were huge demonstrations in Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion, Antofagasta and Ovalle, while a range of other protest actions took place in Atacama, Coquimbo, Rancagua, Temuco, Punta Arenas, Vina del Mar and many other towns. The strikers’ demands included wage increases, improved housing, stronger collective bargaining rights, better pensions, free education and quality healthcare. They also called for improvements in support for working families and the approval of a tax reform to fund greater social protections.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thousands-chile-walk-out-general-strikeColombia capital Bogota to ration water as reservoirs dryColombia's capital Bogota will start rationing water this week to alleviate droughts wrought by the El Nino weather pattern, which has exacerbated the Andean country's dry season and caused reservoir levels to fall, Mayor Carlos Galan said on Monday.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-capital-bogota-ration-water-reservoirs-dry-2024-04-08/Brazil court says government must compensate victims of stray bullets in police raidsThe ruling means that the state is now civilly liable for deaths or injuries resulting from either police or armed forces operations, even in cases where the forensics reports are inconclusive. The country’s top court was ruling in a case stemming from the killing of a man by a stray bullet in 2015 during an army action in Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished Mare neighborhood.
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-stray-bullets-court-decision-725cac168ff5d43db93bf9cf311089cfCommunist Party’s Kokuta demands cancellation of Japan-Israel EPA talksA member of the Japanese Communist Party has called for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to scrap negotiations on an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Israel, saying such an agreement could be seen as condoning Israel’s actions against Gaza.
https://www.arabnews.jp/en/japan/article_119599/https://archive.is/0XlhsSingapore ‘tightens screws’ on Myanmar generals with arms trade crackdownSingapore has responded to United Nations pressure by cracking down on sales of weapons through its territory to Myanmar, delivering a serious blow to the embattled generals, who seized power in a coup more than three years ago.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/12/singapore-tightens-screws-on-myanmar-generals-with-arms-trade-crackdownhttps://archive.is/2bHdWApple Warns iPhone Users in 92 Countries, Including India, of ‘Mercenary Spyware Attacks’In October 2023, Apple had sent a warning on “State-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise” iPhones belonging to a number of journalists and Opposition politicians in India, with many of them tweeting the screenshots of the alerts.
https://www.newsclick.in/apple-warns-iphone-users-92-countries-including-india-mercenary-spyware-attacksGulf states warn US not to launch strikes on Iran from their territory or airspaceAs tensions flare, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Kuwait have raised questions about the intricate details of basing agreements that permit tens of thousands of US troops to be stationed across the oil-rich peninsula. They are also moving to prevent US warplanes from flying over their airspace in the event the US conducts a retaliatory strike on Iran.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-gulf-states-warn-us-not-launch-strikes-iran-territory-airspaceIran Pardons 4 Environmental Activists to Commemorate Eid al-Fitr, Lawyer SaysOn Monday, Kaveh Madani, Iran’s former No. 2 environmental official who is now the director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said in a post on the social media platform X: “Our long nightmare has ended. The remaining imprisoned Iranian Environmentalists will be finally released. This is a great day for Iran’s environment.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/world/middleeast/iran-pardons-environmentalists.htmlhttps://archive.is/g6ZH5Prominent surgeon says he was denied entry to Germany for a pro-Palestinian conference A prominent British-Palestinian surgeon who volunteered in Gaza hospitals during the first weeks of the Israel-Hamas war said he was denied entry to Germany Friday to take part in a pro-Palestinian conference — an event that police later ended early. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta said he arrived at Berlin airport on Friday morning before being stopped at passport control, where he was held for several hours and then told he had to return to the U.K.
https://apnews.com/article/germany-gaza-doctor-conference-entry-refused-e82252cb9bc5e010e8bfd0689f816e53 EU parliament adopts sweeping asylum reform For the far-left, the reforms – which include building border centres to hold asylum-seekers and sending some to outside "safe" countries – were incompatible with Europe's commitment to upholding human rights. It was "a pact with the devil," said Damien Careme, a lawmaker from the Greens group.
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240410-eu-parliament-vote-stricter-migration-rules-landmark-asylum-reformhttps://archive.is/3RVoi