CIS summit in Turkmenistan
Iran’s president has held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Turkmenistan. In a meeting with Armenian premier Nikol Pashinyan, Masoud Pezeshkian called for reinforcement of Tehran-Yerevan ties. Pezeshkian said Iran and Armenia should boost cooperation in various areas, referring to potentialities for bilateral collaboration. The Iranian president said intensified cooperation will strengthen relations between the two neighbors. On Thursday, Pezeshkian sat down with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, also on the sidelines of the summit. Pezeshkian told Putin that the Islamic Republic rejects American unilateralism.
Belgium crackdown on protests
Belgian police have cracked down on student-led protests in the capital Brussels during a nationwide strike against the government’s austerity measures and budget cuts. Police also used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The clampdown came as thousands of people took to the streets of the Belgian capital. Public transport and flights are said to be disrupted. Students in Belgium are inspired by their counterparts in France who have been holding protests for days. Over 140 schools remain closed in France as demonstrations continue. That’s despite a pledge by the education minister to deploy three-thousand substitute teachers. The French government is criticized for its handling of the protests and the heavy-handed response by law enforcement forces.
US anti-ICE protests
US security forces have clashed with protesters in New York City after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and wounded a Dominican man on Thursday. The demonstrators rallied near the scene of the shooting and a Manhattan hospital where the victim was taken. They held placards reading “Jail All Killer ICE Agents” and “Hands off NYC”, while chanting “ICE out of New York.” The protesters condemned the shooting as an example of the dangers posed by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. New York City's mayor has also slammed the shooting. Mamdani said early reports indicated that the ICE agents had surrounded the man and his five-year-old child inside a vehicle before shots were fired. The man was shot, while the Department of Homeland Security claims the agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation.
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