Iranian Workers Strike to Support Anti-government Protests |
Shopkeepers and truck drivers staged walkouts in almost forty cities across Iran in a show of solidarity with anti-government protesters, the Guardian reported. Demonstrators had called for a three-day general strike after eleven weeks of protests, which were sparked when a Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died after being detained by the country’s morality police. Strikes were reported in major cities such as Tehran and across western Iran, home to most of the country’s Kurdish population.
Security forces have been heavily deployed in central Tehran, witnesses told Reuters. The head of Iran’s judiciary said yesterday that protesters charged with serious crimes will have their sentences carried out soon (Bloomberg), Iranian media reported. Amnesty International said at least twenty-eight protesters could be sentenced to death.
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“This week marks a potential turning point in Iran,” Yale University’s Gregory Brew tweets. “Whether the strikes succeed in impacting economic activity in Tehran or other cities will measure the degree of popular support for the movement.”
“The remarkable size and resilience of [Iran’s] protests are directly tied to the central participation of women. When women are on the frontlines, mass movements have a higher chance of succeeding and are likelier to lead to more egalitarian democracy,” Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks of Harvard University and Fatemeh Haghighatjoo of the Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy write for Foreign Affairs.
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Leading Taiwanese Chip Firm to More Than Triple Investment in U.S. |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will build the first plant in the United States to produce three-nanometer computer chips, the most advanced available, a White House official told Nikkei. It is already building a $12 billion factory in the state of Arizona. Speaking with Foreign Affairs, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo explains how to make the U.S. semiconductor industry more competitive.
Indonesia: The legislature passed a revision (AP) of the country’s criminal code that criminalizes sex outside of marriage for citizens and foreigners and bans defamation of the president and state institutions. Rights groups said the measures could threaten freedom of expression.
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Mongolians Protest Inflation, Alleged Corruption in Coal Industry |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Al Jazeera Asks ICC to Investigate Journalist’s Killing in West Bank |
Al Jazeera’s request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) follows a complaint by the family of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked for the company before she was killed in May. Several independent investigations have said Abu Akleh was killed by gunfire from Israeli forces. |
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South African Ruling Party Says It Will Block Impeachment of President |
The announcement from the African National Congress party came after President Cyril Ramaphosa challenged a probe (The Guardian) that accused him of misconduct related to a large amount of U.S. dollars stolen from one of his properties.
Chad: A court issued jail terms (AFP) of up to three years to over 260 people detained after anti-government protests in October.
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Drone Strike Reportedly Hits Oil Depot in Russia |
Russian officials said the strike today occurred in a region that borders Ukraine, though they did not immediately blame Ukraine. A Ukrainian official told the New York Times that Ukrainian special forces assisted with at least one of two air strikes that struck military installations hundreds of miles inside Russia yesterday.
Latvia: Regulators revoked the license (BBC) of TV Rain, a Russian television station that has long been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. It began operating in Latvia after Moscow blocked the channel when Russia invaded Ukraine. Latvian authorities accused it of showing content that supports the invasion. TV Rain called the accusation “unfair and absurd.”
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Honduras Imposes State of Exception in Two Cities to Fight Gangs |
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Georgia Holds Senate Runoff |
Voters in Georgia choose between (NYT) incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker in today’s runoff election. Warnock’s victory would give Democrats their fifty-first seat in the Senate.
For the Renewing America initiative, CFR’s Alice C. Hill and Madeline Babin examine what the 2022 midterm elections mean for U.S. climate policy.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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