National Demonstration Rocks Santiago de Chile´s Alameda Avenue
Thousands of students, workers, and citizens marched down the emblematic Alameda Avenue here in Santiago today, in response to the call for a national strike for free public education.
Demonstrators began to concentrate at 11:30 local time (15:30 GMT) in the vicinity of the University of Santiago in a compact and colorful demonstration that covered the entire avenue.
Speaking to the press, minutes before marching, the spokeswoman for high school students in Chile, Eloisa Gonzalez, stressed the commitment of many sectors to the protest.
She said that after the demonstration, the Education Minister, Harald Beyer, is expected to rule on the claims that students have raised several times.
22 Azerbaijanis on Trial for Spying for Iran
Twenty-two Azerbaijani citizens went on trial Tuesday on accusations of secret collaboration with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, local media reported.
The trial started behind closed doors at the Court of Grave Crimes in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, where the suspects were accused of “severe treason” and “illegal acquisition, transfer and possession of firearms and ammunition” under the country’s criminal code.
All of them were arrested earlier this year as a result of operations carried out by the Ministry of National Security, the reports said.
According to local media, the defense side gave several petitions in the process. A preparatory meeting of the process will continue Wednesday due to the discussion of the petitions.
On March 14, 2012, the Ministry of National Security said in a statement that authorities detained 22 people who were recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and “engaged in espionage against Azerbaijan.”
The group started operating in the country in 1999 and all members acquired weapons to carry out terrorist attacks against foreign diplomats and businessmen, the statement said.
Security officers seized drugs, various kinds of weapons and explosives when the suspects were arrested.
Under Azerbaijan’s criminal law, penalty for “severe treason” can be imprisonment from 10 years to a maximum of life time.
El Salvador Reports 130 Aftershocks of Sunday Quake
The Ministry of Environment of El Salvador today reported 130 aftershocks of the quake of 6.7 degrees on the Richter scale which occurred on Sunday, 155 miles from the eastern coast of the nation.
In a brief report, closed at 06:00 local time, the ministry states that only 10 of these phenomena have been felt by the population.
The report notes that the strongest aftershock occurred on Monday with a magnitude of 5.4 degrees on the Richter scale, with no other details.
Experts from the ministry visited the island Mendez, off the coast of Usulutan, where the strong waves that followed the quake caused damage to a turtle hatchery and wounded four people.
According to locals, the force of the water destroyed at least 5200 eggs of a turtle variety known as Pacific ridley, which were planted in two pens on the beach.
The quake struck at 22:37 local time, when about 100 people were involved in the collection and care of the crops of turtle eggs.
Via PL