Colombian president orders curfew in Bogota amid protestsNovember 23, 2019 - 14:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Colombia's president, Ivan Duque, ordered a curfew in the nation's capital Friday, November 22 night as unrest continues following a massive march Thursday that brought an estimated 250,000 people into the streets, Deutsche Welle reports. The protests in Bogota are centered on discontent with Duque's conservative government — a key ally of the United States, rumors of economic reforms, and what protesters say is a lack of government action to stop corruption and the murder of human rights activists. In a televised speech Friday evening, Duque said he would "launch a national conversation" to "strengthen the current social policy agenda" and "close social gaps." Duque said the dialogue will include all social sectors and take place in cities around the country starting next week. The president also ordered the "deployment of joint patrols of police and army in the most critical places." Venting their anger have been trade unionists, students, opposition parties and indigenous organizations. Escalating violence While the protests on Thursday started out peaceful, they ended with scattered clashes between protesters and police. On Friday, protesters clashed with police in several parts of the city. In the southwestern province of Cauca, at least three police officers were killed and five injured in a bomb blast outside a police station in the town of Santander de Quilichaom, authorities said. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |