Iranian security forces have arrested several figures from the country's reformist movement, local media reported on Monday, as Tehran's crackdown on dissent continues to widen. Those arrested include Azar Mansouri, the head of the Reformist Front, which represents several factions, former diplomat Mohsen Aminzadeh and Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, who was part of the group that stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Colombia's largest remaining rebel force has told civilians living under its authority to stay at home for three days while it stages military drills in response to burgeoning United States threats. The National Liberation Army (ELN), a left-wing rebel group, ordered the lockdown on Friday, instructing residents to keep off major routes and rivers from Sunday morning as fighters conduct what the group describes as preparations to defend the country against imperialist intervention.
"But the ceremony comes at an awkward moment because Machado appears to have given up on using peaceful means to dislodge Venezuela's authoritarian regime. Machado now claims that elections in Venezuela are a sham that will never lead to the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro. She has also emerged as a full-throated supporter of President Trump's gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean Sea, including his threats to remove Maduro by force."
