Thousands took to the streets of Isfahan Oct. 22, demanding authorities act to halt a spate of acid attacks on young women in the historic Iranian city. Assailants on motorbikes have thrown acid in the face of at least eight women who were driving in the street with their windows rolled down in recent weeks. Local media say the number of victims could be higher. The attacks have so far claimed one life. Many Iranians believe that women were targeted because they were wearing clothes that could be deemed inappropriate by hardliners—a claim denied by the authorities. The protest was apparently a "wildcat" march, held in defiance of police efforts to close the streets. A similarly demonstration was held across from the parliament building in Tehran. (NCRI, Oct. 23; The Guardian, Oct. 22)

Multiple confrontations are impending between Russian authorities and the Tatar minority in annexed Crimea. Akhtem Chyyhoz, deputy head of the Majlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, stated this week that the Majlis will not comply with Moscow's demand that the assembly register within the framework of Russia's legislation on civic organizations and associations. "The point is that they are suggesting that we register at the level of a civic organization which is unacceptable since the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is an elected representative body," he said. "It is impossible to put it in the same category as civic organizations." The current head of the Majlis, Refat Chubarov, and former Majlis leader and Ukrainian MP Mustafa Dzhemiliev have both been banned from their homeland for five years by order of Russian authorities. The bans came after the Tatar leaders called for a boycott of the March referendum on Crimean secession from Ukraine, and then of the September Crimean elections. On Sept. 17, three days after the elections, FSB troops  carried out a 12-hour-search of the Majlis premises in Simferopol. The following day, the Majlis was evicted from the building. (Human Rights in Ukraine, Oct. 22)

On Sept. 30, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos and their respective cabinet ministers held a rare joint meeting in Peru's Amazon river port of Iquitos. There, they signed a binational accord to launch a joint effort to "cleanse Putumayo"—a reference to the jungle river basin that has for many years been under the virtual control of criminal enterprises. The Río Putumayo, a tributary of the Amazon, forms the border between the two countries in the lawless region. The Colombian side is a key stronghold of the FARC guerillas, which is believed to do business with the criminal gangs that operate freely on the Peruvian side. Santos said "we have common enemies, such as the narco-traffic, illegal mining and cutting of forests." (El Tiempo, Sept. 30) He did not mention that efforts at cooperation to get the Putumayo under control have been hampered by an ongoing border dispute in the area.

At a Conservative Party conference on the island of San Andres Oct. 16, Colombia's Prosecutor General Alejandro Ordoñez slammed President Juan Manuel Santos for "protecting a terrorist" by failing to arrest FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño AKA "Timochenko." The comments came after press revelations that Timochenko had secretly attended the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas in Havana, Cuba. (Colombia Reports, Oct. 17; The City Paper, Bogotá, Oct. 12)

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Oct. 15 called for the elimination of terrorist groups operating in the country, revealing details of the investigation into the murder of legislator Robert Serra. The young lawmaker, a rising star in the ruling PSUV, was found stabbed to death with his partner in their apartment in Caracas Oct. 3. Maduro announced that two arrested in the case were linked to an unnamed paramilitary leader in Colombia who he said was "plotting" to destabilize Venezuela. The local operative for the network in Caracas was named as Padilla Leyva (no first name given), who was said to go by the nom de guerre "El Colombia." Maduro said a manhunt is underway for fugitive members of the network. According to UN figures, Venezuela has the second highest peacetime murder rate in the world after Honduras. (TeleSUR, Oct. 15; BBC News, Oct. 13; BBC News, Oct. 3)

Journalist Taing Tri of the local Vealntri newspaper in Cambodia's Kratie province was shot dead Oct. 12 as he attempted to photograph trucks transporting illegal luxury wood near Pum Ksem Kang Krow village. Tri is the 13th journalist to be killed in the line of duty since Cambodia's first democratic elections in 1993, and his death bears a disturbing resemblance to the 2012 murder in Ratanakiri province of Heng Serei Oudom, who was known for his reporting on illegal logging in the region. The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) condemned Tri's murder and called on local authorities to bring the killers to justice "in order to end the cycle of impunity for those who perpetuate violence against journalists in Cambodia." To date, no one has been convicted for the murder of Oudom or any of the other journalists killed in Cambodia over the last 11 years. (IFEX, Oct. 15)

Two gunmen shoved their way into a radio studio in Mazatlán, a port city in Mexico's Sinaloa state, and opened fire on local activist Atilano Román Tirado, killing him live on the air Oct. 12. Román Tirado had a weekly program on Radio Fiesta Mexicana, called "Asi es mi Tierra" (That's How My Land Is), as well as leading a group of campesino families displaced by the Picachos dam. In recent years, the movement of some 800 families demanding compensation for lands lost to the dam on the Río Presidio has staged blockades and protest marches, resulting in some arrests and repression. Sinaloa's Gov. Mario López Valdez (PAN) said the killing would not go unpunished. Violent attacks on reporters and media workers are increasingly common in Mexico. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 75 journalists and media workers have been killed since 1992, although the vast majority reporters or editors for print media. (AP, Oct. 13; Libération, France, Oct. 12)

Kurdish fighters at Kobani are starting to gain ground against ISIS forces, days after the jihadists had penetrated the besieged town in northern Syria. Images on the Daily Mail website show Kurdish YPG fighters triumphantly raising their flag above Tel Shair hill in the west of the town, where the black jihadist flag ISIS had recently been flying. The report emphasizes the role of US air-strikes in the turn-around, and also claims the YPG has started to press local youth into its ranks in a conscription drive. The Washington Post shows images of the latest US strikes on ISIS positions at Kobani, and notes that the US-led military campaign has now been officially dubbed "Inherent Resolve."