SYRIA: Bayram Namaz, the commander of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) in Rojava, was killed in a targeted attack by the Turkish state on Saturday.

The former journalist for the Atilim newspaper died when an explosive device destroyed his vehicle in the northern Syrian city of Serekaniye.

An MLKP statement paid tribute to their fallen comrade and said: “None of these colonial-fascist attacks will be able to break our path to revolution and our struggle for freedom and socialism."

MOROCCO: Thousands of teachers protested in the capital Rabat yesterday demanding better working conditions and improved contracts hours after police used water cannons on an overnight sit-in outside parliament.

Teachers on temporary contracts have staged a number of protests over the past two weeks. They are demanding the same wages as those on permanent contracts and full benefits including pension rights.

Unions have so far refused government offers to end the dispute as inadequate.

MALI: More than 130 people were killed on Saturday in an attack branded “a massacre” as armed men stormed a village in the Mopti region.

Members of the Fulani ethnic community were targeted in the attack which was carried out by men wearing the traditional Dogon hunters’ clothing.

The victims were accused of having links to jihadists and were slaughtered with “guns and machetes,” according to local security forces.