Iran-Venezuela cooperation deal
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is on an official visit to Iran. Maduro and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raeisi have signed a document for 20-year cooperation between the two countries. The two presidents have stressed closer mutual cooperation on all fronts. They said Tehran and Caracas should work together closely in areas such as trade, economy, agriculture, as well as science and technology. Raeisi and Maduro hailed the establishment of direct Tehran-Caracas flights as an opportunity to enhance bilateral relations and bring the two nations closer together. President Raeisi also hailed Venezuela for standing up to foreign pressure and imperialism. The Venezuelan president arrived in Tehran on Friday for a two-day stay.
Jail term for Anez
Former Bolivian President Jeanine Anez has been sentenced to jail for orchestrating a coup that brought her to power during a 2019 political crisis. A court has ruled that 54-year-old Anez will serve 10 years in a women's prison in La Paz. That comes more than a year after she was arrested for an alleged plot to oust her predecessor Evo Morales. Anez was convicted of making decisions contrary to the Bolivian constitution. She had already announced that she would appeal to international legal bodies if convicted. But Anez still faces a separate, pending court case for sedition and other charges. The former army and police heads are also facing a ten-year jail term each. Both are currently on the run.
Ukraine's plea for arms
Ukraine asking the West for more weapons as Russia steps up attacks in the east, more than three months into the war there. Ukrainian military officials say they’re outgunned by the more powerful Russian army. They say they need more advanced Western weapons, including rocket systems to fend off Russian artillery attacks. Moscow has been focusing its firepower in the eastern Donbas region over the past few weeks, with the fiercest battles taking place in Severo-donetsk, an industrial city in Luhansk province. Ukrainians have largely pulled out of the city’s residential areas, but they’re still putting up resistance against Russian advance from the north and south. Ukrainian president Volodym Zelensky says Russia is trying to break every town in Donbas.