 Hello and welcome to the internationally-led roundup with People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the top stories from across the globe. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Black Panther activists to be released on parole after five decades in prison. Jordanian King dissolves National Parliament ahead of November elections. Transitional government in Mali names new civilian Prime Minister. Student groups protest highest fees for non-EU students in Austria. Fresh clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. 68-year-old Jalil Abdul Muntakim, a former Black Panther and civil rights activist, is said to be released on parole after being in custody for over 49 years in the US. Muntakim earlier identified as Anthony Bottom was first imprisoned at the age of 19 after being convicted of killing two New York Police Department officers. His parole was rejected multiple times even as it emerged that the evidence used to convict him was flawed. His release comes at a time when the US is witnessing mass protests against systemic racism and police killings since May. On September 23rd, a New York parole board passed the order for Muntakim to be released on parole before October 20th. The order came after he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in June. The order was only publicized days later by the board. Even though Muntakim was eligible for parole during his life sentence since 1998, his parole request was denied multiple times before. In August 1971, at the age of 19, Muntakim and his comrade Herman Bell were arrested over allegations of killing two NYPD officers, Beverly Jones and Joseph A. Pierre Gentili, in a shootout in New York City. Another BPP activist, Albert Washington, was also arrested along with Muntakim and Bell over the alleged murder attempt of a San Francisco police officer. One of the primary witnesses, Ruben Scott, whose testimony was the reason for the arrest of the three confessed years later to having named Bell and Muntakim after being tortured by the police. A ballistic report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation also revealed later that the bullets found on the bodies of the officers did not match the bullets and the guns found on the three at the time of their arrest. Muntakim was found guilty of murder charges in 1974 and received his life sentence in 1993 after a delay of 22 years. Attempts to have the conviction reviewed or the sentences commuted in light of new evidence was rejected by the authorities. In jail, Muntakim continued his civil rights activism by organizing the prison inmates. He formed the National Prisoners' Campaign in 1976 and was instrumental in getting the United Nations to recognize the existence of scores of political prisoners, many of whom were his comrades from the BPP. On Sunday, Jordan's King Abdullah issued a royal edict to dissolve the country's parliament in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country. The Election Commission had announced in July this year plans for holding the elections on the 10th of November. Following the parliament's dissolution, the Jordan Indian government is now constitutionally obligated to resign within one week. It will continue in caretaker capacity until a new government is elected. The outgoing parliament consists of 130 legislators, most of them from a pre-existing deeply entrenched ruling elite class made up of pro-monarchy and pro-government officials, influential businessmen and former high-ranking officials from the military and intelligence establishment. The ruling establishment in Jordan, including both the monarchy and the government, are currently dealing with a wide range of issues affecting the country. These include serious long-term economic problems and growing political opposition, social unrest and widespread uncertainty about the future. These have been aggravated by the pandemic situation which has seriously disrupted the lives of ordinary Jordanians. In an attempt to address some of these issues, the King had appointed a new prime minister in 2018. However, since then, the economic situation has only worsened with the national economy shrinking by 6% in 2020. The unemployment rate reached 19.3% in the beginning of this year. The new prime minister's appointment was followed by a violent government suppression of teachers' protests in a massive crackdown against the country's largest teachers' union. Teachers have been protesting since September 2019 against the government's failure to keep up its promises of salary hikes and other work-related benefits. The government has also used the protests as an excuse to curtail civil and political liberties of citizens. Gag orders were issued to the media, forbidding them from covering news or protests which are critical of the government and the monarchy or portrayals in power in the negative light. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Mokhtar Uyen was named as Mali's interim prime minister by the transitional government. The move is aimed at the lifting of sanctions imposed in Mali by the West Africa Regional Block following the military coup last month. The appointment of a civilian prime minister was a major condition imposed by the West African Regional Economic Block, ECOAS, in order to lift the sanctions. Uyen served as Mali's ambassador to the United Nations between 1995-2002 and as Foreign Minister between 2004-2011. Last week, former defense minister and retired Colonel Major Bahnan Tua was appointed president by Colonel Asimi Goeta, head of the junta that staged the coup, was installed as Mali's new vice president. The former president, Ibrahim Boubaqar Goeta, had announced his resignation and dissolution of the parliament on the 18th of August after the military arrested him and then prime minister Boubousi said. The country had been witnessing popular protests in the months leading up to the coup against alleged corruption, presence of foreign troops and rising religious extremism. The people of Mali continue to demand the withdrawal of the French and other foreign troops from the country. Under Operation Barkhane, around 5,000 French troops have been deployed in Mali since 2013 to fight the extremist Islamist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the West African region. Locals have reported several human rights violations by these soldiers. Progressive student groups in Austria have registered a strong protest against the raising of peace for non-EU students by the Austrian Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research. The decision was taken under the directive of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Last week, the Communist Student Association came up with a statement criticizing the fee hike and extending its solidarity with Ramiro Wong, a Peruvian student of the University of the Applied Arts Vienna. Wong had started a hunger strike against the fee hike. According to reports, the crisis began when the University of Applied Arts Vienna decided to enforce Tuition P ordinance 2019, directed by the Austrian Federal Ministry to introduce higher tuition fees for non-EU and EEA students. These tuition fees depend directly on whether a student belongs to the group of lower middle income or upper middle income countries and territories, categories made by the OECD. For many international students, the amount has increased from 0 to 740 euros per semester. In its petition against the fee hike, Ramiro Wong has said that universities are autonomous, which means that they can decide if, when, how and to what extent to enforce ministry policies. In its statement, the Communist Students Group has called for the suspension of fees, including for non-EU and EEA citizens. On Sunday, a fresh round of clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region broke out, raising concerns about the possibility of a full-fledged war. Sunday's clashes alongside the border continued on Monday morning and are reported to be the most intense since 2016. Scores of people, both fighters and civilians, have reportedly been killed in the fight. Russian authorities accuse Azerbaijan of attacking civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh. They also admitted that 31 Armenian soldiers have died in over 100 wounded in the Azeri attacks. Azerbaijan has blamed the Armenian armed forces for shelling a water-town turtle with over 19,000 people. Several non-combatants have also reportedly died in the overnight fighting. Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region of Azerbaijan with an Armenian ethnic majority. At the time, the Soviet Union in 1991, the region announced its independence from Azerbaijan leading to a war between the two trans-Caucasian countries. In 1994, a ceasefire between three parties, the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh was reached with Russian mediation. The ceasefire agreement left a large part of the Azerbaijan territory under Armenian control. The final resolution of the dispute is still pending with conflicts flaring up from time to time. United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres expressed his concerns of the clashes and appealed to both sides to stop the fighting. Iranian Foreign Minister Javed Tariq in a tweet on Sunday offered Iran's offices for both countries to engage in a dialogue to resolve differences saying that our region needs peace now. Russia too has offered mediation. And this is all we have for this episode of International Daily Roundup. For more such stories and videos visit www.websitepeoples.org subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.