American Airlines says data breach affected some customers, employees

(Reuters) -American Airlines Inc on Tuesday confirmed a data breach and said while an "unauthorized actor" gained access to personal information of a small number of customers and employees through a phishing campaign, there was no evidence of data misuse. Shares of the carrier, the latest U.S. company to suffer a cyber attack, fell 2.6% in afternoon trade. Recently, Uber Technologies Inc and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc also disclosed similar breaches, leaving investors and customers worried about data security.



"We are also currently implementing additional technical safeguards to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future," the airline said on Tuesday. It discovered the breach in July and engaged a third party cybersecurity forensic firm to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and the scope of the incident, according to a Sept. 16 consumer notification letter. American Airlines has notified customers that personal information such as address, phone number, driver's license number, passport number and/or certain medical information may have been accessed by the hacker, the letter showed. "We regret that this incident occurred and take the security of your personal information very seriously," Chief Privacy and Data Protection Officer Russell Hubbard said in the letter.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shinjini Ganguli)

Drought in Western US heats up as a Senate campaign issue


RENO, Nev. (AP) — In a midterm campaign season dominated by inflation, abortion and crime, there’s another issue that is becoming more urgent in Western states: drought.



The topic of water historically has played little to no role in campaign ads in much of the region, but funding to fight drought is coming up now in door-knocking campaigns and is on the long list of talking points that advocacy groups are using to rally voters in two states with vulnerable Democratic incumbents and looming water cuts: Nevada and Arizona.

“This issue appeals to the economic anxiety of our voters and our people,” said Angel Lazcano, a Las Vegas-based organizer for Somos Votantes, which seeks to mobilize Latino voters across swing states.

Federal officials recently announced that Nevada and Arizona would get far less water in 2023 as the stranglehold on the Colorado River worsens because of drought, climate change and demand. The federal government threatened to impose deeper, broader cuts if the seven states that depend on the waterway can’t agree on how to use less.

The two vulnerable incumbents whose states are hit hardest by the cuts — Catherine Cortez Masto, of Nevada, and Mark Kelly, of Arizona — seized on the opportunity to seek funding through the federal legislation. They were joined by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is seeking reelection in Colorado, and Arizona’s Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. The four Western senators negotiated $4 billion in last-minute funding to help address the region’s growing water crisis in the Inflation Reduction Act.

In tight races in Nevada and Arizona, the Colorado River basin cuts and last-minute $4 billion in drought-relief funding will serve as a test of how influential access to water will be in deciding two of the most consequential Senate races this cycle.

Though still not allocated, the drought relief funding will generally pay farmers to leave fields unplanted and will pay for water conservation and habitat restoration projects.

Cortez Masto said in a brief interview that she doesn’t see it as a campaign issue, but rather an issue for the entire West.

Somos Votantes released ads in English and Spanish, thanking Cortez Masto for the funding. In Arizona, the Environmental Defense Fund and its advocacy partner did the same for Sinema and Kelly, who has touted the funding on social media.

Kathleen Ferris, a senior water policy researcher at Arizona State University, said drought is a politically murky subject. She doubts the relief funding will have any sway on the election, and even the Colorado River cuts have not risen to the level of other hot-button issues.

Campaigns historically have trouble communicating complex water policies because there are so many interest groups that have a stake, she said.

"It’s not necessarily easy to say, ‘Well, I will do this,’ which would hurt this group, or ‘I will do that,’ which would hurt another group,” said Ferris, a senior research fellow at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. “So mostly, what they say is ’I will convene stakeholders’ and ‘We will have robust discussions’ and ‘We will figure out a path.’ Well, that’s not very sexy for the electorate.”

The funding is small in the wider context of a historic megadrought. Farmers in Yuma, Arizona, are already requesting over a quarter of the funding, and projects elsewhere to convert ocean water to drinking water often cost billions.

Though projects in Nevada and Arizona may get priority, 17 states are eligible for the funding, which will be doled out through 2026.

Questions also remain about whether the one-time allocation will turn into an annual stipend. If so, experts say, other funding requests could come under scrutiny from states not reliant on the river.

Though the basin cuts will not result in immediate new restrictions, they signal that unpopular decisions about how to reduce consumption could come soon.

Nowhere have the effects of drought been as visible as in Lake Mead, the Colorado River’s largest reservoir, which supplies water to nearby Las Vegas. Residents have watched human remains and old artifacts reveal themselves as levels drop.

Lazcano, the community organizer at Somos Votantes, which endorsed Cortez Masto, brings up Las Vegas’ robust water recycling infrastructure and the $4 billion in drought relief funding while door-knocking or hosting events in Las Vegas' Latino neighborhoods.

He pitches drought relief as an environmental and economic issue — affecting jobs and opportunities next to rising gas prices, labor shortages and inflation.

“I feel like people have that surface-level understanding of these things that are happening,” he said. “Like they hear about the cuts and the money coming in, but they’re not too sure with how to take that in, and that’s where we come in. To tell them about how it is, or what these investments mean.”

The funding has earned mixed reactions from Republican candidates in Nevada.

While the inflation measure was universally vilified by the party, GOP lawmakers and candidates did not deny that drought needs urgent attention.

Adam Laxalt, who is running against Cortez Masto, has mostly stayed away from talking about drought. In an email, he said he supports efforts to address water problems in Nevada, noting that the crunch “didn’t just happen overnight.”

The Inflation Reduction Act will contribute to more inflation, and Cortez Masto should have secured funding without having to support a larger bill, he said.

Sam Peters, a Republican candidate for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District — which covers much of rural central Nevada down to the northern edge of the Las Vegas area — criticized paying farmers not to use water, saying that Democrats “throw money at it without a real solution.” He suggested desalination as a longer-term solution.

U.S. Rep Mark Amodei, Nevada’s lone Republican congressman, supported the general idea of the funding and also pointed to desalination, the technology that removes salt from ocean water and turns it into drinking water.

A $1.4 billion desalination project was proposed in California with support from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom but was rejected by a California coastal panel in May because of its cost and threat to marine organisms at the base of the food chain.

Days after the Inflation Reduction Act passed, Amodei sent out a blog post that didn’t mention drought but outlined the provisions he said would deepen the country’s economic woes.

Asked about the drought funding later, he said it was “maybe some of the least egregious stuff” in the act.

___

Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326

Gabe Stern, The Associated Press

GOP's hard-line tactics on migrants refocus midterm debate


MIAMI (AP) — They’ve delivered migrants on planes and buses to Washington, D.C., New York City — even Martha’s Vineyard. And the Republican governors of Florida and Texas may be just getting started.


GOP's hard-line tactics on migrants refocus midterm debate© Provided by The Canadian Press

Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas insist such dramatic steps are need to highlight a genuine crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of migrants stream into the country illegally each day. But weeks away from their own competitive reelections, friends and foes alike acknowledged that such hard-line tactics have effectively refocused November’s midterm elections — at least, temporarily — away from abortion rights and toward an issue more favorable to Republicans.

A defiant DeSantis on Tuesday blasted the Biden administration's inaction on the Southern border and celebrated his own policies for making illegal immigration “a front-burner issue” ahead of the midterms.

“It will be a big issue in the elections, I can tell you that,” DeSantis said. “It’s already made more of an impact than anyone thought it could possibly make. But we’re going to continue to make more of an impact.”

Indeed, DeSantis and Abbott are pressing forward with — and even expanding on — controversial campaigns to ship thousands of immigrants from Texas to Democratic-led states and cities. Beyond shifting the national debate, their divisive moves could also serve to strengthen their national brands — and help legitimize their controversial policies — as they consider 2024 presidential bids.

“I personally thought it was a good idea," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

The governors' rhetoric is reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s dire warnings ahead of the 2018 midterms that a migrant caravan threatened the Southern border. Trump’s GOP lost 40 seats in the House and gained two Senate seats that year.

Democrats from Connecticut to California have generated momentum in recent weeks by campaigning on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and the GOP's subsequent push to outlaw abortion in dozens of states. Republicans, meanwhile, want to make the midterms a referendum on President Joe Biden and concerns about the economy, crime and immigration.

This week, at least, immigration is leading the national debate.

“What they’re doing is raising the salience and relevance of the immigration issue, which is important to Republican voters and can help drive turnout,” said veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse. “For the voters we’re appealing to, for the most part, the benefits outweigh the risks by a considerable margin.”

There are real risks, however, particularly for DeSantis, who has taken credit for two weekend charter planes that carried about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, a small, wealthy island off Massachusetts' coast. The immigrants were told they were going to Boston.

A Texas sheriff on Monday opened an investigation into DeSantis' flights, though the law enforcement official, an elected Democrat, did not say what laws may have been broken in putting 48 Venezuelans on private planes from San Antonio, the first stop for many migrants who cross the border.

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against DeSantis and his transportation secretary on behalf of several of the migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard, alleging the two politicians engaged in a "fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them. DeSantis' office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, has called on the Justice Department to investigate the flights as well.

Related video: Political fallout from sending migrants to different US cities
Duration 5:20 View on Watch

“These guys are immature, sadistic Trump imitators. That’s what they are,” Castro said of Abbott and DeSantis. “This is sadistic behavior. Whatever political point they were trying to make has been made a long time ago.”

DeSantis, who has stepped up travel on behalf of GOP candidates in the midterm elections, vowed to spend “every penny” of $12 million set aside by the state legislature for such “relocation programs.” On Tuesday, local officials in a Delaware community close to Biden's vacation home were preparing to receive another one of DeSantis' planes full of migrants from Texas, although the Florida governor refused to confirm the development.

Despite fierce criticism and potential legal liabilities, there has been little evidence of widespread political backlash in either state.

Democratic sympathizers in Florida staged news conferences in recent days condemning the governors while others compared DeSantis to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Spanish radio. But the number of Venezuelan voters in the state remains relatively small. Much of the community that exists has formed a coalition with Cubans, a crucial bloc in Florida that has increasingly voted Republican.

“Governors Abbott and DeSantis have had enough of it and decided to do something for people to pay attention,” said Ernesto Ackerman, a Republican who heads the Independent Venezuelan American Citizens. “This is a country of laws, not of scoundrels and tramps.”

In Texas, Abbott has spent the past two years pushing a series of provocative immigration measures that have elevated his national profile and kept critics on his right at bay. The two-term governor converted a former prison near Texas’ southern border into a jail for migrants, gave the National Guard extraordinary arrest powers and gridlocked some of America’s busiest ports for a week by mandating additional inspections for 18-wheelers crossing into the U.S.

The Abbott administration has been busing migrants to Washington, Chicago and New York City for months. The busing campaign includes two busloads of people who were dropped off outside Vice President Kamala Harris' residence last weekend.

Longtime Abbott adviser Dave Carney said Texas would expand its operation this week to include new drop-off locations in other states.

“We’ve been focused on this for two years. It’s got nothing to do with politics. The communities are screaming bloody murder,” Carney said, referring to border towns flooded with immigrants apprehended at the border and subsequently released.

Republicans cast the border crisis as a failure of the Biden administration.

The federal government this week reported that authorities stopped migrants 2.15 million times from October through August, the first time that measure has ever topped 2 million and a 39% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Border crossings have been fueled partly by repeat crossers because there are no legal consequences for getting caught under a pandemic-era rule that denies a right to seek asylum. Even so, the numbers are extraordinarily high.

While Abbott and DeSantis have also highlighted their accomplishments on issues related to the economy, neither has taken steps to moderate their immigration policies as the November election nears.

Abbott is running against former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has outraised Abbott in a contest that represents the toughest challenge of the governor’s political career.

Immigration remains a crucial issue for Democrats who have long believed Texas’ booming cities and shifting demographics would eventually turn America’s biggest red state blue. But in overwhelmingly Hispanic counties on the border, Republicans are making an aggressive play for three congressional seats this fall after Trump made major gains in the region in 2020.

It was much the same in South Florida, where Trump's GOP performed better than expected in the last election.

DeSantis is running against former Rep. Charlie Crist, whose campaign has charged in recent days that the governor “shot himself in the foot” by shipping immigrants from Texas to Massachusetts. The move sparked a fundraising surge for Crist that exceeded $1 million over a 48-hour period, according to spokesperson Samantha Ramirez.

Republican candidates on the November ballot don't seem worried.

“I think it is a valid maneuver to use in order to try to wake up or at least expose the hypocrisy of progressive Democrats that say the border is secure and there’s no problem down here whatsoever,” said Joseph Swiger, one of dozens of Republicans running for local office in Texas border counties where the GOP seldom bothered to recruit candidates in the past.

___

Peoples reported from New York; Weber reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.

Steve Peoples, Adriana Gomez Licon And Paul Weber, The Associated Press

UN

Bolivia and Peru express concern over the situation of the Palestinian people and the war in Ukraine

The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, expressed their concern about the situation of the Palestinian people and the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a meeting at the United Nations Assembly on Tuesday, while calling for a ceasefire in the country.


The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo

 - MARIANA BAZO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

"Let the United Nations work tirelessly for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. For the historical rights of the Palestinian state and people to be respected and for NATO to stop thinking about its expansionist plans," Arce stressed.

For his part, Castillo has remarked before the UN General Assembly that "strategic balances" have been modified, resulting in the deterioration of peace. "(Peru) reiterates the illegitimacy of the Russian Federation's intervention in Ukraine, just as it reproves Israel's persistent occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967," he said.

In this way, he called for a cease-fire in Ukraine so that economic sanctions do not "affect food security" in a "convulsed" context in which these "unilateral" reprisals, different from those approved by the Security Council, are contrary to international law.

"It is indispensable that the international community assumes once and for all its responsibilities and propitiates peace negotiations to find a solution based on the recognition of the two states", explained Castillo, adding that it is necessary "a viable Palestine" and an "Israel with secure borders".

For this reason, the Peruvian president announced before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the Peruvian government will open a diplomatic representation in Palestinian territory with the aim of promoting this "lasting peace".

"THE "LITHIUM TRIANGLE" AND THE LAW OF THE SEA

 During his speech, Arce asked the United Nations to ensure the non-interference of states over strategic natural resources in the so-called "lithium triangle", formed by Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, which is "in the crosshairs" of the United States. "We are not pieces on a chessboard," he said, adding that they have "every right to decide" about their own resources.

Bolivia has gone through several potholes throughout their shared history, among them the Altiplano's lawsuit before the International Court of the Hague, brought by then President Evo Morales, in which Chile was forced to negotiate a sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean.

In view of these disputes, Arce explained that the sea "is a right of the peoples" and that "Bolivia was born with the sea". "However, at present, it is a cloistered country, forced by the circumstances of the past to face multiple barriers for transportation, communication and trade".

The Bolivian president has also put the focus on the fight against drug trafficking. "We must change the approach", he explained, adding that "militarization" is a point that needs to be worked on, since "it has affected the peasants in the south", leaving the large criminal groups in "impunity".

"The international war on drugs criminalizes and generates unilateral sanctions against countries of the south, but shields the laundering of assets, facilitates drug trafficking and other related crimes in other countries of the north," he said, adding that it is necessary to bet on a social and less militarized approach.

THE SAHARA AND THE MALVINAS 

For his part, Castillo recalled that Peru has re-established diplomatic relations with the Saharawi republic. "It firmly supports their right to self-determination", he said, adding that they support the efforts of the UN for a "cease-fire" in Western Sahara and a "negotiated and peaceful solution".

"In the same conviction, Peru fully recognizes the sovereignty rights of the Argentine Republic in the Malvinas Islands and we demand that the parties begin consultations and negotiations to achieve this imperative objective," he concluded.

Fernandez assures UN that the attack on Cristina Fernandez sought to alter democracy

The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, has assured this Tuesday before the UN General Assembly that the assassination attempt against Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner sought to "alter democracy".


The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez - 

"In Argentina, the attempt to assassinate the vice president not only affected public tranquility. It also sought to alter a virtuous collective construction that next year will celebrate four decades of life," he said, thanking "the solidarity" that the country has received "from the whole world" after the attack, as reported by 'La Nación'.

Speaking in New York before the United Nations General Assembly, in what was his first intervention before the world forum, Fernandez said that "many times in history, assassinations have been prologues of great tragedies" and "entire peoples succumbed behind those prophets of hatred".

"I am sure that the fascist violence that disguises itself as republicanism will not succeed in changing this broad consensus to which the vast majority of Argentine society adheres," she added, as reported by the Télam agency.

In this sense, he warned that extremist and violent discourses have found "fertile ground to sow anti-political sentiment", and he scorned that "those who seek to weaken" democracies "have specific interests that lead them to promote extreme polarization".

"Let us not accept this situation with resignation. Let us generate an energetic global rejection of those who promote division in our communities," said Fernandez.

ARGENTINA ASKS THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR A DIALOGUE ON THE MALVINAS 

On the other hand, Fernandez has taken advantage of the UN General Assembly to ask the United Kingdom to resume dialogues to address the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.

According to Télam, the Argentine president reaffirmed the country's "legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty rights" over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.

He also denounced that the United Kingdom "aggravated the controversy" with an "unjustified and excessive military presence in the islands" and with "calls for the illegal exploitation of resources". However, it has expressed its willingness to resume "negotiations" with London.

"We request the Secretary General to renew his efforts in the fulfillment of that mandate and that the United Kingdom agrees to abide by the call of the international community and put an end to this anachronistic colonial situation", emphasized Fernandez, reiterating to the British Government to comply with UN resolution 31/49, which calls for the decolonization of the Malvinas Islands.

Sahara – Morocco defends before the UN its autonomy plan for the Sahara as «the only solution».

The head of the Moroccan government, Aziz Ajanuch, defended Tuesday before the UN General Assembly the Moroccan autonomy proposal for the Sahara, which he described as "a realistic and fair solution to the problem", claiming once again the Moroccan ownership of the former Spanish colony.


Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Ajanuch, leader of the 

National Rally of Independents (RNI) 

- CHADI / XINHUA NEWS / CONTACTOPHOTO

In his speech, he reiterated Morocco's commitment to a "definitive political solution" to what he called an "artificial regional conflict" over the Sahara, but made it clear that this solution must be based on "the Moroccan autonomy initiative, the only solution to this dispute", and be framed within "the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the kingdom".

According to the Moroccan Prime Minister, this "serious and realistic" initiative presented by Morocco in 2007 already enjoys the support of more than 90 countries. About thirty countries, mainly African, have in recent years opened consulates in the former Spanish colony after recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over these territories.

Moreover, he maintained that "the Southern Provinces", as the Sahara is called in Morocco, "live at the pace of an irreversible development dynamic, within the framework of the new development model" launched by King Mohammed VI in 2015 and its population participates in it through its democratically elected representatives in the councils of the two regions into which this territory is divided.

MESSAGE TO ALGERIA 

In another development, according to le360.ma portal, Ajanuch said Morocco supports the efforts of the UN envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to relaunch the process of round tables with the participation of Morocco, the Polisario Front, Mauritania and Algeria with a view to reaching a realistic and lasting political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council.

"The participation of Algeria, with seriousness and good faith, in the process of round tables (...) is a sine qua non to achieve a definitive settlement to this question", the Moroccan Prime Minister stressed, after accusing Algiers of being responsible for "the creation and maintenance of this artificial dispute".

On another matter, the Moroccan Prime Minister stressed his country's "firm" position in support of the Palestinian cause and a "two-state solution", although, nevertheless, he stressed that he will continue to defend "the special status of Jerusalem".

Nevertheless, Ajanuch maintained that "the world is now witnessing profound and multidimensional crises and challenges, and the African continent is the most affected by the difficult global economic conditions, which undermine its efforts in the field of sustainable development".

In addition, he called for strengthening international cooperation to launch "major initiatives" for development that will enable Africa to "withstand many international shocks," pointing specifically to climate change.

DIPLOMATIC EFFORT 

Morocco has recently been engaged in a major diplomatic effort to attract more countries to support its thesis of the Moroccanness of the Sahara. After then U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Rabat's sovereignty over the former Spanish colony in December 2020, the Moroccan government has worked and lobbied for other countries to follow in its footsteps.

In the case of Spain, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, recognized last March in a letter to Mohamed VI that the Moroccan autonomy plan is "the most serious, solid and credible basis" for a solution, while other countries such as France and Germany have recognized that it could be one of the bases for resolving the conflict.

The Moroccan Foreign Minister, Naser Burita, is also in New York these days, where he is having a busy schedule of meetings with his counterparts from several countries with the aim of continuing to promote Morocco's theses.

On Tuesday, the head of Moroccan diplomacy held a total of eleven bilateral meetings, nine of them with ministers of European countries - Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Portugal. A meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, is scheduled for Wednesday.

Belgian proposal to bless same-sex unions goes against Holy See norm, Vatican says

The proposal to bless homosexual couples put forward by the Flemish bishops "was not presented to the Vatican beforehand" and is contrary to a directive of the Holy See, according to the Vatican's official newspaper, Vatican News.

"With this measure, the Flemish bishops, among them Cardinal Jozef de Kesel, oppose a directive of the Holy See," reads the article, which lists the liturgy published by the Catholic bishops of Flanders that can be used for the ecclesiastical blessing of homosexual couples.

In February 2021, the Vatican banned any ecclesiastical blessing of homosexual couples, as well as any rite comparable to marriage between a man and a woman. "God does not bless sin," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted in a document at the time.

The Flemish bishops are the first in the Church to explicitly give the green light to the ecclesiastical blessing of homosexual couples, with a document that, according to the Vatican, is in open opposition to the one published by the Holy See's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The official Vatican media cites the information published on the official website of the Belgian Bishops' Conference, where the blessing of the union of same-sex couples is contemplated and it is established that, in each diocese, there will be a person dedicated to the pastoral care of homosexual persons. However, the Belgian prelates specify that this blessing will be clearly differentiated from sacramental marriage.

"During pastoral meetings, people often ask for a moment of prayer to ask God to bless and perpetuate this commitment of love and fidelity," the Belgian Episcopal Conference points out in the document entitled 'Homosexual persons are pastorally close. For a hospitable Church, which excludes no one'.

However, they point out that this moment of prayer can be simple and that "the difference with what the Church understands as sacramental marriage must be clear". The Flemish bishops will travel to Rome next week for the usual 'ad limina' visit, which includes private meetings with the Pope.

Two dead and 25 injured in Iran's Kermanshah following protests

By REUTERS - 

Two people died on Tuesday following protests in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, the city's prosecutor was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the semi-official Fars news agency.

(OFFICIAL KHAMENEI WEBSITE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

"Unfortunately, two people were murdered in yesterday's riots in Kermanshah. We are certain this was done by anti-revolutionary elements because the victims were killed by weapons not used by the security apparatus," Shahram Karami said.

The prosecutor added 25 people, including protesters, security forces and bystanders, were injured during the protests.

Related video: People killed in violent Iran protests

Duration 1:04  View on Watch

Fifteen protesters were arrested in Shiraz on Tuesday, according to an official quoted by IRNA.
Internet may be disrupted in Iran for 'security reasons'

Access to the internet in Iran may be disrupted due to "security reasons", the minister of communications was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the semi-official ISNA news agency, amid widespread protests following the death of a young woman in police custody.

"Due to security issues and the debates going on currently in the country, restrictions to the internet may be decided and applied by the security apparatus, but overall we have not had any bandwidth reduction," Issa Zarepour said.

Police officer dies in protests over death of woman arrested for improperly wearing veil

Authorities in Iran on Wednesday denounced the death of a policeman in the context of protests in recent days in the country over the death of a woman after she was arrested for improperly wearing the veil.


Archive - Police in Iran - ROUZBEH FOULADI / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

The governor of Shiraz, Lorfollah Shibani, said that the officer died in an incident on Tuesday and added that four other officers were also injured, while 15 people were arrested, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA.

As part of the demonstrations, an officer was injured in the city of Mashhad (northeast) after attackers set him on fire, although other demonstrators came to his rescue with a fire extinguisher, as reported by the Tasnim news agency.

The protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini have so far resulted in five deaths and dozens of injuries, according to authorities. The demonstrations have had their epicenter in the Kurdish-majority areas of the northwest of the country, although they have spread to numerous cities, including the capital, Tehran.

Amini, 22, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority, was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for improper dress and died three days later after falling into a coma after fainting in a detention center amid allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

The Tehran Police on Monday came out in the wake of the controversy and assured that Amini's death was an "unfortunate incident", while Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke to the family by phone on Sunday and promised a thorough investigation to shed light on what happened.

What is different about the most recent protests in Iran? - analysis

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN - TODAY - The Jerusalem Post

A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic

© (photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Iran has seen protests in cities and towns over the past four days in the wake of the police killing of a young woman.

The protests began in western Iran in the Kurdistan region of the country but they have spread to Tehran, Mashhad and other cities in the last two nights. The protesters have generally been seen clashing with police and plainclothes security and also gathering in large numbers at night. In many cases, women have been at the forefront of the protests.

These protests are different from the large-scale protests in 2019, in which Iran’s security forces have been accused of killing around 1,500 people; and in 2009 when there were massive demonstrations across Iran.

The 2009 protests were a response to election fraud during the election of far-right Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2017, protests erupted driven by economic anger.

These protests are different this time because they were driven by anger over the regime’s treatment of women, particularly the police detaining and then killing a woman named Mahsa Amini.


A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's ''morality police'', in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. 

(credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

KURDISTAN

Amini is a Kurdish woman and she was detained while on a trip to Tehran, accused by police of not covering her hair in the manner the theocratic regime desired. She was then beaten and fell into a coma and died last week. The regime has tried to calm crowds, claiming the death was an accident and that she died of heart failure or pre-existing conditions. But what caused her death was the police detention.

The protests began in the Kurdistan region of Iran where minority Kurds have faced oppression for decades. This gives the protests two overlapping causes; the suppression of women and the suppression of minorities. The protests reveal the degree to which people despise the regime and are willing to take to the streets to show their anger. A number of videos posted online reveal the depth of this anger.

In one video, young men confront police on the streets and women are heard cheering them on from balconies. In another crowds chant “death to the dictator.” On Keshavarz boulevard in Tehran, a man says that many of the intersections in the city are full of demonstrators. He also shouts pro-Kurdish slogans. For Kurds, the two issues are entwined. A strike in the Kurdish region and videos of security forces shooting and beating people have shown the degree to which the regime faces major challenges controlling parts of the country.

Nevertheless, the regime will likely put down the protests as it has in the past. But the brief freedom people have enjoyed in the streets, particularly at night, is a freedom they won’t forget. Images and videos posted online have shown women dancing and in one widely shared video, a woman is seen cutting her hair as men cheer. These are attempts to carve out temporary freedom in the streets usually controlled by the regime. This is a regime that sentences women to prison and beatings for not covering their hair or for dancing. The things that westerners take for granted are revolutionary acts in Iran.

On what other issues do Iranians go out and protest?

Over the last decade, Iranians have taken to the streets to confront the state over a variety of issues, from elections to the economy, to police brutality and suppression of minorities. When one adds up the long list of issues it is clear that the regime has only a tenuous grip on the country. At every corner, it is confronted by the fact that large numbers of people dislike the leadership and only brute force and time keep the regime in control.

The regime generally benefits from the fact that other authoritarian countries are on its side and don’t want to see their own rulers challenged; and the fact that there isn’t much outside support for Iranians.

For instance, other countries in the Middle East are hesitant to support protests in Iran, fearing their own citizens might rise up. Iran has hijacked Iraqi politics; is an ally of Syria and has Hezbollah loyalists in Lebanon. The Gulf countries don’t want to see chaos in Iran spill over. This means that the people of Iran are largely alone. They have received some recognition abroad, in the US and Europe; but even there they face an uphill struggle because the Iranian regime is attending the UN, while the people rise up.

The key question facing the protesters is whether these demonstrations will grow outside of the Kurdish region and Tehran. For now, it is unclear if that is possible. On Tuesday night, more cities appeared to join the protests, but that may only be temporary.

Uganda confirms death of patient admitted as suspected Ebola case after new outbreak declared

Daniel Stewart - 

Ugandan authorities on Wednesday confirmed the death of a patient who was being monitored as a suspected Ebola case following Tuesday's outbreak, bringing to two the number of deaths from the virus.


Colored scanning electron micrograph of Ebola virus particles (green) budding and adhering to the surface of cells. - 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEA© Provided by News 360

The spokesman of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, has detailed that the deceased is a child and added that the authorities "are waiting" for the results of the laboratory test to confirm that the cause of death is Ebola.

"At the moment it is a suspicious death," he said, before adding that the child was part of a group of fourteen people admitted to a hospital in Mubende with symptoms compatible with Ebola, as reported by the Ugandan newspaper 'New Vision'.

The director of the Mubende Regional Hospital, Rosemary Byabashaija, has indicated that fourteen identified contacts of the first deceased patient are in the hospital. "Since we registered the first case, we have sent a monitoring team to sensitize the population," she explained.

For their part, the Rwandan authorities have raised the health alert level in response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda. The director general of the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), Claude Mambo Muvunyi, said that the authorities are "closely monitoring" the epidemiological situation in Uganda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a case was reported last month in the province of North Kivu (east).

"We believe that the outbreak in Uganda will be contained, as it is a family," he said, before detailing that the strain is also not the same as the one detected in DRC, as reported by the Rwandan newspaper 'The New Times'. "We are well prepared. We have equipment to handle Ebola cases, but we have asked for more," he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that the confirmation of the first case followed an investigation by the national rapid response team after six "suspicious deaths" in the district over the past month.

"This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda has recorded a case of the Sudanese strain of Ebola. We are working closely with national health authorities to investigate the source of this outbreak while supporting efforts to put effective control measures in place," said WHO Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.

"Uganda is no stranger to effective Ebola control. Thanks to its experience, measures have been put in place to detect the virus quickly and we can depend on this knowledge to stop the spread of infections," she concluded. Uganda reported its last case of this strain in 2012, while in 2019 it declared an outbreak by the Zaire strain, imported from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Rashida Tlaib: You can't hold progressive values, back Israel's apartheid gov't

By ZVIKA KLEIN -



Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib attends a pro-Palestinian protest in Dearborn, Michigan, US, May 16, 2021.© (photo credit: REUTERS/REBECCA COOK)

“I want you all to know that among progressives, it has become clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values, yet back Israel’s apartheid government,” said Rashida Tlaib, US representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, during an online advocacy seminar held on Tuesday by Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), and co-sponsored by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

“We will continue to push back and not accept this idea that you are progressive, except for ‘Philistine,’ any longer.”

She spoke of “victories” that the anti-Israel movement has achieved “due to the work of all of you, and so many others that continue to speak truth to power. When we center our beliefs and our actions on the truth that all human life is precious, that every person deserves to live free of fear and have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

“The need to oppose Israel’s government’s apartheid rule is obvious. The path to freedom for Palestine is long and daunting, we must see through to its end. We owe it to not only Palestinians, [but] oppressed people all over the world who understand that our struggles are linked to one another.”

"The path to freedom for Palestine is long and daunting, we must see through to its end."Rashida Tlaib