Coronavirus: Turkey accused of neglecting Kurds in outbreak response

Liz Cookman
May 5, 2020

Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party says there has not been enough effort to help the Kurdish south-east

A man wearing a face shield for protective measures crosses the streets as the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) continues in the Turkish capital Ankara. AFP

Turkey’s majority Kurdish south-east is at greater risk from the global coronavirus pandemic because of government neglect, according to the country’s Kurdish opposition party.

As well as a larger concentration of testing kits, ventilators and imported drugs in the cities to the west of the country, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) claim that the medical facilities in the south east are insufficient for combatting the pandemic.

The key challenges facing the region in fighting Covid-19 include high rates of poverty, poor infrastructure, distrust in the government due to widespread government crackdowns on Kurdish mayors and a language barrier.

“For Kurdish cities, the situation is much worse [than the rest of the country],” the HDP’s vice co-chair responsible for local administrations, Mr Salim Kaplan, told The National.

“The number of public hospitals in Kurdish cities, intensive care units and the number of doctors per person are quite insufficient for combatting the pandemic. Even now, all intensive care units are full in [the south-eastern city of] Batman.”


Turkey has the eighth highest number of cases in the world, with over 125,000 confirmed and more than 3,300 deaths. No up-to-date regional data is available, but the majority Kurdish south-east borders with Iran, the worst affected country in the Middle East, which has been criticised for not taking tough enough measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Many say the rate of testing in the south-east has been insufficient compared to the risk.

Mr Kaplan said that the distribution of sanitiser and masks, which have been given out for free elsewhere, is as low as 1 per cent in Kurdish regions of the country, despite the average person earning among the lowest wages.

According to the latest regional wage data from the Turkish Statistical Institute in 2018, cities in the Kurdish south east have the lowest disposable income in Turkey at under half of the national average.

Many people do not have the option of working from home and cannot afford to stop work.

“Even though Kurdish cities have the highest levels of poverty in the country, the government did not take economic measures to keep people at home,” said Mr Kaplan.

Widespread mistrust in the government has also hampered efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic, fuelled in part by the removal of elected HDP mayors from their posts by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

They are detained on what are often described by rights groups as arbitrary charges under the country’s vague terrorism laws and replaced with unelected AKP trustees.

A representative of the ruling AKP declined to comment and the president’s office did not respond to correspondence.

Mehmet Demir, who was elected as co-mayor of Batman in 2019 with 66 per cent of the vote, was one of eight HDP mayors detained for several days and removed from their posts at the end of March. He was held for what the government said was suspicion of links to terrorists, in reference to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for more than four decades. He disputes the accusations and says they were without justification.

Two thirds of the 59 municipalities who voted for the HDP at local elections last year have since been dismissed.

“Claims that they are giving out masks do not reflect the truth, and the fight against coronavirus seems to have turned political,” Mr Demir said in Turkish via email.

“There is no state support and people have to work. Since there are large family structures in our region there is a serious threat of the spread of the virus.

“Generally, the state's investment in the Kurdish region is security-led and disregards human life.”

Mr Kaplan said that the lack of services in Kurdish also contribute to distrust.

“Since the government has not provided services in our mother tongue, people can not properly benefit from health services. All the posters and pamphlets on coronavirus precautions are prepared in Turkish and most people do not understand. This has hampered the desired result of ensuring lockdown measures and maintaining social distancing,” he said.

Nurcan Baysal, a Kurdish journalist based in Diyarbakir, one of the largest cities in the south-east, said the government's coronavirus response in the region has been the same as in other parts of the country, aside from the prioritised key cities, such as Ankara, the capital, and Istanbul, Turkey's largest. However, the problem is that there is a greater need for support, she said.

She also said that for many Kurdish people in the area, the pandemic is just one in a long line of threats to their way of life.

“After 2015, everything became ‘one language, one nation’ again. The state changed the Kurdish names of our parks and streets. Even wedding singers who sang in Kurdish were put in prison. Not only the language, but Kurdishness was forbidden,” she said.

That year, a ceasefire between the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – which is classed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the EU – collapsed, leading to a string of deadly attacks and intense government operations.

“Hundreds of doctors were dismissed from their jobs in Kurdish cities with the accusation of having links with ‘terrorist groups’. During the military curfews of 2015 and 2016, people witnessed terrible human rights violations and war crimes,” said Ms Baysal.

“So there is this mood now in Kurdish people: ‘we have seen terrible things, coronavirus is not so important in comparison.’”

A PRACTICE RUN FOR ERDOGAN'S FALSE FLAG COUP OF A YEAR LATER WHICH PURGED SUFI'S AND OPPOSITIONISTS WITH NO BASIS IN FACT BUT DUE TO ETHNIC AND SECTARIAN INTERESTS OF ERDOGAN ISLAMIST AGENDA AND HIS URGE TO BE THE HITLER OF TURKEY.

Updated: May 5, 2020 12:07 PM

Coronavirus: Turkish pharmacist defies government to help those in need



Liz Cookman
May 8, 2020

Politician Gamze Tascier gives out face masks from her pharmacy and pays for food purchases of those in need, despite a government crackdown on unsanctioned aid

Pharmacist and Turkish opposition deputy Gamze Tascier has distributed around 1,000 masks to those in need. Courtesy Gamze Tascier

Despite risking the government's wrath, pharmacist and politician Gamze Tascier has been using her access to medical supplies to help the less fortunate in Turkey's capital.

As well as owning a pharmacy in Ankara’s poverty-stricken eastern district Mamak, Ms Tascier is a deputy for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

RIGHT OF CENTRE OPPOSITION TO ERDOGAN ISLAMIST AKP THEY TO OPPOSE THE KURDISH PKK THE LEFT KURDISH FEMINIST LGBTQ OPPOSITION PARTY IS THE HDPWhile she gave up her day-to-day work as a pharmacist when she was elected to parliament last year, she still oversees operations and says she has so far given out about 1,000 masks to people as part of efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus.

“Pharmacists know everyone because they are the health advisers of their neighborhoods, they have good and close relationships with people,” Ms Tascier told The National.

“I distribute masks to those who need them in the neighbourhood, where I have owned a pharmacy for years.”

Turkey has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the region and the eighth highest in the world at over 130,000, but has a relatively low number of recorded deaths at 3,600.

Yet the distribution of face masks, as well relief efforts, have become the topic of political debate.

"The debts of the debtors were paid by Ankara deputy Gamze Tascier," says a note at a grocery store. Courtesy Gamze TascierPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have moved to prevent efforts by the CHP and other opposition groups to help hundreds of thousands of people in need. Mayors have had charitable bank accounts frozen, they face criminal investigations and accusations of separatism over their response to the pandemic.

Many believe the crackdown has been driven by fears that the AKP could lose votes at the next election following significant losses at the last local elections in 2018, most notably in Ankara and Istanbul.

Mr Erdogan argues that combating the virus requires a centralised and planned effort “with strong co-ordination” and that opposition efforts are an attempt to “show off”.

The sale of face masks was also banned as the government planned to distribute them to citizens free of charge. However, the plan failed to work as many were unable to receive the SMS codes needed to receive their disposable surgical masks from pharmacies.

READ MORE

Coronavirus: Turkey accused of neglecting Kurds in outbreak response
The government now plans to replace the ban with a price cap of one Turkish lira (Dh0.50) per mask.

“There were unprecedented crowds in pharmacies after the ruling party decided to distribute free masks,” said Ms Tascier.

“Most people did not receive the code they needed, so they tried their luck in desperation and the crowds risked even the pharmacists getting sick.”

Ms Tascier said some pharmacists had already died from Covid-19 and a pharmacist friend has tested positive. One of the people she helped has also died of the disease.

Yet people have been very grateful to her and her colleagues for their efforts to help them, so they continue.

“People's reaction has been positive. The culture in Turkey is that neighbours help each other and I am happy to be able to help people I have had good relationship with for years at this difficult time,” she said.

“I also deliver boxes of masks to people the CHP’s district organisations say need help. So I have been able to reach as many people as possible in many districts in Ankara.”

And it is not only mask donation she is involved in. When Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, who also represents the CHP, appealed for people to take up the tradition of paying off the debts of the less fortunate at their local food shops as a means to evade government relief restrictions, Ms Tascier did not hesitate.

An Ankara grocery store owner shows the credit book and the debts paid off by CHP deputy and pharmacist Gamze Tascier. Courtesy Gamze Tascier

“There are notebooks in small grocery stores that we call ‘veresiye defteri’ [credit books]. People in the neighbourhood know each other and some take their needs from the grocery shop and write down their debts to pay when they receive their salaries,” she said.

“Due to the pandemic, a large number of people have lost their jobs and their debts have accumulated. I went to grocery shops in various neighbourhoods to pay debts, and have helped as much as I can with food packages, delivered by our municipality to the citizens in need."

Ms Tascier believes that now, more than ever, supporting others is important and she will continue to do what she can for others.

"Unfortunately, the AKP puts great pressure on CHP municipalities, even while we are dealing with coronavirus. It is not possible to understand this enmity policy in such a difficult time,” she said.

“In these days, helping has become so important. I hope a vaccine will be available as soon as possible so we, and the rest of the world, can return to normal.”


Updated: May 8, 2020 07:53 AM

UPDATE 

Indians recall horrifying moments they inhaled toxic gas leak in industrial disaster
At least 11 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the incident

A boy affected by a chemical gas leak is carried for medical treatment in Visakhapatnam, India. AP Photo

Venkataraman and his wife Van Lakshmi were asleep as the toxic gas slowly filled their one-room house in RR Venkatapuram early on Thursday.

And even after they woke, the couple decided the smell was a disinfectant that was sprayed to control coronavirus.

But an hour later, they and their two young children were gasping for air as neighbours called about a gas leak at a chemical plant near their home in Visakhapatnam, in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

“We saw people running helter-skelter in the village and screaming 'Run, run, run',” Mr Venkataraman, 42, told The National.

Within minutes of fleeing their house, the family collapsed from exposure to toxic styrene gas, which had by then completely enveloped their small village of 500 households.


Mr Venkataraman, a tuk-tuk driver, regained consciousness, only to find his 35-year-old wife motionless as his children whimpered near by.

“I found my wife lying near a drain," he said. "I tried to wake her up but she had gone. She was already dead.

“There was no alarm from the factory, no siren. If we had known it was a gas leak, we would have never ignored that smell."

The ambulances and emergency workers arrived hours later as panic and chaos gripped the village.

The gas spread up to 3 kilometres, said India’s disaster management agency, which confirmed that more than 80 people were on ventilators in hospitals.

Indian authorities said at least 11 people, including two children were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in the incident.

It happened after two 5,000-tonne tanks at the plastics factory leaked early on Thursday morning.

Styrene gas is used in making plastic and was stored in the chemical plant owned by a South Korean battery maker, LG Polymer.The factory had been shut since Indian authorities announced the coronavirus lockdown in mid-March.

The leak is believed to have taken place when the plant’s employees were preparing to resume operations as the country slowly reopens it industries.Nearby residents said they woke up to burning eyes, skin irritation and difficulty breathing soon after the leak started about 2.30 am.

What followed was a night of mayhem and chaos.

CORE & VULNERABLE AREAS MAP OF PVC GAS LEAKAGE. REQUESTING CITIZENS TO USE WET MASKS OR WET CLOTH TO COVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH. pic.twitter.com/7u9U5zDBLN— Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) (@GVMC_OFFICIAL) May 7, 2020

Gopal Venkatraman, who runs a catering agency, said he was alerted by a factory employee about 4.30am and fled the village in his car with his wife and three children.

By then, Mr Venkatraman said, the entire village was shrouded in a thick haze of gas and the air was filled with a pungent smell as men ran looking for ways to escape the village and women cried with burning eyes.

“Many had fallen unconscious on the streets while fleeing the village for safety," he said. "There was complete chaos, only cries and screams,” Mr Venkatraman said.

“I saw four men struggling to breathe. One by one, they all collapsed. Blood was coming out of their noses and ears.

"It was a scary sight. My children were crying out of fear. We all were scared for our lives."

Shrisha, who has a three-day-old baby, feels lucky to have escaped in time after her neighbours came knocking to warn of the gas leak.

READ MORE

Coronavirus: Urban centres push India's case tally past 50,000

India gas leak: at least nine dead and hundreds ill in Visakhapatnam

“There was a strong smell and my eyes were watery and burning,” Ms Shrisha said.

“I covered my child with a scarf and neighbours gave us lift in their car to leave the village. I couldn’t think of my parents or brothers. It was a terrifying sight.”

India has a poor record for workplace safety and deadly incidents are common across the country, where the lax implementation of laws is considered a major cause of these disasters.



The latest incident brought back memories of the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, when more than 5,000 people died in the world’s biggest disaster after methyl isocyanate, a highly toxic gas, leaked at the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India.

Activists say more than 25,000 died and thousands of people are still suffering from the effects of the leak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the affected families and said the government would ensure the victims were helped.

“Spoke to officials of MHA and NDMA regarding the situation in Visakhapatnam, which is being monitored closely," Mr Modi tweeted.

"I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam."

Thursday’s leak comes after two industrial mishaps in India left more than a dozen workers injured.

Seven workers were taken to hospital in Raipur city in central India on Thursday after being exposed to a poisonous gas, possibly methane, while cleaning a paper mill, officials said. 

Another eight workers were burnt in a boiler blast at a government-run thermal power station in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state on Thursday, reportedly because the boiler overheated. (AND AN UNTRAINED OPERATOR PANICKED AND ADDED COLD WATER THE MOST COMMON REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN)

MORE PHOTOS HERE 
https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/indians-recall-horrifying-moments-they-inhaled-toxic-gas-leak-in-industrial-disaster-1.1016435#7

Updated: May 8, 2020 04:44 AM

SEE
 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/05/update-more-evacuations-near-indian.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/05/hundreds-of-people-are-seriously-ill.html

US blocks UN vote on pandemic resolution over China's 'false narratives'

France and Tunisia forced back to drawing board after Washington signals disapproval

The United States on Friday prevented a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

The US on Friday “broke silence” on the Covid-19 resolution at the UN Security Council, criticising China for “trying to advance false narratives” and forcing France and Tunisia to seek an alternative solution.

A Department of State spokesperson said the US had worked with Council members constructively for more than six weeks to attempt to reach an agreement on supporting the Secretary-General's call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus crisis.

The US blamed China for the failure to secure an agreement on the resolution. “Unfortunately, the PRC has been determined to use this resolution to advance false narratives about its response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan,” the spokesperson told The National.

On Friday, tensions between the US and China appeared to be at the forefront of reasons why members could not agree on a resolution.

“The PRC has repeatedly blocked compromises that would have allowed the Council to move forward,” the spokesman said.

Asked what should be changed, the spokesperson said that the Council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. “Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one.”

The 15 member body has been grappling with the wording of its response to the pandemic.

The text, which has been under negotiation since March, called for a worldwide cessation of hostilities in conflict zones so governments can tackle outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.

After the US signalled its disapproval earlier on Friday, a UN-based diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The National that France and Tunisia would have to go back to the drawing board to resolve the dispute over the resolution.

“Once this happens, the resolution will be under silence again until the next vote.”

Washington had previously called for the virus to be named “Wuhan Virus” in any statements or documents.

Another issue hampering efforts to pass a resolution on coronavirus was the request of some member states to include lifting sanctions on Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Earlier Friday, before news of the US decision broke, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Covid-19 was resulting in “a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scaremongering”.


Updated: May 9, 2020 04:07 AM

We are all creatures of God': Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy on Sufi music’s message of tolerance

The Egyptian chanter will perform as part of Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation virtual concert series

Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy is a master practitioner of Sufi chants. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation

You don't have to pay to be a student of the acclaimed Sufi singer Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy.

The only thing you need is some talent and a hefty amount of patience.

It is always the latter where people slip up, El Tohamy tells The National from his home in Cairo, Egypt.

“A lot of the time, there is an expectation to come and learn how to sing these religious songs and then be ready to perform when they graduate,” he says. “That’s not the way I do things; 70 per cent of the actual course [I teach] is dedicated to spiritual exercises. I want them to understand the spiritual states they are singing about.”

It is for this reason that his Madrassat Al Nashad, which translates to chanting school, has been at the forefront of building a new generation of singers who perform devotional songs, also known as nasheeds.

On Saturday, May 9, we are going to see the master at work himself, as El Tohamy, 41, will deliver an online concert for Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation’s Ramadan series.

It promises to be a stirring affair, with the performer singing key devotional tracks taken from Islamic history, such as Al Burdah, written by 13th-century Egyptian poet Imam Al-Busiri, as well as some of his own compositions.
The show follows his sold-out concert in Abu Dhabi in February, which took place at New York University – Abu Dhabi Arts Centre.

El Tohamy says the goal with the virtual concert is more than to simply entertain.

“I have been fortunate to travel and perform in many places to showcase the culture and tolerance of Sufi music,” he says. “And with us being in Ramadan, I am even more keen to show the spiritual beauty of the form. This is something that I am aware of, especially during this blessed period.”

The 'commercialisation' of nasheed music

The balance between faith and art has always been prevalent throughout El Tohamy’s career. His father is renowned nasheed singer Sheikh Yassin El Tohamy, and he received his theological training from Egypt's prestigious Islamic seminary, Al Azhar University.

He credits that experience for providing him with spiritual framework in which to view and build his performance career. It is a journey he hopes will remain immune from the growing fame and celebrity culture surrounding the nasheed industry.

“While I am not worried at all about the state of the music itself, what concerns me is the commercialisation surrounding it,” he says. “I have been seeing a lot of people entering the field and thinking more about the ends than the means. By that I mean they are focusing more on the fame and prestige than the goals of the music.”


It is for this reason that El Tohamy has built a rigorous spiritual syllabus into his music school. You can’t be an effective devotional singer, he states, without excellent character.

“One of the key lessons I give the students is to make them not just memorise the words of a particular nasheed or poem,” he says. “But I want them to live it and feel it. I want them to spend a long time thinking about what these words mean and embody the noble qualities it talks about. That way when they perform, they do it with knowledge and passion.”

When it comes to his own career and spiritual path, El Tohamy says the nasheeds and poems he recites have not only been a source of nourishment, but have also played a key role in building bridges with other cultures.


“It has certainly opened my mind,” he says. “The performances I do are really all about promoting tolerance of each other. The more I travel and see the world, I realise that we are all the same. I don’t treat people based on where they come or who they are. We are all creatures of God and we share a common humanity. It is always from this point that I begin.”

Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy performs on Saturday, May 9 at 9.30pm on the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation Facebook page

https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/we-are-all-creatures-of-god-sheikh-mahmoud-el-tohamy-on-sufi-music-s-message-of-tolerance-1.1016436

Updated: May 8, 2020 

SEE http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-favorite-muslim.html

AND HERE IS ONE I FOUND ONLINE
IT'S NICE WHEN YOU CAN HAVE A SING ALONG 

HE HAS HIS OWN YOU TUBE STATION

HE AND HIS STUDENTS AS CHORUS ROCK THE KABBA AT THE KASBAH 

Panic in Tehran as Iran quake kills at least one

About a dozen people injured in rush to leave buildings during 4.6-magnitude tremor

The epicentre of the earthquake in Iran on May 8, 2020 was near Mount Damavand, north-east of Tehran. Reuters

An earthquake near Iran's tallest mountain killed at least one person and jolted the capital Tehran early on Friday, forcing panicked residents to flee buildings.

The shallow 4.6-magnitude quake hit at 12.48am local time near the city of Damavand, about 55 kilometres east of Tehran, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake prompted scores of residents of the capital to leave buildings for the safety of streets and parks.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Twitter that the tremor claimed the life of one person and injured seven.

Mr Jahanpour called on people to "keep calm" and follow safety guidelines.


Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said two people died "because of trauma and heart attack", while 13 were injured as they rushed to leave buildings.

The agency said the quake was preceded by a 2.9 tremor more than an hour earlier and was felt in the northern provinces of Mazandarn, Qazvin, Zanjan and Alborz.

The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered at least eight aftershocks, it said.

The USGS said on its website that the quake struck at a depth of 10km.

Its epicentre was south of Mt Damavand, a volcanic mountain which at 5,671 metres is Iran's tallest peak.

Iran sits on top of major tectonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake that rattled the western village of Habash-e Olya on February 23 killed at least nine people over the border in Turkey.

In November 2017, a 7.3-magnitude quake in Iran's western province of Kermanshah killed 620 people.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake in south-eastern Iran destroyed the ancient mud-brick city of Bam and killed at least 31,000 people.

Iran's deadliest was a 7.4-magnitude quake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in northern Iran, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.

In December and January, two earthquakes struck near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Neighbouring countries have raised concerns about the reliability of the country's sole nuclear power facility, which produces 1,000 megawatts of power, and the risk of radioactive leaks in case of a major earthquake.


Updated: May 8, 2020


Casualties reported after 5.1 earthquake hits Iran

Two people died in capital Tehran while 22 others are injured, according to state media.


Two people have died and 22 others were injured as they fled their homes in a panic following a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that hit northern Iran early on Friday (20:18 GMT on Thursday), according to state media.

Among the dead were a 21-year-old woman in Tehran who suffered heart failure, and a 60-year-old man in the city of Damavand, east of the capital, killed by a head injury, officials said.

More:

Deadly magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits northwestern Iran

Several dead in Turkey after earthquake hits Iran border area

6.3-magnitude earthquake hits western Iran

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre of the earthquake was at Damavand, just northeast of the capital, at the depth of 10km (6.2 miles).

One resident in the Iranian capital told Al Jazeera that the shaking of the ground felt "very strong".


#Tehran #Earthquake photos of people waiting in the street in the early hours by IRNA. May 8 (Thr time) #زلزله_تهران #زلزله#Iran pic.twitter.com/mVS15DCLzC— Living in Tehran (@LivinginTehran) May 7, 2020

Images posted on social media showed people huddled in the streets of Tehran in the middle of the night, as they tried to escape from the quake.

People are coming out into the streets after a 5.1 richter earthquake just hit near Tehran. Aftershocks are possible. An official in #Iran’s National Crisis Org has told people to maintain social distancing as they get out of their homes. pic.twitter.com/5E0oYc9MfJ— Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) May 7, 2020

There were several mild aftershocks, but no serious damage from the quake that struck after midnight on the border of the provinces of Tehran and Mazandaran, authorities said.

Boulders were also seen blocking the roadway leading to the mountainous Damavand area.

Many people in Tehran have left their homes out of fear of possible aftershocks.

Officials urged people who spent the night outdoors to observe social distancing to limit spread of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 6,500 and infected more than 103,000 in Iran.

They assured the public there was no shortage of petrol as people rushed to gas stations to fill up after the quake.

Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, where earthquakes occur often and are destructive.


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

COVID-19 destroys US livelihoods

More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment relief in the United States since March

by John Hendren  5/8/2020

Coronavirus is not only taking a toll on health, but also livelihoods.

More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment relief in the United States since March.

Behind every one of those grim unemployment statistics is a story of personal loss.

Al Jazeera's John Hendren spoke with a woman from Chicago who was working two jobs to make ends meet until the pandemic struck.

Kashmir clashes continue for third day over killing of top rebel

At least one killed and 50 others injured, some allegedly hit by pellets in eyes, in clashes over Riyaz Naikoo's death.

#FREEKASHMIR  

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA 'S #GAZA

5/8/2020

Indian forces killed a top rebel commander on Wednesday and shut down mobile phone and internet services in the region [Dar Yasin/AP]

MORE ON KASHMIRStarmer changes Corbyn's Kashmir stand as he woos British Indians 2 days agoAP's Kashmir photographers win Pulitzer for lockdown coverage  4 days agoKashmir: 5 security forces and 2 rebels killed in a gun battle  5 days agoQuiet and desolate Ramadan in Kashmir amid back-to-back lockdowns  last week

Anti-India protests and clashes have continued for a third day on Friday in Indian-administered Kashmir following the killing of a top rebel leader by government forces.

The Hizbul Mujahideen group's commander Riyaz Naikoo and three other rebels were killed in a gunfight with Indian troops on Wednesday in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district, leading to massive clashes in several places.

Naikoo, 35, was the chief of operations of Hizbul Mujahideen, the disputed region's largest rebel group, which has spearheaded an armed rebellion against the Indian rule.

More:
Indian troops kill top Kashmir rebel commander Riyaz Naikoo
AP's Kashmir photographers win Pulitzer for lockdown coverage
Starmer changes Corbyn's Kashmir stand as he woos British Indians

The clashes continued on Friday as anti-India protesters threw stones at the government forces, who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the spiralling protests.

At least one man has been killed and 50 others injured in the three days of clashes, residents and medics said. Most of the injured were treated locally.
Medic: People hit with pellets in eyes

However, at least a dozen people with bullet and pellet injuries were taken to a hospital in Srinagar, the region's main city, for treatment, a doctor said on condition of anonymity because medics have been barred from briefing the news media.

She said most of the injured had been hit by pellet guns in one or both eyes.

Residents said government forces swooped into Naikoo's native village on Thursday and accused them of vandalising a tent that villagers had set up for mourning his death, triggering large protests and clashes.

Authorities did not hand over the bodies of the slain rebels to their families under a new government policy designed to thwart large-scale funerals that have become a rallying point for anti-India protests.

Instead, police buried the bodies in a mountainous graveyard about 100km (62 miles) from the village.

Authorities have shut down mobile phone and internet services since Wednesday, a common Indian tactic in the region when such protests erupt.

They also imposed a near-total information blackout and refused to brief media about the situation.

Hindu-majority India imposed similar measures in 2019 when it revoked the predominantly Muslim region's semi-autonomous status and statehood and imposed direct federal rule.

At that time, it launched a months-long total communication blackout and an unprecedented military crackdown in the strife-torn region.


Release of Kashmiri prisoners urged amid virus outbreak

Indian security officials and some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called Naikoo's death a major victory against the rebels.

He was Hizbul Mujahideen's top commander for almost eight years and shot into prominence during a 2016 public uprising following the killing of the group's charismatic leader, Burhan Wani.

After Wani's death, Naikoo helped give new life to the rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir, with security officials saying he was the most wanted Kashmiri rebel.

India has stepped up its counterinsurgency operations across the region in recent months during the coronavirus lockdown.

The rebels have also continued their attacks on the government forces and alleged informants.

India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety.

Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

Most Kashmiris deeply resent Indian rule and support the rebels' call for the territory to be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Workers in Iowa meat industry fear returning to processing plants

Outbreak at pork plant leads to more than 1,600 cases and 20 deaths as Trump orders meatpackers to restart production.

by William Roberts

Medical workers test a local resident at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site in Waterloo, Iowa, the United States [Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]

Quia Campbell is a hairstylist and mother of five with family members who got sick with COVID-19 while working at a massive pork slaughterhouse in Waterloo, Iowa.

After her father came home sick from work at the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in early April, Campbell became alarmed.

Management at the plant - in the Midwest region of the United States - was not acting on workers' concerns about spreading the coronavirus in close-quarter conditions at the plant, labour advocates said.

"I was devastated because he has 14 grandkids that he's around. We were panicking like, 'Are our kids going to get sick? What is going on?'" Campbell, 31, said.

Campbell and her friends launched a social media campaign and organised a protest urging the shutdown of the plant. After weeks of rising community pressure, the Tyson plant suspended operations on April 22. More than 1,000 of its nearly 3,000 workers tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and the infection has spread to the wider community and caused 20 deaths, according to local authorities.

Now, in a major test of President Donald Trump's push to reopen the US economy, the Tyson plant in Waterloo is reopening even as COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise locally and nationwide. Workers and their families are fearful.

"A lot of people are on edge," Campbell told Al Jazeera.

Trump used a wartime law on April 28 to direct meatpacking plants nationwide to continue operating during the pandemic to avert food shortages. More than 170 meat and poultry processing plants nationwide have reported COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

Before the coronavirus forced its shutdown, the Tyson plant in Waterloo slaughtered 19,500 hogs a day, producing 3.9 percent of the US pork supply. Farmers were forced to destroy their animals when the plant stopped running.

US President Donald Trump meeting with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC [Tom Brenner/Reuters] [Reuters]

On Wednesday, Iowa's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds joined the president at the White House to tout Iowa's progress in reopening meatpacking plants. Employees must get tested for the coronavirus before returning to work and are required to wear face masks and stay six feet apart, she noted.

"We are providing them the confidence of a safe environment, but at the same time we're making sure that food supply chain is moving and that the country is being fed," Reynolds told reporters at the White House.

But local officials see a bigger problem. With the virus spreading in communities, the state is not providing adequate testing and is not fully counting data on new cases, they say. Further, without monitoring and enforcement, reopening of the meatpacking plants is seen as an experiment in social distancing.

"It is irresponsible to downplay what is happening," said Ras Smith, who represents Waterloo in the Iowa state legislature.

"We are seeing outbreaks all over the state," Smith told Al Jazeera.

The Tyson pork processing plant, temporarily closed due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Waterloo, Iowa [Brenna Norman/Reuters] [Reuters]

Major meatpacking plants in the Iowa cities of Columbus Junction, Tama, Estherville, Perry and West Liberty were forced to close last month because of the coronavirus. A pet food plant in Independence also has had cases, according to workers.

"Governor Reynolds is out of touch with the people of Iowa," Smith said.

Straddling a tributary of the Mississippi River flowing through the agricultural heart of the Midwest, Waterloo is a diverse city of 68,000 people. Nearly everyone in town knows someone who works at the local meatpacking plant. Most of the workers are people of colour or immigrants. Many are undocumented.

"I was enraged. I was incensed," said Tony Thompson, the sheriff of Black Hawk County after he visited the Tyson plant in early April.

Seeing conditions at the plant, "I knew they had just blown a hole out of the front-line of defence in our community," Thompson told Al Jazeera.

Thompson was one of 20 local officials who signed a letter to Tyson in mid-April asking the plant to shut down.

Now, most of the 1,600 confirmed cases in the Waterloo area can be traced to the plant, said the sheriff. And while Tyson has done an "impressive" job fitting the plant with dividers to separate employees on the processing line, "that in no way alleviates" the damage already done, he said.

Tyson invited workers to tour the newly outfitted plant on Wednesday and distributed a video illustrating the new social-distancing measures and health-monitoring procedures.



"We have been speaking with a lot of different workers," said Nilvia Reyes Rodriguez, a community organiser with the League of United Latin American Citizens Local 370 in Waterloo.

"With the reopening happening, there are concerns as to whether truly all of the measures can be implemented," Rodriguez told Al Jazeera.

"The way the production is currently run, they just feel that it is going to be hard to implement safety measures," she said.

Working conditions in the US meatpacking industry are difficult and dangerous. The killing floor where animals are executed before being processed is a brutal scene. Processing lines involve rapid, repetitive cutting motions that can lead to injuries. All of it takes place in a cold, refrigerated atmosphere.

The work pays low wages and is more often done by immigrants and minorities. As a result, workers' rights to safe working conditions are not well protected, and their latitude to speak up without being threatened is compromised, labour advocates said.


Coronavirus: US meat processing plants forced to close (2:02)

In Waterloo - where many of the meatpacking workers are Congolese immigrants and Burmese refugees - some feel their lives are being put at risk to keep up the national pork supply.

"A lot of people think that is still a tad bit too soon in light of what we think we know. The cases are still going up. We haven't even flatlined yet," said Abraham Funchess, director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, which has opened an inquiry into what's happening at the Tyson plant.

"They are very reluctant about wanting to go back in because they realise they are risking their lives," Funchess said.

Trump is betting his re-election prospects in November on how the contest between the virus and reopening the economy in places like Iowa works out. In states like Iowa, control of the US Senate is in play.

Republican Joni Ernst, who has been quiet about the meatpacking issues in Iowa, is among several US senators who face difficult re-elections.

Despite the upbeat messages from Trump and Governor Reynolds, local officials said the state of Iowa is not putting in place the testing and monitoring measures needed to stop the pandemic.

Jonathan Grieder is a member of the Waterloo City Council and a high school teacher. He knows former students whose parents have died from COVID-19.

"It is very clear that essential workers - who are often paid very little, who are often from communities at risk, economically, politically and socially - are so essential but we are so willing to exploit them because it is bothersome for the rest of us with privilege to deal with this issue," Grieder told Al Jazeera.

"This has been an abject failure," he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Trump: 'Rogue group' behind plot to overthrow Venezuela president

Venezuelan prosecutor requests extradition of US military veteran and two Venezuelans accused of involvement in plot.

Personal documents are shown by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) a day after Venezuela's government said it foiled an attempted incursion by 'terrorist mercenaries' from Colombia [File: Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters]

MORE ON VENEZUELA
Report: Venezuela opposition plotted Maduro overthrow  yesterday
Venezuela broadcasts video of captured US mercenary  2 days ago
Pompeo: No US gov't involvement in Venezuela overthrow plot  2 days ago
Venezuela 'failed coup plot': What we know so far  2 days ago


President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that the United States government was not behind a bungled incursion into Venezuela this week, allegedly to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, saying in a Fox News channel interview that he would not rely on a small group for such an operation.

"I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened," Trump said. "If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion."
More:

Venezuela says eight killed in foiled 'invasion by sea'

US indicts Venezuela's Maduro on 'narco-terrorism' charges

Opposition leader Guaido returns to Venezuela after tour

Trump said the incursion "was not a good attack," carried out by a "rogue group" that included Venezuelans and "people from other countries".

"I saw the pictures on a beach. It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously," he said, referring to the first US president, often considered a military genius.

A former US soldier captured in Venezuela has said he was contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of Caracas's airport and bring in a plane to fly Maduro to the US. According to a document published by the Washington Post on Thursday, members of the country's opposition parties negotiated a $213m deal with the company, Silvercorp USA, to invade the country and overthrow Maduro.


Report: Venezuela opposition plotted Maduro overthrow (2:53)

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Tarek Saab said on Friday his office had requested detention and extradition orders of US military veteran Jordan Goudreau and two Venezuelans accused of involvement.

Saab accused Goudreau and the two opposition Venezuelan politicians, Miami-based political strategist Juan Rendon and exiled legislator Sergio Vergara, of being involved in the "design, financing and execution" of the plan to invade and overthrow Maduro.

Goudreau, chief executive of the Florida-based security company Silvercorp USA, has claimed responsibility for the plan, which left eight people dead and more than a dozen in custody, including two US citizens accompanying the dissident Venezuelan security forces.

Rendon has said that while he negotiated an agreement with Silvercorp late last year, he cut ties with Goudreau in November and that Goudreau went forward with the failed operation on his own. Vergara did not immediately respond to a request for comment.