Saturday, October 30, 2021

Israeli settlers hang and torture Palestinian teen with fire, human rights group reveals


15-year-old Tareq Zbeidi at the hospital [B'Tselem]

October 15, 2021 a
Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, revealed harrowing details of the Palestinian teenager who was kidnapped and tortured with fire by a group of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank two months ago, in a report released last week.

On August 17th, 15-year-old Tareq Zbeidi and five of his friends were enjoying a picnic near their village of Silat a-Daher, based in the Jenin district of the northern West Bank.

However, a large group of Israeli settlers from the nearby Homesh Israeli settlement later arrived in cars in the area, carrying stones and sticks.

The Palestinian boys quickly fled the scene, as one of the settlers began throwing stones at them and managed to escape back to their village. However, according to B'Tselem, Tareq failed to keep up with his friends due to a leg injury he suffered just two weeks prior to the incident.

He told the rights group, "The settlers drove towards me and hit me with their car, and I fell to the ground. The car stopped, and four settlers got out. Some were holding sticks. They attacked me and hit me in the shoulder, legs and back."

Moreover, they bound his hands and feet and chained him to the hood of their car, before driving him to Homesh, where they slammed on the brakes, causing him to fall to the ground.

He added that, upon arrival at the settlement, other settlers ran over to kick and taunt him. His ordeal consisted of being pepper-sprayed and spat in the face, all the while being cursed at in Arabic and Hebrew.

As they continued to assault him, the Israeli settlers carried and hung him from a tree to "burn his feet".

READ: 9,300 olive trees destroyed by Israel in the West Bank in one year, says ICRC

"I was left hanging like that for about five minutes, with my eyes covered. I felt them cutting and rubbing the skin of my left foot with a sharp object. I was in so much pain. I couldn't take it. Suddenly, I felt a strong burn on my right foot, from a lighter or something similar. It lasted a few seconds. I screamed and cried in pain and fear. It wasn't till then that they took me down from the tree," Tareq recounted.

He was then struck in the head with a stick and lost consciousness.

According to B'Tselem, Israeli soldiers arrived shortly after in a military jeep and the settlers accused Tareq of throwing stones at them.

When Tareq regained consciousness on the floor of the military jeep, the soldiers threatened to arrest him if he threw stones again. "They said they knew everything about me and that if anyone threw stones at the settlers, he'd come to my house and arrest me."

Tareq's uncle and older brother immediately put him in a Palestinian ambulance and took him to a hospital in Jenin, after picking him up from the station.

"I was taken to the ER, where I was examined and X-rayed. They found bruises and wounds on my shoulder, back and legs, as well as wounds and burns on my feet. I stayed there until the next afternoon, and then I was discharged," said Tareq, adding that, despite being discharged, his body was sore and he could not walk because of the cuts and burns on his feet.

Settlers usually attack Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate that there are about 650,000 settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, residing in 164 settlements and 116 outposts.

B'Tselem noted that the attack on Tareq was the tenth settler attack on Palestinians near the settlement, documented by the group since the beginning of 2020.

"This case may be exceptionally cruel, but settler violence against Palestinians, often with the participation of soldiers, has long since become part of Israeli policy in the West Bank and integral to the occupation routine," B'Tselem said in the report.

"The long-term result of these violent acts is the dispossession of Palestinians from growing swathes of the West Bank, facilitating Israel's takeover of land and resources there."
FLORIDA SILENT ON ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS 
Florida stops investing in Ben & Jerry's parent company

The decision comes after the ice-cream firm refused to backtrack on its decision not to sell its produced in illegal Israeli settlements located on occupied Palestinian land


Ben & Jerry's ice cream is stored in a cooler at an event in Washington, 
US on 20 May 2021
 [Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images]

October 29, 2021

The US state of Florida will cease new investments in London-based Unilever, Ben & Jerry's parent company, as a result of the ice-cream firm's decision to stop selling its products in illegal settlements located in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The move comes three months after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the State Board of Administration (SBA) to add Unilever to its list of "scrutinised companies" that boycott Israel.

During the 90-day period, no decisions were taken by the ice-cream giant to reverse its position on Israel.

"I have not seen any meaningful response from Unilever, period," Florida's SBA Executive Director, Ash Williams, said at a September cabinet meeting.

However, the ruling over new investments does not affect the $39 million Florida already has invested in Unilever, the Florida Politics website reported.

About 35 states in the US have anti-Israel boycott laws. Last month, Arizona became the first state to divest from the company over what it labelled an "anti-Semitic" move.

New Jersey followed suit, and Texas has already announced that it is taking steps to divest from Unilever following Ben & Jerry's decision.

Ben & Jerry's move followed a stream of reports by human rights groups and the UN, and articles by former Israeli ambassadors labelling Israel as an apartheid state. The ice-cream firm's founders, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, explained that the company drew a line between what they called the "democratic territory of Israel and the territories Israel occupies", stressing that "the decision to halt sales outside Israel's democratic borders is not a boycott of Israel."


Ben & Jerry's to freeze ice-cream sales in West Bank settlements – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]



Nike to end sales in Israeli shops
Israeli shops have been dealt a hammer blow by sports clothing manufacturer Nike


October 6, 2021 

Israeli shops have been dealt a hammer blow by sports clothing manufacturer Nike. The mega-brand has announced that it will end the sale of its products in stores within the occupation state in a move welcomed by social media users as another victory for the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

"Following a comprehensive review performed by the company and considering the changing marketplace, it has been decided that the continuation of the business relationship between you and the company does no longer match the company's policy and goals," Nike is reported as saying in a letter sent to shops in Israel.

Nike's decision is expected to hit retailers hard. As one of the most popular sporting brands in the world, its products account for a large proportion of sales.

Nike has not indicated that the move was taken in support of BDS. The company has apparently made the decision in line with its global plan to reduce the number of stores it works with and channel business through its website. Nevertheless the move has triggered speculation online over its motives

The decision follows the decision by ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's to end sales in the occupied Palestinian territories. Founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, explained earlier this year why they believe that the company "is on the right side of history" by taking the decision to boycott business in the occupied West Bank. Amnesty International praised the decision, describing it as "a legitimate and necessary response, in line with its responsibility to respect international law and human rights."

Prior to Ben & Jerry's announcement, several high-profile reports concluded that Israel is practising apartheid. In April, the pre-eminent human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) joined a host of other prominent groups to declare that Israel is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution.

Prior to HRW's report, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem branded Israel as an "apartheid" state that "promotes and perpetuates Jewish supremacy between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River." Echoing the UN's 2017 report which concluded that Israel was practising apartheid, B'Tselem dismissed the popular misconception that it is a democracy within the Green (1949 Armistice) Line.

In an article in June, two former Israeli ambassadors to South Africa also denounced Israel as an apartheid state by drawing parallels with the system of formal racial segregation in South Africa which ended in 1994. The message has also been embraced by American Jews, a quarter of whom believe that Israel is an apartheid state, according to a recent report, as do nearly two-thirds of American scholars and academics.

Note: This page was updated at 12.19pm BST on 10 October 2021 to further clarify that while BDS supporters are celebrating the move, Nike has not indicated that the move was taken in support of the BDS movement.
Israel's UN envoy tears up Human Rights Council report


UN Ambassador to Israel Gilad Erdan in Jerusalem on 11 December 2018 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images]

October 30, 2021 

Israeli Envoy to the United Nations (UN) Gilad Erdan on Friday literally tore to pieces the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)'s annual report while on the podium of the UN General Assembly, claiming it was biassed against Israel, news agencies reported.

The UNHRC held a special hearing at the General Assembly while its president, Michelle Bachelet, presented the annual report to all member states.

In the report, the findings of an investigative committee founded after the Israeli occupation's offensive on Gaza that killed 260 Palestinians, including 67 children, 40 women, and 16 elderly, were presented.

Several whole families were killed in the offensive, including senior doctor Ayman Abu Al-Ouf and his family.

The report condemned and criticised Israel for the brutal attacks.

In the report, the UNHRC condemned:

The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime are contrary to international law.

The UNHRC reaffirmed: "The principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, and deeply concerned at the fragmentation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, through settlement activities and other measures."

It also said it was: "Gravely concerned that long-standing impunity for international law violations has allowed for the recurrence of grave violations without consequence."

The report stressed the importance of ending Israel's impunity in order to: "Ensure justice and access to an effective remedy, deter further violations, protect civilians and promote peace."




Israeli forces hang the body of a Palestinian man from a bulldozer – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

It also expressed its: "Grave concern at reports of serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem."

It deplored: "The continuing and negative consequences of the conflicts in and around the Gaza Strip, including all casualties, particularly among Palestinian civilians, including children, and ongoing violations of international law."

The report called for: "Full respect for international humanitarian and human rights law and for the principles of legality, distinction, precaution, and proportionality."

It also said that it was: "Gravely concerned about the dire humanitarian, socioeconomic and security situation in the Gaza Strip, including that resulting from the prolonged closures and severe economic and movement restrictions that in effect amount to a blockade, and about the short and longterm detrimental impact of this situation, and the widespread destruction and continued impediments to the reconstruction process by Israel, the occupying Power, on the human rights situation."

Erdan could not bear to accept this disclosure of Israeli crimes and tore a copy of the report into pieces.

"The Human Rights Council attacked and condemned Israel in 95 resolutions compared to 142 resolutions against the rest of the world," Erdan expressed. "This distorted and one-sided report's place is in the dustbin of anti-Semitism," he claimed.


AOC POSTED A BRUTAL TAKEDOWN OF FACEBOOK AFTER IT CHANGED ITS NAME TO META


She did not hold back at all.

BY ELISA GARCIA
OCT. 30, 2021
WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES NEWS/GETTY IMAGES

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is no stranger to standing up for what she believes in and calling out misinformation. So, of course, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday, Oct. 28 that the Facebook Company would be changing its name to Meta, in true AOC fashion, she took to Twitter to share a pretty brutal analysis of the company’s name change. Of course, AOC’s tweet about Facebook’s “Meta” name change gets straight to the point, and it’s a scalding response to the social media rebrand.

Shortly after Zuckerberg’s announcement on Oct. 28, Ocasio-Cortez reshared a video of the Facebook CEO unveiling his company’s new name and called out the tech giant’s increasingly questionable decisions regarding misinformation, particularly in relation to surveillance, political propaganda, and healthcare. “Meta as in ‘we are a cancer to democracy metastasizing into a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society… for profit!,’” AOC said in the tweet.

This is not AOC’s first time calling out the social media giant. Let’s not forget AOC’s March 11, 2019 tweet in which she said that the U.S. “has a Facebook problem.” The critique was aimed at Facebook’s actions when they took down several Elizabeth Warren ads and called for tech giants, including Facebook, to be broken up.




AOC got the chance to take the conversation off Twitter on Oct. 23, 2019 during a hearing in which AOC and other lawmakers questioned Zuckerberg on the launch of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the company’s procedure —or lack thereof— to oversee proper political advertisements. And all in all, Zuckerberg stumbled on some questions.

The announcement of Facebook’s name change comes a few weeks after the company and its associated companies shut down for several hours on Oct. 4. According to Facebook, the outage was caused by “a network issue” that rippled onto other platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. And yes, AOC had something to say about that too. Still, people couldn’t help but notice the blackout occurred just one day after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen exposed the tech company for putting profit before safety. All factors that help us dissect AOC’s knock-out tweet.

While it remains unclear how Meta will change its internal processes from that of Facebook’s, one thing is certain, AOC will continue to deliver brutal tweets in the case the tech company doesn’t contribute to a “free society and democracy.”

Sudan braces for Saturday protests against bloody military coup


Supporters of the Umma Party, Sudan's largest political party, chant slogans during a protest against a military coup that overthrew the transition to civilian rule, on October 29, 2021 in the capital Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman. 
AFP - EBRAHIM HAMID

Issued on: 30/10/2021 -

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Sudanese anti-coup protesters plan to flood the streets Saturday to demonstrate against a military takeover that has derailed the country's transition to civilian rule and triggered deadly clashes.

The military on Monday detained Sudan's civilian leadership, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency, leading to a chorus of international condemnation.

Street protests erupted against the coup, triggering a crackdown by the security forces that has left dead at least eight demonstrators and wounded around 170.

Despite the bloodshed, the protesters remain defiant, with organisers hoping to stage a "million-strong" march against the military's power grab on Saturday.

"We will not be ruled by the military. That is the message we will convey" at the protests, said Sudanese rights activist Tahani Abbas.

"The military forces are bloody and unjust and we are anticipating what is about to happen on the streets," Abbas said. "But we are no longer afraid."

Monday's takeover was led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan -- Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir after huge youth-led protests.

Several pro-democracy activists have been arrested.

On the eve of Saturday's rallies, a US official put the death toll at between 20 and 30, adding the protests would be a "real test" of the intentions of Sudan's military.

"We call on the security forces to refrain from any and all violence against protesters and to fully respect the citizens' right to demonstrate peacefully," the official in Washington said on condition of anonymity.

Phone lines were largely down by Saturday morning, as security forces deployed in large numbers on the streets and blocked bridges connecting the capital, Khartoum, with neighbouring cities.

Security forces set up random checkpoints on main roads, randomly frisking passers-by and searching cars.

Britain's special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Robert Fairweather urged Sudan's security forces to "respect freedom and right of expression" for protesters.

"Peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic right. The security services and their leaders will bear responsibility for any violence towards any protesters," he said on Twitter.
'Grave setback'

Sudan has been led since August 2019 by a civilian-military ruling council, alongside Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's government, as part of the now stalled transition to full civilian rule.

Hamdok himself was briefly detained before he was released and placed under effective house arrest. Other civilian leaders and ministers are still being held.

Days of unrest have rocked Khartoum and other cities.

Protesters have barricaded roads with rocks, debris and burning tyres.

Shops have largely been shuttered, and government employees have refused to work as part of a campaign of civil disobedience.

"The Sudanese people are determined to... win back the gains of the December 2018 revolution" against Bashir, said Abdelgelil al-Basha from the capital's twin city of Omdurman.

Burhan, a senior general under Bashir's three decades of iron-fisted rule, has insisted the military takeover "was not a coup" but only meant to "rectify the course of the Sudanese transition".

The move triggered a wave of international condemnation and several punitive measures, with the World Bank and the United States freezing aid -- a heavy blow to a country already mired in a dire economic crisis.

US President Joe Biden has called the coup a "grave setback", while the African Union has suspended Sudan's membership for the "unconstitutional" takeover.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the military to show restraint as he reaffirmed his "strong condemnation" of the coup.

"People must be allowed to demonstrate peacefully," Guterres said.

Monday's power grab was the latest coup to hit impoverished Sudan, which has enjoyed only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956 and spent decades riven by civil war.

(AFP)

Sudan security forces shoot dead 2 protesters, doctors say

By SAMY MAGDY

1 of 7
People chant slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Pro-democracy groups called for mass protest marches across the country Saturday to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.
(AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces shot dead two people Saturday during mass protests against the country’s recent military coup, a doctors’ union said. The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudan’s new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests.

Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, where whistles and drums accompany chants of “revolution, revolution” in protest of Monday’s coup, which threatens to derail the country’s fitful transition to democracy.

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan’s strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the military’s treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. The pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturday’s protests were likely to increase pressure on the generals who face mounting condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman. Marchers chanted “Give it up, Burhan,” and “revolution, revolution.” Some held up banners reading, “Going backward is impossible.”

The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019.

They demand the dismantling of the now-ruling military council, led by Burhan, and the handover of the government to civilians. They also seek the dismantling of paramilitary groups and restructuring of the military, intelligence and security agencies. They want officers loyal to al-Bashir to be removed.

One of the protesters killed Saturday in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman was shot in his head, and the other in his stomach, the Sudan Doctors Committee said.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, said security forces had used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman around the capital. It said an unspecified number of protesters were also wounded.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoum’s downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals’ association.

“No power-sharing mediation with the military council again,” he said. “They (the generals) have failed the transition and instated a coup.”

Al-Mustafa spoke with The Associated Press over the phone while he took part in the protest in Khartoum’s Manshia neighborhood.

Before the start of the protests, security forces had blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoum’s neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the military’s headquarters, the site of a major sit-in camp in the 2019 uprising

Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests. With Saturday’s fatal shooting, the overall number of people killed by the security forces since the coup rose to 11, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the U.N.

There were fears that security forces may again resort to violence to disperse protesters. Since Monday’s coup troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators. They also beat protesters with sticks and whips.

Representatives of the U.N. and the U.S. have urged the military to show restraint.





A woman chants slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Pro-democracy groups called for mass protest marches across the country Saturday to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of the capital of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.

He said the U.N.’s transition mission “is actively coordinating with mediation efforts currently underway to facilitate an inclusive dialogue, which remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.”

A Sudanese military official said Saturday that a U.N.-supported national committee began separate meetings with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Gen. Burhan to find a common ground for talks to resolve the dispute.

The official said Hamdok demanded the release of all government officials and political figures arrested since the coup. Burhan, the official said, gave an initial approval to release “most” of the detained, but rejected the release of others, including Khalid Omar, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, saying they face accusations of inciting troops for rebellion.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, also urged security forces to avoid violence against protesters. “They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters. We are monitoring,” he warned.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed power over to a civilian.

Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. In an interview with Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency published Friday, Burhan said he would soon name a new premier who will form a Cabinet that is to share leadership of the country with the armed forces.

Observers say it’s doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the military’s large financial holdings.
Rebels claim control of Ethiopian city, sparking govt denials




Ethiopia's federal government has been embroiled in
 a nearly year-long war with the Tigray rebels
 (AFP/EDUARDO SOTERAS)

Sat, October 30, 2021, 6:06 AM·3 min read

Tigrayan rebels said Saturday they have secured "full control" of the strategic northern Ethiopian city of Dessie, sparking a furious denial by the government even as residents reported a retreat by federal forces from the area.

The capture of Dessie by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) marks a new step in its offensive in the nearly year-long war, after it retook most of Tigray from federal forces in June and expanded its presence into neighbouring regions.

"The city of Dessie is under full control of our forces," Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the TPLF, said on Twitter.


Ethiopia's government denied the rebels' claim, saying: "Dessie and its surroundings are still under our security forces."

But residents told AFP earlier that Ethiopian forces had retreated from Dessie, following heavy fighting and power outages.

Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify independently.

"At around 2 am Ethiopian soldiers began retreating from the area," said Amir, a Dessie resident who declined to give his second name.

TPLF fighters "entered the city, with ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force) soldiers not seen," said another resident who gave his name only as Mohammed.

"I don't know if the soldiers left or were captured," he told AFP, adding that he was trying to flee to the town of Kombolcha, located further south.

- 'Stressful situation' -

Dessie, which is located in the Amhara region neighbouring Tigray, lies about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Residents had earlier reported a heavy military build-up in the area, as civilians fleeing conflict-hit towns further north poured into Dessie seeking refuge.

On October 20 the TPLF had claimed the rebels were "within artillery range" of Kombolcha and Dessie.

The following day Amhara regional president Yilkal Kefale urged armed Amharas to converge on Dessie to defend it.

On Saturday afternoon, as fighting receded in Dessie, TPLF rebels wandered the streets while civilians piled into buses headed southwards, a local shopkeeper told AFP.

"Now the city is quiet, people are either in their home or... fleeing to Kombolcha," said the man, who only gave his first name Fantahun.

"We are in a stressful situation," he said, adding that he and other retailers had all downed the shutters on their stores, fearing violence.

TPLF spokesman Kindeya warned Kombolcha residents "to stay in-doors", in a possible sign of furthe
r fighting to follow.



- Tigray air strikes -

Tigray meanwhile has faced near-daily aerial bombardments since last week as the military steps up its use of air power in the war.

According to a hospital official, 10 people died in an air strike on Thursday, while the UN said two strikes on the Tigrayan capital Mekele on October 18 killed three children. Another person died in a separate attack this month.

The government said the facilities bombed in northern and western Tigray were military in nature and aiding the TPLF.

The bombings have drawn international censure, and disrupted UN access to the region where an estimated 400,000 people face famine-like conditions under a de-facto aid blockade.

Control of the skies, along with superior manpower, is one of the few remaining areas where the federal government holds a military advantage over the rebels.

The conflict erupted last November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops in Tigray, with the operation spiralling into a prolonged war marked by massacres, mass rapes and a humanitarian crisis.

The prime minister, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said the operation was in response to attacks on army camps by the TPLF, the regional ruling party which dominated national politics for three decades before Abiy took office.

He vowed a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had regrouped and retaken most of Tigray, including Mekele, and fighting spread to the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.

str-ho-amu/dl
G-20 opens with call for more vaccines for poor countries

By NICOLE WINFIELD, DAVID McHUGH and SYLVIE CORBET

1 of 8

ROME (AP) — Italy’s Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries as he opened a conference of the world’s powerhouse economies, calling the gaping global COVID-19 vaccine gap “morally unacceptable.”

Draghi, the host for the two-day Group of 20 summit in Rome, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the world’s poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

Climate change, vaccines, the recovery, international taxation are all themes occupying leaders holding their first in-person summit since the pandemic took hold. The call for more collective vaccine help for low-income countries sounded a theme running through the G-20 summit, which contronts a two-track global recovery in which rich countries are bouncing back faster.

Draghi welcomed the Group of 20 leaders to Rome’s Nuvola cloud-like convention center in the Fascist-era EUR neighborhood, which was sealed off from the rest of the capital.

Saturday’s opening session was focused on global health and the economy. Rich countries have used vaccines and stimulus spending to restart economic activity, leaving the risk that developing countries that account for much of global growth will remain behind due to low vaccinations and financing difficulties.

UN Secretary General-General Antonio Guterres has underlined that rich countries have spent 28% of annual economic output on pandemic recovery, while the figure is 2% for the poorest nations.

European Union leaders will meet off-site with African leaders in efforts to further support the continent’s poorest economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Friday he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africa’s economies.

The money would be provided via the reallocation of part of $650 billion worth of special drawing rights, a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the International Monetary Fund. The idea is for countries that don’t need the help to reallocated their special drawing rights to those that do. Participants were to include African Union President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda President Paul Kagame. The heads of state of South Africa and Senegal, Cyril Ramaphosa and Macky Sall, will take part via videoconference, the French presidency said.

Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure key commitments from countries representing 80% of the global economy — and responsible for around the same amount of global carbon emissions — ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.


MORE UPDATES
COVID-19 memorial creators reflect as world nears 5M deaths


High school freshman Madeleine Fugate poses with several of her quilts, part of the COVID Memorial Quilt living memorial to honor and remember all those lost to COVID-19, at her home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

High school freshman Madeleine Fugate holds a picture of late Tuskegee Airman Theodore "Ted" Lumpkin to be included in one of her quilts, part of the COVID Memorial Quilt to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19, at her home in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

High school students pause in front of a few panels of Madeleine Fugate's COVID Memorial Quilt to honor those who died of COVID-19, displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)


High school freshman Madeleine Fugate works surrounded by several quilts that are part of the COVID Memorial Quilt to honor and remember those who died of COVID-19, at her home in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

___

LOS ANGELES

Madeleine Fugate’s memorial quilt started out in May 2020 as a seventh grade class project.

Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which her mother worked on in the 1980s, the then-13-year-old encouraged families in her native Los Angeles to send her fabric squares representing their lost loved ones that she’d stitch together.

The COVID Memorial Quilt has grown so big it covers nearly two dozen panels and includes some 600 memorial squares honoring individuals or groups, such as New Zealand’s more than two dozen virus victims.

The bulk of the quilt is currently at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a smaller portion on permanent display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and another featured at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Fugate, her mother and a small, dedicated band of volunteers meet Sundays to sew and embroider panels. Fabric and other materials are donated by victims’ families.

Now a high school freshman, she plans to keep the project going indefinitely.

“I really want to get everyone remembered so that families can heal and represent these people as real people who lived,” she said.

Fugate would like to see a more formal national memorial for COVID-19 victims one day, and perhaps even a national day of remembrance.

“It would be amazing to see that happen, but we’re still technically fighting the war against this virus,” she said. “We’re not there yet, so we just have to keep doing what we’re doing. We are the triage. We’re helping stop the bleeding.”

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Russia Imposes Nationwide Paid Holiday To Curb Covid


By AFP News
10/30/21

New coronavirus restrictions came into effect across Russia on Saturday with authorities looking to stem soaring infections and deaths in Europe's worst hit country by fatalities.

Saturday's government tally recorded 40,251 new cases, the highest figure for new infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a paid holiday from Saturday to November 7 in a bid to break a recent chain of records in daily cases and deaths.

Russia has held back on imposing significant nationwide measures since ending a short lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic and instead placed its hopes on the rollout of several homegrown vaccines, including Sputnik V.

Even though several jabs have been freely available for months, just 32.5 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated, according to government statistics Saturday.

Non-essential services have been closed in Moscow as part of new restrictions against a surge in coronavirus cases
 Photo: AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

The Kremlin this week said epidemiologists had raised "concerns" after polls cited by news agencies showed one-third of Russians planned to travel during the holiday period.

Regions across the country have imposed some virus restrictions but the most stringent began this week in Moscow -- the epicentre of Russia's outbreak -- with non-essential services shuttered.

Russian authorities have been accused of downplaying the pandemic and figures from statistics agency Rosstat on Friday showed nearly twice as many Covid deaths compared with the government tally.

Rosstat said 44,265 people died of coronavirus in September -- nearly double the official government figure.

This would bring the agency's toll of Covid-19 deaths in Russia to nearly 450,000, the highest in Europe.
Portugal's floating power plants are on the cutting edge of renewable technology
Portugal is the EU country that has cut its greenhouse gas emissions the most since 2005

Issued on: 30/10/2021 - 
 FRANCE 24
Text by: Sarah MORRIS

As world leaders, scientists and activists head to the COP26 UN climate conference starting Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, FRANCE 24 is broadcasting a series of special reports on global warming. For this episode we look at Portugal, a country on the cutting edge of renewable energy technologies.

Portugal is the EU country that has been most successful at cutting greenhouse gas emissions since 2005, partly through the use of floating wind and solar plants located off its coast. Today, 65 percent of all the electricity consumed in Portugal comes from renewable sources.