Sudanese barricade streets after 7 killed in anti-coup protests

Sudanese demonstrators barricade a street in Khartoum Tuesday amid ongoing protests against a military coup (AFP/-)

Tue, January 18, 2022

Sudanese shuttered shops and barricaded streets with burning tyres and rocks Tuesday, staging angry rallies to protest against one of the bloodiest days since a coup derailed the country's democratic transition.

Security forces on Monday opened fire killing at least seven people as thousands marched against the army's October 25 takeover, taking the total number killed in a crackdown since the coup to 71, according to medics.

"No, no to military rule," protesters chanted Tuesday in southern Blue Nile state, where some carried banners daubed with the slogan "No to killing peaceful protesters", said witness Omar Eissa.

The protests come as Washington ramps up pressure in a bid to broker an end to the months-long crisis in the northeast African nation, with top US diplomats expected to arrive in the capital Khartoum for talks.

Sudan's main civilian bloc, the Forces for Freedom and Change, called for two days of civil disobedience to begin on Tuesday.

"Shop closed for mourning," signs read at Khartoum's sprawling Sajane construction supplies market. One of the merchants, Othman el-Sherif, was among those shot dead on Monday.

- 'Violent tactics' -

Protesters -- sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands -- have regularly taken to the streets since the coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan nearly three months ago.

The military power grab derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule following the April 2019 ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, with prime minister Abdalla Hamdok resigning earlier this month warning that Sudan was at a "dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival".

The United Nations special representative Volker Perthes condemned the use of live ammunition on Monday, while the US embassy criticised the "violent tactics of Sudanese security forces," the latest such appeals by world powers.

On Tuesday, police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters setting up roadblocks in east Khartoum, an AFP correspondent said.

"We took to the streets to express our opinion peacefully but the military forces confronted us with live bullets," said protester Tarek Hassan.

"We call on all the Sudanese people, and to all the free revolutionaries, to barricade all the streets to announce the civil disobedience until the putschists fall."

Outside the capital, hundreds of protesters also staged demonstrations in other cities, including in the states of Blue Nile and Kassala in the east, witnesses said.

- Probe ordered into killings -

Burhan on Tuesday formed a fact-finding committee to probe Monday's violence, with its findings to be submitted within 72 hours, Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council said in a statement.

It comes as US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee and special envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, were expected in Khartoum, where they would "reiterate our call for security forces to end violence and respect freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Sudan's authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition against demonstrators, and insist scores of security personnel have been wounded during protests. A police general was stabbed to death last week.

Police on Monday said they had used "the least force" to counter the protests, in which about 50 police personnel were also wounded.

On Tuesday the "Friends of Sudan" -- a group of Western and Arab nations calling for the restoration of the country's transitional government, and which includes the US, European Union, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the UN -- held talks in Saudi Arabia.

"Deep concern about yesterday's violence," Perthes, the UN envoy, said on Twitter, after attending the meeting via video link.

"International support and leverage is needed. Support for political process needs to go along with active support to stop violence."

bur/pjm/lg

LIBERTE, EQUALITE, FRATERNITE 
Tunisia freedoms at risk after protest crackdown: rights groups


Yassine Jelassi, president of the Tunisian National Journalists' Union (SNJT), said a "security mentality" is running the state (AFP/FETHI BELAID)

Tue, January 18, 2022, 8:11 AM·1 min read

Freedoms are imperilled in Tunisia after the violent suppression of protests against President Kais Saied last week, rights groups warned Tuesday.

Police on Friday cracked down heavily as hundreds gathered to rally against a July 2021 "coup" by Saied in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolts against authoritarianism.

"It is clear that freedoms are threatened and face an imminent peril," Yassine Jelassi, head of the Tunisian National Journalists' Union (SNJT), told a press conference organised by 21 human rights groups.

"A police and security mentality is running the state... Tunisia has become a country which suppresses freedoms."

The non-governmental groups have denounced what they said was heavy-handed police actions against journalists and protesters during rallies on Friday.

Tunis, the capital, has not witnessed such unrest for a decade.

Police backed by water cannon charged at demonstrators, fired tear gas, and made dozens of violent arrests.

The protests took place despite a ban on gatherings as coronavirus cases surge, but which Saied's opponents said was politically motivated.

On July 25, Said suspended parliament, dismissed the prime minister and said he would assume executive powers. Then in September he took steps to rule by decree.

The demonstrations came on the 11th anniversary of late dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's flight into exile.

His departure led to enormous progress in terms of freedoms in Tunisia, the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

But civil society groups and Saied's political opponents have been warning of a return to authoritarianism under his power grab.

Some Tunisians, however, tired of the inept and graft-ridden parliamentary system, have welcomed his moves.

ayj/ezz/it/pjm

Why is the Yemeni rebel attack on Abu Dhabi a game changer?
AFP18 Jan 2022

A deadly attack by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on the United Arab Emirates marks a new phase in a seven-year civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Here are some key questions and answers after Monday’s drone and missile assault:

What happened?

Two Indians and a Pakistani were killed in a fuel-tank explosion near storage facilities of oil giant ADNOC, sending smoke and flames billowing into the air.

A fire also broke out in a construction area of Abu Dhabi airport.

Police said “small flying objects” were found at both sites, pointing to a deliberate attack using drones — a hallmark of Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

The rebels later claimed the attack and said there could be more to come, warning UAE residents to stay away from “vital installations”.

Why attack Abu Dhabi?

The UAE is a member of the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015. Although it announced a troop withdrawal from Yemen in 2019, it has remained involved by supporting and training forces there.

It is no coincidence that the Huthis’ attack followed their defeat in Yemen’s Shabwa province to the UAE-trained Giants Brigade, which dealt a blow to the rebels hopes of capturing the key city of Marib in the neighbouring governorate.

“The battle of Shabwa has changed the equation of the conflict in Yemen,” said Majid Al-Madhaji, a researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

Al-Madhaji said the Huthis were “anxious”, and had launched the Abu Dhabi attacks “to send this military message in the heart of the UAE”.

The Huthis have repeatedly threatened to target the UAE, and claimed to have carried attacks in 2018 which were never acknowledged by the wealthy Gulf country.

“Many are not surprised by the attack, Ansar Allah had repeated threats to target UAE and today they delivered on that promise,” said Mohammad Al Basha, a Yemen expert for research group Navanti, referring to the Huthi movement by its formal name.

The attack also came two weeks after the Huthis captured a UAE-flagged ship and its international crew in the Red Sea, saying it was carrying military equipment.

How did they do it?

The Huthis regularly target neighbouring Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles, but this attack appears to have traversed hundreds of kilometres (miles) of Saudi desert that separate Yemen from UAE.

The Huthis said they had used Quds 2 cruise missiles to hit the Musaffah refinery and Abu Dhabi airport, and also used Sammad-3 long-range drones.

They have a wide range of military equipment and weapons, including tanks and ballistic missiles, which they seized from Yemeni army stores after taking the capital Sanaa in 2014.

The Huthis also say they make their own drones, which they showed off as part of a military display in March last year in Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have long accused Iran of supplying military hardware to the Huthis. Iran denies the charge.

What happens next?

The coalition responded with air strikes on the Yemeni capital late on Monday, killing several people, including the head of the Huthis’ air force academy.

In turn, the UAE will be on edge for further assaults by the Huthis, particularly against its oil facilities and airports.

The rebels claimed they also attempted an attack on Monday on Dubai airport, a major transport hub.

But while it has backed the pro-government Yemeni Giant Brigades force, the UAE scaled back its involvement over two years ago and may be reluctant to get dragged in again, experts say.

“The UAE will not rush to a knee-jerk reaction. It has invested heavily in Yemen, particularly in new political and military infrastructure in the south,” said Elisabeth Kendall, a researcher at Oxford University.

“It is unlikely to veer from its long-term strategy, for example by scaling up its own troop presence in Yemen again, on the basis of a provocation.”

A drone attack in Abu Dhabi could mark a dangerous turning point for the Middle East. Here's what to know

Analysis by Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
January 18, 2022

(CNN)A deadly drone attack in the heart of the United Arab Emirates' capital has thrust the Middle East into uncharted waters at a time when the region's leaders have sought to heal years-long rifts.

Three people were killed when the strikes hit fuel trucks near the airport in Abu Dhabi on Monday, causing multiple explosions. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels quickly claimed the attacks.

In response, the UAE and Saudi Arabia responded by pummelling the Yemeni capital of Sana'a with airstrikes, killing at least 12 people, in the deadliest bombardment in the city since 2019.


Aside from escalating violence in a region that has sought to turn the page on a decade of proxy wars, the exchange of fire could also cloud a series of high-level talks between regional and international foes. Negotiations between Iran and Western powers on how to revive the 2015 deal to limit Tehran's nuclear program have recently shown signs of progress. And there are also indications that historic but difficult discussions between Saudi Arabia and regional rival Iran were beginning to bear fruit.

But the unprecedented Houthi attacks in Abu Dhabi could throw a wrench into those talks.

And if the rebels make good on their promise to launch further strikes, it could dent the UAE's image as a safe place to live, work and do business in a troubled region.
Here's what to know about the crisis.

In this satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC, smoke rises over a fuel depot in Abu Dhabi's Mussafah neighborhood on Monday.


Why was the Houthi attack so significant?

In addition to being the first deadly attack in the UAE in many years, the drone attacks on Monday demonstrated the Houthis' ability to launch long-range attacks. Yemen's rebels frequently conduct cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, Yemen's neighbor, but these were relatively short distances in comparison with Abu Dhabi, and the vast majority of the missiles and drones were intercepted before they hit their targets.

Oil prices spiked after the attacks, which spurred a flurry of international condemnation from the US and other world leaders. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed asked the US to reclassify the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization -- a label that was instituted in the final days of the Trump administration before being lifted by President Joe Biden.

The Houthis previously claimed to have conducted strikes on the UAE, which it does not share a border with. But Emirati authorities never acknowledged the alleged attacks, and many observers considered the claims to have been farfetched.
Now Yemen's Houthis have delivered on a threat that they have for years made against the UAE, a major coalition partner in a six-year Saudi-led military campaign to crush the Iran-backed rebels.

The wreckage of buildings damaged in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on Tuesday.

In 2019, the UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen, after privately deeming the war unwinnable. The campaign failed to crush the rebels but exacted a huge humanitarian toll, with thousands of Yemenis dead and malnourishment and disease widespread.
More recently, however, the UAE has returned to the fray, backing Yemeni groups in flashpoints like the oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib and repelling Houthi fighters from the strategic desert town.

Now, analysts say the rebels are eager to spark another Emirati withdrawal.
"The intervention of the UAE-supported forces was a game-changer. This angered the Houthis," said Maged al-Madhaji, executive director and co-founder of the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies. "The Houthis are trying to create some sort of balance by striking the image of stability and security in the Emirates."

What's at stake for the UAE?

The oil-rich nation has for decades managed to stave off the political turbulence occurring elsewhere in the region. Stability is one of the UAE's major selling points -- helping to attract millions of expatriates and billions of dollars in foreign investment -- but that image could be shattered if the conflict with the Houthis escalates.

The UAE relies heavily on foreign workers, who make up the vast majority of the country's workforce. Authorities intensively manage the country's reputation, and freedom of political expression is practically non-existent. Defenders of those restrictions on expression argue that they're necessary to maintain stability against all odds in the conflict-ridden Middle East.

The Abu Dhabi skyline, pictured in 2020.

But for years, the UAE's muscular foreign policy — which saw it intervene in Egypt, Libya, Syria and the horn of Africa, in addition to Yemen — imperiled that very stability. When tankers were being targeted by its regional arch-nemesis Iran in 2019, off the coast of the UAE, Abu Dhabi quickly changed tack.

Since then it's been on a diplomatic spree to heal years-old rifts. It has made a number of overtures to Iran, including sending a high-level delegation reportedly in October 2019 and then again in late 2021. It's also mended ties with Syria's pariah president Bashar al-Assad, after backing armed groups that sought to overthrow him in that country's war. The UAE's leadership has repeatedly said that it seeks to become a deescalating force in the region.

Yet Monday's attack underscored a point that many observers have made, which is that turning the page on a decade of blood-drenched proxy war will be neither smooth nor instantaneous. All countries in the region, not just the UAE, will have a vested interest in a rapid deescalation of Monday's violence.

Was Iran involved in the Houthi attack on the UAE?

We don't know. What we do know that the drones were likely supplied by Iran, the principal supporter of the Houthis in their war on the internationally-recognized government of Yemen. But it is unclear if the Houthis' backers in Tehran ordered the strike, or if the rebel group suddenly went rogue.

It wouldn't be the first time Iran-aligned groups appeared to go their own way. In November 2021, the head of Iran's elite Quds force Esmail Qaani paid a visit to Iraqi Prime Minister Mostafa al-Kadhimi, shortly after an attempt on the life of Iraqi Prime Minister Mostafa al-Kadhimi by Iran-backed militias. Some observers saw the visit as a bid to distance Iran from the actions of their militant allies.

Another reason to suspect that Houthis acted on their own accord is that Iran has repeatedly said that it wishes to revive relations with its regional foes. Iran's new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi has received at least two invitations to visit the UAE, according to Iranian state media.

In their statements condemning the attack in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- uncharacteristically -- steered clear of blaming the rebel group's backers in Tehran. Iran has not yet publicly commented on the attack.

Yet, as ever, Iran's leadership is hard to read. A Lebanese news network, Al Mayadeen, reported that Raisi met with the head of Sana'a's negotiation team in Tehran on Monday, the day of the attack. Some observers viewed that as an admission of responsibility in the Abu Dhabi attack.

What does this mean for the Iran nuclear talks?

The violence on Monday has the potential to derail the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, as well as parallel talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran seen as critical to the success of a possible second version of the 2015 deal.

If Iran is believed to be behind the Monday attack in Abu Dhabi — in the same way that they were widely accused of being responsible for the 2019 attacks on ARAMCO oil refineries (Iran denied the allegations) — then confidence-building measures could collapse and it would be difficult to see how the negotiations could continue.

If, on the other hand, Iran brings the Houthis to heel, as an overture to its regional foes, then Monday's violence may blow over and the negotiations could carry on, possibly unabated.

CNN's Sarah El Sirgany contributed to this report from Abu Dhabi.

Rwandan woman referee creates Africa Cup of Nations history


History-making Rwandan referee Salima Mukansanga (3R) lines up with the assistant referees, the fourth official and the captains of Zimbabwe and Guinea, Knowledge Musona (2L) and Naby Keita (2R) before an Africa Cup of Nations Group B match in Yaounde on Tuesday. (AFP/Kenzo Tribouillard)


Tue, January 18, 2022, 

Rwandan Salima Mukansanga became the first woman to referee an Africa Cup of Nations match when she oversaw the Group B clash between Guinea and Zimbabwe in Yaounde on Tuesday.

On Monday, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) statement said Mukansanga would handle the match with two female assistant referees, Carine Atemzabong of Cameroon and Fatiha Jermoumi of Morocco.

However, when the officials entered the pitch for the match at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in the Cameroonian capital, both assistant referees were males.

CAF did not immediately explain why the assistant referees were changed.

Mukansanga created history after the previous 32 editions of the flagship African tournament from 1957 were refereed exclusively by men.

Previously the Rwandan was the fourth official when Guinea defeated Malawi on January 10 in Bafoussam.

"We are super proud of Salima because she has had to work exceptionally hard to be where she is today," said Confederation of African Football (CAF) referees' boss Eddy Maillet from the Seychelles.

"We know that as a woman she had to overcome serious obstacles to reach this level and she deserves a lot of credit.

"This moment is not just for Salima, but every young girl in Africa who has passion for football and who sees herself as a referee in the future."

Leaders Guinea need one point to seal a second-round place while Zimbabwe are playing for pride having been eliminated after two losses.

dl/dmc

Standoff over Palestinian eviction ends, family says


Members of the Palestinian Salhiya family sit on the roof of their home beside gas canisters as they protest an eviction attempt by Israeli Police and Jerusalem municipality (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

Tue, January 18, 2022, 10:21 AM·3 min read

Israeli police on Tuesday backed down from attempts to evict Palestinians from their home in a Jerusalem flashpoint district, the family said.

Family members had threatened self-immolation in response to the eviction attempts, triggering a standoff.

The Salhiya family has been facing the threat of eviction from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since 2017, when the land where their home sits was allocated for school construction.

Anger in Sheikh Jarrah where families battled eviction orders fuelled an 11-day war between Israel and armed Palestinian factions in Gaza last year.

When police arrived to carry out the eviction order on Monday, Salhiya family members went up to the building's roof with gas canisters, threatening to set the contents and themselves alight if they were forced out of their home.

An hours-long standoff ensued, during which a delegation of European diplomats visited the site. Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff, head of the European Union's mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, told AFP on Monday that "in occupied territory, evictions are a violation of international humanitarian law".

By Tuesday, police sent for the eviction had already been removed but children of the Salhiya family remained on the roof with the gas canisters, their father Mahmud told AFP.

According to him, no agreement or understandings had been reached, but lawyers for the family filed a petition to the supreme court on Tuesday to cancel the eviction order.

Dozens of supporters were meanwhile camped out in small bonfire vigils in the vicinity of the home, an AFP reporter said.

In a Tuesday statement to AFP, the municipality of Jerusalem stressed the Salhiya family had numerous opportunities to move out of their home, deemed illegal, and the city had every intention of taking the plot under a district court decision.

Hundreds of Palestinians are facing evictions from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and other east Jerusalem neighbourhoods. Circumstances surrounding the eviction threats vary.

In some cases Jewish Israelis have mounted legal challenges to claim the plots they say were illegally taken during the war that coincided with Israel's founding in 1948.

- 'A different story' -

Palestinians say their homes were legally purchased from Jordanian authorities who controlled east Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967.

The Salhiya case was a totally different story, according to deputy Jerusalem mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.

In a Tuesday briefing she said the plot they claim as theirs was in fact originally "owned by Arab private owners, and certain neighbourhood chiefs."

The Jerusalem municipality purchased the land from the Arab owners, and allocated it for classrooms for special-needs Palestinian children, she said, accusing the Salhiya family of illegally using the land they never owned.

Hassan-Nahoum said she was "particularly disappointed" by the European diplomats "showing up for something that was a municipal issue, a building and planning issue, and talking about international law breaches."

Late Tuesday, masked Palestinians hurled stones at police forces passing by the area, a police spokesman told AFP, adding that stun grenades were used to disperse them, with no reports of casualties.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move not recognised by the international community.

More than 200,000 Jewish settlers have since moved into the area, fuelling tensions with Palestinians, who claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

bur-ag-jjm/dwo

NOT A HOT HOUSING MARKET

Auction of Roman villa with Caravaggio mural draws no bids

Issued on: 18/01/2022 -

The Casino dell'Aurora attracted no bidders Laurent 

EMMANUEL AFP
2 min

Rome (AFP) – A Roman villa housing the only mural by Caravaggio failed to find a bidder in an auction Tuesday sparked by a dispute between its heirs.
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The sprawling Casino dell'Aurora will be put up for sale again in April, with the base price of 471 million euros ($534 million) lowered by about 20 percent, according to the notary involved in the sale.

"Nobody took part in the auction," Camillo Verde told AFP, saying the next sale would take place on April 7 at 2:00pm Rome time.

The residence of the noble Ludovisi Boncompagni family for hundreds of years, the 2,800-square-metre (30,000 square feet) Casino dell'Aurora is located in central Rome between the Via Veneto and the Spanish Steps.

The auction was ordered by a Rome court following a dispute among the heirs of Prince Nicolo Ludovisi Boncompagni, the head of the family who died in 2018.

The dispute is between the prince's third and final wife, Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, a 72-year-old American former real estate broker and actor who once posed for Playboy, and the children from his first marriage.

The building is a Baroque jewel with gorgeous gardens and a valuable art collection that also includes frescoes by Guercino.

The base price has been lowered from 471 million euros to 376.8 million euros, Verde said.

Almost 35,000 people had called on the Italian government to exercise "its pre-emptive right" to buy the building and the Caravaggio, which alone is valued at 350 million euros, according to a petition on Change.org.

Under Italian law, the government can only do this after the sale to a private individual, and then within 60 days of the sale's completion -- and for the same price.

The oil mural by Caravaggio, whose real name was Michelangelo Merisi, dates to 1597 and is located on the ceiling in a corridor on the first floor of the palace.

It depicts Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune with the world at the centre, marked by signs of the zodiac.

"It's certainly one of his earliest (works) and is very interesting because the subject is a mythological subject, and Caravaggio painted almost only sacred works," art historian Claudio Strinati told AFP.

The palace was originally an outbuilding in the grounds of the Villa Ludovisi, of which nothing remains today. Its name comes from a Guercino fresco depicting the goddess Aurora, or Dawn, on her chariot.

© 2022 AFP

12th century prayer room found under mosque in Iraq’s Mosul

The foundations of a prayer hall from the 12th century have been discovered under Al Nuri mosque — where the Daesh group once proclaimed their “caliphate” — in Iraq’s Mosul, site managers said on Tuesday.

© Provided by Khaleej Times Excavations around Al Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul. — AFP

The mosque, which along with its iconic leaning minaret was severely damaged by Daesh during the battle to dislodge the militants from Mosul in 2017, has been undergoing reconstruction.

The prayer room was found during excavation underneath the mosque, according to Khaireddine Nasser, director of the department of antiquities and heritage in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.

Four additional rooms for the performance of ablutions were also discovered under the prayer room, Nasser said.

Those rooms “are interconnected and built of stone and plaster”.

The discovery allows for “better knowledge of the surface of Al Nuri mosque and this ancient prayer room, but also the ablution basins” found there.

Each ablution room measures three metres in height and 3.5 metres in width, Nasser said.

“They are about six metres underground,” he added.

He said the discovery “amplifies the importance of this historical and archaeological site”.

The excavation was carried out by his department, with support from Unesco and funding from the UAE.

“The foundations of the old prayer hall are more extensive than those of the prayer hall built in the 1940s”, he added.

The mosque was constructed in 1172, but much of it was destroyed and reconstructed in 1942, with the exception of its minaret, which endured.

Unesco raised more than $100 million in 2019 as part of its initiative to “revive the spirit of Mosul”. About half of the funds were pledged by the UAE.

Reconstruction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi made his sole public appearance as Daesh chief at the mosque in the Summer of 2014.

International Olympic Committee transgender guidance criticised by medical experts

At Tokyo, Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics in a different gender category to that in which they were born

New International Olympic Committee guidance on transgender inclusion could undermine integrity in sport, say a group of medical experts.

The IOC says it should not be assumed a transgender athlete automatically has an unfair advantage in female events.

Its new framework also changes the policy on requiring transgender women to suppress testosterone levels in order to compete in those events.

A statement questioning the move has been signed by 38 medical experts.

They are linked to the International Federation of Sports Medicine and European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations.

Authors of the statement - published in the British Medical Journal Open Sport and Exercise Medicine - include the head of World Athletics' medical department, the medical director of cycling's ruling body the UCI and the chair of World Rowing's medicine commission.

They say the guidance has been drafted mainly from a human rights perspective with little consideration of medical and scientific issues.

The statement calls on the IOC to set formal standards, based on competitive fairness and the best available science, for sports to follow.

"The authors would like to see further discussion and consultation with all stakeholders," it reads.

The IOC's framework on transgender inclusion, which replaces guidelines issued in 2015, places responsibility on individual federations to determine eligibility criteria in their sport.

In their statement, the medical experts say most federations will not have the capacity to implement the new guidance.

The 10-point IOC document is "not legally binding" and not every sport is expected to find a solution before the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The old policy said transgender athletes would be allowed to compete provided their testosterone levels were below a certain limit for at least 12 months before their first competition.

Under the new guidance, relying on testosterone levels alone in female events is no longer deemed sufficient grounds to determine whether or not a competitor has an unfair advantage.

"You don't need to use testosterone [to decide who can compete] at all. But this is guidance, it's not an absolute rule," said IOC medical director Richard Budgett in November.

The statement from the medical experts reads: "As high testosterone concentrations can provide a baseline advantage for competitors in certain sports, high testosterone concentrations must be mitigated in the female category of these sports to maintain fairness and integrity."
'Transgender inclusion, fairness and safety often cannot co-exist', says major review

The IOC's new framework was prepared over two years in consultation with more than 250 athletes and other stakeholders, and will be implemented after next month's Beijing Winter Olympics.

The guidance also applies to athletes with differences of sex development (DSD) such as South African 800m runner Caster Semenya.

Governing body World Athletics has defended its existing policy, which forces DSD athletes to suppress their testosterone levels to compete in certain events, citing the rejection of Semenya's challenge of the rules by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2019.

In September 2021 the Sports Councils Equality Group (SCEG) said transgender inclusion in sport could be improved by adding 'open' and 'universal' categories to male and female ones.

Its review of non-elite sport in the UK concluded that current policies were not fit for purpose and required a reset.

"For many sports, the inclusion of transgender people, fairness and safety cannot co-exist in a single competitive model," it said.

Semenya Q&A: Who is she, what is DSD and why is her case important?

The reluctant history-maker at the centre of sport's transgender debate

Mexican presidential recall referendum wins enough support: poll body


Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's plan to submit himself to a recall referendum halfway through his six-year term has split public opinion (AFP/Handout)

Tue, January 18, 2022, 3:14 PM·1 min read

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's proposed referendum on his own presidency has secured enough signatures of support from voters to go ahead, the national electoral institute said Tuesday.

Lopez Obrador's plan to submit himself to a recall referendum halfway through his six-year term has split public opinion.

While the president argues that it is an important democratic exercise, critics accuse him of wasting resources and even plotting to circumvent the country's single-term limit.

A campaign to collect signatures in favor of the April vote has reached the required target of 2.758 million -- three percent of registered voters -- the electoral institute announced.

Lopez Obrador promised after taking office in December 2018 not to seek re-election, following accusations by opponents that the referendum plan was a step towards trying to stay in power.

The Mexican constitution limits presidents to a single six-year term.

The proposed referendum has caused a rift between Lopez Obrador and the electoral institute, which says that it lacks the funds needed to organize the consultation.

Both the Supreme Court and the electoral court have ordered the institute to carry out the vote.

Lopez Obrador enjoys a public approval rating of more than 60 percent, according to polls.

He has overseen a series of referendums since taking office on controversial issues including his "Maya Train" railroad project and canceling a partially finished airport for Mexico City.

A public consultation held in August on whether to prosecute his predecessors for alleged corruption drew only a small fraction of voters to the polls.

yug-dr/jh

STALINIST RECANTATION

Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung released from jail



Xinqi SU
Tue, January 18, 2022, 3:21 PM·3 min read

Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung, whose now-banned slogan became a rallying cry during the 2019 pro-democracy movement, was released from jail in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday after serving nearly four years.

Leung, 30, was the face of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous and a rising star on the political scene as a fledgling pro-independence movement gained momentum in 2016.

But his ascent was cut short two years later when he was jailed for rioting and assaulting police during a 2016 protest, at which demonstrators hurled bricks and set rubbish alight in the city's Mong Kok district.

While Leung was kept in a maximum-security prison, his election campaign slogan -- "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" -- gained prominence as protesters in 2019 took it up as a cry of resistance against China's authoritarian rule.

The chant -- ubiquitous during the huge and at times violent pro-democracy rallies which convulsed the city -- was criminalised last year under a sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong to stamp out dissent.

Leung was expected to leave Shek Pik prison during Wednesday's working hours, but officials confirmed he was released under cover of darkness.

That was done to take "into consideration the wish and safety of the person in custody", Hong Kong's prisons department told AFP in an email.

Local media reported the activist was released before 3 am (1900 GMT Tuesday), with an online news outlet posting images shot from afar of seven-seater cars leaving the prison facility -- though Leung could not be seen.

The main road to the prison was deserted Wednesday morning, with metal barriers set up to prevent reporters from getting closer.

Around 5:45 am, Leung posted on his official Facebook page he had reunited with his family.

"After four years, I want to cherish the precious time I have with my family and restore a normal life. I would like to express my genuine gratitude for all your care," he wrote.

He added that he would "stay away from the spotlight and stop using social media", as he is legally obliged to adhere to a "supervision order".

His Facebook page appeared to be down by 6:30 am.

Leung's family had on Tuesday urged the public not to gather at the prison for the activist's release.

Weeks before, government sources had told local media that Leung was "likely to be watched" as authorities are wary of his influence in the now-smothered pro-independence camp.

- Meteoric rise and fall -

Born in the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan in 1991, Leung is most recognised as one of the early faces of Hong Kong's pro-independence movement.

He was initially resented by mainstream democracy supporters for his staunch advocacy of Hong Kong's independence.

But his views gained popularity -- particularly among the territory's younger generation -- after the largely peaceful 79-day Occupy Movement in 2014 failed, with police forcefully clearing out protesters with batons and pepper spray in some instances.

The philosophy and political science student then joined Hong Kong Indigenous as its spokesman, and in 2016 became the first pro-independence candidate to run in a legislative by-election.

Leung did not win, but his tally of more than 66,000 votes was widely seen as a show of rising support for the once-marginal movement.

He had remained largely silent during his time in prison -- save for one open letter published in July 2019 when he urged protesters not to be blinded by hatred, as tensions rose between the pro-democracy movement and police, as well as local supporters of Beijing's rule.

Today, under the national security law which came into force in 2020, advocating for Hong Kong's separation from China carries a jail term of 10 years to life in prison.

su/dhc/leg