Mahsa Amini: An Iranian journalist broke the news of the death. Now she's in jail

Niloofar Hamedi's reporting of the police's apparent brutality sparked nationwide protests, but her voice has largely been forgotten after being arrested for her work

A picture of Niloofar Hamedi reporting at a football match (Twitter)

By Alex MacDonald
, MEE correspondent
Published date: 29 September 2022 

Niloofar Hamedi had long been interested and concerned over the influence of the "morality police" in Iranian society and the role they played in enforcing mandatory headscarf laws in the country.

On 16 September, the reporter, who works for the reformist daily newspaper Shargh, managed to gain access to Kasra hospital in Tehran where a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was being treated following her detention by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab inappropriately

The young Kurdish woman had, according to police, suffered a sudden heart problem, but her parents disputed this. She would die later that day.

That same Friday Hamedi tweeted a photo of Amini's parents crying in the hospital:

Parents of Mahsa Amini in Kasra Hospital in Iranian capital Tehran 

(Niloofar Hamedi)

The picture quickly spread along with Hamedi's reporting on Amini's death, eventually spiralling into nationwide protests that have so far seen at least 76 people killed, according to rights groups, and renewed calls for the end of the mandatory headscarf and the so-called "morality police" who brutally enforce it.

According to one of her colleagues at Shargh, speaking to Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity, the impact of her reporting was "massive".

"She has always been a brave journalist, and her bold reports have made society aware," said Sima*.

Another colleague at the newspaper, Ashraf*, said: "If it weren't for her courage, the tragic incident that happened to Mahsa Amini would not have been reported to the media so quickly."

'As I am talking to you right now, I am worried that these conversations will be overheard'

- Journalist, Shargh daily

On 22 September, Hamedi was arrested.

"This morning, security agents raided the house of my client Niloofar Hamedi, journalist of Shargh newspaper, arrested her, searched her house and confiscated her belongings," wrote her lawyer Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi on Twitter.

At the same time, her Twitter account, where she had originally posted the influential photo of Amini's parents, was suspended without explanation.

According to Kamfirouzi, Hamedi is being held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin prison, where she has been interrogated. She has not been told of any other charges against her.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says that at least 19 other journalists have also been arrested as of Monday.

For Hamedi's colleagues, working at a reformist newspaper which has been a thorn in the side of the conservatives who are currently in power in Iran, life as a journalist has become a daily worry.

"Journalism in Iran is not a job. It is a potential crime from the point of view of security institutions," said Sima.

"As a result, as I am talking to you right now, I am worried that these conversations will be overheard."

Ashraf concurred. "When you see every day that one of your colleagues has been arrested, is it natural to worry and think that I might be next?" he said.

MEE asked Twitter for a comment on the suspension of Hamedi's account but received no reply at the time of publication.
Red lines

Iran has never been a haven for freedom of the press. Under the rule of the Shah, the media was heavily restricted along with other civil liberties, and while the 1979 revolution saw an initial flourishing of expression, this was soon repressed as the Islamic Republic went to war with neighbouring Iraq.

Compared to some of its neighbours in the Middle East and Central Asia, Iran does however have a diverse range of media perspectives.

Newspapers aligned with the country's reformist camp like Shargh, Etemaad and Aftab Yazd have regularly reported on corruption scandals, criticised political figures, and occasionally brought stories of injustice to the fore. Conservative rivals like Kayhan have also been willing to voice critiques of officials.

Nevertheless, according to CPJ senior researcher Yeganeh Rezaian, there is little approaching a free press in Iran.

Rezaian was herself jailed with her husband, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, in Iran in 2014. Although she was released after 72 days, Jason would remain in prison until January 2016.

She told MEE that critical journalists regularly face arrest, and Iran is one of the most heavily censored countries in the world.

"Even reformist newspapers are still state-run media. Therefore, they cannot freely cover all political or human rights news," she said.

"Even if they are able to sometimes briefly cover a story, the paper's editor and the reporter pay a heavy price for their coverage of the story - like Niloofar Hamedi."

Mahsa Amini on the front cover of the reformist Arman Meli newspaper (screenshot)

Hamedi was no stranger to controversy and, like many journalists in the country, she pushed against a set of red lines that attempted to put limits on her reporting.

In June, a report she wrote on the shooting of a former member of Iran's national boxing team by the "morality police" sparked an earlier outcry over the organisation's use of violence to enforce the headscarf.

Reza Moradkhani and his wife were walking through Tehran's Pardisan Park when they were approached by the police over his wife's supposedly inappropriate hijab. An argument ensued which eventually saw the couple pepper sprayed and Moradkhani shot in the leg.

'Niloofar always had a strong spirit - I think she can overcome this difficult situation again'

- journalist, Shargh dail

"For people who can't afford to go to the gym and have private trainers because of time or financially, such big parks are considered the best place to exercise. In recent years, Pardisan has become the main hangout for athletes, especially in the mornings and evenings," wrote Hamedi.

"Now, with the occurrence of such events, it is not clear what the approach of the police force will be in future encounters."

Despite the hurdles that face Iran's journalists, particularly women, Hamedi had always had "a hopeful spirit and advised her friends to stay hopeful and do not be disappointed" when dealing with the daily stress of Iranian journalism.

"Niloofar was a yoga enthusiast and always advised her friends to go to yoga. She always said that yoga relaxes her," said one colleague.

The death of Amini has prompted a number of reformist papers to broach one of Iran's taboo subjects and call for the abolition of the "morality police" who enforce the wearing of the headscarf and who have been blamed for Amini's death.

The world's 'biggest jailer of female reporters'

With the anger continuing to spread around the country, however, the government has moved to limit media and its impact.

Apart from the arrests, numerous social media and messaging apps have been blocked, along with major restrictions on internet access.

"Before this happened, it was not easy, and we had to keep silent about many issues. But now, especially in the current security environment, it has become much, much harder," explained Sima.

"Security organisations have even ordered us not to cover street protests, and this is really disappointing."

Rezaian said Iran was now the world's "biggest jailer of female reporters".

Mahsa Amini: Signal asks users to set up proxy servers and help Iranians avoid ban

Read More »

Communications and media have been integral to the spread of the protests in Iran. It is no surprise, therefore, that authorities have moved to limit them.

"The regime cutting people from the outside world itself sends a very clear message that they don't want anyone to know what is going on inside the country. They don't want the international community to know that they are brutally hitting and killing young protesters," Rezaian said.

Videos from inside the country have shown women burning their headscarves, fighting with police, chanting "death to the dictator" and destroying images belonging to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and late military commander Qassem Soleimani.

Outside Iran, the protesters have gained widespread support. Yet many Iranians have complained that activists, politicians and commentators outside Iran, rather than those leading and documenting events on the ground, have ended up dominating the narrative on the demonstrations.

But in prison, the journalist whose reporting sparked one of the most dramatic periods of Iran's modern history remains largely unheard.

Hamedi's lawyer tweeted on Monday that she had contacted him and her mother from prison. Although she still knows little about her case, she said she was "fine" and coping with solitary confinement by continuing to practise yoga every day.

If there's one thing you learn as a journalist in Iran, according to Sima, it's resilience.

"Niloofar always had a strong spirit - I think she can overcome this difficult situation again," she said.

*Names have been changed for security reasons

Iran's Gen Z is fed up. The protests aren't just about hijab, they're about regime change.

Neda Bolourchi
Sat, October 1, 2022 

“Women, Life, Freedom.”

Those are the words Iranian women have been chanting during protests against their government for the past several weeks. Used by Kurdish female soldiers in their fight against the Islamic State terrorist group, these words also define the very essence of the ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran that at minimum say women demand a life of freedom.

These protests are in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, from Iran’s Kurdistan region. In the capital city of Tehran to visit family, Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 by the morality police for “wearing inappropriate clothing.” This police group patrols public spaces looking for people – especially women – who violate the norms of “public decency” with their clothing, haircuts, behavior and “bad” hair coverings. Amini died in custody after spending three days in a coma.

A protest on Sept. 19, 2022, in Tehran, Iran, against the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after three days in the custody of the morality police.

Amini’s death comes from the intensification of repressive state policies under President Ebrahim Raisi's administration. It recently announced the intention to aggressively target women not in “modest dress” or in “bad makeup.” The police tend to monitor and more strictly enforce regulations in places with a higher percentage of poor, ethnic, or religious women.
An end to morality police

Iranian women and their allies have called for an end to the morality police and the very system that upholds it. In alleyways, up and down highways and everywhere in between, protesters can be heard also chanting “death to the dictator.” This new generation has gone as far as to cross another red line and repeatedly declare, “I don’t want an Islamic Republic!” Fearless, women stand atop cars burning their headscarves while others cut their hair in public.

There's no deadline on women's equality: Add the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

They have done so because the Islamic Republic has spent the past four decades controlling the female body as a misplaced metaphor for nationalist and cultural pride. Controlling women’s bodies has gone on long enough. Generation Z, which the Pew Research Center defines as born from 1997 through 2012, has decided to act.

Pivotally, today’s Gen Z protesters are more radical and angrier than their “reform”-minded predecessors. The 2009 Green Movement was largely composed of middle-class Tehranis, often educated in Europe, who had much to lose. Also, their parents and even the Green Movement politicians told them to be patient.

The movement was about reform. One revolution was enough. Parents lectured their children on their errors, how much Iran lost (almost everything) because of 1979. They pointed to the country’s neighbors (in Iraq and Afghanistan) who were dying, saying Iranians shouldn’t join them. They then pointed out that the whole Middle East was on fire and burning (Arab Spring 2011-14) and that Iran should not burn, too. At least Iranians were safe, the adage went. The previous generation tried to make headway through advocating reforms, but many lost friends and family members.

More than a decade later, Gen Z thinks it has less to lose.

Iranian Americans rally on Sept. 28, 2022, in Washington, D.C. in support of the Iranian resistance movement and to denounce the death of Mahsa Amini.

Gen Z demands change

Pushed to the brink by a repressive system that either made promises it didn’t keep or used tools of violence too often, Generation Z is fed up. There are no appeals to the administration, parts of the government or the police who beat them. Iranians are responding to police brutality in kind. They are retaliating by damaging police vehicles, chasing state agents and holding their ground when confronted.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

And men have joined the women. They are seen protesting throughout the country (including conservative cities like Mashhad, Qom and Isfahan, not to mention the liberal north and the diverse west). The men come from all walks of life but especially from the poorer neighborhoods, like in southern Tehran.

Most of these men joined because of poverty, lack of prospects and denial of personal freedoms. Male allies speak about the oppression and discontent with what has become life in the Islamic Republic; they understand their privileged position vis-à-vis women, but this does not lessen their burdens or alleviate their poverty. Instead, they have an idea of the daily repression and subjugation women face. This protest and its slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” thus connect women’s rights to broader social and economic policies about human rights and good governance.

Today’s protest is of a feminist and humanist nature. It has crossed the socioeconomic divide and ethnoreligious lines, and has garnered large male support. Iranians are fighting for basic rights: the right to freedom of speech; the right to expression of thought; the right for women to choose how they dress; the right against wrongful imprisonment; the right against torture and rape while in state custody. Taking to the streets with their hair in ponytails and fists up, Iranians are singing the song of freedom and resistance that defines revolutions.

Neda Bolourchi is associate director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University, where she teaches courses on political violence, revolutions, Islamic law and human rights. Previously, she worked on matters of civil litigation, white collar criminal defense and human rights violations in the Middle East.

Africa: Cholera Surging Globally As Climate Change Intensifies


30 SEPTEMBER 2022
Voice of America (Washington, DC)

By Lisa Schlein

Geneva — Cholera is surging around the globe, the World Health Organization warns.

Flareups of the deadly disease have been reported in 26 countries in the first nine months of this year. In comparison, fewer than 20 countries reported cholera outbreaks per year between 2017 and 2021. In addition to greater frequency, the WHO reports the outbreaks themselves are larger and more deadly.

While poverty and conflict are major triggers of cholera, climate change is a growing threat.

Philippe Barboza, WHO team lead for Cholera and Epidemic Diarrheal Diseases, said climate change presents an additional layer of complexity and creates the conditions for cholera outbreaks to explode.

"This is what we have seen in southern Africa with the succession of cyclones that affected the eastern part of the African Coast," Barboza said. "The drought in East Africa is driving population movements, reducing access to water, which is already needed. So, of course, it is a key factor, which is fueling the outbreak. And the same in Sahel and other places."

Fifteen of the 26 cholera-infected countries are in Africa, according to the WHO.

Barboza said massive climate-induced floods in Southeast Asia also have resulted in large outbreaks of cholera in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many countries that have made significant progress in controlling cholera are now back to square one, he added.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours if left untreated. Cholera outbreaks can be prevented by ensuring access to clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene, as well as stepping up surveillance and access to health care, Barboza said.

"This is what we need countries to do, but that is easier said than done. Although many of the cholera-affected countries are actively engaged in these efforts, they are facing multiple crises, including conflict and poverty, and this is why international action is so important," he said.

Cholera is a preventable and treatable disease, Barboza said, so with the right foresight and action, the current global crisis can be reversed.

Cholera outbreaks surging worldwide, fatality rates rising - WHO

September 30, 2022 

A lab technician works on samples to test for cholera, at a hospital

 in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on September 11, 2022

[AFP via Getty Images]

September 30, 2022 

Cholera cases have surged this year, especially in places of poverty and conflict, with outbreaks reported in 26 countries and fatality rates rising sharply, a World Health Organisation official said on Friday, Reuters reports.

In a typical year, fewer than 20 countries report outbreaks of the disease, which is spread by the ingestion of contaminated food or water and can cause acute diarrhoea.

"After years of declining numbers, we are seeing a very worrying upsurge of cholera outbreaks around the globe over the past year," Philippe Barboza, WHO Team Lead for Cholera, told a press briefing in Geneva.

The average fatality rate, so far this year, has almost tripled compared with the five-year average and is currently around 3 per cent in Africa, he added.

While most of those affected will have mild or no symptoms, cholera can kill within hours, if untreated.

READ: UN takes measures to fight cholera outbreak in Syria refugee camps

A cholera outbreak in Syria has already killed at least 33 people, posing a danger across the frontlines of the country's 11-year-long war and stirring fears in crowded camps for the displaced.

Barboza also expressed concern about outbreaks in the Horn of Africa and parts of Asia, including Pakistan, where some regions are flooded.

He said only a few million doses of vaccines were available for use before the end of this year, citing a shortage of manufacturers among the problems.

WHO maintains an emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines.

"So it's very clear that we do not have enough vaccine to respond to both acute outbreaks and even less to be able to implement preventive vaccination campaigns that could be a way to reduce the risk for many countries," he said.

There was no overall estimate of the number of cholera cases across the world because of differences in countries' surveillance systems, he said.

How a Chinese fossil discovery rewrites the history of life on Earth

Troy Farah - SALON

Life reconstruction of Fanjingshania renovata 

FU Boyuan and FU Baozhong

Paleontologists are having a field day over a recently discovered trove of fish fossils that could reset our understanding of human evolution. The finds not only include the world's oldest teeth, but also strengthen the evidence for the emergence of jaws and limbs. Essentially, these discoveries could push back our understanding of humans' early animal ancestors by about 10 million years.

The international team responsible for these remarkable finds was led by Zhu Min of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, China and was detailed in a quartet of papers published Wednesday in Nature.

The fossils date between 436 and 439 million years ago, during a known as the Silurian Period, in which Earth experienced some dramatic events (such as developing an ozone layer) that had big impacts on the evolution of life. By the end of the Silurian, jawed fishes began to appear; the advantage of jaws is that it makes for better hunters, which allowed such fish to better pass down their genes. Indeed, having a jaw is quite an evolutionary advantage.

Related
"Beyond our wildest dreams": Scientists find fossil from dinosaur that died the day the asteroid hit

Many of the creatures in the oceans were quite squishy, meaning that they are less apt to survive in the fossil record. In general, scientists have relied on scraps and stray fossils of such creatures to formulate theories on how life arose on Earth during this era, but these new discoveries reveal in greater detail what creatures were like almost half a billion years ago.

Discovered near Lianghe village in Hunan Province, T. vividus resembled an ice cream cone with a massive bony shield around its head.

"The new fossils change everything. Now we know how big they are, what they look like, how they evolved over time," Zhu told Reuters. In terms of size, most of these fossils were quite small — but they have big implications.

One paper analyzed more than 1000 specimens of an extinct spiny shark-like fish called Fanjingshania renovata, so named because it was found near Mount Fanjingshan. It may be the oldest jawed ancestor of humans, pushing back the previous record by about 20 million years.

Another paper describes Tujiaaspis vividus, an extinct jawless fish whose name refers to the Tujia people, a minority ethnic group in China. Discovered near Lianghe village in Hunan Province, T. vividus resembled an ice cream cone with a massive bony shield around its head, making it what's called a galeaspid. What's amazing about this find is how intact the specimen is compared to previous finds.

"The anatomy of galeaspids has been something of a mystery since they were first discovered more than half a century ago," Gai Zhikun, the study's lead author and a professor at IVPP, said in a statement. "Tens of thousands of fossils are known from China and Vietnam, but almost all of them are just heads — nothing has been known about the rest of their bodies — until now."

These fossils lend weight to the "fin-fold theory," which describes how fish developed fins that separated and eventually evolved into legs. In other words, this is some of the earliest and strongest evidence for a leading theory on how humans eventually got our limbs.

Then there's a paper describing two new species. The first is Xiushanosteus mirabilis, a tiny placoderm, a type of jawed fish that was covered in armor. The other is Shenacanthus vermiformis, an early shark relative. However, unlike sharks (which have tiny scales) S. vermiformis is armored with plates that cover its body.

"Only 20 years ago it was still believed that sharks [were] primitive and other jawed fish evolved from a shark-like archetype. Now with the discovery of Shenacanthus, we can finally make certain that the opposite is true," the study's lead author Zhu You'an, associate research professor at IVPP, said in a statement. Both discoveries may change the timeline for when jawed vertebrates first emerged.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter The Vulgar Scientist.

The last paper describes the least complete fossil specimen out of the four, with just 23 teeth — still, enough information to identify the earliest direct evidence for jawed vertebrates like ourselves. The fish is called Qianodus duplicis, which was found in Guizhou province and had the oldest teeth of any animal previously known. Its mouth was filled with paired rows of tooth whorls, and like many first drafts, the teeth don't really resemble the pearly whites we typically think of. It's more of a spiky blob, like the back of a blue shell from "Mario Kart."

Nonetheless, this toothy discovery pushes back the date for the evolution of teeth by about 14 million years. It means a lot more activity was happening in the Silurian period (around 439 million years ago) than we thought.

It may seem weird to think about, but there really was a point in the evolutionary timeline when teeth didn't exist. Same for eyes, brains and even anuses. Each of these anatomical features arose through natural selection over millions of years. While there are many gaps in the fossil record, they are being filled in all the time and this recent dump of published results gives fascinating insight into where we acquired our teeth, our jaws, our limbs and essentially our human bodies.

Read more about this topic
Ancient plankton have climate data hidden in their shells
Meet Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who changed the way we think about the history of life on Earth
Digitizing the vast "dark data" in museum fossil collections

PATRIARCHY IS MISOGYNY & FEMICIDE

Hazara women in Afghanistan protest for better security one day after suicide bombing killed dozens

Demonstration quickly broken up by Taliban police

The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 01, 2022

A 19-year old Hazara girl on Saturday sits on the bench she was sitting on during Friday's suicide bomber attack in Kabul. Afghanistan's Hazaras, who are predominantly Shia Muslims, have been the target of a brutal campaign of violence for the past several years. 

(Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)


A group of Afghan women on Saturday protested a suicide bombing that killed or wounded dozens of students in a Shia education centre in Kabul a day earlier, demanding better security from the Taliban-run government.

The demonstration was quickly broken up by Taliban police.

The bomber struck an education centre Friday packed with hundreds of students in a Shia neighborhood, killing 19 people and wounding 27. Among the casualties were teenagers taking practice university entrance exams, a Taliban spokesman said.

The morning explosion at the centre took place in Kabul's Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan's minority Shia community. The Islamic State group has carried out repeated, horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shiite areas in recent years.

About 20 protesters Saturday gathered in the Dashti Barchi area for about 45 minutes before their rally was broken up by Taliban security. They carried banners in English and Dari reading "Stop Hazar Genocide."

19 dead after blast in Kabul hits education centre

"We are asking the Taliban government, when they claim that they have brought security, how they cannot stop an attacker from entering an educational centre to target female students. In this incident, one family has lost four members, why is it still happening," said demonstrator Fatima Mohammadi.

Staff at the Kaaj education centre spent Saturday cleaning up the wreckage caused by the attack, while victims' family members searched through items covered with blood belonging to their loved ones.
No responsibility claimed for attack yet

Hussain, who goes by one name, witnessed the attack. He said he believed the death toll was significantly higher, based on the large number of bodies he saw.

"First the attacker just over there, where a huge crowd of students was standing, opened fire. At least 40 people were killed there," he said.

Zahra, a student who survived the attack, was unharmed because she went out just minutes before to buy a pen. She said she lost her friends in the attack and also her hope for a better future.

"I am not even sure if there is a future for us anymore or not," she said.

Afghans try to divine Taliban plan as girls' schools open, then close, in eastern province

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State group — the chief rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 — has in the past targeted the Hazara community, including in Dashti Barchi, in a brutal campaign of violence.

Militants have carried out several deadly attacks in Dashti Barchi, including a horrific 2020 attack on a maternity hospital claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers.

The family of one of the victims of a suicide bombing mourns in Kabul on Friday.

 (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)

Kabul attack: Death toll rises to 35 mostly ‘girls, young women’

Dozens of women have protested to call for more protection for the ethnic Hazara community in the wake of the attack.

A suicide bombing has killed at least 35 people at a learning centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of Kabul [AFP]

Published On 1 Oct 2022

The death toll from a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Afghan capital has risen to 35, according to the United Nations mission to the country, as women reportedly took to the streets to protest against the targeting of the Hazara ethnic minority.

At least 82 others were wounded in Friday’s attack at the Kaj education centre in Dasht-e-Barchi, home to a large Hazara community located in western Kabul, according to the UN mission.

The toll is higher than the casualty numbers Kabul authorities have so far released.

“Majority of casualties are girls and young women,” the mission tweeted on Saturday. “All names need documenting and remembering and justice must be done.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a women’s section of the centre where young people had gathered to take a mock university exam.

Afghan women display placards and chant slogans during a protest following a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood in Kabul [AFP]

However, the local ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, a rival to the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for similar attacks on education centres in recent years, including a suicide attack on an education centre in the same neighbourhood that killed 24 in 2020.

At least 85 people were also killed in another unclaimed attack near a school in Dasht-e-Barchi in May 2021.

The Taliban, which swept to power amid a foreign troop withdrawal in August 2021, has promised to bring stability to the country after 20 years of war, but a spate of recent violence has undermined that narrative.

The family of a 19-year-old woman who was a victim of a suicide bomber at an education centre in Kabul is seen mourning

 [Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press]

On Friday, the AFP news agency reported that more than 50 women defied a Taliban ban on rallies to call for an end to violence against the Hazara people, who have alleged years of persecution by the ruling Taliban while being repeatedly targeted by ISIL attacks.

The group chanted “stop Hazara genocide, it’s not a crime to be a Shia”, as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated, according to an AFP correspondent.

Protesters later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, kept watch, according to the news agency.

Al Jazeera however, could not independently verify the reports of protests.

Women’s protests have become increasingly risky since the Taliban came to power, with numerous demonstrators detained in past rallies or broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

Rights groups have called on the Taliban to better protect the country’s residents.

Amnesty International described Friday’s attack as a “shamefaced reminder of the inaptitude and utter failure of the Taliban, as de-facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan”.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s South Asia campaigner, Samira Hamidi, said the Taliban has done little to protect ethnic minorities since taking power.

“Their actions of omission and commission have only further aggravated the risk to the lives of the people of Afghanistan especially those belonging to ethnic and minority communities,” she said in a statement on Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council also condemned the attack, calling on the authorities to take steps to ensure that educational facilities are protected.

“An education centre filled with youth preparing for exams should be a venue for joy, focus and excitement – never awash with blood and horror,” Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

UN expert decries ‘systematic’ attacks on Afghan Shia groups

‘Cold-blooded’: Taliban accused of executing Hazara people

Why the Hazara people fear genocide in Afghanistan

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Afghans protest after dozens killed in Kabul college attack

A suicide bomber attack on an education centre in western Kabul has left at least 100 people killed and injured, most of them young women.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre (AFP)

Dozens of women from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara community protested in the capital after at least 100 people were killed and injured in a suicide bombing.

The attack happened on Friday at 0300GMT (7:30 am local time) at the Kaj educational institution in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of western Kabul, a predominantly Shia Muslim area home to the ethnic Hazara community - the target of some of Afghanistan's most deadly attacks.

READ MORE: Deadly blast hits educational centre in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood

Police said at least 20 people were killed but the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has put the number at 35, with an additional 82 wounded.

The death toll is expected to rise, UNAMA said.

On Saturday about 50 women chanted, "Stop Hazara genocide, it's not a crime to be a Shia", as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated.

Dressed in black hijabs and headscarves, grieving protesters carried banners that read: "Stop killing Hazaras", an AFP correspondent reported.

They later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban fighters kept watch.

Since the Taliban returned to power last August, women's protests have become risky, with numerous demonstrators detained and rallies broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

'Serious measures'

The bomber shot dead two security guards before entering the gender-segregated classroom, student Ali Irfani, who escaped the carnage, said.

"Not many boys were hit because they were at the rear end of the classroom. The bomber entered from the front door where girls were sitting," he said.

The Taliban's official twitter account put out a statement condemning the attack, expressing sympathy for the families of the victims, saying "Serious measures will be taken to find and punish the perpetrators".

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre, however, Daesh has claimed previous attacks in the area targeting girls, schools and mosques.

'Onslaught on education'

The United Nations' special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the attack and demanded justice.

"Onslaught on education for Hazaras & Shias must end. Stop attacks on Afghanistan's future, stop international crimes," he said on Twitter.

READ MORE: US admits to killing 12 civilians last year, all in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Shia Hazaras have faced persecution for decades, targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against the former US-backed government and by Daesh - both of which consider Shias heretics.

In April, two deadly bomb blasts on the same day at separate education centres in Dasht-e-Barchi killed six people and wounded at least 20 others.

Daesh has emerged as a key security challenge for the Taliban, but officials claim their forces have defeated the armed group.

Front-runner Lula close to outright win in Brazil election, poll shows


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva maintains a solid lead going into Sunday's presidential race against far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and is within sight of an outright victory, a fresh poll showed on Saturday.


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/MARIANA GREIF


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/AMANDA PEROBELLI

Brazil's most polarized election in decades will decide whether to return to power a former president who spent time in jail on corruption convictions or a right-wing populist who has attacked the voting system and threatened to contest defeat.


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/MARIANA GREIF

A CNT/MDA poll published on Saturday said Lula would win 48.3% of the valid votes, putting him statistically within reach of taking half of the votes, which would avoid a bruising run-off. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

If no one among the 11 candidates gets more than 50% of votes, excluding blank and spoiled ballots, the two front-runners - almost certainly Lula and Bolsonaro - would go to second round vote on Oct. 30.

The MDA poll commissioned by the national transport lobby CNT shows Bolsonaro has chipped away at half of Lula's lead, which is now down to 7.9 percentage points point (44.2% for Lula and 36.3% for Bolsonaro).

Related video: Lula vs Bolsonaro: Two markedly different visions for Brazil's future
Duration 11:37
View on Watch


Two other major pollsters Datafolha and IPEC have projected Lula winning outright and will publish their last polling at 6 p.m. (2100GMT).

Bolsonaro, a former army captain who spent 28 years as a Congressman who is pro-gun, anti-gay and against abortion, was swept into office in 2018 on a wave of conservative sentiment and opposition to Lula's Workers Party.

On Saturday, he will close his re-election campaign with two rallies by motor-bike supporters in Sao Paulo and Joinville, Santa Catarina state.

Lula's Workers Party, meanwhile, has booked space on Sao Paulo's main Paulista Avenue on Sunday night to celebrate victory by the 77-year-former union leader and party founder.


Bolsonaro leads a motorcade with his supporters in Sao Paulo© Reuters/CARLA CARNIEL

Brazil's electronic voting system, which Bolsonaro has repeatedly criticized as vulnerable to fraud without providing evidence, allows the national electoral authority, the TSE, to quickly tally results within hours after polls close at 5 p.m. (2000GMT).

The head of the TSE, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes called on Brazilians by Twitter to celebrate the country's democracy by turning out to vote "in peace, security and harmony, respect and freedom."



Bolsonaro leads a motorcade with his supporters in Sao Paulo© Reuters/CARLA CARNIEL

Due to Bolsonaro's attacks on the voting system and the prospect of conflict, the TSE has invited an unprecedented number of international observers to this year's election.



Elections in Brazil© Reuters/RICARDO MORAES

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; editing by Diane Craft)

MYSTERY REMAINS

Mass fish deaths in European river blamed on toxic algae

Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

The recent mass fish deaths in the Oder river that runs through Poland and Germany were caused by the proliferation of brackish water algae, which in turn was triggered by a sudden increase in the river's salinity levels, according to a report.

Fishermen first discovered dead fish in the river near the Polish town of Olawa at the end of July, reports Xinhua news agency.

The fish deaths down the river in Germany were only reported around two weeks later.

Tonnes of dead fish have been pulled from the Oder river as the micro-algae at issue -- known as Prymnesium parvum, or golden alga -- produces a toxic substance that is lethal to fish and other aquatic organisms.

A Polish-German expert group was subsequently set up to investigate.

The fish deaths in the Oder are a "serious environmental catastrophe", Germany's Minister for the Environment Steffi Lemke said on Friday, stressing that it was "caused by human activities".

Alongside attempts to fully understand what happened, the focus now is on the regeneration of the Oder river.

The exact cause of the high salinity level could not be determined "due to a lack of available information", the Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) said in a statement.

It also remained unclear about how the algae, which naturally occurs in salty brackish water near coasts, reached the Oder river.

Salinity levels in other rivers in Germany are also too high without the phenomena occurring.

Indo-Asian News Service

UK 

Royal Mail workers continue strike over pay and conditions

1 October 2022, 

Postal strike. Picture: PA

Members of the Communication Workers Union walked out on a 48-hour strike on Friday.

Royal Mail workers will mount picket lines outside Royal Mail delivery and sorting offices again on Saturday in a continuing dispute over pay and conditions.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) walked out on a 48-hour strike on Friday, hitting deliveries of post across the country.

Talks between the two sides were held on Thursday but there was no sign of any progress being made and the union is planning to step up industrial action in the coming weeks.

The union said the walkout by around 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year amid long-running disputes in other sectors.

A further 19 days of strikes have been announced on different days throughout October and November in a major escalation of the dispute.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward told the PA news agency that the union will be offering Royal Mail a way to get back into “serious talks”, offering the chance to suspend industrial action if progress is made.

He said it would be “useful” if the Government explained its position about the future of Royal Mail amid union fears that the company is being positioned for a takeover.

Mr Ward said new Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg had told the union it could meet one of his department’s officials.

“Postal workers across the UK now face the fight of their lives to save their jobs and the service they provide to every household and business in the UK.

“We call on everyone to stand with their local postal worker.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “The CWU can be in no doubt of the impact its reckless pursuit of 19 days of industrial action has on our weakened financial position and the job security of its members.

“Royal Mail is losing £1 million a day. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices. Continued strike action will force our customers to make those choices sooner rather than later.

“Our invitation to enter into talks through Acas remains open. Our people need the CWU leadership to recognise the reality of the situation Royal Mail faces as a business, and to engage urgently on the changes required to adapt to customer demands in a highly competitive market.

“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause.

“We are doing all we can to minimise any delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”

By Press Association

WORSE POLLING THAN BIDEN, OR TRUMP

Truss Should Resign as UK Prime Minister, More Than Half of Britons Say

CALL AN ELECTION

Alex Morales
Fri, September 30, 2022 
(Bloomberg) --

More than half of Britons think Liz Truss should quit as UK premier, according to a YouGov poll that adds to her woes less than a month into the job.

The survey on Friday underscores the damage done to Truss’s standing and that of her Conservative Party by the huge package of unfunded tax cuts her government unveiled a week ago, triggering a selloff in the pound and government bonds and leaving her party trailing the opposition Labour by a record distance.

Some 51% of almost 5,000 Britons surveyed said the prime minister should quit, with 54% saying Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng should resign.

Even in the face of a backlash from markets, Tory Members of Parliament and the electorate, Truss and Kwarteng so far have stood firm behind their fiscal package -- which benefitted the wealthiest more than lower earners -- insisting they’ll come forward with a medium-term plan for the economy and a set of independent economic forecasts on Nov. 23.

The beleaguered prime minister now heads into her Conservative Party’s annual conference on Sunday with the challenge of restoring her standing among her MPs and persuading the financial markets that the Tories still stand for the responsible management of the economy.

The YouGov poll also showed Truss is hemorrhaging support among those who voted Conservative in the last general election in 2019. Some 36% of Tory voters said Truss should go and 41% called for Kwarteng’s departure.

The latest survey piles the misery on the Tories after a YouGov poll of voting intentions on Thursday gave Labour a record 33-point lead.

SIR KEIR'S LUCKY DAY

UK's Labour has 33-pt lead over ruling Conservatives -YouGov poll

Britain's Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool

Thu, September 29, 2022 

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's opposition Labour party has surged to a 33-point lead over the ruling Conservatives, according to a YouGov poll on Thursday, after days of chaos in financial markets triggered by the government's planned tax cuts.

The lead was a record high share for Labour in any YouGov poll as well as the highest figure the party has ever recorded in any published survey since the late 1990s, YouGov said.

Earlier on Thursday, British Prime Minister Liz Truss defended her controversial plan to reignite economic growth after huge tax cuts unveiled last week hammered the value of the pound and government bond prices.

The YouGov poll of voting intention conducted over Wednesday and Thursday showed 54% support for Labour and 21% for the Conservatives. It was a survey of more than 1,700 British adults.

Another YouGov poll earlier this week had shown 45% of voters backing Labour compared to 28% support for the Conservatives.

Truss took office on Sept. 6 after defeating former finance minister Rishi Sunak to win the Conservative Party's leadership contest. The next national election is likely to be held in 2024.

At least two Conservative lawmakers - both of whom had backed Sunak during the party leadership race - publicly criticised Truss's economic plans following the release of the poll.

"This is now a serious crisis with a lot at stake," Conservative lawmaker George Freeman said on Twitter. "The economic package of borrowing & tax cuts announced last week clearly can't command market or voter confidence."

Another lawmaker from Truss's party, Julian Smith, urged the government to reverse the abolition of the 45% top rate of income tax.

Three other polls on Thursday also showed large leads for Labour - Survation put Labour's lead over the Conservatives at 21 points; Deltapoll showed Labour 19 points ahead; and Redfield & Wilton Strategies had Labour 17 points ahead.

Opposition leader Keir Starmer said during his party's annual conference this week that it was Labour's best chance to win power since 2010, following four straight election defeats.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Michael Holden, Kirsten Donovan)

BUYERS REMORSE

Rishi Sunak would be a better PM than Liz Truss, say Tory voters


Nick Gutteridge
Fri, September 30, 2022

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

Conservative voters think Rishi Sunak would have made a better prime minister than Liz Truss, new polling for The Telegraph reveals.

The survey, on the eve of the Tory conference in Birmingham, shows just a third of those who backed the party in 2019 think she is a good leader.

Over half think she has made a bad incumbent in No 10 - almost as high as the number who would say the same about Sir Keir Starmer.

The results will lead to further soul-searching within the party about the decision by members to elect Ms Truss rather than the former chancellor.

Tory MPs in a mutinous mood over the fallout from the mini-Budget have discussed returning to a system where they pick the leader in future.

It has also emerged some rebel Conservatives are in talks with Labour over voting down her economic plan, especially the abolition of the 45p income tax rate.

After a dramatic week, Labour now holds a colossal lead on nine key criteria, including who the public trust more to manage the economy.

Amongst those who voted Conservative at the last election, a mere 34 per cent said they thought Ms Truss made a good Prime Minister.

That compares with 60 per cent for Boris Johnson, her predecessor, and 45 per cent for Mr Sunak, who she vanquished in the leadership race.

She fares even worse among the wider public, with only one in five thinking she is a good leader and 63 per cent calling her a bad one.
Sir Keir has positive rating

Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak both fare better with the electorate, scoring 31 per cent each, but by far the most choice is Sir Keir on 46 per cent.

The Labour leader is the only one with a positive net rating scoring +14, while Mr Sunak is on -21, Mr Johnson on -31 and Ms Truss on -43.

In a dire set of results for the Tories, the study shows how their reputation for competence has been shredded over the last 21 months.

The poll by JL Partners asked voters to rate the two main parties on nine key areas including the economy, NHS, and social equality.

It reveals in January 2020 the Conservatives held a commanding 22-point lead in terms of who the public thought was “best for the economy”.

That had halved to nine per cent by January of this year and has now been overhauled, with Labour sitting a comfortable 13 points ahead.

Ratings plummet

It is a similar story on who voters see as “competent and capable”, with the Tories slumping from a 20 per cent advantage to trailing by 13 points.

The Conservatives held a 15-point lead on which party would “move the country in the right direction” and are now 16 per cent behind Labour.

When it comes to who is “best for protecting and creating jobs” they have also plummeted from four per cent ahead to 19 points in arrears.

Meanwhile Sir Keir has widened the gap on who most shares voters’ values, is best for the NHS and will “stand up for people like me”.

In contrast, the number of people who see the Tories as “out of touch” has tripled to 37 points ahead since the start of 2020.

Back then Mr Johnson had just won a huge majority while Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, was seen as the most divided party by a 46-point margin.

But by January of this year the tables had reversed entirely, with the fallout from partygate seeing the Conservatives surge to a 21 per cent lead.
Electability ‘lost overnight’

The impression of the Tories as fractured has only grown since the ousting of the former prime minister and now stands at 27 per cent ahead.

James Johnson, who ran polling in Theresa May’s Number 10, said: “The drastic changes we are seeing in the fortunes of the Conservatives can be explained by this Telegraph poll.

“Labour now has a double-digit advantage on the economy, the first time it has led on this measure in this Parliament.

“And, since last month, the blame for economic woes has pivoted away from Russia and onto the Government itself.

“When the Conservatives lose their edge on the economy, they lose their electability overnight - and all signs are that we have seen exactly such a shift in the last few days.”

Half of voters want Truss to resign

Separate polling by the firm YouGov published on Friday afternoon painted an equally bleak picture for Ms Truss ahead of the conference.

It showed 51 per cent of Britons think the Prime Minister should resign, including 36 per cent of those who voted Conservative at the last election.

A third survey released by Stonehaven revealed Labour is now on course to win an outright majority at the next election.

The MRP poll - the same kind which correctly predicted the 2019 result - puts Sir Keir’s party on 332 seats and the Tories on 228.

Pandora Lefroy, the insight director at Stonehaven, said: “It has been a turbulent year for the Conservative party and that is being reflected in our election modelling which is showing, for the first time in 18 months, Labour having a path to an outright majority.

“A lot can change between now and the next General Election, but today we are seeing Red Wall voters are going back to their roots.

“Interestingly our data shows it is not their values that have changed, it’s simply that Labour is now seen as the party that best represents those values.”
Mini-budget not ‘executed competently’

Ms Truss faced a further backlash from angry Tory MPs on Friday with one grandee saying she has already lost the party at the next election.

Sir Charles Walker, a veteran backbencher, warned the Prime Minister she will face a “difficult time” getting the mini-Budget through Parliament.

He accused her and the Chancellor of “naivety” and “hubris” over the way it was announced, suggesting it was not “executed competently”.

“I don’t think I’ll be voting for these measures per se,” he told Times Radio when asked whether he was ready to rebel.

“I think the Government has learnt its lesson and will be amending them and doing some more thinking. If it doesn’t, it’s going to have a difficult time.”

Sir Charles warned that regardless the Tories have suffered a “cliff-edge collapse” and must start thinking about how to leave “some form of legacy” to Labour.

“I think it’s hard to construct an argument now that the Conservatives can win that general election. I suspect the conversation is how much do we lose it by?” he said.

Steve Double, a former environment minister, said he “can’t explain” the decision to axe the 45p tax rate to his constituents and Ms Truss “should reverse” it.

“At this particular moment, when so many households are facing huge pressures on their finances in the coming months…quite frankly I think it's a mistake,” he told BBC Cornwall.

The MP for St Austell said he won’t be attending this year’s conference, adding that he has “never known the party to be as divided as it is right now”.

THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR

Liz Truss admits £45bn mini-budget tax cuts did cause ‘disruption’

The Prime Minister has warned the country faces a “difficult winter” ahead.

George McMillan

SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER
PUBLISHED Saturday 01 October 2022 - 

Liz Truss has admitted Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget caused “disruption” but insisted they were right to act to get the economy moving and to protect families from soaring energy bills.

As Tories prepared to head to Birmingham for their annual conference, the Prime Minister warned the country faced a “difficult winter” ahead as she indicated she had no plans to reverse her tax-cutting agenda.

“I recognise there has been disruption but it was really, really important we were able to get help to families as soon as possible,” she said in a pooled interview with broadcasters on Friday.

“This is going to be a difficult winter and I am determined to do all I can to help families and help the economy at this time.”

Her comments came at the end of a tumultuous week which saw the pound slump to an all-time low against the dollar and the Bank of England forced to spend billions buying up government debt to prevent a collapse of the pensions industry.

The sell-off of sterling prompted fears that millions of mortgage holders could face crippling rises in their repayments as the Bank moves to ratchet up interest rates to shore up the currency and put a lid on inflation.

Prime Minister Liz Truss during a visit to the British Gas training academy Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror

The Chancellor insisted he will produce a “credible plan” to get the public finances back on track with a “commitment to spending discipline”. Owen Humphreys

The Chancellor insisted he will produce a “credible plan” to get the public finances back on track with a “commitment to spending discipline”.

“The British taxpayer expects their Government to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, and we will deliver on that expectation,” he said.

“Not all the measures we announced last week will be universally popular. But we had to do something different. We had no other choice.”

The turmoil erupted after markets took fright at Mr Kwarteng’s £45 billion package of unfunded tax cuts – the biggest in 50 years – while committing billions to capping energy bills for the next two years.

With the Tories tanking in the opinion polls – one showed Labour opening up a hitherto unthinkable 33-point lead – some Conservative MPs have been pressing for a change of course.

Despite having been in Downing Street for less than a month, some have questioned whether Ms Truss can now survive to the end of the year as the party has seen its reputation on the economy shredded.

The Prime Minister, however, insisted that Mr Kwarteng was right to cut taxes as part of their plan to drive up the UK’s sluggish rate of economic growth.

“What is important to me is that we get Britain’s economy back on track, that we keep taxes low, that we encourage investment into our country and that we get through these difficult times,” she said.

With some analysts warning of a squeeze on public spending to get debt under control, the Prime Minister again refused to commit to the annual uprating of benefits in line with inflation – something Rishi Sunak had promised to do when he was chancellor.

Pressed in her interview, Ms Truss said only that it was “something the Work and Pensions Secretary (Chloe Smith) is looking at”.

She added: “What is important to me is that we are fair in the decisions we make, but most importantly that we help families and businesses at this very difficult time with their energy prices.”

A key ally of the Prime Minister, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, however, went further suggesting the Government was looking to shrink the overall size of the state.

“I think it is important that we look at a state which is extremely large, and look at how we can make sure that it is in full alignment with a lower tax economy,” he told The Times.

Mr Kwarteng is due to publish a medium-term fiscal plan setting out how he intends to get debt falling as a proportion of GDP alongside an updated set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on November 23.

The absence of new projections from the independent OBR was seen as one of the key reasons why the markets reacted so badly to the Chancellor’s mini-budget.

Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror

Some Tory MPs have been pressing him to bring forward the date of publication so as to restore market confidence in the Government.

After a highly unusual meeting on Friday with both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the head of the OBR, Richard Hughes, confirmed they would deliver their preliminary forecasts to the Treasury at the end of next week.

However, Mr Kwarteng has made clear that he wants to stick to the November 23 date to allow ministers to set out a series of supply side reforms to support the growth plan.



Liz Truss can go from zero to hero if she holds her nerve, says Mark Dolan

They include changes to the financial sector regulations, immigration and the planning rules, with Mr Clarke hinting they could include changes to the green belt.

“The fact the green belt is larger today than it was when Margaret Thatcher came to power is an extraordinary state of affairs,” he said.

“We need to look at a planning system where we make sensible adjustments which don’t threaten communities and most fundamentally are about going with popular consent, and actually creating incentives that allow local areas to back growth.”