Protests in Iran continue, almost two weeks pass (PHOTO/VIDEO)
Society Materials 1 October 2022 


 

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Elnur Baghishov

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1. The protests in Iran started a few days after the death of the Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on September 16, still continue across the country, Trend reports.

On October 1, the protests continued in many cities, including Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad.

The protest actions were mainly held in universities of the mentioned cities. The students chanted different slogans and demanded the release of the detained students.

The protests in Iranian cities are ongoing, prompted by death of a 22-year old Mahsa Amini, allegedly after being beaten by Iran's morality police while in custody for violating the strict hijab-wearing rules. Amini's death on September 16 triggered mass protests in Iran several days later.

Hijab was made mandatory for women in Iran shortly after the country’s 1979 revolution. Women who break the strict dress code risk being arrested by Iran’s morality police. Based on the dress code, women are required to fully cover their hair in public and wear long, loose-fitting clothes.

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Protests Continue in Iran Ahead of Global Day of Rallies
OCTOBER 1, 2022
IRANWIRE

A woman in Rasht, Gilan province, twirls her headscarf over her head as a sign of protest


Solidarity rallies in more than 150 cities are planned today as Iran enters its third week of nightly protests against Islamic Republic rule. The global demonstrations – called Freedom Rallies for Iran – are being publicized across social media channels including by celebrity figures and activists.

Protests have continued for two weeks across Iranian cities after the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Mahsa had been detained by the so-called morality police three days earlier for "improper hijab", was beaten in detention and fell into a coma within hours of her arrest, before dying in hospital. Her death sparked massive protests against mandatory hijab and the Islamic Republic itself.

Women in Arak, Markazi province, exercised civil disobedience with their rejection of the mandatory hijab by walking without headscarves through the city. Social and mainstream media have increasingly captured examples of Iranian women rejecting the hijab in the past two weeks.

A woman in Rasht, Gilan province, twirls her headscarf over her head as a sign of protest. And a woman in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, Mahsa Amini's hometown, also discarded her headscarf as her mother shielded her and prevented her from being arrested by security agents. Protesters in Saqqez were also filmed chanting perhaps the leading slogan of the protests: "Women, life, freedom!" and "Death to the dictator!"

In Qaitariya Park, in Tehran, a statue of the late Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American missile strike in Iraq in early 2020, was torched by protesters. Soleimani and his Quds Force is seen by many Iran to represent the government's insistence on pursuing foreign adventures over addressing social and economic problems in the country.

The streets of the Gohardasht area of Karaj, outside Tehran, saw large protests last night. Elsewhere in Karaj, Iranians took to their apartment windows, as night fell, to chant "Death to Khamenei!"

Abadan in Khuzestan province saw its own repeated protests with citizens calling on their fellow Iranians to join the protest movement.

And as if to demonstration this grievance, Iranian citizens in Kurdistan staged a general strike across the province in protest at the government's launch of attacks on Kurdish groups across the border in Iraq.

Iran Threatens Response If U.S. Targets Drones Used In Campaign Against Kurds In Iraq
October 01, 2022 
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda

A man and woman hold up a banner depicting the image of Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Irbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, on September 24.

Iran has threatened retaliation against the United States if it targets drones that Tehran has been using to attack Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

Since September 23, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been using drones in deadly attacks targeting the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Irbil, and the eastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah.

Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, was quoted as saying that Iran would consider any U.S. response to Iranian drones as a "hostile action" and reserved the right to respond.

U.S. Central Command said on September 28 that it downed an Iranian drone on its way to Irbil, adding that the drone appeared to pose a threat to U.S. personnel in the region.

Washington confirmed on September 30 that an American was killed in the attacks the day before.

"We can confirm that a U.S. citizen was killed as a result of a rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region" on September 29, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, declining to provide further details but reiterating U.S. denunciations of the strikes.

"We continue to condemn Iran's violations of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Patel told reporters.

Iraq's state news agency said the attacks had killed least 13 people and wounded 58 others.

The attacks have been carried out against Kurdish political parties, as well as an Iranian Kurdish refugee camp, while a senior member of Komala, an exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition party, told Reuters that several of its offices had been struck as well.

Iran Reportedly Fires On Iraqi Kurdish Regional Capital

The attacks come amid massive protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died while in custody after being arrested by the so-called morality police for allegedly wearing an Islamic headscarf, or hijab, improperly.

The protests started in Amini's hometown of Saghez in Iran's Kurdistan Province and quickly spread to dozens of cities and towns across Iran.

The IRGC attacks started after security forces in the city of Oshnavieh in West Azarbaijan Province temporarily lost control of the city and the soldiers stationed there were on the defensive.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it would summon the Iranian ambassador to voice Iraq's opposition to the attacks, which Baghdad considers to be a violation of its sovereignty.

The IRGC said in a statement that it would continue to target "terrorists" in the region.

ETHIOPIAN WAR OF AGGRESSION

News Alert: EU alarmed over “totally blocked” humanitarian access in Tigray, “greatly impeded” in affected areas in Amhara, Afar

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Shelter for displaced Tigrayan civilians in Mekelle. Picture: EU/2021 Archive

Addis Abeba – The European Union (EU) said it was “alarmed at the deterioration of the humanitarian operating environment” in Tigray, Amhara and Afar regional states since the resumption of militarized hostilities in 24August. The EU also said the fighting has reportedly left “tens of thousands” of people newly displaced and caused widespread damage to civilian property and infrastructure.

In a statement the block released through its Commission for Crisis Management, the EU confirmed reports that “the supply of humanitarian commodities and fuel as well as cash availability are still totally blocked for Tigray”. Humanitarian access is also “greatly impeded in all affected areas in Amhara and Afar.”



EU’s statement came a day after the USAID said categorized “northern Ethiopia” as “one of the most dangerous locations in the world for aid workers who risk their lives to protect people in need.”

According to the EU, humanitarian organizations had to suspend their operations and withdraw some staff from conflict-affected areas. “This is a serious blow to humanitarian operations and to millions of highly vulnerable people in Tigray, Afar and Amhara that depend on humanitarian aid for their survival,” Janez Lenarčič, EU’s Commissioner for Crisis Management, in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid and European Emergency Response Coordinator, said in the statement.

The EU referenced the report by the World Food Program (WFP), in which it stated that “13 million people across the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions are in need of food assistance as a direct result of the conflict. At the same time Ethiopia is experiencing the most severe drought recorded since 1981, leaving an estimated 7.4 million people facing grave food insecurity.”

S'PORE
MOM to set up new corporate entity to build and run 2 foreign worker dorms

One of the two purpose-built dorms, at Tukang Innovation Lane in Jurong. It is slated to begin operating in 2025. 

PHOTO: MINISTRY OF MANPOWER

Tay Hong Yi

SINGAPORE - A company limited by guarantee will be set up by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) by end-2022 to build and own two purpose-built dormitories for foreign workers.

The company will operate the dorms with selected partners as test beds for innovations in foreign worker accommodations, as well as help the ministry better understand how migrant workers live and work and how operators manage these dormitories.

To enable these efforts, the ministry will set up a new corporate entity called Nest Singapore, slated for the fourth quarter of 2022. Nest is an acronym for Nurture, Engage, Support and Transform.

The first of the two purpose-built dorms broke ground in Tukang Innovation Lane in Jurong on Saturday.

Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said in a speech at the launch event: "These insights will support MOM's efforts to transform dormitory living and management, and it allows the Manpower Ministry to better support the dormitory landscape and be better prepared for any future crisis."

Slated to begin operating in 2025, the Tukang dorm will have a capacity of 2,400 beds.

The other dorm at Sengkang West is set to begin operations in 2028 with 7,200 beds.

An MOM spokesman told reporters that the ministry has no plans currently to build more dorms because its primary aim is to drive innovation by sharing best practices it discovers with the industry, either through publishing guidelines or regulations.

Both dorms will be built to improved standards that apply to new dorms built after September 2021 to strengthen public health resilience and liveability, said Dr Tan.

These include having more spacious and better ventilated rooms with occupancy caps and en-suite toilets, as well as modular space and segmented communal facilities.

The Tukang dorm will occupy a site measuring 1.14ha (slightly larger than the size of 1½ football fields) and house a maximum of 12 workers in each of its 200 rooms, with kitchens and common areas for the dedicated use of 120 residents or fewer.

The ministry will also introduce features, above and beyond what the improved standards entail, to pilot new ways of reducing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases and enhance liveability.

This includes higher ceilings for improved ventilation and greater comfort for residents, as well as en-suite laundry facilities to reduce intermingling in common areas.

The Tukang dorm will have a capacity of 2,400 beds. 

PHOTO: MINISTRY OF MANPOWER


There will be larger recreation spaces such as gyms, multi-purpose spaces and sports courts, which can be repurposed as medical or isolation facilities during future disease outbreaks, said Dr Tan.

However, he added: "Physical infrastructure alone cannot transform the communal living environment for our migrant workers."

It is also important to improve the lifestyle of these workers and foster a sense of hope and community, he said.

To do so, the ministry will explore new solutions, including a unified technological platform that allows virtual training programmes for migrant workers, videoconferencing functions for convenient communications within the residential community, and one-stop access to services within the dorms.

"We will also look at ways to encourage health-seeking behaviours among residents to facilitate quicker upstream intervention and support."

The Tukang dorm will occupy a site measuring 1.14ha 

(slightly larger than the size of 1½ football fields).

 PHOTO: MINISTRY OF MANPOWER


Dr Tan also said MOM intends to work closely with dormitory residents and community partners, such as non-governmental organisations, to jointly develop recreational programmes and other meaningful activities that foster community.

The reason for MOM to join the fray was twofold: To drive innovation and transform practices in migrant worker housing, and grow the ministry's capabilities in dormitory management.

"The two new purpose-built dormitories can be innovation living labs, where Nest can work with the private sector to take the spirit of these ideas and pilot more of such initiatives.



Added Dr Tan: "MOM and Nest can assess the operational feasibility, residents' receptiveness, market viability, and effectiveness of these proofs of concept."

He also noted that the ministry's Assurance, Care and Engagement Group, which supports the well-being of migrant workers, has already worked closely with dormitory operators to organise festive events and recreational activities within the dorms over the last two years.

Dr Tan said this experience has allowed the ministry to better understand and empathise with migrant workers' living and working practices, and how operators manage dormitories.

"The set-up of Nest, therefore, is to directly operate the two new purpose-built dorms with the private sector. This will take us one step further."

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
1,600 worker dorms to come under single law next year in move to contain disease outbreaks quickly

How Covid-19 has changed life in foreign workers' dorms in S'pore

Love hormone ‘Oxytocin’ could be the ‘magic bullet’ to heal a broken heart

Other loving touches, including hugging a teddy bear to stroking your pet dog, can also reportedly trigger the hormone’s release.

• Kimberly Rodrigues
• 30 September, 2022

By: Kimberly Rodrigues

A latest study suggests that the ‘love hormone’, or oxytocin may have the power to heal a broken heart.

Scientists in Michigan have discovered that oxytocin which is produced by our body when we fall in love, cuddle or have sex, may also have the ability to repair cells in an injured heart.

The chemical is also released during lovemaking, and this is why it has earned the nickname ‘the cuddle hormone’.

When a person suffers a heart attack their cardiomyocytes, which allow it to contract, die off in vast quantities, explains the Daily Mail. Cardiomyocytes enable the heart to pump blood, and when they are damaged, they cannot be repaired because they are highly specialized cells.

However, the good news is that researchers have found that oxytocin stimulates stem cells in the heart’s outer layer, which migrate to its middle layer and turn into cardiomyocytes.

Though the findings have so far only been in zebrafish and human cells in a lab, it is hoped that one day the love hormone which is released naturally from the brain into our blood and also for other mammals during social and sexual behaviors could be used to develop a treatment.

Other loving touches, including hugging a teddy bear to stroking your pet dog, can also reportedly trigger the hormone’s release.

Speaking about the results of the study, the lead author of the study Dr Aitor Aguirre, an assistant professor in biology at Michigan State University, is reported to have said, “Here we show that oxytocin is capable of activating heart repair mechanisms in injured hearts in zebrafish and human cell cultures, opening the door to potential new therapies for heart regeneration in humans.”

Previous studies have shown that some cells in the outer layer of the heart can go through reprogramming and become makeshift cardiomyocytes.

But it is not possible for humans to do this on their own.

This led researchers to investigate whether zebrafish, which have a unique ability to regenerate body parts such as brains, bones, and skin, could hold the key.

While the zebrafish don’t suffer heart attacks, their predators sometimes bite out their organs, including their hearts.

However, due to an abundance of cardiomyocytes, and other cells which can be reprogrammed, zebrafish can regenerate up to a quarter of their organs.

It was found that within three days of a heart injury, oxytocin levels rose by up to 20 times in the brain.

Researchers also discovered that the oxytocin hormone is directly involved in the heart-mending process.

Most significantly, oxytocin was found to have a similar effect on human tissue in a test tube.

Therefore, according to researchers, oxytocin might be the “magic bullet” to speed up the process of mending a heart.

Dr Aguirre is quoted as saying, “Oxytocin is widely used in the clinic for other reasons, so repurposing for patients after heart damage is not a long stretch of the imagination.

“Even if heart regeneration is only partial, the benefits for patients could be enormous.

“Next, we need to look at oxytocin in humans after cardiac injury. Oxytocin itself is short-lived in circulation, so its effects in humans might be hindered by that.

Drugs specifically designed with a longer half-life or more potency might be useful in this setting. Overall, pre-clinical trials in animals and clinical trials in humans are necessary to move forward,” he concludes.

The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biolog

Europe faces the social cost of energy transition

Fighting climate change while keeping economic promises – it is proving to be a difficult balancing act. Within its “just transition” policy, the EU has multiplied initiatives, funding and innovations in order to achieve its environmental goals without harming the most vulnerable. But these good intentions are clashing with the economic reality of industries and jobs that are ill-equipped for change.

Published on 1 October 2022 
Peggy Corlin
Translated by André van der Hoven
 

Tjeerd Royaards | Cartoon Movement

August 2018. Each Saturday, men and women dressed in yellow vests gather at intersections across France to protest the rise in carbon tax. This tax has been in place since 2014 to encourage consumers of fossil fuel (diesel, fuel oil and gas) to change their polluting habits. In Paris, a stone’s throw from the presidential palace, the anger among the protesters is growing.

Having been caught completely off-guard by the gilets jaunes movement, Europe realised it was time to focus on reconciling “the end of the world and the end of the month”. In other words, how can climate change be addressed without hurting the most disadvantaged?
More : A charter for a journalism worthy of today’s ecological emergency

The social component of the energy transition only came to preoccupy the European Commission with the arrival of President Ursula von der Leyen and the launch of the European Green Deal. This programme of initiatives aims to help the EU achieve its goal of reducing 55% of greenhouse gases by 2030.

Plans for the transition include banning combustion engines in all new cars by 2035. However, t measures are disrupting millions of jobs often concentrated in a few regions. As is recalled in a policy brief of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), 90% of coal-related jobs are found in only 10 European regions, four of which are in Poland. As for the car industry, which employs 5% of Europeans, transitioning towards electric cars will mean the loss of 500,000 jobs and the transformation of millions of others. New skills will need to be acquired.

The disruption will be severe in Italy and countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where a large part of the EU’s car production takes place. To help the transition, the EU has created the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM). This fund, endowed with €17.5 billion over 7 years, will finance job-search assistance and retraining programmes for the workers most affected by the transition.
Decent jobs

However, trade-unionist Ludovic Voet considers the JTM, which was hard-won by trade unions, to be inadequate: “There are many sectors to transform and many investments to be made to create quality jobs with decent salaries. By comparison, Germany has put 40 billion on the table just to get rid of coal.” Furthermore, and going beyond the financial support, he believes the required skills for the new green jobs are poorly described and that the impact on the affected regions has been underestimated.

“With the closure of lignite mines in Maritsa, Bulgaria, 12,000 jobs are now at stake, thereby impacting 120,000 people in the region”, Voet continues. To soften the blow, policies must be extended to the whole area. In Ireland, which has been allocated €84 million through the Just Transition Fund, a bridging programme is being run in its peat-dependent Midlands region. The programme includes policies on energy efficiency, bog rehabilitation and a fund to train workers and support businesses and communities.
More : Que font les pays européens pour lutter contre l’inflation ?

“In this scarcely populated region, it was necessary to relocate the workers and their families,” explains Jorge Cabrita from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. “A group of local authorities, trade unions, NGOs and experts was created to accompany the transition and identify the needs of workers and businesses.”

For this researcher, wide-ranging consultation is the key to a just transition. However, there is a lack of funds at EU level. Another European innovation can attest to this: the Social Climate Fund. Still under negotiation between the EU Parliament Council, this fund faims to support the energy transition in the construction industry and in mobility among poorer Europeans. But it will only compensate for – and receive its funding from – another innovation that will itself weigh on low-income households: the new carbon market (ETS2).
In Europe, social justice is a long-term priority – one that will need to be accommodated by the climate transition

ETS2, also still under negotiation in Brussels, follows the first carbon market (ETS1). This was intended for industries and electricity providers, and allowed businesses to trade CO2 emission quotas if they exceed a certain limit, thereby setting the price of CO2 per tonne through supply and demand. Within the framework of ETS2, a carbon price will have to be set in this way for road transport and space heating, which translates into a new burden for households.

“This carbon market was driven by frugal member states such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, which are in a market logic of environmental transition”, explains Camille Défard from the Jacques Delors Institute. She continues: “In the face of these member states, eastern and southern countries are defending the Social Climate Fund as a system of European solidarity.”

In France, the new carbon market might replace – or be added to – the carbon tax. This would cause a steep rise in electricity bills, even if current subsidies related to the energy price crisis cancel out the carbon tax. Either way, the Social Climate Fund will struggle to soften the blow.
Structural change of the system

Camille Défard says: “This fund will only be financed by a quarter of the ETS2 revenue, which is insufficient to compensate for all the vulnerable households impacted by the new carbon price. Green investments are necessary to move away from fossil fuels and to allow for a structural change of the system. The fund is therefore completely undersized in relation to the stakes at play”. Défard believes the member states are short-sighted. In Germany, the €9 ticket, put in place for three months for all regional trains and public transport, was certainly a success. But what about long-term investments in an understaffed German railway system in need of maintenance?

In Europe, social justice is a long-term priority – one that will need to be accommodated by the climate transition.

SOUTH AFRICA
Water outages in parts of Joburg due to Rand Water purification plant power trips

Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph hospitals are said to be without water, but Johannesburg Water says it has provided water tankers

01 October 2022 -
Belinda Pheto

Reporter

Parts of Johannesburg could experience low water pressure to no water at all due to a power trip at a Rand Water purification plant. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/MARINOS KARAFYLLIDIS

Johannesburg Water has warned residents in high-lying areas of the city of possible water outages due to power trips at a Rand Water purification plant.

Residents in areas such as Weltevreden Park, Soweto and Johannesburg Central could experience water supply issues.

The Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph hospitals are already experiencing water outages.

In a statement on Saturday, Johannesburg Water said it had sent water tanks to the hospitals to help sustain their water supplies.

“Alternate water supply is also being provided to other affected areas through stationary water tanks and mobile tankers. Systems are being monitored, and further updates will be provided to residents.”

The water utility has urged residents to reduce their water consumption as it grapples with low water levels at its reservoirs.

According to Johannesburg Water, the power trips have affected various Rand Water pump stations and reservoirs, leading to reduced supplies at the Commando Road meter.

The Commando Road meter directly feeds Roodepoort, Johannesburg Central and Soweto.

“The reduction in flow has seen several Johannesburg Water reservoirs and towers with critically low to empty water levels.”

The utility said water supply in Crosby, Brixton, Hursthill, Honeydew and parts of Weltevreden Park, Randpark Ridge and Allensnek had been affected by the trips.

The utility's systems in Soweto which were affected were the Eagle Nest and Naturena reservoirs, which are at low levels, and the Crown Gardens tower which is “critically low to empty”.

TimesLIVE

REALITY TV SERIES; COUP DETAT

Army officers appear on TV to declare a new coup in Burkina Faso

By Sam Mednick and Arsene K
October 1, 2022 —

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: More than a dozen soldiers seized control of Burkina Faso’s state television late on Friday, declaring the country’s coup leader-turned-president, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown after only nine months in power.

A statement read by a junta spokesman said Captain Ibrahim Traore is the new military leader of Burkina Faso, a volatile West African country that is battling a mounting Islamic insurgency.


Coup spokesman Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho reads a statement in a studio in Ougadougou on Friday.

CREDIT:AP

Burkina Faso’s new military leaders said the country’s borders had been closed and a curfew would be in effect from 9pm to 5am. The transitional government and national assembly were ordered dissolved.

Damiba and his allies overthrew the democratically elected president, coming to power with promises of making the country more secure. However, violence has continued unabated and frustration with his leadership has grown in recent months.

“Faced by the continually worsening security situation, we the officers and junior officers of the national armed forces were motivated to take action with the desire to protect the security and integrity of our country,” said the statement read by the junta spokesman, Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho.

The soldiers promised the international community they would respect their commitments and urged Burkinabes “to go about their business in peace”.


Young men chant slogans against the power of Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, against France and pro-Russia, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Friday.CREDIT:AP

“A meeting will be convened to adopt a new transitional constitution charter and to select a new Burkina Faso president be it civilian or military,” Sorgho added.

Damiba had just returned from addressing the UN General Assembly in New York as Burkina Faso’s head of state. Tensions, though, had been mounting for months. In his speech, Damiba defended his January coup as “an issue of survival for our nation”, even if it was “perhaps reprehensible” to the international community.

Constantin Gouvy, Burkina Faso researcher at Clingendael, said Friday night’s events “follow escalating tensions within the ruling MPSR junta and the wider army about strategic and operational decisions to tackle spiraling insecurity”.

“Members of the MPSR increasingly felt Damiba was isolating himself and casting aside those who helped him seize power,” Gouvy told the Associated Press.


Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Burkina Faso’s ousted president, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23.CREDIT:BLOOMBERG

Gunfire had erupted in the capital, Ouagadougou, early on Friday and hours passed without any public appearance by Damiba. Late in the afternoon, his spokesman posted a statement on the presidency’s Facebook page saying that “negotiations are under way to bring back calm and serenity”.

Friday’s developments felt all too familiar in West Africa, where a coup in Mali in August 2020 set off a series of military power grabs in the region. Mali also saw a second coup nine months after the August 2020 overthrow of its president, when the junta’s leader sidelined his civilian transition counterparts and put himself alone in charge.

On the streets of Ouagadougou, some people already were showing support on Friday for the change in leadership even before the putschists took to the state airwaves.

Francois Beogo, a political activist from the Movement for the Refounding of Burkina Faso, said Damiba “has showed his limits”.

“People were expecting a real change,” he said of the January coup d’etat.

Some demonstrators voiced support for Russian involvement in order to stem the violence, and shouted slogans against France, Burkina Faso’s former coloniser. In neighbouring Mali, the junta invited Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to help secure the country, though their deployment has drawn international criticism.

Many in Burkina Faso initially supported the military takeover last January, frustrated with the previous government’s inability to stem Islamic extremist violence that has killed thousands and displaced at least 2 million.

Yet the violence has failed to wane in the months since Damiba took over. Earlier this month, he also took on the position of defence minister after dismissing a brigadier general from the post.

“It’s hard for the Burkinabe junta to claim that it has delivered on its promise of improving the security situation, which was its pretext for the January coup,” said Eric Humphery-Smith, senior Africa analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Earlier this week, at least 11 soldiers were killed and 50 civilians went missing after a supply convoy was attacked by gunmen in Gaskinde commune in Soum province in the Sahel. That attack was “a low point” for Damiba’s government and “likely played a role in inspiring what we’ve seen so far today”, added Humphery-Smith.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that nearly one-fifth of Burkina Faso’s population “urgently needs humanitarian aid”.

“Burkina Faso needs peace, it needs stability, and it needs unity in order to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country,” Dujarric said.

Chrysogone Zougmore, president of the Burkina Faso Movement for Human Rights, called Friday’s developments “very regrettable”, saying the instability would not help in the fight against the Islamic extremist violence.

“How can we hope to unite people and the army if the latter is characterised by such serious divisions?” Zougmore said. “It is time for these reactionary and political military factions to stop leading Burkina Faso adrift.”

AP

Burkina Faso coup: Ecowas condemns military takeover

By Natasha Booty & George Wright
BBC News

PublishedShare

IMAGE SOURCE,RADIO TÉLÉVISION DU BURKINA

Image caption,

West Africa's regional bloc, Ecowas, says it condemns the putchists (pictured)

Burkina Faso's neighbours have condemned Friday's apparent coup, saying it was "inappropriate" for army rebels to seize power when the country was working towards civilian rule.

Regional group Ecowas described the ousting of leader Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba as "unconstitutional".

This is the second time this year the country's army has seized power.

Both times, the coups' leaders said they had to step in because national security was so dire.

Burkina Faso controls as little as 60% of its territory, experts say, and Islamist violence is worsening.

Flanked by rebel soldiers in fatigues and black facemasks, an army captain announced on national TV on Friday evening that they were kicking out junta leader Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, dissolving the government and suspending the constitution.

Ibrahim Traoré said Lt Col Damiba's inability to deal with an Islamist insurgency was to blame.

"Our people have suffered enough, and are still suffering", he said.

He also announced that borders were closed indefinitely, a nightly curfew was now in place from 21:00 to 05:00, and all political activities were suspended.

"Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question," said the statement signed by Traoré.

"Damiba's actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba," it said.

Since the takeover there has been no word on the whereabouts of the ousted leader.

• Who is Lt-Col Damiba?

Lt Col Damiba's junta overthrew an elected government in January citing a failure to halt Islamist attacks, and he himself told citizens "we have more than what it takes to win this war."

But his administration has also not been able to quell the jihadist violence. Analysts told the BBC recently that Islamist insurgents were encroaching on territory, and military leaders had failed in their attempts to bring the military under a single unit of command.

On Monday, 11 soldiers were killed when they were escorting a convoy of civilian vehicles in Djibo in the north of the country.

Earlier on Friday, Lt Col Damiba urged the population to remain calm after heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the capital.

A spokesman for the ousted government, Lionel Bilgo, told AFP news agency on Friday that the "crisis" was in essence an army pay dispute, and that Lt Col Damiba was taking part in negotiations.

But since Friday evening Lt Col Damiba's whereabouts are unknown. France is a traditional ally, but French diplomatic sources have told RFI radio that Lt Col Damiba is not with them nor is he under their protection.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" by events in Burkina Faso and encouraged its citizens to limit movements in the country.

"We call for a return to calm and restraint by all actors," a State Department spokesperson said.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has condemned the move, stating it "reaffirms its unreserved opposition to any taking or maintaining of the power by unconstitutional means".

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

Lt Col Damiba urged the population to remain calm after heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the capital on Friday

In January, Lt Col Damiba ousted President Roch Kaboré, saying that he had failed to deal with growing militant Islamist violence.

But many citizens do not feel any safer and there have been protests in different parts of the country this week.

On Friday afternoon, some protesters took to the capital's streets calling for the removal of Lt Col Damiba.

The Islamist insurgency broke out in Burkina Faso in 2015, leaving thousands dead and forcing an estimated two million people from their homes.

The country has experienced eight successful coups since independence in 1960.

DIY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%89tat:_A_Practical_Handbook

Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook - Wikipedia 

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Students in Uganda stay away from schools following an outbreak of Ebola

Ebola virus spreads in Uganda -

Copyright © africanewsBADRU KATUMBA/AFP 
By Philip Andrew Churm


The Madudu Church of Uganda Primary School is eerily quiet following an outbreak of Ebola which is keeping children away.

The subcounty in Mubende District iis the epicentre of a recently announced outbreak of the disease.

There have already been several deaths and parents are keeping their children at home rather than take any risks.

Robert Kasirye is the deputy headteacher at Mubende Church of Uganda Primary School and says the impact on student numbers has been huge.

"The school enrolment is 692 pupils, now we have only 16. It is due to Ebola. Parents fear their pupils to be affected by this, we can say it is a pandemic disease."

Even some teachers are opting to stay home in fear of catching the virus, which appears to be spreading. That is despite government advice for schools to stay open.

David Ssali is a teacher at Madudu CoU Primary School and says: "We have sensitised them and showed them some of the materials, which were available to us but still they have that fear because of seeing the way children and other old people are dying."

But there are concerns students in Madudu will be at a disadvantage compared to other parts of the country as they miss classes and even exams.

The Uganda National Examinations Board, the body mandated to set exams for all schools in the country, recently released its examination roadmap for 2022.

Rosemary Byabashaija, head of Mubende District Ebola Task Force, is keen to ensure children do not miss out on their education.

"The curriculum in the entire country is one; the other schools are going on," she says. "This is the last term in the year. They will all sit for their exams, they will not say Mubende will sit another time they are going to sit at the same time.

"So, I would propose and appeal to our teachers and leaders to see that we just need to step up the measures of, seeing that people are not getting in direct contact with each other, but the classes and schools should continue."

Authorities are encouraging schools to put extra measures in place to reassure parents.

The latest outbreak of Ebola was announced on 20 September. Since then, there have been over 35 positive cases, with many unaccounted for deaths.

VIDEO REPORT Students in Uganda stay away from schools following an outbreak of Ebola | Africanews