Soaring food prices drive UK inflation back to double digits – business live

Graeme Wearden - 19 Oct 2022

CPI inflation has jumped to 10.1% in September, but unclear whether government will raise pensions and benefits in line with prices.

Inflation in the UK has risen above 10% for the second time this year as households come under pressure from the sharpest annual rise in food prices for more than 40 years amid the cost of living crisis.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the consumer prices index rose to 10.1% in September, returning to double digits after a slight dip to 9.9% in August. The figure was last higher in 1982. City economists had forecast a slightly smaller rise to 10%.

Soaring prices for food and drink were the biggest driver behind the latest cost of living increase, with an annual rise of almost 15%, the fastest annual jump since April 1980, as the price of bread and cereals, meat, milk, cheese and eggs shot up.

The September inflation figure is crucial as it is the one used to uprate pensions and benefits for the following April. However, there have been suggestions that the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will break the Conservative party manifesto commitment to the triple lock – the guarantee that state pensions rise each year in line with inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

Charities warned that failure to deliver an inflation-matching benefits increase, after the biggest real-terms cut for 50 years earlier this year, would drive up poverty.

Rebecca McDonald, the chief economist at the poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:

“It is morally indefensible that the government should still be considering leaving people with even less ability to pay for what they need.”

Here’s the full story:
Related: UK inflation rises to 10.1% on back of soaring food prices

Pensioners 'face disaster' if triple lock abandoned

If the government sticks to the triple-lock pledge, then the new full State Pension would rise by a record 10.1% to £203.85 a week from April 2023, from £185.15 currently.

For those who reached state pension age before April 2016, the basic State Pension could increase from £141.85 to £156.15.

But if ministers abandon that promise, and uprate pensions by average earnings not inflation, pensioners would only receive a 5.5% rise.

That would take the full State Pension up to £195.35 a week, and the basic state pension to £149.65.




As it is almost impossible to predict the direction of travel of government policy, it’s very difficult for pensioners to plan with any kind of certainty, says David Denton, technical consultant at Quilter Cheviot:

Former Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, had backed keeping the triple lock in place and during her leadership bid, Liz Truss also gave the impression that the State Pension triple lock will remain in place.

The policy has now been thrown up in air again after Jeremy Hunt appeared indecisive on the matter.

Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says losing the triple lock would be a bitter blow to the many pensioners who rely on the state pension.

Many of them will be have been under severe financial pressure in recent months as inflation pushed their essential bills ever skyward. Their difficulties will have been compounded by the triple lock’s suspension last year with the 3.1% increase given being no match for the events that followed.

However, faced with a black hole in Britain’s finances Jeremy Hunt is looking at making savings wherever possible and suspending the triple lock could save him a huge chunk of change -it will however be a disaster for pensioners already facing difficult times.”

Hunt: we'll prioritise "help for most vulnerable"

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the government will prioritise help for the most vulnerable, after inflation rose to 10.1%.

In a statement, Hunt says:

I understand that families across the country are struggling with rising prices and higher energy bills.

“This Government will prioritise help for the most vulnerable while delivering wider economic stability and driving long-term growth that will help everyone.

“We have acted decisively to protect households and businesses from significant rises in their energy bills this winter, with the Government’s energy price guarantee holding down peak inflation.”

However, there’s no mention of whether the chancellor will raise benefits in line with this inflation reading.

Also, Hunt has just limited the goverment’s energy price freeze to just six months, from two years. That means average annual energy bills could rise to more than £4,000 from April, adding to inflation next year.

Related: Average energy bill forecast to hit £4,347 after Truss U-turn on support

TUC: Truss and Hunt must end anxiety of millions over universal credit, pensions and benefits

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady is urging Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt to guarantee that benefits will rise in line with September’s inflation reading:


“With inflation still running high, the government must make sure that every family can afford to put food on the table and keep warm this winter.

“But millions of people are already skipping meals and turning off the heating. Yet the Prime Minister and Chancellor still refuse to confirm that universal credit, pensions and benefits will keep up with inflation.

“It is no wonder so many working people are seeking higher wages and taking action to win fair pay deals.”

Personal inflation calculator: find out how UK price rises affect you

Although inflation is officially 10.1%. you could have a different, personal inflation rate depending on what you typically buy each month.

This is because some items have gone up by more in price than others – the ONS uses a basked of goods to assess the rising cost of living.

We’ve built a calculator that lets you find your personal inflation rate, here:

Related: Personal inflation calculator: find out how UK price rises affect you

Food inflation in detail

Food prices jumped 14.8% over the last year, driven by staple goods such as bread and cereals (up 14.5% over the last year), pasta and couscous (+22.7%), meat (+15.3%), low-fat milk (+42.1%), butter (+28%) and eggs (+22.3%).

Fruit prices were up 8.8%, while potatoes cost 19.9% more,

Crisps rose 11.8%, while jams, marmalades and honey cost 28.1%.



READ ON Soaring food prices drive UK inflation back to double digits – business live (msn.com)

Climate change puts a billion children at 'extremely high risk'

NEWS WIRES - Yesterday 

Some one billion children are at "extremely high risk" due to climate change harms, a rights group warned on Wednesday, adding that youths' living standards failed to improve in the last decade.


Climate change puts a billion children at 'extremely high risk'

© Rizwan Tabassum, AFP

The KidsRights index, based on figures supplied by UN agencies, also said more than one-third of the world's children, some 820 million, were currently exposed to heatwaves.

Water scarcity affected 920 million children worldwide, while diseases such as malaria and dengue affected some 600 million children, or one in every four, Dutch NGO KidsRights said.

The KidsRights Index is the first and only ranking that measures how children's rights are respected annually, ranking Iceland, Sweden, and Finland as the best for children's rights and Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Chad as the worst, out of 185 countries.

Of the top three nations, only Sweden's ranking changed from the previous year, moving to second from fourth place.

Related video: What kind of climate policy do you support to protect future generations?

Duration 4:49  View on Watch

Marc Dullaert, founder and chairman of KidsRights, described this year's report as "alarming for our current and future generations of children."

"A rapidly changing climate is now threatening their futures and their basic rights," he said.

"There has been no significant progress in the standards of children's lives over the past decade and on top of that their livelihoods have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic," Dullaert added.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a severe impact on children, who were unable to get food or medicine due to disruptions and the closure of clinics, leading to some 286,000 under the age of five years dying as a result, KidsRights said.

For the first time in two decades, the number of child labourers has risen to 160 million, representing an increase of 8.4 million over the last four years, said the KidsRights Index, which is compiled together with Rotterdam's Erasmus University.

KidsRights highlighted Angola and Bangladesh, saying the two countries significantly improved their scores in regards to children's rights.

Angola has more than halved its under-five child mortality, while Bangladesh has reduced the number of underweight children under five years by almost half.

But the report also slapped Montenegro for low vaccination numbers, ranked 49 on the index.

The survey uses UN data to measure how countries measure up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

(AFP)

WAR IS RAPE
Silent no more: Nepal’s wartime rape survivors demand recognition

By AFP
Published October 18, 2022

Beaten and raped by police officers as a child, 'Mira' was among the many victims of sexual violence during Nepal's civil war -- and is now one of the few to recount her ordeal 

- Copyright AFP Prakash MATHEMA

Paavan MATHEMA

Beaten and raped by police officers as a child, Mira was among the many victims of sexual violence during Nepal’s civil war — and is now one of the few to recount her ordeal.

Guerrilla attacks and forced disappearances were daily facts of life on both sides of the Himalayan republic’s decade-long Maoist insurgency.

The conflict ended in 2006 with a peace deal that brought the rebels into government and promised justice for those who had suffered in the fighting.

But 16 years after the war ended, civilian courts have handed down just two convictions for civil war-era crimes, while rape survivors are frustrated that their traumas have been met with official indifference.

After years of waiting for redress, they are now sharing their experiences in a demand for recognition.

“They have failed to even mention our cases,” Mira, who asked to use a pseudonym, told AFP. “The least they could do is recognise that these incidents happened.”

Mira was just 12 years old in 1999 when she was arrested for participating in a cultural outreach programme run by the Maoist rebels.

She spent months in custody, during which she said she suffered repeated rapes at the hands of officers who also beat her mercilessly.

“I was beyond recognition — my face was swollen, my body was swollen,” she said. “My womb keeps hurting, my body keeps hurting, I still have to take medicines.”

More than 17,000 people were killed and many thousands more were forced to flee their homes before the 2006 peace deal.

The settlement included the promise of impartial investigations of wartime atrocities.

But it did not include provisions for survivors of sexual violence, who were less willing to report their experiences, and who were also left out of an interim compensation scheme for conflict victims.

“Incidents of rape had taken place during the 10-year war. The government must admit this, and address this,” Devi Khadka, coordinator of the National Organisation of Conflict Rape Victims, told AFP.

The civil war had just begun in 1997 when Khadka, then a teenager, was herself raped by security forces in custody, she said.

She joined the Maoist insurgency, rising steadily through the ranks, and has served in parliament, but battled depression for years.

“I stayed silent for a long time, for many reasons. But no one else spoke up. I felt I had to raise my voice for all of us,” she said.

– ‘How will we punish them?’ –

Nepali society traditionally ties chastity to the honour of women and their households, and the stigma of rape often compels victims to keep silent.

Already suffering from physical and mental trauma, those that do come forward are often ostracised by their families and struggle to support themselves.

“What we need is support for our livelihood, for our health and for our children’s future,” said Reenu, who was raped by Maoist soldiers during the conflict.

She added that the immediate needs of victims were a bigger priority than bringing perpetrators to justice.

“Many women don’t even know who wronged them, so how will we punish them?” she asked.

Nepal’s two transitional justice commissions began operations in 2015 but have failed to resolve a single case, despite receiving over 60,000 complaints of murders, torture and unexplained disappearances.

More than 300 cases of rape and sexual violence have been registered by the commission, but activists say the formal reports are a small fraction of the true total.

Survivors are reluctant to come forward because the government has failed to “create a secure environment” for them to do so, said Mandira Sharma, a senior legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists.

“But these are serious crimes,” she told AFP. “The state is obligated to take action against the perpetrator.”

– ‘Scared to give us justice’ –

Critics say Nepal’s truth and reconciliation process has been poorly designed from the outset and plagued by chronic funding shortfalls.

It also lacks political support to proceed, with former Maoist rebels and political leaders among those blamed for presiding over wartime atrocities now in government ranks.

The finance minister in June announced a financial support programme for wartime survivors of sexual violence — the first compensation of its kind.

But months after the announcement, not a single victim has received any money.

“The older this conflict gets, the more problems for women like me,” a 33-year-old woman who said she was raped by security forces as a teenager told AFP.

“The government is aware that women and children suffered sexual violence in the war,” she said. “But it is scared to give us justice. What if their own people need to be punished?”

Iranian greeted as hero after competing without hijab

AFP - 1h ago

An Iranian climber who caused a sensation by competing at an event abroad without a hijab was on Wednesday given a hero's welcome on her return to Tehran by supporters who raucously applauded her action.


Elnaz Rekabi flew back to Tehran's international airport after the competition in South Korea© Rhea KANG

With Iran still shaken by women-led protests over the death of Mahsa Amini one month ago, Elnaz Rekabi flew back to a Tehran airport after the competition in South Korea.

In an Instagram post and comments at the airport, Rekabi has apologised over what happened and insisted her hijab -- which all Iranian women including athletes must wear -- had accidentally slipped off.

But activists fear her comments have been made under duress under pressure from the Iranian authorities who were likely infuriated by her actions.

"Elnaz is a hero," chanted dozens of supporters who gathered outside the Imam Khomeini International Airport terminal, clapping their hands and brandishing mobile phones to record the moment.

They continued to chant and applaud as a van and vehicle -- one of which they presumed was carrying the climber -- drive out of the airport through a sea of people clapping above their heads.

It was unclear where she was headed. Some of the women present were themselves not wearing hijab.

"A hero's welcome -- including by women without the forced-hijab -- outside Tehran airport for-pro climber Elnaz Rekabi. Concerns for her safety remain," said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

Iranian climber who competed without hijab greeted by cheering crowds in Tehran

Verity Bowman - 


Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi received a hero's welcome from cheering crowds as she arrived in Tehran from South Korea, where she competed without her hijab.


Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi speaks to journalists in Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran - IRNA via AP© IRNA via AP

Supporters congregated at Imam Khomeini international airport on Wednesday, chanting 33-year-old Rekabi’s name. Many women present were not wearing headscarves.

The athlete's phone and passport were reportedly confiscated after she defied strict rules requiring Iranian women to cover up, even while representing the country in international competitions.

Rekabi was filmed by state TV television cameras walking into one of the airport’s terminals, wearing a black baseball cap and a black hoodie covering her hair.

Rekabi’s apparent defiance of Iran’s modesty rules while competing on Sunday came as protests over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini entered a fifth week.

Amini was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing and her death has seen women removing their mandatory hijabs in public.

The demonstrations represent the most-serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.

Rekabi’s friends and supporters have raised concerns over her safety.

 

On Tuesday, she took to Instagram to say that she was called to compete “unexpectedly” which “unintentionally” created an issue with her hair covering.

“Due to bad timing and unexpectedly being called to climb the wall, I inadvertently created a problem with my head covering,” she wrote.

“Apologising for the worries that I caused… currently, according to the pre-determined schedule I am returning to Iran with the team.”


Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing during the women's Boulder & Lead finals of the IFSC Asian Championships in Seoul - 

RHEA KANG/IFSC/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock© Provided by The Telegraph

She received flowers from an onlooker and then repeated what had been posted on Instagram - that she had “accidentally” competed without her hijab.

“Regarding this topic, as I already explained on my social media stories – it totally happened accidentally,” she told state media IRNA.

“I was unexpectedly called upon and I attended the competition. I somehow got busy with the equipment, and it made me negligent to the hijab.”

She added: “I came back to Iran with peace of mind although I had a lot of tension and stress. But so far, thank God, nothing has happened.”

Rekabi then climbed into a van and was driven away through the cheering crowd.

Rekabi left Seoul on Tuesday morning.


The crowds at Theran airport© Provided by The Telegraph

Iran’s embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure, posting an old photo of Rekabi wearing her head covering.

Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

In an interview before Rekabi returned to her home country, her brother said that she would “always play wearing the national team’s uniform”.

“My sister had a hijab but was wearing a headband and unfortunately some people [took advantage] of this issue,” Davoud Rekabi told state-aligned Tasmin news agency.

“My sister is a child of Iran, and she will always play wearing the national team’s uniform. Elnaz belongs to this land, and she will always play for this country,” he continued.

Human rights groups estimate that more than 200 people have been killed in the recent protests and the violent crackdown that followed. Iran has not published a death toll in weeks.

Demonstrations have been seen in over 100 cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

Iran's Elnaz Rekabi, who competed without hijab, in Tehran

Video by:Emerald MAXWELL

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi returned to Tehran early Wednesday after competing in South Korea without wearing a headscarf, an act widely seen as support for anti-government demonstrators amid weeks of protests over the Islamic Republic's mandatory hijab. After landing, Rekabi gave a careful, emotionless interview to Iran’s hard-line state television, saying that going without a hijab had been an “unintentional” act on her part

UPDATES

Iranian schoolgirl reportedly beaten to death for refusing to sing in honour of Ayatollah

An estimated 23 children have been killed in protests across Iran in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested for wearing her hijab incorrectly

Author of the article:National Post Wire Services
Publishing date:Oct 18, 2022 •

Asra Panahi, 16, was allegedly beaten to death by Iranian security forces.

A 16-year-old Iranian schoolgirl has died after she was beaten for refusing to sing a pro-regime song in school, setting off a wave of new protests against the Islamic Republic, according to multiple reports.

Asra Panahi was in school last week when security forces allegedly entered the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil and demanded the students sing in praise of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Al Khamenei, The Guardian in London reported, citing the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations.

When the girls refused, the security forces struck them, sending Panahi and several others to hospital, The Guardian said. Panahi died the next day, several reports said.

“Schoolgirl Asra Panahi died on Wednesday after being beaten by security forces in Iran. A high school in Ardabil, city, forced students to join a pro regime rally. Students refused and instead they chanted: ‘Women Life Freedom.’ That’s why they got beaten up,” said Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist, in a tweet on Sunday.

Iran is said to have denied that its security forces were responsible. A man identified as her uncle appeared on state TV to say Panahi had died from a congenital heart condition, according to The Guardian.

Iran’s teachers’ union decried the raids on schools, which were part of a crackdown after videos of students waving their hijabs in the air and removing photos of Iran’s leaders went viral on the internet. There were reports of Iranian authorities arresting schoolgirls and firing teargas in schools.

An estimated 23 children have been killed in protests spreading across Iran in response to the September death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly, according to a UN Rights spokeswoman on Tuesday, urging Iranian authorities to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

Meanwhile fears grow for the fate of an Iranian competitive climber who left South Korea on Tuesday after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation’s mandatory headscarf covering. Farsi-language media outside of Iran warned Elnaz Rekabi may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied.

A later Instagram post on an account attributed to Rekabi described her not wearing a hijab as “unintentional,” though it wasn’t immediately clear whether she wrote the post or what condition she was in at the time. The Iranian government routinely pressures activists at home and abroad, often airing what rights group describe as coerced confessions on state television.

Rekabi left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea said. The BBC’s Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed “informed source” who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabi’s mobile phone and passport.

BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight apparently had been moved up unexpectedly.

IranWire, another website focusing on the country founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who once was detained by Iran, alleged that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison after arriving in the country. Evin Prison was the site of a massive fire this weekend that killed at least eight prisoners.

In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure on Tuesday. But instead of posting a photo of her from the Seoul competition, it posted an image of her wearing a headscarf at a previous competition in Moscow, where she took a bronze medal.

Calls to the Iranian Embassy in Seoul rang unanswered Tuesday. Rekabi didn’t put on a hijab during Sunday’s final at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asia Championship, according to the Seoul-based Korea Alpine Federation, the organizers of the event.

Federation officials said Rekabi wore a hijab during her initial appearances at the one-week climbing event. She wore just a black headband when competing Sunday, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail; she had a white jersey with Iran’s flag as a logo on it.

The later Instagram post, written in the first person, offered an apology on Rekabi’s behalf. The post blamed a sudden call for her to climb the wall in the competition — although footage of the competition showed Rekabi relaxed as she approached and after she competed. It also sought to describe her travel back to Iran on Tuesday as being “on schedule.”

Rekabi, 33, was on Iran’s 11-member delegation, comprised of eight athletes and three coaches, according to the federation.

Federation officials said they were not initially aware of Rekabi competing without the hijab but looked into the case after receiving inquiries. They said the event doesn’t have any rules on requiring female athletes wearing or not wearing headscarves. However, Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

“Our understanding is that she is returning to Iran, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops on her arrival,” the International Federation of Sport Climbing, which oversaw the event, said. “It is important to stress that athletes’ safety is paramount for us and we support any efforts to keep a valued member of our community safe in this situation.”

The federation said it had been in touch with both Rekabi and Iranian officials, but declined to elaborate on the substance of those calls when reached by The Associated Press. The federation also declined to discuss the Instagram post attributed to Rekabi and the claims in it.

Later Tuesday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the Iranian athlete and her team had left the country, without elaborating.

So far, human rights groups estimate that over 200 people have been killed in the protests and the violent security force crackdown that followed. Iran has not offered a death toll in weeks.

Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

Gathering information about the demonstrations remains difficult, however. Internet access has been disrupted for weeks by the Iranian government. Meanwhile, authorities have detained at least 40 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader, has repeatedly alleged the country’s foreign enemies are behind the ongoing demonstrations, rather than Iranians angered by Amini’s death and the country’s other woes.

Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate; the country’s currency, the rial, plummeted and Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers has been reduced to tatters.

U.N. Ambassador Says the Women of Iran 'Need to Hear from the World That We Have Their Backs'


Virginia Chamlee
Tue, October 18, 2022 

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran on September 21, 2022, shows Iranian demonstrators burning a rubbish bin in the capital Tehran during a protest for Mahsa Amini, days after she died in police custody. - Protests spread to 15 cities across Iran overnight over the death of the young woman Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's morality police, state media reported today.In the fifth night of street rallies, police used tear gas and made arrests to disperse crowds of up to 1,000 people, the official IRNA news agency said.
AFP via Getty Iran protests

Weeks after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman who was detained for allegedly wearing a hijab too loosely, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield admits she can't fathom the "hell and torture" that women in Iran are enduring. Women who, in recent weeks, have taken to the streets to protest Mahsa Amini's death — facing violence and even death themselves.

But Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the foreign service who has held positions around the globe, says the protests aren't for naught.

"I cannot imagine what Iranian women are going through today and the kind of hell and torture they are being forced to endure," Thomas-Greenfield tells PEOPLE. "Just because they want to decide how they will dress every day. That is a simple, simple right that they have."

Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/Shutterstock Linda Thomas-Greenfield

As Thomas-Greenfield explains, the protests were sparked in mid-September, when Amini was reportedly arrested by Iran's Morality Police for wearing her hijab improperly.

"She was arrested and taken into police custody for what they call an 'educational and reorientation class,'" Thomas-Greenfield says. "Some hours later, she was transferred to the hospital in a coma and she died two days later."

While Amini's family was told by Iranian police that she had suffered from a heart condition, her family has disputed that assessment, saying she had no heart ailment and that bruises seen on her body indicated she had been tortured.

RELATED: Iranian Athlete Elnaz Rekabi Will Be Jailed for Competing Without Hijab

As word began to spread about Amini's death, protests cropped up around the country, often featuring women removing their hijabs and cutting their hair in defiance of the Morality Police, which the U.S. State Department has described as an organization that "arrests women for wearing 'inappropriate' hijab and enforces other restrictions on freedom of expression."

Thomas-Greenfield says that similar law enforcement arms which police "morality" have been seen elsewhere in the world, including in Afghanistan, where The Ministry of Vice and Virtue became a notorious symbol of arbitrary abuses during the previous Taliban reign of the mid-1990s.

"These [law enforcement agencies governing morality] tend to be particularly harsh against women," Thomas-Greenfield says.

RELATED: CNN's Christiane Amanpour Says Iran President Cancelled an Interview After She Declined to Wear a Hijab

She continues: "We all have to get educated about what is happening everywhere in the world. Human rights are rights that we should all support. Women's rights are human rights. The fact that these women are being forced to dress in a certain way, that many can not be educated, many are not allowed to work, not allowed out of their homes ... We need to be aware of these things so we can add our voices to the chorus of others and give these women whatever support we can give them."

In response to Amini's death "and other human rights violations in Iran," State Department Secretary Antony Blinken announced earlier this month that the U.S. had imposed sanctions both on Iran's Morality Police and on "senior security officials who have engaged in serious human rights abuses."

The sanctions will target "seven senior leaders of Iran's security organizations: the Morality Police, Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the Army's Ground Forces, Basij Resistance Forces, and Law Enforcement Forces," according to the Treasury Department.

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"These officials oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women's rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha'i community," the Treasury Department statement said.

And then there are the protests happening within Iran, which Thomas-Greenfield says send another message.

"The protests have ignited the entire country. There are now men engaged in the protests in support of the women, and women are protesting around the world," Thomas-Greenfield says. "It really has ignited a new level of action inside of Iran against this government."

RELATED: Iran's Soccer Team Covers Up Their National Emblem as Mahsa Amini Protests Continue

Despite the sanctions and protests, the Iranian government has yet to back down, with protesters being beaten and in some cases killed or jailed.

According to Thomas-Greenfield, up to 100 women have so far been killed, with countless others injured or taken to the hospital as a result of the protests. Others are being jailed. Just this week, reports emerged that a female Iranian athlete who competed in a climbing competition without a hijab would be arrested upon returning home from the competition.

"I saw pictures of women with pellet holes in their back, bleeding because of these attacks," Thomas-Greenfield tells PEOPLE. "They need to hear from the world that we have their backs."

RELATED: Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche Cut Their Hair in Support of Iranian Civil Rights Protesters

Now, the American government is looking at how it might provide visas to women trying to get out of the country, or how it can expand internet access to arts of Iran that cut off the mode of communication amid the protests.

"They want to try and keep the rest of the world from watching their crackdown," the ambassador says.

As the protests rage on, Thomas-Greenfield says education about the issues is more integral than ever.

"We really do have to educate ourselves about what is happening in the world, so we can advocate for these brave women," she says. "Our voices are important for Iranian women to hear, so they know they have the support of the world when they take the very brave and courageous action of taking to the streets."

Voices: 

‘Iranian women aren’t sleeping’: 

This is what it’s like being a woman 

in Iran right now

Anonymous

Mon, October 17, 2022 

I am an Iranian writer who was born after the 1979 revolution. I live in Tehran. Like Mahsa Amini and other women, I have been arrested many times on the street for not wearing a hijab and have suffered the brutal behavior of police.

Since I was six years old, I have been ordered to remain silent and not question the wearing of the hijab in girls’ schools. When I was a child, my mother and aunt were detained in front of my eyes on the street for hijab “offences” and kept in jail for a night.

The murder of Mahsa Amini has shocked us all. And it has made me think about how we got here – and what we need to do now to get out.

After the 1979 revolution in Iran, a radical Shia government came to power, which claims to be able to run society based on the laws of Islam 1,400 years ago. It relies on reactionary Shari’a rulings, some of which involve mandatory restrictions on women. According to the Islamic laws, the woman is considered the man’s land; part of his property. A man can give her commands and prohibitions, just like a pet.

A large number of women who protested in 1979 were killed or imprisoned or fled from Iran. This new regime, with its restrictions on women’s clothing and situation, established from that point that a woman’s body was in fact the property of the “authorities”.

With laws such as stoning and flogging women in public, and other medieval performances, the new regime managed to make it clear that women are to be used to keep the rest of society silent. In other words, by conquering and encroaching on women as property – by punishing her – the regime can show off its power.

Iranian women are protesting against the violation of our rights, but it’s not just restricted to our clothing. Here is what else is at stake:

• A woman’s testimony in court is counted as half of a man’s. If a witness is needed to prove a crime, two women have to testify so that they have testified as much as one man.

• Women do not have the right to enter stadiums to watch sports (Sahar Khodayari died in protest at a jail sentence for going to watch a football match).

• Women do not have the right to dance and sing; or the right to abortion. The punishment for abortion is equal to killing a living human being.

• A woman cannot be a court judge. A woman cannot divorce her husband – this right belongs to the man only. He can divorce his wife whenever he wants.

• A woman does not have the right to custody of a child after divorce. The child belongs to the father.

• A woman does not have the right to leave the country. This right belongs to the father until the age of 18, and after marriage, it belongs to the husband.

• A woman is forced to wear a full hijab during sport competitions. Many female athletes have been fired from the national team and some of them play for the national team of other countries.

• Our fathers and brothers have the right to kill us, and because (according to the Islamic Penal Code), fathers and husband are considered guardians, they will not be punished for doing so.

• And recently, the ban on women eating ice-cream in public spaces was proposed, but not enforced.

In the best of circumstances, a woman’s legal rights are half of a man’s. But the important question remains: how is it fair that a being who is considered half a man when it comes to her everyday rights, can still be seen as a complete person in front of the ballot boxes? A woman is only considered a full person when we are being used to confirm the pillars of power. This is the ultimate hypocrisy. Maybe now the world will understand why women are standing on the frontline of these protests.

Perhaps you’re also wondering why men are protesting with us – I think I can tell you. The fact is that the domination over the female body (as a perfect example of a “subordinate citizen”) has also seen the state’s domination over other parts of Iranian society; including men.

After the 1979 revolution, men saw that while they may have rights towards their wives, daughters and sisters, they did not have many rights for themselves against the power of the government. They are, even now, considered “nothing” against the mighty will of those in charge.

Many men came to the conclusion that every time they took a right from a woman, they legitimised the law of domination over all of those the government views as subordinate. For regardless of gender, we are all inferior in front of the authority of the law. And anyone who questions those in power is considered an “infidel”. The punishment for being an infidel in the eyes of the law is death, whipping or prison.

In this way, fighting against the laws that prohibit women is the first step to fighting for freedom for all people in Iran.

You may also have wondered why some Iranian women continue to wear the hijab in the streets; even if we don’t believe in Islam. Well, that is easy – it is because anyone who declares that they don’t believe in Islam will either be killed or deprived of education and employment. Many who feel this way are forced to emigrate, even if we love our country.

This is what is truly at stake when you see our protests and when you watch footage of us removing the hijab. And it’s important to remember that when you see Iranian women on social media without headscarves – or at a party, while drinking and dancing – it still does not indicate our freedom or liberty. No:,every single Iranian woman who does this, does so in civil protest. We do it at tremendous risk. We do it to fight for freedom.

It is from the heart of living under such suffocation that the slogan “woman, life, freedom” was born. Maybe, after reading this text, you can imagine what a great achievement such a slogan is.

Iranian women have not been sleeping since Mahsa Amini was killed. We have seen that it is the time to announce our awakening. Many people are being killed in the streets of Iran these days. Many women who removed the hijab are in prisons. If you see Iranians in the streets of your city today, please know that we are not without a country – but we have had to flee.

This fragmented diaspora that shouts the name of its homeland in your homeland no longer wants to be treated as a half-being. Our goal is to have the right to our own bodies. This movement is the biggest feminist revolution in the world – and the world stands with us, because it knows that the outcome will be our biggest achievement, together.

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA
India stops Pulitzer-winning photographer from flying to US

AFP

Indian authorities have prevented an award-winning photographer from flying to the United States to collect her Pulitzer Prize, the latest of several Kashmiri journalists barred from leaving the country.


Immigration authorities at New Delhi airport stopped photographer Sanna Irshad Mattoo boarding a flight to the US© Manan VATSYAYANA

Sanna Irshad Mattoo was one of four journalists working for Reuters news agency that took home the prestigious award for feature photography this year.


The 28-year-old has won plaudits for documenting life in Indian-administered Kashmir, a disputed and highly militarised Himalayan territory home to a decades-old insurgency.

Mattoo was stopped by immigration authorities at New Delhi airport late Tuesday and prevented from boarding while two of her colleagues were permitted to leave the country.

She later tweeted a picture of her ticket that was stamped "cancelled without prejudice".

"I don't know what to say... this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me," Mattoo, who is also a fellow of the prestigious Magnum Foundation, told AFP.

"Only I was stopped without any reason and the others were allowed to go. Maybe it has something to do with me being a Kashmiri."

Tuesday was the second time this year that Mattoo was prevented from leaving India.

In July she was stopped in a similar manner at the same airport while on her way to Paris for a book launch and photography exhibition.

India has sought to entrench its control of Kashmir, which is also claimed in full by neighbouring Pakistan and which has been a constant source of tension between the nuclear-armed archrivals.

Thousands have been killed there since the start of a rebellion against Indian rule in 1989, and more than half a million troops are permanently stationed in the region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government stripped the territory of its limited autonomy in 2019, severing internet connections for months and detaining political leaders to forestall an anticipated backlash.

Foreign journalists have been barred from Kashmir and local reporters based in the territory say they have come under pressure to tone down their work.

- 'Arbitrary and excessive' -

Several other Kashmiri journalists have also been preventing by authorities from travelling abroad in the past three years.

Independent journalist Aakash Hassan, a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper, was not allowed to board a flight from New Delhi to Sri Lanka for work in July.

He told AFP that months later, he has still received no information from authorities as to why he was denied permission to travel.

"Given the pattern, it looks like it only happens to Kashmiri journalists," Hassan told AFP.

The decision to prevent Mattoo from leaving was "arbitrary and excessive", Beh Lih Yi of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.

She called on India to cease "all forms of harassment and intimidation" against journalists working in Kashmir.

ash/gle/dhc

Black voters’ mood ahead of midterms tempered by age, economy and racism, TheGrio/KFF Survey finds


Dana Amihere

THE GRIO
Tue, October 18, 2022 

A comprehensive theGrio/KFF Survey of Black Voters shows that Black voters understand how important they are as a voting bloc and the power they wield for Democrats.

The 2022 midterm election is poised to be a pivotal moment in contemporary politics. Every seat in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the U.S. Senate will be voted upon, as will key down-ballot races. Thirty-six states will elect a governor and other positions that control state legislatures, like secretary of state and attorney general. Midterm election victors will undoubtedly shape the future of controversial issues like reproductive rights and affordable health care.

Black voters are a linchpin of the midterms – and they know it. Data from the recent Survey of Black Voters, a joint effort of theGrio and KFF, shows that Black voters understand how important they are as a voting bloc and the power they wield for Democrats. Eighty-three percent of Black voters said they were “absolutely essential” or “very important” for the Democratic Party to win elections. And, they’re not wrong.

In the 2020 presidential election, Black voters showed their collective strength in battleground states. In states like Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the majority of Black residents live in metro hubs (Atlanta, Detroit, and Philadelphia in these particular states). But, suburban Black voters who live in areas surrounding metro cities are just as vital. Take Atlanta, for instance.


The Black and white populations of Fulton County, where Atlanta is located, were the same, according to 2020 census estimates — 44% each. (Today, Fulton County is 42.5% Black and 39.3% white.) Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties, which border or closely surround Fulton County, have all seen their Black populations increase and white populations decrease over the past decade. In 2020, Georgia went blue for the first time in 28 years.

“While some political pundits and journalists attributed Georgia going Democrat to white suburbs, Black voters were the real key,” said an analysis of the 2020 election by the Brookings Institution.

Even though Black voters have a clear preference for the Democratic party, relatively few (22%) said that Democrats represent their interests very well. Age is a key determinant in Black voters’ outlooks and perceptions going into the midterm election. Voters ages 18-49 and over 50 had different views on how they felt about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s performance in office and if they should serve again.

Sixty-nine percent of Black voters overall approve of how Joe Biden handles his job as president. But, there’s a 23 percentage point gap (59% vs. 82%) in how 18-49-year-olds and those over 50 feel about Biden.
Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president and the way Kamala Harris is handling her job as vice president?

Read full TheGrio/KFF Survey of Black Voters

Among Black voters who identify or lean Democrat, there is a near-even split on whether Biden should run again, with 49% saying the Democratic party should renominate Biden in 2024 and 50% saying they should nominate someone else. Here again, there is an age divide. Six in ten Black Democrats and leaners under age 50 say they want someone else in 2024, while 57% of those ages 50 and over say they do want Biden to run in 2024.

Data suggests that young voters are not only more disillusioned with the Democratic establishment than their older counterparts, but also with the electoral process itself. Voters ages 18-49 were about three times as likely as voters over 50 to say they weren’t “too confident” or weren’t “at all confident” that their vote would be counted accurately (22% vs. 8%).

Older voters were 21 percentage points more likely than younger voters to say they “always” vote in midterms (53% vs. 32%) and 25 percentage points more likely to say they were “absolutely certain” to vote in November (78% vs. 53%). When asked about their voting habits in a midterm election, nearly 70% of 18-49-year-olds said it’s something they “nearly always, usually, or just sometimes” do.

Widespread unfavorable views of Biden among Black voters may temper their turnout. According to the survey, 70% of those who approve of Biden’s performance are “absolutely certain” they’ll vote, compared to 51% among those who disapprove of Biden. There’s a similar pattern in those who said they were “more motivated” to vote in this election than in previous elections, 58% among those who approve of Biden versus 37% among those who disapprove of him.
A lot of people are unable to get out and vote for many reasons. How about you, how likely are you to vote in the upcoming November election for U.S. House and some U.S. Senate and governor seats?

Read full TheGrio/KFF Survey of Black Voters

Younger voters’ motivations to show up at the polls may also be tamped by current social and economic issues that are more likely to affect them, or affect them more directly, like a difficult housing market and student debt.

Seventy-three percent of Black voters said economic concerns are their biggest worry when asked to describe it in their own words. (Despite how COVID-19 ravaged Black communities, only 9% of Black voters said health concerns or the pandemic —not related to cost of affordability—were the biggest issues facing their families.) About one-third of Black voters mentioned the cost of living, especially food and gas, and inflation specifically.
In a few words, what is the biggest concern facing you and your family right now?

Read full TheGrio/KFF Survey of Black Voters

Inflation overall was 8.2% from January through September 2022, according to a recent report from The New York Times. Even if food and fuel are omitted (to get a better sense of trajectory), prices rose 6.6% through September, the quickest pace since 1982. The persistence of this inflation bubble. Rates have remained above 5% for the past year now; the Fed strives for 2% annual inflation on average, said The Times.

Inflation has had especially devastating effects on the housing market. According to the survey, housing is a top economic concern for Black voters. About three in 10 said it is the economic issue they most want the President and Congress to address, including higher shares of women, voters under 50 and those with lower incomes. Home prices have climbed 40% during the two years of the pandemic, when homebuyers snapped up homes in short supply backed by near-zero interest rates, according to Reuters.

However, homeownership for Black Americans has stalled and become even more challenging due to low inventory and soaring home prices, Jessica Lautz, National Association of Realtors (NAR) vice president of demographics and behavioral insights, told CNN in February. Black homeownership today remains lower than it was a decade ago, at 43.4%, behind white (72.1%), Latino (50%) and Asian (61.7%) homeownership rates, according to a NAR report.

“Today, homeownership is the principal source of wealth creation for most American households,” said Marcia L. Fudge, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in a statement to CNN. Black voters, rightfully so, are concerned that higher home prices, rising interest rates and a worsening racial gap in homeownership will close the door on their opportunity to own a home.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and the high court itself have been hot-button issues causing division along gender, income and religious fault lines. Among Black voters, the survey shows attitudes toward the Court and its recent decisions that differ along educational lines. Eighty-one percent of Black voters who are college graduates believe justices make decisions based on politics and ideology compared to 66% of Black voters without a college degree.
Do you (approve) or (disapprove) of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade?

Read full TheGrio/KFF Survey of Black Voters

When it comes to the overturning of Roe v. Wade specifically, eight in 10 Black voters disapprove of the Court’s decision and a similar share see it as a bad thing for Black women. Three in ten Black voters believe that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will have a disproportionate impact on Black women compared to white women.

Black voters are not a monolith. Their views on key issues often split along demographic lines. But, a large majority of Black voters—regardless of age, gender, income or education — agreed on racism’s pervasiveness in politics. More than 60% of Black voters say it’s a bad time to be a Black man, woman or child in America. Political and economic systems are stacked against them, said 8 in 10 Black voters. Moreover, Black voters say that the political parties themselves have a problem with racism. About 3 in 4 Black voters said racism is a major problem in the Republican party, while 3 in 10 said the same of the Democratic party.

Black voters resoundingly want change, though what that change looks like varies with who you ask. But, one fact is irrefutable: Black voters wield collective power at the polls. And, the Democratic Party, who may have a more tenuous grip on what was once a solid base of support, better be paying attention to what they want if they want to be successful in November.

About the Survey

The Survey of Black Voters is the first partnership survey between theGrio and KFF, a nonprofit organization focused on research and analysis of health and other national issues. Teams from KFF and theGrio worked together to develop the questionnaire and analyze the data, and both organizations contributed financing for the survey. Each organization is solely responsible for its content.

The survey was conducted Aug. 24–Sept. 5 with a nationally representative, probability-based sample of 1,000 adults who identify as Black or African American and are registered to vote. The sample includes all voters who identify as Black or African American, including those who also identify as Hispanic or multi-racial. The sampling design includes Black registered voters reached online through the SSRS Opinion Panel and the Ipsos KnowledgePanel; to reach Black voters who do not use the internet, additional interviews were conducted by calling back respondents who previously participated in an SSRS Omnibus poll and identified as Black and said they did not use the internet. The combined telephone and panel samples were weighted to match the sample’s demographics to the national U.S. population of Black voters using data from the Census Bureau’s 2020 Current Population Survey (CPS) Voting and Registration supplement. Sampling, data collection, weighting and tabulation were managed by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania in close collaboration with KFF researchers.

The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the full sample of Black voters. The full methodology and question-wording are available here.

Dana Amihere headshot

Dana Amihere is a data journalist, designer and developer. She is the founder/executive director of AfroLA, a new nonprofit newsroom that covers greater Los Angeles through the lens of the Black community.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Black voters’ mood ahead of midterms tempered by age, economy and racism, TheGrio/KFF Survey finds appeared first on TheGrio.

China's 'Bridge Man' inspires Xi Jinping protest signs around the world


Frances Mao - BBC News
Tue, October 18, 2022 


Posters critical of Xi Jinping were reportedly plastered on a wall at London's Central Saint Martins college

A rare one-man protest against Xi Jinping in Beijing has inspired solidarity protests around the world as China's party congress sits this week.

Last Thursday, a man strung banners across a bridge in China's capital that accused Mr Xi of being a dictator.

He was quickly detained but photos of his action spread around the world.

Since then similar signs and messages have appeared on several university campuses in the US, UK, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.

One handwritten sign at Colby College in the US state of Maine praised the Beijing man's action and said: "We, people of China, want to spread this message that speaks our mind in places without censorship."

Many replicate the messages displayed last week on the Sitong bridge in Beijing's Haidian district.

Some posters also show anti-Xi messages like "Not My President" and "Goodbye JinPing".

On Instagram and Twitter, several China activism accounts have urged followers to heed the Beijing protester's rallying cry "to strike" and take action during the week of the Communist Party congress.

According to social media accounts, protest signs have been seen at Stanford, Emory, and Parsons School of Design in the US; Goldsmiths and Kings College in London; as well as universities in Hong Kong.

In some sites, they appeared to have been taken down shortly after they were put up. One sign, posted at the University of Toronto, attracted a rebuttal in the form of a letter defending Xi posted next to it on the noticeboard.

Similar signs have also purportedly appeared within China according to images shared by activist groups, with some referencing the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests - a taboo topic in China.

"The spirit of 8964 will never be snuffed out," said one piece of graffiti apparently scrawled on a public bathroom stall in Sichuan, referring to the date of the crackdown.

Last week's protest has sparked a swift crackdown online, with all footage, pictures and key words such as "Haidian", "Beijing protester" and "Sitong bridge" scrubbed from Chinese social media platforms. Even more vaguely-linked words like "hero" and "bridge" returned restricted results.

There has been heightened security in Beijing in the days following the protest, with extra police and personnel stationed at bridges in the city.

"Bridge watchers" have been stationed at crossings across Beijing since last week's protest

Some WeChat users who shared the protest pictures online have had their accounts suspended, according to reports. One man was reportedly arrested after he shared pictures on Twitter, which can be accessed in China via a virtual private network.

The mystery protester, dubbed "Bridge Man", has been compared to "Tank Man", the unknown Chinese man who stood in front of a line of tanks during the Tiananmen protests.

"Bridge Man" has been the subject of extensive online investigations into his identity. Internet sleuths have identified him as an academic and tracked down his social media profiles which are said to include two Twitter accounts.

Mystery China protester sparks online hunt and tributes

One of these was wiped on the weekend, and a new tweet was posted - a line from Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen's will - which read that the statesman had dedicated his life to seeking freedom and equality in China.

Activists have expressed fears for the "Bridge Man's" welfare, while also praising him for the protest where he disguised himself as a roadside worker, yelled slogans into a loudspeaker and set tyres on fire.

Videos from the scene showed the man apprehended by police officers and bundled into a car. Chinese police have declined to respond to BBC queries about the incident.

"With everything to lose, you wait patiently for them to come, and follow them into their car. You walk into the machine," one tribute on an activist account read. It added: "Your act is still reverberating around the world."

The protest took place on the eve of the 20th Communist Party congress, which will run until the end of this week. Mr Xi is expected to be elected as party leader for a third term, cementing his grip on power.

'It’s His Story, Not the False Narratives': Spike Lee Gives Update on Upcoming Colin Kaepernick Docuseries

Shanelle Genai
Tue, October 18, 2022 

Spike Lee arrives for the 2nd Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on October 15, 2022.

Earlier this year, we told you about how Spike Lee and Colin Kaepernick were joining forces for a new multi-part docuseries on ESPN. Now, it looks like we have a slightly better clue as to what to expect when the forthcoming project drops.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Lee gave a mini update on how he plans on bringing the documentary to life, and that’s by staying true to what really went down in Kaepernick’s story.

“It’s his story, not the false narratives,” Lee explained over the weekend at the 2nd annual Academy Museum Gala. “Six years the National Football League has stopped him from playing. He still gets up at 4 or 4:30 every morning to train, five to six days a week. So when that next phone call comes, he’ll be ready. He’ll be ready.”

As far as when the untitled project will be ready? “It’ll probably be out before he plays [again],” Lee quipped.

As previously reported by The Root, the docuseries will be produced by Lee as a part of his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks production banner, Kaepernick, and former ESPN personality Jemele Hill. It willl feature an “unscripted deep dive” into Kaepernick’s life and career in the NFL “from his own POV.” Complete with extensive interviews and wide variety of never-before-seen archive video footage, this new series serves as the first project to chronicle the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Humanitarian Award winner’s journey with a full, first person account.

The project was first announced in the summer of 2020 as a part of Kaepernick’s overall first-look deal with Walt Disney Studios and his production company, Ra Vision Media.

“I am excited to announce this historic partnership with Disney across all of its platforms to elevate Black and Brown directors, creators, storytellers, and producers, and to inspire the youth with compelling and authentic perspectives,” Kaepernick explained at the time. “I look forward to sharing the docuseries on my life story, in addition to many other culturally impactful projects we are developing.”

END CARRIAGE HORSE TORTURE
N.Y.C. Carriage Horse Who Collapsed Near Central Park This Summer Is Euthanized

Kate Hogan
Tue, October 18, 2022 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q5Yx_Is4s8 Video Shows Collapsed Carriage Horse On NYC Street 11,566 views Aug 11, 2022 A New York City carriage horse collapsed on a Midtown street and needed to be doused with water before being revived by NYPD officers. The horse is now recovering at a stable nearby.

Ryder, the New York City carriage horse who went viral in August after collapsing during an incident caught on video, has died, PEOPLE confirms. The animal was euthanized at the private residence he'd been relocated to following the dramatic event, a rep for the local Transit Workers Union shared.

According to the New York Times, Ryder had been steadily losing weight, ultimately collapsing and suffering a seizure before his euthanization. A necropsy is underway.

On Aug. 10, Ryder was found "lying in the middle of the roadway in distress," the New York City Police Department told PEOPLE of the animal's collapse at 45th St. and Ninth Ave. A video of the moment obtained by NBC News showed Ryder's carriage driver Ian McKeever attempting to pull the animal up and hitting it, yelling, "Get up! Come on! Get up! Get up!" as Ryder stayed on the ground and dropped his head.

The video renewed calls for an end to the carriage ride practice in New York's Central Park and other large cities, with celebrities like Billie Eilish and Kaley Cuoco signing an open letter through the Animal League Defense Fund stating in part, "this is not the way animals should be treated."

RELATED: Sudden Death of Carriage Horse in New York City Prompts Outrage: 'This Is Not Tourism'

"Ryder is an individual, but his situation is not unique," the letter continued. "Tragic outcomes for horses haunt New York City's history, as well as other cities across the country. Horses, carriage passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and others are put at risk by this cruel and reckless industry. We say: No more."

Immediately following the August incident, Ryder was taken to a New York City stable, cooled off and given "proper veterinary care," the NYPD said at the time. The Transit Union later shared that Ryder was diagnosed with EPM, "a neurological disease caused by possum droppings," a rep wrote via Twitter.

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Ryder was eventually moved to an upstate New York farm, according to the New York Post, though questions continued to swirl about his treatment at the property, up until his death this week, both the Post and AM New York reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is continuing his investigation into the animal's care during his time in N.Y.C., while the city Health Department charged the carriage driver's brother, Colm McKeever, for allegedly changing Ryder's age from 26 to 13 on veterinary records, the Post said.

A vigil is planned for the animal in New York City on Tuesday, at the site of his August collapse, as activists continue to ask the New York City Council to pass Intro 573, a bill proposing the city prohibit the issuance of new horse-drawn carriage licenses and replace the existing carriages with electric alternatives.

"The horse deserved to spend his days in a pasture, not on pavement," PETA director Ashley Byrne told PEOPLE on Oct. 18. "PETA is calling on the New York City council to pass Int 0573 to get suffering horses replaced with modern electric carriages before history repeats itself."