Protest scrutiny intensifies on Iran despite win

By AFP
November 25, 2022

Iran's players sing their national anthem prior to the game against Wales

 - Copyright AFP/File Chris DELMAS

Jed Court with Stuart Williams in Paris

Iran’s football stars scored a famous victory with a last gasp World Cup win but scrutiny on the conduct of the team ahead of the decisive clash with the US will only intensify as its leaders press a crackdown on protests at home.

In a striking U-turn, the Iranian players sung their national anthem ahead of Friday’s match against Wales. Their silence when the song was played ahead of Monday’s match with England had been seen as a sign of solidarity with the protests.

Meanwhile there is no sign of a slackening of the protests or the crackdown, as Iran prepares for the already politically loaded match on Tuesday against the United States, which Iran’s clerical leadership likes to label “the great Satan”.

A prominent former international star from the last decade Voria Ghafouri was arrested in Iran on Thursday after he backed the protests and condemned the crackdown.

The protest movement that erupted 10 weeks ago after the death of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested by the morality police has created the most delicate of situations for the players who are household names in the football-mad country.

Many supporters of the movement have not forgiven the team for meeting ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi before heading to Doha, with the anthem gesture ahead of the England match doing little to redeem them.

“Mullahs’ children” and “A return to factory settings” were some of the terms of abuse being used on social media against the players after they opted to sing the anthem this time.

“Dishonourable mercenaries,” tweeted Kasra Aarabi, lead Iran analyst at Tony Blair Institute in London.

There had also been speculation that the Iranian players would not celebrate the goals. But the team erupted into wild celebrations as two late goals were struck against Wales in the final minutes.

Former England player and prominent TV pundit Gary Lineker tweeted: “Given the duress Iran’s players are probably going through, that’s a spectacularly emotional victory.”

– ‘Incredibly painful’ –

Maziar Bahari, the founder of the Iran Wire news site, said the players had clearly been pressured into singing the anthem.

“The most half-hearted version of the Islamic Republic’s anthem. The players have been threatened that they had to sing the anthem or else,” he said.

It is not clear if the timing ahead of the game of the arrest of Ghafouri — who was picked up after training with his club Thursday — was intentional on the part of the authorities.

But the player, who is of Kurdish origin, has been one of the most outspoken prominent voices in Iran against the crackdown and particularly in the Kurdish-populated regions of western Iran where activists say dozens have been killed in the past week alone.

In another arrest, authorities also detained Pejman Rahbar, the editor of the widely followed varzesh3.com sports website, reports said.

The state’s response to the protests has led to questions over whether the team represents Iran or the regime that has ruled since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that overthrew the shah.

The team is known in Persian as the “Tim Melli”, “The National Team”.

“Incredibly painful to watch this humiliation of #TeamMelli,” wrote the historian Roham Alvandi, associate professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“This is how the Islamic republic denies us even the simple joy of supporting our national team on the world stage.”

– ‘Not our enemies’ –

Reports also suggested the Qatari authorities were not allowing some fans to carry alternative Iranian flags into the stadium.

An AFP photographer at the stadium on Friday witnessed security staff confiscating a flag from a fan with the protest slogan “Woman, life, freedom”.

The turbulence inside Iran has also proved testing for the team’s Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz who has sought to argue his team should not step into politics and defend his players.

The vilification of some team members on social media even saw some suggesting the broken nose suffered by goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was karma for bowing to Raisi in the pre-Doha meeting.

“The players are not our enemies,” Queiroz wrote on Instagram this week.

Iran forward Mehdi Taremi denied on Thursday that his team had come under pressure from their government to sing the anthem, saying “I don’t like to talk about political issues, but we are not under any pressure.”

A video later went viral on social media showing Queiroz gently berating the BBC reporter who had asked Taremi for his views, saying “Why don’t you ask (England manager Gareth) Southgate about England and the United States that left Afghanistan?”

Iranian rapper arrested over supporting protests risks death penalty

Story by NEWS WIRES • 

The family of an Iranian rapper detained for supporting protests over Mahsa Amini's death said his life was at risk after he went on trial behind closed doors on Saturday.


Iranian rapper arrested over supporting protests risks death penalty© Yasin Akgul, AFP

Iran has intensified a crackdown on the protests sparked by the September 16 death of Amini after her arrest in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country's strict dress code for women.

Toomaj Salehi, well known on Iran's rap scene, was arrested late last month after denouncing the regime and showing support for the protests, human rights groups said.

"Dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi had the first day of his so-called 'trial' today in Tehran without a lawyer of his choice," the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said on Twitter.

Related video: Activists, artists to honor protester killed in Iran
Duration 0:26
View on Watch



Iranian fans protest for human rights after game against Wales

His family tweeted that his "life is at serious risk right now" as he faced charges of "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" -- sharia-related charges that are capital crimes in the Islamic republic.

Salehi had disappeared at the end of October before appearing in a video published on November 2 by Iran's state-run media. The video claimed to show the first images of Salehi after his arrest. It depicted a tattooed man in a sleeveless black T-shirt sitting on the ground, wearing a blindfold and looking bloodied and bruised.

The man says: "I am Toomaj Salehi. I said I made a mistake. I said... that you should run. I didn't mean you."

Activists condemned the recording as a forced confession extracted under duress. Salehi is one of a number of prominent figures to be arrested in a mass crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists, lawyers, civil society and cultural figures arrested.

His detention came shortly after he gave an interview highly critical of the regime to the Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation. "You are dealing with a mafia that is ready to kill the entire nation... in order to keep its power, money and weapons," Salehi said in the interview.

Iranian state media claim Salehi was arrested while trying to cross one of the country's western borders, but his family have denied this saying he was in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at the time.

(AFP)

Carrefour still sells beef tied to Brazil deforestation: NGO


By AFP
November 25, 2022


So far this year almost 9,500 square kilometres (2.3 million acres) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed, compared to 9,200 square kilometres im 2021

 - Copyright AFP INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

French retail giant Carrefour is still selling Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest despite committing to end such sales, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Friday.

Carrefour suspended beef supplies from two slaughterhouses owned by the JBS company that were linked to deforestation in the Amazon after the NGO called on the supermarket chain to clean up its supply chains in September.

It said JBS would no longer supply its stores in Brazil.

Mighty Earth sought to verify this by analysing 310 products sold in the chain’s 10 stores in seven Brazilian cities in October.

“The results are implacable, Carrefour has not applied this suspension in all of its stores. Mighty Earth identified 12 products sold that came from the two slaughterhouses in four of the group’s shops”, including the Atacadao brand, the group said in a statement.

Carrefour acknowledged there had been a “failure in the suspension instructions”, in particular those relating to two stores that were transferred from the Maxxi brand belonging to Brazilian retailer Grupo BIG to Atacadao. Carrefour acquired Grupo Big earlier this year.

“We regret this and we are checking whether other stores, which source their supplies directly at the local level, are affected,” a Carrefour spokeswoman said.

She added that the retail giant was “making an enormous effort to resolve the issues on a case-by-case basis”.

Carrefour renewed its vow earlier this month to make sure the beef it sells is “deforestation-free” by 2026.

Mighty Earth said that after leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the presidential election last month, Carrefour must commit to “zero deforestation and ensure the robustness of its implementation”, especially in its supply chains.

According to Brazil’s INPE space research institute, which measures the level of Amazon deforestation, 2022 is already a record year.

So far this year almost 9,500 square kilometres (2.3 million acres) have been destroyed, compared to 9,200 square kilometres in 2021.

Major cause of Type 2 diabetes uncovered


By Dr. Tim Sandle
November 26, 2022

Medical Laboratory Scientist at bench with micropipettes. — Courtesy U.S. National Institutes of Health (Public Domain)

Oxford Research has reveals how high blood glucose reprograms the metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells in diabetes, acting as a major causal factor of Type 2 diabetes. This is significant because glucose metabolites (chemicals produced when glucose is broken down by cells), rather than glucose itself, have been discovered to be key to the progression of Type 2 diabetes.

With diabetes, the pancreatic beta-cells do not release enough of the hormone insulin, which lowers blood glucose levels. This is because a glucose metabolite damages pancreatic beta-cell function. High blood glucose levels cause an increased rate of glucose metabolism in the beta-cell which leads to a metabolic bottleneck and the pooling of upstream metabolites.

Around 90 percent of global cases of diabetes are Type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D normally presents in later adult life, and by the time of diagnosis, as much as 50 percent of beta cell function has been lost. In T2D, the beta-cells have a reduced insulin content and the coupling between glucose and insulin release is impaired.

Scientists have previously established that chronically elevated blood sugar (hyperglycaemia) leads to a progressive decline in beta-cell function. Hyperglycaemia sets off a vicious spiral in which an increase in blood glucose leads to beta-cell damage and less insulin secretion – which causes an even greater increase in blood glucose and a further decline in beta-cell function. However, as to what exactly causes beta-cell failure in T2D has remained unclear.

The new study reveals how chronic hyperglycaemia causes beta-cell failure. This was demonstrated using both an animal model of diabetes and beta-cells cultured at high glucose. Both experiments showed that glucose metabolism, rather than glucose itself, is the factor that drives the failure of beta-cells to release insulin in T2D.

The significance of the research in terms of medical understanding is that by reducing the rate at which glucose is metabolised, and the rate at which these glucose metabolites build up, can prevent the effects of hyperglycaemia. This suggests a potential way in which the decline in beta-cell function in T2D might be slowed or prevented.

The researchers found that blocking an enzyme called glucokinase, which regulates the first step in glucose metabolism, holds the potential to prevent the gene changes taking place and maintain glucose-stimulated insulin secretion even in the presence of chronic hyperglycaemia. This is potentially a useful way to try to prevent beta-cell decline in diabetes.

The research appears in the journal Nature Communications, titled “Altered glycolysis triggers impaired mitochondrial metabolism and mTORC1 activation in diabetic β-cells”.

Union ‘sceptical’ of reforms to scandal-hit London fire service


By AFP
Published November 26, 2022

The London Fire Brigade has promised a 'zero tolerance approach to discrimination' after a damning review - Copyright AFP/File Eduardo Leal

The union representing UK firefighters said Saturday it was “sceptical” London Fire Brigade (LFB) leaders would implement reforms after an independent review concluded the service was institutionally misogynistic and racist.

The LFB has promised a “zero tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment and bullying” and accepted around two dozen recommendations from the damning review led by former senior prosecutor Nazir Afzal.

He discovered dozens of examples of racism, bullying and misogyny, including a female firefighter’s helmet being filled with urine and a black employee finding a noose above his locker.

In its response the Fire Brigades Union, the trade union for firefighters and other staff, noted it had “raised concerns about many of the issues contained within this report historically”.

Gareth Cook, its regional organiser for London, said the union was “committed to working to address these serious concerns” but that “we remain sceptical about the changes senior leaders will implement with regards to their own behaviours”.

“We aim to improve the working conditions of our members and protect them from discrimination and unfair or illegal treatment by representing them in the workplace,” he said.

London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe apologised late Friday “for the harm that has been caused” after the report’s contents were leaked by The Sunday Times.

The service’s response includes launching an external complaints system, and piloting the use of bodycams for when staff meet the public on home fire safety visits.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the review “a watershed moment” and the findings “abhorrent”.

He demanded “significant and necessary changes to root out all those found to be responsible for sexism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, bullying or harassment — and to support members of staff to speak out”.

The report has echoes of the 1999 Macpherson inquiry into London’s Metropolitan Police, following the racist murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence.

That report condemned the force for “institutional racism”.

A quarter century on, the Met is still grappling with problems of racial and gender biases, amid a recent slew of allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination.

Op-Ed: ‘Loab’ – AI-scripted ugliness and threats of ‘reality collapse’


ByPaul Wallis
Published November 26, 2022

Attendees take pictures and interact with the Engineered Arts Ameca humanoid robot with artificial intelligence as it is demonstrated during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. — © AFP

This is getting way too familiar. Loab is an AI “entity” with ugly biometric images and a dystopian side built in. So is the spiel that goes with Loab. Artificial intelligence could steal humanity’s mediocrity from it. All that banality wasted in a sea of self-generated realities.

I’m not going to regurgitate this tiresome scenario. Loab is another AI bogeyman thing dressed up as though it’s something new. Just be aware the bombardment of hideous imagery might interfere with your usual daily diet of hideous imagery.

Seems nothing’s too revolting to be posted online somewhere. Humanity doesn’t have enough disgusting things to look at, obviously. So artificially-generated garbage is required.

As pseudo-psychology goes, this is infantile. If you look at the biometric areas of the images generated and compare it to ancient face masks, you’ll see a lot of similarities with things thousands of years old.

This AI-generated horror was persistent. The face of Loab kept coming back, and it took a while to “dilute” the images of Loab. The name Loab was created by garbled text in an image.

Facial recognition is of course an auto-reflex for humans, so it’s no-brainer psych at best. The color backgrounds are also standard urban drab, so the scenes would look semi-familiar to anyone who’s ever been in a car park. Overall the look is quite similar to Heavy Metal Magazine art in the 1980s. It was brilliant then; now it looks like a yard sale of old comics.

The voice generator is supposedly advanced. It’s not. I heard a lot of similar stuff 20 years ago, and if the mix is anything to go by, Loab’s “voice” is inferior in quality.

“Loab can speak!”

“Oh, praise the press release!”

Loab is scripted heavily. I’m strongly reminded of the “sentient” AI issue Google had recently, another dribbling exercise in getting selective answers to prove your own point.

“Reality collapse”

This is an interesting idea or would be if it wasn’t qualified so much. The basic idea is that people will avoid a shared reality for a single, selfish reality. Oh, really?

Humans are not good at sharing realities with other people. They’re spectacularly bad at it. The more common result is conflict. In practice, you manipulate reality anyway, from your choice of society to your choice of décor. You create your own space and you are your own space, in fact.

Reality collapse in relation to fake images and environments, etc. is long since a thing of the past. The Metaverse is one of those subsequent evolutions. Nice to know someone’s paying attention, or in this case, not paying attention

.

The software draws on an artificial intelligence dialogue system dubbed ‘Buddhabot’

 – Copyright AFP Behrouz MEHRI

It’s a matter of opinion whether human beings are on speaking terms with reality. I don’t see why reality would bother.

Setting the bar for AI way too low

At about the point where the AI is asked whether humans shouldn’t be worried that “AI tools exceed our understanding”, all bets are off. Even the pronouns are in the wrong places. The AI refers to humans in context as “we” multiple times, for example. A super-intellect with syntax problems? Can’t tell “I” from “you”? Some threat.

Sure it exceeds our understanding, like toast, power bills and hamburgers. For example – A common factor in imagery has to be generated by common code and common parameters. Similarly, if you turn on a light switch, the light might go on. It’s almost that incomprehensible.

Almost exceeding our understanding much like asking an AI so many loaded questions, for another example.

Let’s be a little brutal:This entire exercise drags AI down to human experience level.
AI is unqualified to identify with human experience on any level.
Therefore AI is a threat to humanity.

Now – Where were you, damn spectators, for the last decade or so? The world and the tech have long since gone past this prehistoric stuff. What is the point of this exercise? Why are we wasting the time of useful tech on useless innuendo?

Liquid non-imagination

The expression “liquid imagination” is rather pointlessly grafted onto the Loab story. Somehow, the “low levels of public trust in information” (generated deliberately by sources of information) may become even less, as a result of the understanding of AI tech to reject all information as “unverifiable”.

A bit late there, mate. The public, quite rightly, doesn’t trust information even if it is verifiable, because the information sources are so sleazy. A lot of people also know how to verify information. It’s not that hard.

It’s a very inelegant argument if you can call it that. After citing a lot of high-stress imagery which is piled onto human consciousness every day deliberately, it’s AI that’s the future problem? Seems superfluous, to put it mildly.

The sheer amount of unnecessary stress inflicted by global media is barely describable. These disgusting images are everywhere. So is the disgusting news, and the not-very-coincidental news that nobody does a damn thing about anything.

…And AI is the issue? A word of advice to these useless purveyors of truly ancient science fiction ideas and pseudo-psychologists:

AI can replace you guys, too. All it needs is a script, you know.

RUGBY
Kenya Sevens appeal for donors to cover unpaid salaries

Sun, November 27, 2022 


Kenya's Rugby Sevens launched a public appeal for donations on Sunday, claiming the team has not been paid in months and players badly needed money ahead of several international matches.

A number of Shujaa stars shared the fundraiser on social media and described a "desperate situation" in which players were eating into their savings to cover daily costs.

"As some of you may have heard we are now going on our third month without pay," the Shujaa's centre Willy Ambaka posted on Twitter.

"Our lives and those of our loved ones have been greatly strained, even in our persistent effort to give you the desired outcomes on the pitch."

The appeal comes as Kenya prepares for the Dubai Sevens series on December 2-3 and the Cape Town fixture on December 9-11.

"We are struggling but we have to represent you people at the Dubai and Capetown Legs," Billy Odhiambo posted on Twitter.

Kenya head coach Damian McGrath spoke of his team's financial woes in October ahead of their departure for the Hong Kong Sevens where they lost every match.

The team were "fighting to find a field we can train in" and lacked a proper gym let alone the support and amenities enjoyed by their global competitors.

"I knew life wasn't going to be straightforward here in Kenya but I had no idea that these last couple of months would be so difficult," said the Englishman who signed a two-year contract with Kenya in May.

"They're so proud to represent the country, they push themselves hard, and yet they can't always get to train because they don't have the money to get here."

Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna pledged 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($820) to the Shujaa and assured help was on the way with the issue being raised in parliament last week.

"We are proud of the work you are doing despite the difficulties," he said on Twitter on Sunday.

Kenya Sevens have struggled to attract sponsorship and it is not the first time the side have been strapped for cash.

The team publicly protested against unpaid salaries in 2018 during the World Rugby Sevens Series in Paris, prompting the government to withdraw its sponsorship deal for the team.

np/ea/pi

U.S. avian flu outbreak this year was the worst in history


ByKaren Graham
PublishedNovember 26, 2022


A scientist harvests H7N9 virus growing in bird eggs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received samples of the virus from China.

 — James Gathany/CDC/Douglas E. Jordan / (CC0 1.0)

Avian flu wiped out 50.54 million birds in the United States this year, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak in history, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday.

The deaths of chickens, turkeys, and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

The U.S. outbreak began in February and impacted poultry and non-poultry birds across 46 states. As of November 15, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed avian flu in 264 commercial flocks and 356 backyard flocks.

Turkey farms accounted for more than 70 percent of the commercial poultry farms infected in the outbreak, the USDA said.

Birds often die after becoming infected. Entire flocks, which can top a million birds at egg-laying chicken farms, are also culled to control the spread of the disease after a bird tests positive.

Losses of poultry flocks sent prices for eggs and turkey meat to record highs, worsening economic pain for consumers facing red-hot inflation and making Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebrations more expensive in the United States, reports NBC News.

Europe and Britain are also suffering their worst avian-flu crises, and some British supermarkets rationed customers’ egg purchases after the outbreak disrupted supplies.

“Wild birds continue to spread highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) throughout the country as they migrate, so preventing contact between domestic flocks and wild birds is critical to protecting U.S. poultry,” said Rosemary Sifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary officer.

Farmers struggled to keep the disease and wild birds out of their barns after increasing security and cleaning measures following the 2015 outbreak. In 2015, about 30 percent of the cases were traced directly to wild bird origins, compared to 85 percent this year, the USDA told Reuters.

AMLO; NEO LIBERAL PERONIST
Mexican president masses supporters to show political ‘muscle’

By AFP
Published November 27, 2022

Supporters of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador fill a thoroughfare in Mexico City - Copyright AFP -
Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and thousands of supporters took to the streets of the capital Sunday for a march seen as a show of political strength by the left-wing populist.

Amid cries of “it’s an honor to be with Obrador,” the president joined flag-waving crowds to personally lead a rally that comes as his allies warm up for the race to replace him in 2024.

The aim was to celebrate the government’s “transformation of Mexico” four years into his six-year term, Lopez Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, said ahead of the march.

“The president is not alone,” read a placard at the rally, while others vowed support for the government’s controversial electoral reform plan.

“I like the way AMLO governs, always doing everything for the most vulnerable,” said Alma Perez, a 35-year-old teacher who traveled from the southern state of Guerrero to join the march.

Lopez Obrador “has done what no other president has done for the poor,” said Ramon Suarez, a 33-year-old electrician.

“He has some areas in which to improve such as security, but that’s not done overnight,” Suarez added.

Mariachi bands entertained the president’s supporters, who arrived on buses from around the country, many wearing purple, the color of his Morena party.

The rally comes two weeks after tens of thousands joined an opposition protest against the president’s proposed electoral reform.

Lopez Obrador wants to “show muscle,” said Fernando Dworak, a political analyst at the Mexican Autonomous Institute of Technology.

“It was a serious mistake by the opposition to believe that the president can be beaten on the streets,” he told AFP, referring to the November 13 anti-government protest.

– ‘Oiled machinery’ –

Lopez Obrador, who enjoys an approval rating of nearly 60 percent, owes much of his popularity to his social welfare programs aimed at helping the elderly and disadvantaged Mexicans.

Mexican presidents are barred from serving more than one term, and Lopez Obrador has ruled out trying to change the constitution to stay in office.

Even so, he is keen to see his Morena party hold onto power after he stands aside.

Three of Lopez Obrador’s allies and potential successors — Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez — accompanied him at the rally.

Lopez Obrador knows “that in order for him to win elections he needs oiled machinery that works all the time,” said Gustavo Lopez, a political scientist at Tecnologico de Monterrey, a Mexican university.

Opposition parties accuse Lopez Obrador of being an “authoritarian” populist who is “militarizing” the country by giving a greater role to the armed forces in both security and infrastructure projects.

His efforts to revamp the independent National Electoral Institute (INE) have proven particularly controversial.

Lopez Obrador alleges that the INE endorsed fraud when he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2006 and 2012, before winning in 2018.

He wants the organization to be replaced by a new body with members chosen by voters instead of lawmakers and with a smaller budget.

Critics see the plan as an attack on one of Mexico’s most important democratic institutions.

The reform would require support from at least two-thirds of lawmakers in Congress, and Lopez Obrador’s political opponents have vowed to oppose the changes.

Mexico president to 'show muscle' at big political rally

Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias
Sat, November 26, 2022 


Supporters of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are expected to flood the streets of Mexico City on Sunday in a major show of political strength by the left-wing populist.

The rally comes as presidential hopefuls, including Lopez Obrador's allies, warm up for the race to replace him in 2024.

Two weeks after tens of thousands joined an opposition protest against his proposed electoral reform, Lopez Obrador plans to lead a pro-government march through the heart of the capital.

The aim is to celebrate the government's "transformation of Mexico" four years into his six-year term, Lopez Obrador told reporters.

"I invite all the people, all those who can attend," including government ministers and lawmakers, he said.

It will be the first such march led by a Mexican president in at least four decades, and possibly the biggest pro-government rally since Lopez Obrador took office in 2018, according to experts.

Lopez Obrador wants to "show muscle," Fernando Dworak, a political analyst at the Mexican Autonomous Institute of Technology, said.

"It was a serious mistake by the opposition to believe that the president can be beaten on the streets," he told AFP, referring to the November 13 anti-government protest.

- 'Oiled machinery' -

Lopez Obrador enjoys an approval rating of nearly 60 percent, and few doubt his ability to draw a huge crowd on Sunday, when he plans to give a speech outlining his achievements in office.

Mexican presidents are barred from serving more than one term, and Lopez Obrador has ruled out trying to change the constitution to stay in office.

Even so, he is keen to see his Morena party hold onto power after he stands aside.

Two of Lopez Obrador's close allies and potential successors, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, are expected to march alongside him.

Lopez Obrador knows "that in order for him to win elections he needs oiled machinery that works all the time," said Gustavo Lopez, a political scientist at Tecnologico de Monterrey, a Mexican university.

Opposition parties accuse Lopez Obrador of being an "authoritarian" populist who is "militarizing" the country by giving a greater role to the armed forces in both security and infrastructure projects.

His efforts to revamp the independent National Electoral Institute (INE) have proven particularly controversial.

Lopez Obrador alleges that the INE endorsed fraud when he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2006 and 2012, before winning in 2018.

He wants the organization to be replaced by a new body with members chosen by voters instead of lawmakers and with a smaller budget.

Critics see the plan as an attack on one of Mexico's most important democratic institutions.

The reform would require support from at least two-thirds of lawmakers in Congress, and Lopez Obrador's political opponents have vowed to oppose the changes.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/germany/1934/340715.htm

Leon Trotsky: Bonapartism and Fascism (1934)

Apr 25, 2007 ... It is a military-police dictatorship with which we are confronted, barely concealed with the decorations of parliamentarism. But a government of ...

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire

18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Marx 1852

Marx wrote The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon between December 1851 and March 1852. The "Eighteenth Brumaire" refers to November 9, 1799 in the ...

'Forgotten' Afghan stories highlighted in two new films from Netflix, Nat Geo

Andrew MARSZAL
Sat, November 26, 2022 


The world's focus has shifted to the war in Ukraine, but two major new documentaries aim to throw the spotlight back on Afghanistan, and the people left behind by the United States' rapid withdrawal last year.

National Geographic's "Retrograde" follows an Afghan general who tried in vain to hold back the Taliban advance in 2021, while Netflix's "In Her Hands" tells the story of the country's youngest woman mayor, who had to flee as the Islamists took over.

"We've forgotten about this story -- when was the last time we discussed the war in Afghanistan, or read an article about it?" said "Retrograde" director Matthew Heineman.

"Obviously there's still some coverage of it, but... not that many people are talking about this country that we left behind."

Zarifa Ghafari, the former mayor spotlighted by "In Her Hands," told AFP that back under the Taliban, Afghanistan is "the only country around the world nowadays where a woman can sell their body, their children, anything else, but are not able to go to school."

But at international political meetings, "Afghanistan is out of those discussions."

Both movies begin in the months before the US withdrawal, as their subjects tried to build a safer and more egalitarian future for their country.

The two films end with their central characters forced to watch from abroad as the Taliban rapidly erases all their work.

"Retrograde" began as a documentary with rare inside access to US special forces.

In one early scene, US troops are shown having to destroy -- or retrograde -- their equipment and wastefully fire off excess ammunition that was sorely needed by their Afghan allies.

After the Americans left their base in Helmand, Afghan general Sami Sadat agreed to let Heineman's cameras stay and follow him, as he took charge of the ultimately doomed effort to stave off Taliban advances.

In one scene, Sadat -- stubbornly determined to rally his men to fight on as the situation crumbles around them -- chides his aide for bringing to his war office persistent reports of nearby Afghan troops downing their weapons.

"Every neon sign was saying 'stop, give up, this is over,' and he had this blind faith that maybe, just maybe, if he held on to Lashkar Gah or Helmand, that they could beat back the Taliban," recalled Heineman.

Sadat eventually had to flee, and the filmmakers shifted their lens again, to desperate scenes at Kabul airport as Afghans fought for spaces on the last American planes out.

"It was one of the most difficult things I've ever witnessed in my career," added Heineman, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2015's "Cartel Land."

"Discussions around wars in public policy and foreign policy, they're often talked about and discussed without the human element," said the director.

"One of the things I've tried to do throughout my career is take these large, amorphous subjects and put a human face to them."
- 'Murder' -

Former mayor Ghafari had survived assassination attempts and seen her father gunned down by the Taliban before she too left Afghanistan as the Islamists moved in.

"Talking about that moment, I'm still not able to stop crying... it was something that I really never wanted to do," said Ghafari, who drew the Taliban's ire by campaigning for girls' education after being appointed mayor of Maidan Shahr aged 24.

"I had some personal responsibilities, especially after the murder of my dad... to help secure my family."

The directors of "In Her Hands," which counts Hillary Clinton among its executive producers, returned to Afghanistan and filmed Ghafari's former driver Massoum, now unemployed and living under the Taliban.

In unsettling scenes, he is seen bonding with the same fighters who once attacked the car in which he was driving Ghafari.

"The story of Massoum represents the story of all Afghanistan's crisis... why people are feeling betrayed," said Ghafari.
- 'Share their pain' -

Though the conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine are vastly different in nature, both films offer a cautionary tale about what can happen once the West's focus shifts.

"Obviously, that's happened throughout history, and will continue to happen long into the future. And so what can we learn from this experience?" said Heineman.

Ghafari said: "Whatever happens in Ukraine and happened in Ukraine, it's the same thing that we have been going through for like 60 years.

"The same thing, again and again. So we share their pain."

amz/hg/sw/dva

Qatar's migrant workers enjoy World Cup on the cheap


Sat, November 26, 2022 

Shafeeq Saqafi paid $3 for the Argentina shirt he proudly wore when he sat with 15,000 other migrant workers in a hidden corner of Doha to watch Lionel Messi's side salvage their World Cup.

Messi's goal in the 2-0 win over Mexico late Saturday brought the biggest crowd seen at the Asian Town stadium to their feet and Saqafi beat his chest in delight.

Saqafi and his friends bristle at European media suggestions that they are "fake fans" but readily acknowledge that they buy counterfeit team shirts for $3 or less, instead of the $90 which official kit costs.

"I could not afford to have the letters printed on the back, but the shirt was something I really wanted," said the 32-year-old hotel worker who earns just over $400 a month and sends more than half of that back to his family in Bangladesh.

Saqafi is one of the 2.5 million foreign workers who have been the foundation of Qatar's economic miracle -- helping pump oil and gas, building its World Cup stadiums and infrastructure and staffing the dozens of new hotels that have opened in the past five years.

Rights groups say the workers have been massively abused.

Qatar responds by citing the increased safety standards and salary protections in factories and at outdoor work sites, and reduced working hours in Qatar's notoriously hot summer.

- Hindi pop and football -

The stadium, in the Asian Town shopping complex on the outskirts of Doha, has become a daily draw for thousands of the poorest workers who live in nearby dormitories away from Doha's glitzy shopping malls and restaurants.

An Indian woman DJ revs up the overwhelmingly male and South Asian crowd before each match with Hindi pop songs and Bollywood videos.


Many, like Saqafi, wear Argentina shirts. For most, the fan zone on the cricket pitch is the nearest they will get to the World Cup. The legal minimum wage is 1,000 riyals (around $260), which many still earn.

A few thousand 40-riyal ($10) World Cup tickets were put on sale and quickly snapped up. Those remaining are too expensive for the average construction worker in Qatar.

Buying an official team shirt is also out of the question. So Saqafi and many of his friends bought one of the high quality fakes on sale in backstreet stores.

Yaseen Gul, who has worked for a Doha electrical firm for a decade, said he comes to the stadium "to enjoy myself -- cheaply."

"Qatar is very hard. The work is hard. In summer it is very hot," he said. "But my salary has improved and I will not go home."


Shaqeel Mahmoud said he could not afford to buy match tickets and he had to leave the Argentina game before the end because he had to go work.

A cup of hot milky tea at the stadium beverage stand costs $1, but many workers said this was too much and there were no queues. Hundreds line up at the FIFA Fan Festival 10 kilometres (six miles) away to pay $13.50 for a beer.

"There is no pressure to buy anything so I am grateful for that," said Shaqeel.

tw/it