Medics discover with horror relatives among Gaza dead

By AFP

October 28, 2023

Palestinians look through the rubble of a building following an Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza - 

Copyright AFP Munir uz ZAMAN

Adel Zaanoun

Mahmud al-Astal is one of many medics providing lifesaving care as casualties flood hospitals in Gaza, only to one day discover his sister and her entire family among the dead.

“I went to the morgue and found her charred and in pieces,” the 34-year-old doctor told AFP from the main hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

“On the third day of the war, while I was working at the emergency unit in Nasser Hospital, I discovered my sister had been killed with her husband and children,” he said.

Those strikes razed entire buildings, including one where Astal’s 40-year-old sister Sadafah died alongside her husband Hussein, also 40, and their children Fadwa, Azar, Ahmad and Suleiman, aged between six and 13.

Israel began striking Gaza Strip following the October 7 Hamas attack that saw gunmen storm across the border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians and taking 229 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

The fierce aerial campaign has so far claimed the lives of more than 7,300 people, including about 3,000 children, in the impoverished enclave, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

“Ever since my sister was killed… the nightmares don’t leave me. I imagine that my children will arrive at the hospital in pieces,” Astal said.

“My children dream of travelling one day. Now I don’t know if they will come out of this war alive.”

Despite the tragedy, he is determined to continue his vital work.

“We have no other choice but to work and serve the injured to save them.”

– ‘Stench of death’ –

Wearing a red medics vest, he examines a young girl bleeding from a head injury who is crying in the emergency room. “Don’t be scared,” he consoles her.

Walaa Abu Mustafa, 33, also works as a doctor in the hospital’s emergency unit.

She too was stunned to find her aunt Samira and her husband Tawfik and their 15-year-old son Sharif among “dozens” of victims of an Israeli strike who arrived at the hospital Friday.

Samira and Sharif were already dead on arrival while Tawfik succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards, she said.

“The torn body of my cousin arrived wrapped up in a sheet,” she said.

“My aunt was like a mother to me,” she continued, struggling to catch her breath. “I can’t speak, I’m in shock over what happened.”

But she too has vowed to “continue my work, because it’s my duty and there aren’t enough doctors”.

Her coworker, respiratory physician Raed al-Astal, was at the hospital on Monday when he received a panicked call from his wife saying a strike had hit the building opposite theirs.

He hurried to the emergency unit where the victims had been taken, and found his relatives were among the dead.

“My aunt, her husband and their children as well as my cousin’s wife were killed,” he said.

“The stench of death is everywhere, in every neighbourhood, every street and every house.”

Palestinians expelled from W.Bank village as Gaza war rages

Taybeh (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Within an hour, the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Seeq in the occupied West Bank had been completely emptied, its 200 residents fleeing on foot with their sheep and goats.

AFP
Issued on: 29/10/2023 -

Residents of Wadi al-Seeq say a group of Jewish settlers and soldiers came to their West Bank village on October 12 and gave them an hour to leave 

© Thomas COEX / AFP

On October 12, five days after the start of the war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, residents say dozens of Israelis turned up at the village and gave them an hour to leave their land, among them settlers, soldiers and police.

Residents said some were local settlers dressed in army uniforms who have regularly harassed the village, while others wore civilian clothing, with army and police vehicles also at the scene.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident, despite several AFP requests.

The Gaza conflict began on October 7 when Hamas militants went on the rampage in southern Israel, killing 1,400 people, and kidnapping 230 others, prompting a massive Israeli retaliation that medics in the Hamas-run territory say has killed more than 8,000 people, half of them children.

On both sides, the vast majority of victims are civilians.

"We are paying for what happened," said Abu Bashar, a leader from Wadi al-Seeq, a village of Palestinian herders that lies some 10 kilometres (six miles) east of the city of Ramallah, who has taken refuge with a dozen other families on private land in Taybeh slightly further north.

Abu Bashar, who was expelled from Wadi al-Seeq with around 200 others, said there was 'a long-term plan to drive us out and take our land'

 © Thomas COEX / AFP

The violence in Gaza has sparked widespread unrest in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six Day War and where more than 110 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war in clashes with soldiers or settlers.

About three million Palestinians live across the West Bank, which is dotted with Jewish settlements that are considered illegal under international law but are home to 490,000 Israelis.

Since the Gaza war broke out, settler attacks against Palestinians have more than doubled, from an average of three to eight incidents a day, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, citing incidents of intimidation, theft and assault.

"We don't sleep anymore, it's a nightmare", said Alia Mlihat, who lives in Muarrajat, another Bedouin village between Ramallah and Jericho.

She's afraid her village will be next in line.

"With the war, we're seeing the settlers have more weapons, it's very difficult," she told AFP.

"We're living through a new Nakba because of settlers and the army," she said, using the Arabic word for "catastrophe" when some 760,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.

That year, the Mlihat family, like most Palestinian Bedouins, left Israel's Negev Desert for the West Bank.

A woman from Wadi al-Seeq walks toward temporary shelters set up in the nearby town of Taybeh where the villagers have taken refuge after being thrown off their own lands 

© Thomas COEX / AFP

Since October 7, OCHA says some 607 people, more than half of them children, have been displaced within the West Bank.

In the previous 18 months, 1,100 people were forced off their land.

'Everything was destroyed'

"I have nowhere else to go", said Abu Bashar who only wants to go back home.

When AFP visited the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Seeq, correspondents saw ransacked homes with wardrobes emptied, children's beds broken, curtains torn and papers, sandals and toys scattered across the floor 

© Thomas COEX / AFP

"All of our things are there, the goods we buy in bulk, our tractors, our solar panels."

A week after the expulsion, the army allowed the villagers back to collect their things but when they got back, everything was ruined.

"Everything was destroyed. The bags of food for the animals were dumped out on the ground," he said.

At the site, AFP observed ransacked homes with wardrobes emptied, children's beds broken, curtains torn and papers, sandals and toys scattered across the floor.

In and around the village, civilian vehicles circulated, some displaying Israeli flags, AFP journalists said.

All he wants is to be left alone to live in peace but he can't see that happening.

"There is a long-term plan to drive us out and take our land, and they took this opportunity to do it while everyone is watching Gaza."
Violence with impunity

Israeli human rights activist Guy Hirschfeld told AFP the settlers had been stepping up efforts to throw Palestinians off their land since the start of the conflict.

"The settlers taking advantage of the war to finish cleaning area C from non-Jewish people," he told AFP, referring to an administrative area covering 60 percent of the West Bank that is controlled by the Israeli army.

An illegal Israeli outpost overlooks the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Seeq, which lies about 10 kilometres (six miles) east of the West Bank city of Ramallah 

© Thomas COEX / AFP

Although the settlers do not enjoy widespread public support within Israeli society, they have strong backing from leading officials in Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Despite the widespread presence of Israeli troops in the West Bank, the army "does not interfere with the settler violence," says Allegra Pacheco, head of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a group of NGOs coordinating humanitarian aid.

"Their presence generally ends up in more violence."

© 2023 AFP

France's Macron announces plans to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday his government plans to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution to make them "irreversible".

AFP
Issued on: 29/10/2023

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference on the second and last day of a European Union summit, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on October 27, 2023. 

© Ludovic Marin, AFP

By: NEWS WIRES

In an online post, Macron said a draft project would be submitted to the State Council, France's highest administrative court, this coming week, with a view to making abortion rights constitutional by the end of the year.

"In 2024, the right of women to choose abortion will become irreversible," he said.

The announcement follows a promise Macron made on March 8, International Women's Day, which was seen as a response to the overturning of federal abortion rights in the United States last year.

Constitutional revision in France requires either a referendum or approval by at least three-fifths of the members of both chambers of parliament united in a congress.

Most constitutional changes in post-war France have been approved by congressional vote.

The termination of a pregnancy was decriminalised in France in 1975 and successive laws have since aimed at improving conditions for abortions, notably by protecting the health and anonymity of women, as well as reducing the financial burden of the procedure on women.

A November 2022 opinion poll found that 89 percent of respondents were in favour of making abortion rights constitutional.

According to government figures, 234,000 abortions were carried out in France last year.

(AFP)

Kazakhstan mourns for 42 dead in ArcelorMittal mine disaster

Karaganda (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – Kazakhstan held nationwide mourning on Sunday after 42 people died in a blaze at an ArcelorMittal mine, the worst accident in the Central Asian country's post-Soviet history.

AFP
Issued on: 29/10/2023 

Relatives of miners gather outside the Kostenko ArcelorMittal coal mine building 

© STRINGER / AFP

The tragedy, which struck at the Kostenko coal mine in the Karaganda region Saturday, came after a series of deadly incidents at ArcelorMittal mines and has prompted the nationalisation of the company's local affiliate.

"As of 3 pm (0900 GMT) the bodies of 42 people were found," Kazakhstan's emergency services said on social media.

"The search for four miners continues."

Rescuers earlier warned that finding the remaining miners alive were "very low", due to the lack of ventilation and the force of Saturday's explosion, which spread over two kilometres (1.2 miles).

The death toll overtook a 2006 accident that killed 41 miners at another ArcelorMittal site. It also came just two months after another incident killed five miners.

Anger and disbelief reigned after the disaster in Karaganda, central Kazakhstan.

ArcelorMittal's Kostenko coal mine in Karaganda where 42 miners died in a fire 

© STRINGER / AFP

"Every miner is a hero, because when he goes down, he does not know if he will come back or not," said former miner Sergei Glazkov.

Many welcomed the government's move towards nationalisation, angered by the company's safety record.

Daniar Mustafin, a 42-year-old salesman, said he favoured "full nationalisation without material compensation for the current owners".

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered cooperation with the Luxembourg-based company to be "brought to an end."
'Worst' company in 'Kazakhstan's history'

Speaking to victims' relatives at the mine, Tokayev called ArcelorMittal "the worst enterprise in Kazakhstan's history in terms of cooperation with the government".

The Kazakh government and the steel giant announced a preliminary agreement to "transfer ownership of the (local) firm in favour of the Republic of Kazakhstan", Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov stated.

"ArcelorMittal can confirm that the two parties have... signed a preliminary agreement for a transaction that will transfer ownership to the Republic of Kazakhstan," the global steel giant stated, adding it was committed to "finalising this transaction as soon as possible".

The Kazakh national flag flies at half-mast to mark a day of national mourning for the dead miners 

© STRINGER / AFP

On Sunday, flags were at half-mast to mark the day of national mourning declared by Tokayev, an AFP correspondent saw.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, about 200 miners have died in Kazakhstan, the vast majority at ArcelorMittal sites.
'His guardian angel saved him'

There were 252 people inside the mine when the fire started, ArcelorMittal said.

Outside a hospital in Karaganda, relatives of those who had survived the blast were thanking the heavens.

"His guardian angel saved him. He is alive," said Nikolai Bralin, the brother of an injured miner.

"Two of his ribs were slightly torn apart from the blow and he had surgery to put them back in place," he added.

Mourning at the Monument to Dead Miners after at least 42 miners perished in a fire at ArcelorMittal's Kostenko coal mine 

© STRINGER / AFP

Local politicians also called for the immediate nationalisation of the company.

"They must answer before court because they did not ensure people's safety," said local MP Kudaibergen Beksultanov.

"The state needs to take it upon itself now."

The group's arrival in Kazakhstan in 1995 was initially seen as a beacon of hope during the economic slump that followed the fall of communism.

But a lack of investment and inadequate safety standards were repeatedly criticised by the authorities, while trade unions called for tighter government control.

ArcelorMittal, led by Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal, operates some 15 factories and mines in the centre of the former Soviet republic.

© 2023 AFP

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/10/kazakhstan-dozens-dead-in-coal-mine.html

Kazakhstan: Dozens dead in coal mine fire

Were women key to voting out Poland's ruling conservatives?

Monika Sieradzka

DW
October 25, 2023

In Poland's recent election, many women cast their ballots in support of leftist and liberal parties. They were likely swayed by the country's restrictive abortion law and a bid to strengthen women's rights.

Many women turned out to support Poland's liberal Civic Coalition in the recent parliamentary election

Kacper Pempel/REUTERS

"Finally, there's a glimmer of hope for change," said Wanda Kaczor, a 30-year-old resident of Warsaw.

She voted for Poland's New Left party in the October 15 parliamentary election. It wants to form a coalition with the opposition Civic Coalition and the Third Way party, a grouping that could end up commanding a majority of seats in Poland's lower house of parliament and supplant the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) government.

Kaczor and many other Polish women hope this new coalition will do more to strengthen women's rights. Among other things, they want to see a liberalized abortion law. Three years ago, the ruling PiS party adopted a highly restrictive abortion law allowing pregnancies to be terminated only in cases of rape or when the woman's life is in danger — changes that triggered major protests across Poland.

Wanda Kaczor is a progressive Catholic who supports abortion rights

Image: Monika Sieradzka/DW

"I am Christian, and yet I am in favor of freedom of choice," Kaczor told DW, adding that some see her as an extreme leftist because she took part in the 2020 protests against the PiS abortion law. Kaczor works as an editor for the Catholic Magazyn Kontakt magazine, and has been active in a progressive Catholic intellectual group for years.

Although Kaczor feels strongly connected to the Catholic Church, she supports the right to terminate pregnancies up until the 12th week. "Surely that wouldn't lead to all women suddenly having abortions," she said. "The restrictive [PiS] law does more harm than legalizing abortion."

Abortion remains a controversial subject in Poland

Kinga Jurek, a 20-year-old law student, has a completely different opinion. Jurek, who has been active in the youth organization of Poland's far-right libertarian Confederation party for years, believes abortions rights should remain restrictive.

"The Confederation party focuses on the rights of the individual, so unborn children must also be protected," Jurek told DW. At the same time, she added, men should also have a say. "If a woman wants to have an abortion, the father of the child should also have the right to express his opinion."

Kinga Jurek supports Poland's strict abortion law

Monika Sieradzka/DW

But only a minority of Polish women back tight restrictions on abortion rights. According to a poll conducted by investigative news outlet OKO.Press, 75% of Poles support legalizing abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

The restrictive abortion law is one reason why Poland's PiS party lost voters in the October election, said Bartlomiej Biskup, a political analyst at the University of Warsaw. Support for the party dropped from 43.6% in 2019 to 35.4% this year, he said.

"The Left party, which is predominantly backed by women voters, and the Civic Coalition, which has shifted to the left in recent years, have benefited from this," he said.

The Civic Coalition, led by former and likely future Prime Minister Donald Tusk, must "finally do something to avoid betraying its female voters again," said Biskup. "When [the Civic Coalition] was in government from 2007 to 2015, it did nothing to address the abortion issue."

Although the Civic Coalition has promised to make abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy legal, Biskup doubts it will find enough parliamentary support to make this pledge a reality. One of its coalition partners, the Christian conservative Third Way, would "probably not accept it," he said. This means the Civic Coalition and New Left wouldn't have enough votes to push through the long-anticipated liberalization of the abortion law.

Highest voter turnout since fall of communism

Polish women had grown increasingly disinterested in politics in recent years. This stemmed from the fact that men were calling the shots in politics, making decisions without taking women into consideration.

Moreover, the widespread protests for women's rights appeared to have produced little change, and parties were paying scant attention. Indeed, a few weeks ahead of the election, barely half of Poland's women intended to vote at all.

But numerous appeals and campaigns involving activists and well-known individuals encouraged women to cast their ballots, helping to overcome this political apathy. Ultimately, 74.7% of Polish women and 73.1% of men did end up casting their votes. The overall turnout was 74.4%, the highest since Poland became a democracy after the fall of communism in 1989.

Poland's first-time voters part of political earthquake   03:41

The ruling PiS party, which received 36.1% of the total votes, was actually the most popular party with women voters, with 35.9% casting their ballot for PiS. Women aged 60 and above made up the largest shared of female PiS voters (52.8%), with those aged 18-29 making up the smallest share (14.4%). The Civic Coalition, meanwhile, received 32.5% of the women's vote.

But support for Poland's smaller parties turned out to be decisive, with the New Left and the Third Way particularly benefiting from the support of young women voters.
Coalition partners will aim to present 'united front'

In the new parliament, 136 out of 460 seats will be held by women — a record in Polish politics. That said, the proportion of women in parliament is still only around 30%.

Even though women voters strengthened the left-liberal camp and played a decisive role in defeating PiS, their demands could once again fall by the wayside, said Biskup. He pointed out that the incoming left-liberal-Christian coalition government prioritizes neither women's rights nor social welfare.

Biskup thinks the new government may adopt some uncontroversial policies, such as measures to support parents with disabled children. It may also seek to deliver on Tusk's election promise to help mothers return to the labor market. But for now, he added, Polish politics will remain in campaign mode.

"More divisive issues will arise after the local elections and the European elections in the spring," Biskup said. "Until then, the parties will try to present themselves as a united front."

As time goes by, political differences between the parties — for instance over abortion rights — will become more and more apparent, he added.

This article was originally written in German.

Vera Politkovskaya: No one in Russia values my mom's legacy

Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist who was killed in 2006, foresaw what would become of Russia under Vladimir Putin. Her daughter explains in a new book how no one listened to the warning signs.

Marina Baranovska

DW
10/26/2023

Vera Politkovskaya's latest book

Image: Marina Baranovska/DW


Vera Politkovskaya, the daughter of murdered Russian journalist, human rights activist and Vladimir Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya, has released a new book. The German version is titled "Meine Mutter hätte es Krieg genannt," which roughly translates to "My mother would have called it war." The book was co-authored with Sara Giudice.

Anna Politkovskaya became a well-known figure in the 1990s when she worked as a reporter for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, especially for her reporting from the northern Caucasus region. Politkovskaya dedicated much of her career to covering the Second Chechen War. She was killed on October 7, 2006, in Moscow.

The title of Vera Politkovskaya's latest book alludes to Russia's war in Ukraine, which in Russia is referred to merely as a "special military operation."

Politkovskaya moved to Italy after Russia invaded Ukraine, where she now works as a freelance journalist. DW spoke with her at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Vera Politkovskaya attended this year's Frankfurt Book FairI

mage: Marina Baranovska/DW

DW: How and when did you decide to write your book?

Vera Politkovskaya: In our family, we thought for years about how much is known about my mother's work, how she stayed in Chechnya and what she wrote about. At the same time, little is known about her personality. My mother's life was not only about work. There was also another side that almost no one knew. We often spoke about how good it would be if one of us described this other side of her. When I was offered to write this book, I immediately said yes.

What was your mother like?

She was difficult because a simple person would hardly be able to perform and endure the kind of work she did. She had a rather complicated personality, which showed itself at work and among the family. As children, my brother and I often experienced our mother's very clear ideas of how our lives should develop. Our education was very close to her heart, and it was vital to her. And, of course, there were disagreements because we were teenagers and wanted to do other things.

What did you think about your mother's work at Novaya Gazeta when you were young? Did you support her?

I was a kid in the early 1990s and then a teenager. I was busy with my own life, so I can't say I paid close attention to her work. My mother began focusing on Chechnya in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then, she encountered her first problems concerning her security. She knew what she was doing. For us, the main consequences of her work were that she sometimes discussed safety concerns with us and urged us to be careful.

DW: In your book, you write that your mother suspected she could die…

Yes, that began after her colleague Yuri Shchekochikhin died. He was poisoned. After that, my mother strangely began talking about how it must be a beautiful death if she were killed as Yuri Shchekochikhin was, should that be her fate. She said it would be nice if it were a poisoned bouquet of roses. She said she would hold the bouquet, take a deep breath and die a beautiful death for a woman.

But jokes aside, there were discussions about how she wanted to be buried, what to do when she died, where she kept all the documents and money in the house. Of course, we did not discuss this often, but it was a topic.

DW. What was your first thought that came to your mind when you learned that Russia had attacked Ukraine?

It came as a shock. Although the Western media had warned this would happen, of course, I did not want to believe it would. A few days before the war began, there was that famous speech by Putin (in which he declared the recognition of the independence of the "Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics"). When I heard that speech, I realized war would come.

Anna Politkovskaya covered the abhorrent violence and cruelty of war in Chechnya

Image: Stringer/picture-alliance

Nevertheless, the scale of this war was hard to comprehend. The first rational thought that came to me after the war began — and after recovering a little from the shock — was that I must leave the country. If we — and by we, I mean Russia — were teetering on the brink of an abyss all this time, we have plunged into it now.

DW: What has to happen for public opinion in Russia to change?

According to independent sociological studies, no more than 30% of the Russian population supports this war. And I think that's accurate. The people don't want war. Support for Putin is a different problem. Some people in Russia believe that nobody other than Putin can rule such a vast country with so many issues. I won't criticize these people, but of course, I think they are wrong.

It is clear that the system that is in place in Russia will not disappear as long as Putin is there, and everything will continue in this spirit. Most likely, he will remain in power until 2036. But people are wrong to think that once Putin is gone, we will immediately get a wonderful, modern Russia. There will be no rapid change after his departure. New significant problems will arise In 2036 when he's gone.

Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in her Moscow home in October 2006

Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/A. Demianchuk

A power struggle will erupt that will most likely be bloody and ruthless. Then Russia will be unstable for years, and only after many more years, in the best case, will someone reasonable come to power. Do you realize what time frame we are talking about? I don't know if I will live to see it.

DW: Your mother's book "In Putin's Russia" and her articles predicted many things that came to pass after her death, including that the wars in Chechnya are only the beginning and what Putin's rule would lead to. Why were her warnings not taken seriously in Russia or the West?

People who read her works at that time in Russia and the West believed she was greatly exaggerating. But as history has shown, none of it was exaggerated.

What legacy did your mother leave behind?

To call things as they were. To realize that you are not wrong just because you're in the minority. And to act according to your own perspective and your own assessment of the situation. If we are talking about her legacy in journalism, I hope that it will be honored somewhere outside Russia. But this I can say with certainty: No one in Russia values her legacy.

This interview was conducted by Marina Baranovska and was translated from German.

The rise of invasive fungal infections explained

Modern medical technology has saved millions of lives. It has also caused a little-known problem: rising invasive fungal infections. What you need to know.

Clare Roth
DW

October 26, 2023

In India, some COVID-19 patients came down with a deadly black fungus infection, which can affect the sinuses, lungs, skin, and brainImage: Uma Shankar Mishra/AFP/Getty Images

You probably know about athlete's foot and yeast infections — right now up to 1 in 4 people have athlete's foot across the globe, while 3 in 4 women will develop a vaginal yeast infection in their lifetime. But these well-known infections are only the tip of the fungal iceberg.

Although you may be aware of fungal skin infections, you may not be aware of "invasive" fungal infections, which can affect your lungs or spread to your organs through your blood.

These infections are on the rise and can be life threatening, especially in immunocompromised people. For years, they have fallen under the radar of the general public. It was only last year that the World Health Organization released its first-ever list of health-threatening fungi.

This general lack of awareness has led to misdiagnosis of fungal infections in clinical settings and stymied development of medications to treat the problem.

It also makes it impossible for the WHO to conclusively estimate the burden of disease. Experts suggest invasive fungal infections kill up to 1.5 million people per year — for reference, that's around the number of deaths attributed to tuberculosis per year.

The Candida fungus can cause invasive fungal infections

Image: La Nacion/ZUMA Press/picture-alliance

How do you "catch" an invasive fungal infection?

We breathe in spores of fungus all the time. This fungus comes from our compost bins, the moldy bread on our kitchen table or the flower bulbs we plant in our gardens (more on that later).

Oliver Cornely, head of the European Center of Excellence for Invasive Fungal Infections, said these spores aren't a problem for the vast majority of healthy people, whose immune systems can easily fight them off.

But for the immunocompromised — those who smoke very heavily or have recently experienced an organ transplant or cellular therapy — inhaling these spores can sometimes cause problems.

Why are invasive fungal infections on the rise?

Cornely said the rise in invasive fungal infections is largely linked to a rising number of life saving operations.

Today, many more people routinely undergo operations and treatments, such as chemotherapy. But such medical interventions can increase a person's susceptibility to invasive fungal infections,

There's also an increasing issue with antifungal resistance.

What is antifungal resistance and why is it a problem?

Antifungal resistance is like antibiotic resistance. Some fungi are resistant to the medications, or antifungals, used to treat them.

Antifungals are used in agriculture across the world

 Beatrice Christofaro/DW

Some fungi are intrinsically resistant to certain classes of antifungals, said  Cornely.

Others become resistant to antifungals because a smaller dose reaches them, allowing them to become resistant to, rather than annihilated by, the medication.

One way to understand this is to think about peanut allergy treatments. People with a peanut allergy eat a tiny amount over a period of time to build up resistance. Eventually they become immune to the allergens in peanuts.

This is similar to fungi — when fungi are exposed to tiny doses of antifungals, they can build up resistance.

This resistance can be built within the body of a person being treated with antifungals or in nature — antifungals are used in bulk in agriculture. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that if antifungals were to stop being used in farming, we would lose food for 2 billion people.

"It's a dilemma," Cornely said. "We must use them in agriculture. We should not really use them for flower bulbs, though."

How are antifungals used in agriculture?

Antifungals are used on flower bulbs for the same reasons they are used in food production: to prevent you from picking up a daffodil bulb at the florist and finding a big piece of mold on it.

Before flower bulbs are sold at a nursery, they undergo something called "bulb dipping" into a bath of azoles, the same antifungal agent used to treat invasive fungal infections.

Candida auris could have developed in response to global warming, experts say

Kateryna Kon/IMAGO

"That is why when you go to the garden center, you never find a bulb with fungus," Cornely said. "Usually, like your bread, these things should really decay and be destroyed by Aspergillus fumigators … but that does not happen because they are covered with azoles."

That may all be fine and good — no one wants to deal with moldy flowers! But Cornely said that what happens is that when you take the bulbs home and plant them in your garden, the azoles enter the soil. This results in a high concentration of azoles directly next to the bulb, but as you get farther and farther away, the concentration lessens until it is so low that fungi in the soil can tolerate it — just like the tiny portions of peanuts people eat to treat an allergy. Through this exposure, those fungi become resistant to the azoles.

This is the same thing that happens when an antifungal is used to treat an abscess, Cornely said. In the abscess itself and directly near it, the amount of antifungal will be so strong, it will kill all fungi in its path. But the farther and farther away, the lower the concentration of the antifungal, the higher the likelihood the fungi in the body will become resistant to, rather than die from, this exposure.

Which invasive fungal infections are most common?

The most common invasive fungal infections are caused by the Candida and Aspergillus fungi. Aspergillus primarily affects the lung, while Candida can spread through the bloodstream to cause infection in different organs of the body, most commonly the eyes, bones, liver or spleen.

Cornely said this can happen from the gastrointestinal tract. In healthy people, he said, it's normal to have fungus there "hanging around with myriads of bacteria."

But in people who have undergone procedures or health issues affecting the integrity of their mucosa — the soft tissue that lines our organs, protecting them against invasive pathogens — these fungal organisms can become pathogens themselves.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

Antisemitism rises in Turkey during Israel-Hamas war

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates, Turkey is witnessing a troubling increase in antisemitic sentiment exacerbated mainly by media coverage and political discourse.

Pelin Ünker

DW
10/26/2023

As anger about Israeli strikes on Gaza has grown, some Turks are turning against Jews

Emrah Gurel/AP Photo/picture alliance

The Jewish community in Turkey has raised concerns about rising antisemitism amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

Karel Valansi, a columnist for the T24 news website and the Turkish Jewish newspaper Salom, told DW that Jews are increasingly being associated with Israeli policies.

"What we see from the rhetoric of politicians, the press and social media is this: In the perception, Jews are completely removed from the position of citizens of the Republic of Turkey and turned into ambassadors and extensions of the state of Israel, and the anger against this state is directed toward Turkish Jews," Valansi said.

According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, "accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations" is a contemporary example of antisemitism. The US, Germany and more than 40 other governments have formally adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Gaza conflict could end fragile Israel-Turkey rapprochement  04:02

Valansi also said antisemitic tendencies in public discourse, such as comments glorifying Adolf Hitler and Nazi ideologies, were resurfacing, causing a sense of insecurity among Jewish Turks.

More than 1,400 Israelis have died following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas and allied groups, according to Israeli authorities. More than 7,000 people have been killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes in the last three weeks, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Hamas has been designated a terror organization by the European Union, the US, Germany and other governments.

'Enmity and hatred'

As civilian deaths have amplified the tensions, some newspapers in Turkey have been accused of promoting a sense of war.

"There are newspapers that are almost shouting war cries," Faruk Bildirici, an independent ombudsman and media commentator who spent nine years as the readers representative of the national daily newspaper Hurriyet, told DW.

Yeni Safak headlines: 'This Terror State Must Be Destroyed' and 'The Ummah is Standing'

On October 18, following the attack on the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, the front page of the pro-government daily Yeni Safak, a Turkish had the headlines: "This Terror State Must Be Destroyed" and "The Ummah is Standing" — ummah refers to the global Muslim community.

Bildirici raised concerns about framing the conflict as an interreligious war, noting this would further fuel animosity.

Portraying "what is going on as 'the ummah standing up' means that the war is being viewed and portrayed as a war between the West and the East or between Islam and Christianity/Judaism," Bildirici said. "This fuels enmity and hatred against the West and Christianity/Judaism."

On October 17, the pro-government Islamist daily Yeni Akit targeted Jewish Turks with the front-page headline "Deport the Zionist Servants from Citizenship."

Yeni Akit claimed that Jewish Turks are "considered citizens of Israel by nature" and, therefore, are going to Israel from cities such as Istanbul and Izmir to join the military service during the war.

Avlaremoz, a news and opinion website focused on Jewish affairs and antisemitism in Turkey, criticized Yeni Akit for coverage that does not reflect the truth.

Antisemitism spreads online

Hashtags such as #TürkiyeYahudileriVatandaşlıktanAtılsın (Expel Turkish Jews from citizenship) have arisen to target people who post about Israel.

Jewish artists and writers, even those not active on social media, have faced criticism for not publicly supporting Palestine.

The Jewish community within Turkey has broadly advocated for peace.

In a statement released on October 18, the Turkish Chief Rabbinate Foundation-Turkish Jewish Community wrote: "We strongly reject and condemn the targeting and killing of innocent civilians under any circumstances and wherever they are — particularly in places like hospitals, schools [and] nursing homes.

"We support the efforts of our state, the Republic of Turkey, since the first day to urgently restore peace and wish that all people can be brought to a lasting peace as soon as possible."

Antisemitism in politics

Some Turkish politicians have also turned to antisemitism in their rhetoric.

Addressing the Israel-Hamas conflict during a meeting of the parliamentary group of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Hamas as a "group of mujahedeen," an Arabic meaning those fighting for Islam, rather than a terrorist organization. Erdogan also said he had canceled plans to visit Israel.

AKP and opposition politicians alike have shown their support for Hamas since the conflict began. On Tuesday, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, another of Erdogan's alliance partners, called on Turkey to intervene in the conflict militarily to protect Gaza if a cease-fire cannot be achieved within 24 hours.

So far, there have been no large-scale organized demonstrations in Turkey against the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, riot control vehicles are waiting in front of the synagogues in Turkey for security purposes.

After the hospital explosion in Gaza, different groups gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and the embassy residence in Ankara to protest.

Some protesters in Istanbul shouted "takbir," an Islamic chant that means "God is the greatest," and broke through the outer walls of the plaza where the Israeli consulate was located.

Turkish protesters in Ankara marched on October 18 holding a sign reading 'No to Genocide'

Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

AKP's Istanbul branch announced that a "Great Palestine Rally" will be held on October 28 at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Erdogan is expected to attend, as are the leaders of the parties in his ruling alliance.
Turkish Jews as equal citizens

Valansi said Jews were equal citizens who had contribute to Turkey's development and cultural fabric. Valansi said despite their long history in Anatolia, Turkish Jews are sometimes perceived as outsiders, a notion at odds with their significant contributions to the country.

"The public understanding of citizenship in Turkey does not include non-Muslims," Valansi said. "Despite being one of the founding elements of the Republic, Jews are perceived as guests, as a community to be tolerated and expected to show constant gratitude."

Most Jewish Turks reside in Istanbul. However, the increasing antisemitism has driven many to emigrate, including to Israel.

A population that had stood at 81,000 people nearly a century ago, according to 1927 census data, is now approximately 16,000-17,000, according to Turkey's Jewish community.

Edited by: Martin Kuebler and Davis VanOpdorp

Israel recalls diplomatic staff from Turkey after Erdogan's accusations of war crimes

Israel said Saturday it was recalling its diplomatic staff from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a fierce attack on its military operation against Hamas militants in Gaza.

AAFP
Issued on: 29/10/2023 - 

Protesters chant slogans during a protest to show their solidarity with the Palestinians, in Istanbul, Turkey. Friday, October 27, 2023. 

© Khalil Hamra, AP

By:NEWS WIRES

The announcement dealt a body blow to the sides' nascent efforts to restore political and economic relations after a decade of all but frozen ties.

Israel and Turkey – an overwhelmingly Muslim nation that forms the bulwark of NATO defences on the edge of the Middle East – had only just agreed to reappoint ambassadors last year.

They were also resuming discussions on a US-backed natural gas pipeline project that could have formed the basis for much closer and more lasting cooperation in the coming years.

But their relations unravelled as Erdogan began to pick up the pace and venom of his attacks on Israel's retaliatory military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on October 7 during which they killed 1,400 people – mostly civilians – and seized more than 220 hostages.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza has said Israeli strikes have killed 7,703 people – also mainly civilians – with more than 3,500 of them children.

Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party staged a massive rally in Istanbul on Saturday that the president said drew a crowd of 1.5 million people.

"Israel, you are an occupier," he told the Turkish and Palestinian-flag waving sea of supporters.

He accused the Israel government of behaving like a "war criminal" and trying to "eradicate" Palestinians.

"Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case? There is no justice – just a vicious massacre happening in Gaza."

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen recalled all diplomatic staff from Turkey moments after Erdogan finished his remarks.

"Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey," he said in a statement.

'Crusade'

Israel had already ordered diplomatic staff out of Turkey and several other regional countries as a security precaution earlier this month.

A Turkish diplomatic source said all Israeli diplomats had left the country by October 19.

"It is difficult to understand whom Cohen had instructed to return," the Turkish diplomatic source said.

But Cohen's statement adds a new diplomatic dimension to the withdrawal.

It follows Erdogan's own announcement earlier this week that he was cancelling plans to visit Israel because of its "inhumane" war.

The sides' diplomatic relations are now in danger of falling to the lows they experienced when an Israeli raid on a Turkish ship carrying aid into Gaza killed 10 civilians in 2010.

Erdogan has been a leading international supporter of Palestinian rights during his two-decade rule.

Read moreQatar, Iran, Turkey and beyond: Hamas's network of allies

He told Saturday's rally that Israel was "a pawn in the region" that was being used by Western powers to stamp their authority on the Middle East.

"The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West," Erdogan declared.

And he accused Israel's allies of creating a "crusade war atmosphere" pitting Christians against Muslims.

"Listen to our call for dialogue," Erdogan said. "No one loses from a just peace."

Erdogan's address came in response to days of pro-Palestinian protests in Istanbul and other major cities organised by Turkey's more right-wing and Islamic conservative groups.

But one poll released this week showed the majority of respondents preferring to see Turkey remain either neutral or try to play a mediating role in the war.

The Metropoll survey showed 11.3 percent of the respondents saying they "back Hamas".

But 34.5 percent said Turkey should stay "neutral" and 26.4 percent said it should mediate.

Just 3.0 percent said they "support Israel".

(AFP)

‘Forever’: A home dedicated to the memory of Turkey’s founder


By AFP
October 26, 2023

'He have us the republic as a gift,' Mukkades Kokeralp Cirak says of Turkish founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - Copyright AFP ANTHONY WALLACE

Ozan KOSE

The clocks in pensioner Mukaddes Kokeralp Cirak’s house still show the moment modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in 1938.

So do the calendars and all sort of other trinkets dedicated to the man who built a brand new nation out of the Ottoman Empire’s ruins 100 years ago.

As Turkey celebrates its centenary Sunday, few places look as festive as Cirak’s two-story house, which she has turned into a museum dedicated to the “father of all Turks”.

“He gave us the republic as a gift,” the 85-year-old said in the northwestern city of Edirne, pointing to a statue of Ataturk seated in an armchair in her living room.

After a lifetime of hard work in Germany, the mother of two returned to Turkey in 1985. She began collecting objects related to Ataturk upon her husband’s death.

Cirak paid for some of the items and gathered others, such as calendars and notebooks featuring Ataturk that have been released by banks and even the army through the years.

Her house is now a living tribute to Ataturk, its walls and even facade and garden emblazoned with portraits, photos and other tributes to the one-time field marshal.

Her garage serves as a warehouse for all the photos she no longer has room to hang. She dusts them regularly.

Cirak said her passion came from her great-grandfather, whose family was close to Mustafa Kemal’s in Thessaloniki, a Greek port city that was once part of the Ottoman Empire where Ataturk was born.

The family met Turkey’s future hero when he was still an officer in the Ottoman army, where he was doing his military service.

Cirak never misses official commemorations ceremonies and frequently visits schools to talk about Ataturk with younger generations.

After her death, she wants her collection to be donated to a museum, for the benefit of Turkey and the rest of the world.

But she is worried about the political track the country has taken under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has reversed some of Ataturk’s secular reforms over his 20-year rule.

Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted party are overseeing relatively muted celebrations of the centenary, and Cirak fears that the Turkish leader is not paying her hero enough respect.

“I hope the republic will last forever, not just another century,” she said.

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DW

Stateless in Germany have hardly any rights

Oliver Pieper

DW
Oct. 28, 2023

The government wants to make naturalization easier with a new citizenship law. But for the 126,000 stateless people, nothing will change.

Christiana Bukalo was born in Germany, but is registered as stateless

Image: Dominik Morbitzer

For people like Christiana Bukalo, 29, born in Germany but stateless, everyday life can become a challenge at any time: Opening a bank account, booking a hotel, getting married, pursuing a career as a civil servant — you need an ID for everything. But which state will issue you a passport if you don't have any nationality at all?

"You don't have freedom to travel because a travel document is required. You have difficulties when it comes to getting a job," Bukalo told DW. "I know people who couldn't finish their studies because they would have had to show a birth certificate to take the exam at the end. Also, stateless people don't have the right to vote, even if they've always lived here."

Bukalo is the daughter of West African parents whose nationality could not be verified by German authorities. She is one of a growing number of stateless people living in Germany — currently some 126,000 people. Many of them are Palestinians, Kurds, or former citizens of the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia — states that no longer exist.

Christiana Bukalo is cofounder of the organization 'Statefree' catering to stateless people

Image: statefree.world

Bukalo learned from an early age what it means to have no nationality. "Even as a child, you get the message that you don't belong," she said. "That you're not supposed to stay here, but at the same time you can't leave either. It's very banal things that turn into a problem: Student exchanges, skiing trips abroad, none of that is possible. And of course, you have a great sense of shame, because you're asked to explain something that has never been explained to you."

'Statefree': A voice for stateless people

Two years ago, Bukalo decided to give stateless people a voice and founded the human rights organization "Statefree" in Munich. The goal was not only to inform the wider public, and to bring together those affected, but also to make demands on politicians.

"In Germany, we have an extreme reproduction of statelessness, as no way has been found to deal with stateless children who are born here," she said. "We demand that stateless children born in Germany have a right to German citizenship."

In Germany, it is the parentage that counts, not the place of birth. If the parents are stateless, so is their child. As a result, a third of all stateless people in Germany are children, though Bukalo also knows 65-year-olds who were born in Germany and are still stateless.

Statefree had high hopes for the new citizenship law proposed by the current center-left government of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), but the issue of statelessness has not appeared in any draft law so far.

German citizenship: What's changing?  03:28

A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said in response to a DW question: "The concerns of stateless people are already sufficiently taken into account in the citizenship law. In addition, the general regulations for acquiring German citizenship apply to stateless people, since stateless people are also foreigners in the sense of citizenship law."

Europe mulls deportations, not integration

The reform of the new citizenship law, which includes rapid naturalizations and incentives for skilled immigrants, comes at a time when the debate on migration is also at the top of Germany's political agenda.

Bukalo is not surprised that her campaign is not making much progress at present. "I explain this to myself on the one hand with the politicians' lack of knowledge about statelessness and on the other hand with the general political situation: The shift to the right in Europe," she said. "Germany's more progressive parties are having a hard time standing up for supposedly 'progressive' issues that have long been part of the status quo in countries like Spain or Portugal."

700, 000 stateless Rohingya refugees live in congested camps in Bangladesh

Image: DW

No uniform legal procedures

Judith Beyer, professor of ethnology at Konstanz University, has been researching statelessness since she came across the topic seven years ago on a research trip to Myanmar, where 700,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority were fleeing persecution. They now live in Bangladesh but are considered stateless under international law.

Beyer works as an expert witness in a UK court when stateless people are in asylum proceedings. "Statelessness is a problem that is really not yet in the public eye in Germany," she told DW.

Take the judiciary, for example: While in the UK experts like Beyer examine the life stories of stateless persons, and their expertise is incorporated into the final verdict on their status, in Germany the decision often rests solely with the judges.

There are also no standardized procedures in Germany for determining statelessness — it is up to municipal authorities, which means people in Munich sometimes get different decisions than they would in Hamburg or Cologne.

Judith Beyer is an ethnology professor who specializes in the issue of statelessness

Image: Inka Reiter

"The bottom line is that it depends on the individual who makes the decision," Beyer said. "That's what many stateless people keep complaining about: there is no legal certainty. Quite often it's not malicious intent at all, but simply a lack of knowledge about how to deal with stateless people."

Around 30,000 people in Germany like Bukalo have been officially recognized as stateless, which means they can apply for naturalization after six years of residency. But almost 100,000 individuals are categorized as persons with unclear nationality: Refugees who have no documents to prove their identity, such as the Rohingya who were expatriated from Bangladesh.

Being stateless is a violation of human rights, says SPD politician Sawsan Chebli. She was born in Berlin to stateless Palestinian parents and was not naturalized until she was 15. The ethnologist Beyer agrees: Stateless people are effectively denied the right to have any rights.

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.


Oliver Pieper Reporter on German politics and society, as well as South American affairs.