Friday, October 25, 2024

Kurdistan Workers' Party claims deadly Ankara attack

ONE MAN'S TERRORIST IS ANOTHER WOMAN'S ARMED STRUGGLE

The PKK has claimed responsibility for this week's attack on Turkish defense firm TUSAS that killed five people in Ankara, the militant group said in a statement.


Turkish President Erdogan has condemned the 'cowardly' attack
Image: AP/picture alliance

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Friday claimed an attack on a state-run Turkish defense firm in Ankara that killed five people and wounded 22 others earlier this week.

Two assailants carried out Wednesday's onslaught with automatic rifles and explosives on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in the Turkish capital.

"The act of sacrifice at TAI campus in Ankara at around 15:30 local time on Wednesday was carried out by a team of the immortals battalion" of the PKK, it said on Telegram, referring to Turkish Aerospace Industries.

Previously, the Turkish government had said it had proof the PKK was responsible while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack targeted "the survival of our country."

Turkey responds by striking PKK targets

A few hours after Wednesday's assault, the Turkish government launched airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq and Syria. The PKK has its headquarters in the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq.

The group has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is regarded as a terror group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Turkey blames Kurdish group for attack on defense firm  01:54


In 2011 President Erdogan supported backchannel peace efforts in a bid to resolve the issue but the fragile truce collapsed in 2015 in a fresh round of violence.

This prompted Erdogan's AKP government along with its junior partner, the far-right MHP, to change tack, ramping up military pressure on the Kurdish rebels.

jsi/wd (AFP, dpa, Reuters)


Turkey: Burials before possible talks with jailed PKK leader


Turkey has said it struck numerous PKK cells in response to a Wednesday terror attack in Ankara. 

Meanwhile, a deal could be in the works to free PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan if he vows to disband the group.



Victims of Wednesday's attack in Ankara were being buried as Turkish forces pummeled PKK sites in Syria and IraqImage: Adem Altan/AFP

Turkish officials attended the burials of five people killed in a terror attack Wednesday as Ankara responded by bombing numerous targets hours later.

At the same time, there are indications that jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan may be willing to renounce violence against the Turkish state and disband his organization.

The Wednesday attack targeted state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), killing five and injuring 22. Officials claimed it was "very likely” that the PKK was behind the incident.

Turkey announced that its forces had hit "47 terrorist targets” in Syria and Iraq overnight and pledged more attacks would follow.

Turkey, the EU and the US all label the PKK a terrorist organization.

Speaking from the BRICS summit in Russia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday's attack had only "strengthened Turkey's determination and resolve to eliminate terrorism."


Ocalan ready for a change after 25 years of solitary confinement?


All of this has played out against the backdrop of possible talks between Ankara and the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan, who co-founded the group, has been in solitary confinement at Istanbul's Imrali island prison since 1999.

On Tuesday, Devlet Bahceli, an ally of Erdogan and the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), suggested possible parole for Ocalan if he would renounce violence and disband the PKK.

Ocalan is serving a life sentence and was granted his first visit in more than four years this week.

After the visit, Ocalan's nephew Omer, a lawyer for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equity and Democracy Party (DEM) — the third largest party in Turkey's parliament — said his uncle was "in good health."

He also reported that Ocalan had given him a message, saying, "if conditions allow, I have the necessary theoretical and practical power to shift this process from the arena of conflict and violence to one of law and politics."

Media sources close to the government reported Ocalan as saying that he was, "ready to lay down his arms."

The DEM, whose support Erdogan needs if he is to see through his plan to change the Turkish constitution to allow himself to remain in power indefinitely, condemned Wednesday's attack, pointing out that it had come at a time when, "Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue."

The most recent attempt at peace talks between the two sides failed in 2015, opening a bloody new chapter in a conflict that began in 1984.

The fight to establish an autonomous Kurdish state has claimed tens of thousands of lives since it began 40 years ago.



js/lo (AFP, dpa, Reuters)



Turkey buries attack victims after striking PKK

Ankara (AFP) – Turkey said it had proof that PKK militants were behind the deadly Ankara attack that claimed the lives of five people who were laid to rest Thursday after an emotional farewell.
The coffin of Murat Arslan, the taxi driver killed in Wednesday's attack, was carried by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, left, and parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus 
© Adem ALTAN / AFP

Wednesday's shooting attack at the state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) came after days in which the government appeared to be leaning towards a resumption of dialogue with Kurdish militants.

After government ministers said they were "very likely" responsible, the military pounded PKK targets in Syria and Iraq overnight in raids that Kurdish militants in Syria said left 12 civilians dead.

And on Thursday investigators confirmed that both attackers, a man and a woman, were "PKK terrorists", Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.

Both appeared in CCTV images posted on X in which they are seen emerging from a taxi then firing assault rifles before entering the building in an attack that killed five and wounded 22 others.

Family members mourn the death of taxi driver Murat Arslan who was killed during Wednesday's attack on the TAI defence firm © Adem ALTAN / AFP

After flying in from Russia where he had attended the BRICS summit of major emerging economy nations, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired a security meeting at Istanbul's old Ataturk airport.

There he was briefed by top diplomat Hakan Fidan, spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, the defence and interior ministers, the army chief, the head of Turkey's state Defence Industry Agency and top officials from his ruling AK party, the Anadolou news agency reported.

After a day in which the victims were laid to rest following mournful ceremonies, many attended by government representatives, Turkey appeared to be planning a tough response.

Security stepped up

With 14 of the 22 wounded still in hospital, security measures were stepped up at Istanbul's two international airports.

Overnight, the military struck "47 terrorist targets" in Syria and northern Iraq, the defence ministry said, claiming to have killed "59 terrorists" including two in senior positions.

Five people were killed in the attack, with taxi driver Murat Arslan shot dead by the attackers who stole his vehicle © Adem ALTAN / AFP

Kurdish sources in northern Syria said the strikes had killed 12 civilians and wounded 25 others.

The attack struck amid growing signs of a political thaw between Ankara and Kurdish militants.

Just hours before the attack, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan -- who has been jailed on a Turkish prison island in solitary confinement since 1999 -- received his first family visit in years.

His nephew, Omer Ocalan, a lawmaker for the main pro-Kurdish DEM party, confirmed the visit on X, saying the family had last seen him "on March 3, 2020".

The only other contact was a brief phone call in March 2021.
Earlier this month, demonstrators protested against the ongoing isolation of PKK head Abdullah Ocalan, who has been languishing in solitary confinement since 1999 © Ilyas AKENGIN / AFP/File

His uncle was "in good health" and had sent a message, saying: "If the conditions allow, I have the theoretical and practical power to shift this process from an arena of conflict and violence to one of law and politics."

Abdulkadir Selvi, a columnist for the Hurriyet daily which is close to the government, said the meeting lasted two hours and that "Ocalan said he was ready to lay down his arms."

The visit came a day after Devlet Bahceli, head of the far-right MHP, which is close to Erdogan and fiercely hostile to the PKK, sparked shockwaves by inviting Ocalan to parliament to renounce terror and dissolve his movement.

DEM -- the third largest party in parliament -- said it was "noteworthy" that the TAI attack happened "just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue".

Arrested on February 15, 1999 in Kenya by Turkish security forces after years on the run, Ocalan was brought back and tried but escaped execution after Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004.

He has since lived in an isolation cell on Imrali prison island in the Sea of Marmara, turning 75 in April.

For many Kurds, Abdullah Ocalan is a hero © MICHEL GANGNE / AFP/File

In 1978 he founded the PKK which went on to spearhead a brutal insurgency that has killed tens of thousands in its fight for independence.

He first called for dialogue and a ceasefire in 2012 and again in 2013, before the bloody conflict resumed in 2015.

© 2024 AFP

Turkiye buries attack victims after striking PKK in Iraq, Syria

AFP Published October 25, 2024 
ANKARA: Family members and relatives mourn next to the coffins of people who were killed in an attack on the state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries building, on Thursday. Turkish forces struck PKK militants in Iraq and Syria, whom Ankara blamed for Wednesday’s assault that killed five people and injured 22 others.—AFP

• Kurdish sources claim strikes killed 12 civilians, wounded 25 others

• Erdogan says Ankara attack ‘further strengthens resolve to eliminate terrorism’

ANKARA: The first Ankara attack victims were being buried on Thursday, just hours after Turkiye struck PKK militants in Iraq and Syria whom it blames for the assault on a defence firm that killed five.

As the dust settled after Wednesday’s deadly att­ack on the state-run Tur­kish Aerospace Industries (TAI) that also left 22 injured, Turkiye pointed the finger at Kurdish militants as “very likely” responsible.

Turkish investigators said both attackers were “PKK terrorists”, identifying them as a man called Ali Orek, codename “Rojger”, and a woman called Mine Sevjin Alcicek, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.



Both appeared in CCTV images posted on X in which they are seen emerging from a taxi then firing assault rifles before entering the building.

The taxi driver, whom they killed, was buried on Thursday at a funeral attended by Yerlikaya and parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus.

Of the 22 people hurt in the attack, eight had been discharged, while the other 14 remained in hospital, Turkiye’s health ministry said.

Security stepped up

Istanbul’s two main airports have since stepped up security, the DHA news agency and private NTV channel reported.

Sabiha Gokcen airport, which is located on the Asian side of the city, told passengers to arrive “at least three hours” early to avoid delays due to increased security.

Overnight, the defence ministry said the military struck “47 terrorist targets” in Syria and northern Iraq and pledged the raids would continue. Kurdish sources in northern Syria said the strikes had killed 12 civilians and wounded 25 others.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Russia attending the BRICS summit of major emerging economy nations, said the attack had “further strengthened Turkiye’s determination and resolve to eliminate terrorism”.

The attack happened amid growing signs of a political thaw between Ankara and Kurdish militants.

Just hours beforehand, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan — who has been jailed on a Turkish prison island in solitary confinement since 1999 — received his first family visit in years.

Ready to lay down arms?

His nephew, Omer Ocalan, who is a lawmaker for the main pro-Kurdish DEM party, confirmed the visit on X, and said the family had last seen him “on March 3, 2020”. The only other contact was a brief phone call in March 2021.

His uncle was “in good health” and had sent a message about the ongoing “political developments”, saying: “If the conditions allow, I have the necessary theoretical and practical power to shift this process from an arena of conflict and violence to one of law and politics.”


According to Abdul­kadir Selvi, a columnist for the Hurriyet daily which is close to the government, during the two-hour meeting “Ocalan said he was ready to lay down his arms”.

On Tuesday, Devlet Bahceli, head of the far-right MHP, which is fiercely hostile to the PKK and belongs to Erdogan’s ruling coalition, sparked shockwaves by inviting Ocalan to parliament to renounce terror and dissolve his movement.

After the attack, DEM — the third largest party in parliament — condemned the violence but said it was “noteworthy” it happened “just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of di
alogue”.

Arrested on February 15, 1999 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi following a Hollywood-style operation by Turkish security forces after years on the run, Ocalan was brought to Turkiye for trial and sentenced to death.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024



At least a dozen civilians killed in Turkish strikes, says Kurdish-led Syria force

At least 12 civilians were killed in Turkish air strikes in northeastern Syria on Thursday, according to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The attack comes a day after Turkey launched air strikes on Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, blaming them for an attack that killed five people at a defence firm near Ankara.


Issued on: 24/10/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES
Turkish police officers secure part of a main road in Kahramankazan, about 40 kilometres north of Ankara, on October 23, 2024. 
© Adem Altan, AFP


The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Thursday that Turkish air strikes killed 12 civilians in northeastern Syria, following a deadly attack on a defence firm near Ankara.

"Over the past hours... a new wave of (Turkish) attacks on northern and eastern Syria" killed "12 civilians, including two children", and wounded 25 others, a statement from the US-backed force said.

"In addition to populated areas, Turkish warplanes and UAVs (drones) targeted bakeries, power stations, oil facilities and (Kurdish) Internal Security Force checkpoints," the statement added, also reporting Turkish shelling.

Turkey launched air strikes on Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria Wednesday blaming them for an attack that killed five people at a defence firm near Ankara.

A further 22 people were wounded in the attack, which the government said was "very likely" carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Hours later, "an air operation was carried out against terrorist targets in the north of Iraq and Syria," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"A total of 32 targets belonging to the terrorists were successfully destroyed."

The US-backed SDF spearheaded the campaign that dislodged Islamic State group jihadists from their last scraps of Syrian territory in 2019.

Turkey sees the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the PKK.

Turkish troops and allied rebel factions control swathes of northern Syria following successive cross-border offensives since 2016, most of them targeting the SDF.

(AFP)

DEM Party Headquarters in Ankara attacked

The DEM Party Headquarters in Ankara was attacked last night.



ANF
ANKARA
Friday, 25 October 2024, 

The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Headquarters building in Ankara was attacked last night.

DEM Party Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan wrote on her social media: "Our DEM Party Headquarters in Balgat, one of the busiest neighborhoods of Ankara, where many political parties have their headquarters, was attacked at midnight on Thursday."

Doğan added: "As seen in the photos, the doors and windows were broken, and an attempt was made to take down our sign. We reiterate that this poor mentality that seeks provocations cannot intimidate or stop us. We call on the Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya to quickly take action to take the necessary precautions and to identify the attackers."


DEM Party calls for immediate halt to Turkish air strikes on Northern and Eastern Syria

The DEM Party called for an immediate halt to Turkish air strikes on the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria: "Military operations against civilians violate international law."



ANF
ANKARA
Thursday, 24 October 2024, 13:07

The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) called for an immediate halt to Turkish attacks on the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria.

The party executive's statement said: "The air strikes launched after the attack on the TUSAŞ compound in Ankara-Kahramankazan will only exacerbate the violence in the region. The bombing of many centers in Northern and Eastern Syria, especially in Kobanê, is endangering the lives of civilians. The devastating effects of the war could be catastrophic for all parties in the region. Military operations targeting civilians also violate international law. The continuation of war and conflict will only cause more suffering and losses. We appeal to all parties to work for dialogue and peaceful solutions. The bombing of civilian habitats must stop immediately."

Turkey targets wheat warehouse in Kobanê, injures workers

The Turkish state targeted a wheat warehouse in Kobanê. Many workers were injured.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Friday, 25 October 2024, 

The occupying Turkish state bombed a wheat warehouse in the village of Rovî in Kobanê.

It was reported that many workers were injured, one seriously, in the attack carried out by unmanned armed aerial vehicles.

KDC-F: Stop Turkish state bombing of civilians in Rojava




ANF
PARIS
Thursday, 24 October 2024, 17:42


The Kurdish Democratic Council in France (KDC-F) issued a statement in which it "strongly condemns the deadly bombings carried out by the Turkish army in northern Syria, which have caused, according to initial reports, the death of more than 12 civilians, including children, and injured more than 25 other people. These bombings, which occurred after the attack on the headquarters of Turkey's defense industries near Ankara, are not only unjustified, but also constitute flagrant war crimes."

The KDC-F added: "By targeting villages, civilian infrastructure and populated areas, Turkey is once again demonstrating its determination to break the legitimate resistance of the Kurdish people. These barbaric acts, which blindly strike children and civilians, reveal the Turkish government's war strategy of eradication."

The statement continued "We denounce this unacceptable violence, which violates international law and humanitarian conventions. The KDC-F calls on the international community, as well as France and the International Coalition, to assume their responsibilities by intervening to put an end to these massacres and protect civilian populations."

The KDC-F said that on Saturday, demonstrations will be organized throughout France, particularly in Paris, to denounce these bombings and express our solidarity with the victims and the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish organization called "on French civil society to mobilize against these repeated attacks and to stand alongside the Kurdish people in their struggle for peace, justice and dignity."

Under the sea


Many scientists believe that the real unexplored frontier lies deep in the oceans.

Published October 23, 2024
DAWN

WHEN people think of unexplored frontiers these days, they tend to think of other planets and the universe at large. Space exploration, including successful missions to Mars, have led many to believe that in a couple of generations from now, travel to the moon and Mars will not only be possible but also quite easily achieved.

If you speak to oceanographers, however, they will tell you that the real unexplored frontier is not beyond the heavens but under the sea. The depths of the ocean, they assert, have more secrets and possibilities than moons and planets. Maybe, there is some truth to their assertions, given that oceanographers say that a paltry 20 per cent of the ocean has been mapped.

One expedition in the Atlantic Ocean has found a real ‘lost city’ beneath the waves and oceanographers say that it is teeming with marine life. While this city is not some lost human civilisation its description is still awe-inspiring. The towering landscape of this marine city is located near the mid-Atlantic Ridge and consists of massive walls, columns and monoliths of more than 60 metres. Many of the white spires spew hydrogen or methane gas into the surrounding water. These, in turn, are believed to provide fuel to trillions of microbes living in the city.

Such a world’s existence under the sea is beyond the limits of imagination. This city, along with its rock walls and rich marine life, is said to be over 120,000 years old — an indescribably long period of time. But even this marine ecosystem is a blip considering that our planet and life on it is believed to be around four billion years old. Scientists have become fascinated with studying microbes and the ecosystem in this undersea city, because it is an example of how organisms can survive without oxygen. Scientists think that such an undersea ecosystem might provide clues as to the possibility of life in space.

Many scientists believe that the real unexplored frontier lies deep in the oceans.

It may take a while before scientists can establish what nutrients the microbes in the lost city are scrounging around for. The lost city might provide clues as to how life may be possible in extreme conditions. As humans we rely on oxygen to survive, and the exploration of new frontiers has thus been guided by the search for nutrients and gases that we consider necessary for our own survival. However, in this ecosystem, scientists hypothesise that the swirling waters could generate favourable conditions for life.

An interesting report in the New York Times, a couple of months ago, focuses on the oceanic exploration. It refers to the journal Science, which published a report about a 30-member expedition that had managed to drill deep into the lost city to access a vast expanse of rare rocky material, which may support the work of scientists who believe that life began under the ocean and through basic microbes that survive in inhospitable underwater conditions. The large amount of rocky material will lead to systematic scientific studies that can help us understand processes integral to the origin of life on Earth.

This particular expedition — named the ‘Building Blocks of Life — drilled into a rocky seabed located at a distance of 2,250 kilometres from Bermuda. According to the NYT, “Its tallest spire rivals a 20-storey building.” It was due to the efforts of an international consortium of 20 countries that made the exploration possible — an example in global cooperation that could be replicated to solve other scientific puzzles.

The conseque­n­­ce of such scientific discoveries can tra­nsform human bei­ngs’ understanding of themselves and of life on Earth. The story of tiny organisms surviving on almost nothing links up with the unknown frontiers of life. Just like it felt impossible that any kind of life would exist in the mega depths of the ocean, so it had seemed that life would be impossible in the depths of space.

Delving deep into these little understood frontiers of exploration inevitably makes one aware of the small fraction of time in which human beings have existed on Earth. The idea of billions of years in which microbial life existed on our own opens up questions about where planets and moons that seem austere and lifeless really are in their life cycle. When we do not see life on the surface of planets or moons in a form that we are familiar with, it does not mean that there isn’t any life at all.

The seeming emptiness of new frontiers could mean simply that life is in a long state of gestation — a period that lasts millions of years here on Earth.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.

rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 23th, 2024
PAKISTAN

HATE CRIME

Three held for killing transgender persons in Mardan

A Correspondent Published October 25, 2024 Updated about 2 hours ago

MARDAN: The police here the other day claimed to have arrested the suspected killers of two transgender persons.

Two transgender persons were stabbed to death on Monday inside their rented residential quarter located near the police lines here.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference, District Police Officer Zahoor Afridi said that they had arrested three suspects in the double murder case.

After the occurrence of the incident, he said he had immediately constituted a team consisting of Superintendent of Police (SP) investigations Nisar Khan, City SP Shafiur Rahman, City Deputy Superintendent of Police Ijaz Khan, and Station House Officer Abdul Salam Khan to trace the perpetrators.

He said the police team used advanced forensic methods and human intelligence to identify and apprehend three suspects.

The accused were identified as Ziauddin, Mohammad Rehman, and Adnan Khan, who had confessed to their crime, he said.

The DPO said investigation was underway to know the motive behind the double murder.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024
'Fake news' of Pakistan rape ignites real protest movement

Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – For Pakistani police, reports of a college campus rape that went viral this month are "fake news" fomenting unrest. For protesting students, the social media posts offer a rare public reckoning with sexual assault.

Pakistani students holding placards shout slogans this week at a march protesting the alleged rape of a woman student in Lahore
 © Arif ALI / AFP

But as the clashing accounts have spilled from the internet and onto the streets, both sides agree the case has ignited a tinderbox of legitimate fears.

"Girls who go to campuses definitely feel threatened," 21-year-old Khadija Shabbir told AFP at a Monday protest in eastern Lahore city that was swiftly dismantled by authorities.

Senior officer Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi is charged with probing the case police insist has been conjured from unverifiable online rumours.

But she admits it has struck a real chord on the issue of harassment in Pakistan, a patriarchal country where open discussion of abuse is taboo.


"All of us somewhere have experienced it," she says. "It's an extremely sensitive subject."
'Deep-rooted frustration'
'All of us somewhere have experienced it," Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, a senior Pakistani police officer, said of harassment © Amna YASEEN / AFP

It began earlier this month with a swirl of social media posts alleging a staff member had raped a woman in the basement of a Punjab College campus in Lahore.

When police and local media were unable to trace a victim, the local government and school administration dismissed the claims as a hoax.

But student protests broke out last Monday, escalating into unrest in Lahore and other cities later in the week that led to the arrests of at least 380 people over vandalism and arson.

Educational institutes were shut across Punjab province last Friday -- when protests are generally staged after prayers -- and political gatherings were banned for two days, although officials gave no reason.

As a result, about 26 million children were out of school as well as many more university and college students in the country's most populous province.

But students, banned from officially organising in unions for the past four decades, have continued to come out this week.

"I haven't seen it grow into a movement like this or this sort of anger or reaction from them before," said Fatima Razzaq, a member of the Aurat March women's rights group.

The Punjab government has a women-only police emergency line where they report receiving 1,300 calls daily from women concerned about their safety.

Fatima Razzaq, a member of the Aurat March women's rights group, told AFP she's not previously seen the level of anger generated by the Lahore rape allegation
 © Amna YASEEN / AFP

But with 80 percent of women saying they have been harassed in public places, according to the UN, there is little trust that authorities take the matter seriously.

Razzaq said "a deep-rooted frustration" is surfacing as a result.

While protesters' opinions vary about the veracity of the rape claim that has sparked the movement, many cite their own experience as more pivotal in their decision to turn out.

"A girl I know in my university committed suicide because she was being harassed," student Amna Nazar told AFP.

"My professor keeps asking me out and calling me to his office," said another University of the Punjab student, asking to remain anonymous. "This is something I do not want to do."

On the campus where the crime is alleged to have happened, activists painted the walls with red hand prints and demands of "justice for the rape victim". But it was quickly painted over.

"If we go and complain about an incident, we are told that nothing happened and we should stop talking about it," said one female student at another university.

- Dissent and distrust -
Online chat groups created to mobilise protesters have disappeared 
© Arif ALI / AFP

Lahore's High Court has announced a new committee of judges to investigate campus sexual harassment, indicating authorities are conceding the protests have a point.

But the face-off between students and police is taking place amid a broader crackdown on dissent from political and ethnic activists across Pakistan.

Student social media pages and online chat groups created to mobilise protestors have disappeared and officials have pledged that those spreading misinformation will be prosecuted.

Naqvi -- the police officer -- said there was "less tendency of people to believe somebody in uniform" and that the confrontation had spiralled into the "state versus the students".

Meanwhile, the women whose experiences with harassment have placed them at the centre of the movement are finding themselves sidelined as the protests spill into violence often led by men.

As crowds of male students threw rocks at police in the city of Rawalpindi last week, officers returned fire with rubber bullets, and women fearing for their safety cowered away in side-streets.

Nevertheless, 19-year-old female student Inshai said: "We are standing up for our rights".

© 2024 AFP

Digital Pied Pipers of Pakistan

Shaukat Ahmed 
Published October 25, 2024
DAWN


FOR years, Pakistan felt more like a cherished memory of childhood and adolescent travels than a living reality, its struggles and triumphs observed from afar.

Preoccupied with our own lives in distant lands, it’s easy to feel disconnected. Two years ago, guilted by family and friends as well as a yearning to bridge this chasm, I embarked on a journey to reconnect with my ancestral homeland. My first instinct was to turn to mainstream media, expecting it to serve as a window into the nation’s current affairs.

The media landscape I encountered resembled a circus of sensationalism and political pandering, subject to the whim of editorial agendas and the capricious tides of public opinion. A constant diet of political intrigue and impending doom kept viewers glued to their screens, translating into a steady flow of advertising revenue. TV anchors, enamoured of the sound of their own dulcet tones, held court nightly, with an ever-expanding army of self-proclaimed ‘Senior Analysts’.

I wondered how every analyst was a Senior Analyst. Had they sprouted fully formed from the earth, armed with an inflated sense of their own significance, the tireless persistence of a broken record, and an uncanny ability to pander to whichever political deity they had chosen to worship? Their most distinctive trait was a penchant for painting with only two colours: the pitch black of vilification or the blinding white of glorification, depending on the narrative du jour.






Disillusioned but undeterred, I turned to social media, signing up for a new Twitter account to create a digital vantage point for observing Pakistan, promising real-time updates and unfiltered perspectives. I did not have too many followers, nor did I want them. Having always been a social media absentee by choice, valuing privacy over online presence, I preferred to observe rather than participate. But if traditional media was a disappointment, social media was a shock to the system. I found myself in a digital battlefield where fake news, vitriol, and extremism reigned supreme. Any attempt at rational discourse or critique would unleash a horde of digital foot soldiers, their responses devoid of substance but overflowing with obscenities and derogatory slurs.

Coexisting in this ecosystem, I encountered another peculiar breed of online denizens: the devoted followers. Keyboard acolytes, existing in a perpetual state of rapture, showered their chosen leaders with endless praise. Their timelines swarmed with reverential video clips set to emotive musical scores, featuring their idols engaged in such riveting activities as strolling or entering rooms. Perhaps, in Pakistan, the ability to ambulate with gravitas was now considered a qualification for leadership.

Is this the legacy we’re leaving for the country’s largest demographic?

As I delved deeper into this digital realm, a disturbing reality became obvious. The cacophony of voices, whether spewing vitriol or singing praises, seemed orchestrated by unseen hands. In this realm of bytes and pixels, modern-day Pied Pipers had woven a digital spell, leading Pakistan’s youth not to the promise of a brighter future, but down a rabbit hole of toxicity and division.

This tale unfolds to this day not in the quaint streets of Hamelin, but across the vast expanse of Pakistan’s social media platforms and messaging apps. The youth of Pakistan, tech-savvy and eager for change, have become pawns in a grand, cynical power struggle. Conscripted as foot soldiers, they find themselves embroiled in a battle that neither serves nor spares them. Demagogues and zealots, emerging from an old guard that has failed the nation for more than seven decades with their recycled strategies, have repurposed these young minds with sinister brilliance into what they proudly call ‘keyboard warriors’.

Their calculus is ruthless: the more adverse and chaotic things become for their rivals, the stronger their own grip on power, or the better their chances of riding a wave of discontent back into office. But these digital foot soldiers are no warriors; they are unwitting conduits for deceit, hate, and division.

Watching this digital dystopia unfold, I can’t help but wonder: is this the legacy we’re leaving for Pakistan’s largest demographic? Nurturing a generation stripped of civility, fuelled by anger, and devoid of the critical thinking necessary for true national progress? The tragedy of this digital devolution is magnified when we consider the untapped potential it plunders.

The very devices wielded as weapons of online warfare carry within them the seeds of revolutionary change. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak birthed Apple in a garage with less computing power than most Pakistani youth hold in their hands today. Jeff Bezos began Amazon’s journey selling books from his home and car. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook from a dorm room. Today, the tech giants born from such humble beginnings have a combined market capitalisation larger than the GDP of ‘every’ country in the world except the US and China; a profound reminder of what can be achieved when young minds are channelled towards creation rather than destruction.

Pakistan doesn’t need a miraculous discovery of oil reserves to change its destiny. The true ‘black gold’ of the 21st century isn’t buried in the depths of the earth or hidden beneath vast oceans. Instead, it pulses through circuits and flows in streams of code. This digital oil field, infinitely renewable and boundlessly powerful is the new currency of global power.

Are Pakistan’s youth less talented, creative, or driven than their counterparts who have changed the world? The answer is a resounding no. What they lack is not ability, but direction and purpose. Our youth are as capable of coding the next revolutionary app as they are of crafting viral tweets. They possess the same potential to pioneer groundbreaking startups as they do to lead digital lynch mobs.

Beguiled and marching to the tune of digital Pied Pipers, Pakistan’s youth, wage online wars of attrition, unknowingly holding in their hands the tools that could remake their nation’s future. Instead of crafting the next world-changing tech or pioneering a paradigm shift, the potential for innovation, for driving economic growth and social change, is being squandered away in 280-character bursts of anger, abuse and lies.

The writer is an entrepreneur based in the US and UK.
sar@aya.yale.edu
X: @viewpointsar

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024

Barclays profits rise on UK, investment banking gains

London (AFP) – British bank Barclays on Thursday said its net profit jumped almost a quarter in the third quarter, helped by improved performance at its core UK and investment divisions alongside cost-cutting.

Barclays in February outlined plans to slash £2 billion in costs over the coming years, having axed 5,000 jobs in 2023 
© Adrian DENNIS / AFP/File

Profit after tax climbed 23 percent to nearly £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) in the three months to the end of September compared with one year earlier, Barclays said in a statement.

"We continue to exercise cost discipline and remain well capitalised," said Barclays chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan.

Barclays in February outlined plans to slash £2 billion in costs over the coming years, having axed 5,000 jobs in 2023.

The bank remains on course to complete next week its takeover of the banking arm of British supermarket giant Tesco.

"The acquisition of Tesco Bank... forms part of our commitment to invest in the UK," Venkatakrishnan added Thursday.

Net profit at Barclays UK jumped 17 percent in the third quarter and by 12 percent at its investment banking division.

Shares in Barclays jumped 3.6 percent at the start of trading following the results update.

"Barclays is a multi-headed beast, and these numbers underline once more the strength of its diversified model," noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at trading group Interactive Investor.

Barclays is the second of Britain's four major banks to report in the current earnings season.

Lloyds Banking Group on Wednesday revealed a drop in net profits as interest rates fall around the world, adding that performance in the first nine months was impacted also by higher costs.

NatWest publishes its latest earnings Friday followed by HSBC on Tuesday.

© 2024 AFP
AI and digitalisation to eliminate 9,000 jobs at Intesa Sanpaolo

Milan (Italy) (AFP) – Italy's leading bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has reached a deal with trade unions for 9,000 voluntary job cuts -- around 10 percent of its workforce -- due to the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation.


At the same time, the bank plans to hire by mid-2028 some 3,500 young new employees to work in wealth management, it said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The plan "aims at enabling generational change at no social cost" and the "further strengthening of future sustainability of the Group's results... with a resilient business model in the digitalisation and artificial intelligence scenario", Intesa Sanpaolo said.

The changes should lead to 500 million euros ($540 million) of savings annually on staff costs from 2028.

Some 7,000 of the job cuts are to fall in Italy and the rest in international units.


The bank said it would take a 350-million-euro charge against fourth quarter earnings to finance the departures but that the provisions would not affect its guidance for a net profit above 8.5 billion euros in 2024.

Intesa Sanpaolo shares were flat in midday trading in Milan.

© 2024 AFP
Ireland fines LinkedIn 310 mn euros over EU data breach

Dublin (AFP) – An Irish regulator helping to police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had fined professional networking platform LinkedIn 310 million euros ($335 million) over breaching users’ personal data for targeted advertising.

LinkedIn was ordered to bring its processing into compliance with the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation, launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches © Martin BUREAU / AFP/File

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) issued the Microsoft-owned website its first EU fine saying "the consent obtained by LinkedIn was not given freely".

Targeted advertising provides tailored ads to users based on their personal information.

Regulators around the world, especially the EU, have been trying for years to regulate tech giants when it comes to data protection and other matters, notably unfair competition.

The DPC told AFP it has given LinkedIn three months to bring its processing into compliance with the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches.


"The processing of personal data without an appropriate legal basis is a clear and serious violation of a data subjects’ fundamental right to data protection," said Graham Doyle, DPC head of communications.

LinkedIn said in a statement Thursday that while it believed it has "been in compliance with" GDPR, the group is "working to ensure" its practices meet the decision.
Tech fines

Ireland is home to the European headquarters of several tech giants including Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook-parent Meta.

In 2018, a French association which defends internet users against digital surveillance by tech giants or states -- "La Quadrature du Net" -- filed five collective complaints against LinkedIn but also Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, accusing them of illegally exploiting the personal data of their users without their consent.

The complaints, which at the time included the names of nearly 12,000 people, were initially filed to CNIL, the French data protection agency, before being transferred to the Irish regulator.

In a statement Thursday, La Quadrature du Net welcomed the decision but said the amount of time the regulator took to issue the fine was a "sign of failures in the European system".

The Irish regulator has imposed a number of big fines against tech companies as the EU seeks to rein in big tech firms over privacy, competition, disinformation and taxation.

In September, it fined Meta 91 million euros for failing to put in place appropriate security measures to protect users’ password data and for taking too long to alert the regulator of the issue.

It came after the European Commission scored two major legal victories in separate cases that left Apple and Google owing billions of euros.

At the same time, an EU court scrapped a 1.49-billion euro fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.

In the United States, the US Consumer Protection Agency last year ordered Microsoft to pay $20 million to settle lawsuits for collecting personal data from minors registered on the Xbox console's online gaming platform, without informing their parents.

© 2024 AFP
Google urged to step up efforts to demonetize climate falsehoods

Washington (AFP) – Civil society groups implored Google on Thursday to rigorously enforce its policy to demonetize environmental disinformation, saying ads placed alongside climate denial content persistently popped up despite the tech titan's pledge to crack down.

Environmentalists are urging Google to crackdown on climate denialism.
 © JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP


The open letter, addressed to Google chief Sundar Pichai and endorsed by thousands of signatories, comes in the wake of major hurricanes in the United States sparking an avalanche of disinformation and just weeks before the UN COP29 climate summit.

In 2021, Google announced a policy prohibiting ads alongside content that denied the existence and causes of climate change, seeking to ensure disinformation peddlers cannot monetize its influential platforms, including YouTube.

But the letter from a dozen groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists and tech watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the ads have not stopped.

"We are urging Google to enforce the policy thoroughly and immediately to ensure it is credible, as we see climate change adversely affecting communities right now," the letter said.

While Google has demonetized some content by the Heartland Institute, a conservative US think tank, watchdogs have continued to find ads alongside its misleading climate messaging on YouTube, the letter said.

It urged Google to "immediately and permanently demonetize Heartland Institute" as well as other outlets that spread climate disinformation.

Nonprofit watchdog Check My Ads, which also signed the letter, said in a report last month that ad exchanges helped three conservative websites, including The Epoch Times, to profit from climate denialism.

Last month, another investigation by the campaign group Global Witness estimated that The Epoch Times generated around $1.5 million in combined revenue for Google and the website owners over the past year.

YouTube has also allowed the monetization of climate denial content peddled by influencers on the payroll of a Russian influence campaign, the environmental group Friends of the Earth said in a report last month.

"Google ads are directly contributing to the spread of outright lies about our planet's changing climate –- with dire impacts," the letter said.

Google did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

The groups behind the letter said they have requested a meeting with Google's trust and safety team to discuss the violations of its demonetization policy and were waiting to hear back.

The letter follows destructive hurricanes that slammed the United States in recent weeks, triggering a torrent of misinformation that officials said hampered relief efforts.

The COP29 summit is set to start November 11 in oil-and-gas-rich Azerbaijan, where nearly 200 nations will gather in the hope of reaching a deal to boost financial assistance to help developing countries adapt to global warming.

© 2024 AFP
American Airlines reports loss on costs from new labor contract

BULLSHIT

New York (AFP) – American Airlines reported a loss Thursday on costs connected to a new labor contract, but described travel demand as solid as it lifted its full-year earnings forecast.

American Airlines reported a third-quarter loss, but said efforts to restore bookings programs with travel agencies are on track 
© JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

The big US carrier reported a third-quarter loss of $149 million. Revenues edged up one percent to $13.7 billion.

The results were dragged lower by one-time costs of more than $500 million due to the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement with flight attendants.

American Airlines executives said the company was benefitting from an improving pricing environment for carriers after airlines trimmed US plane capacity to address a glut of seats earlier in the year.

A large amount of unsold seats is a boon for consumers who can purchase lower fares but represents a problem for airlines seeking to maximize profits.

"Demand for American's product remains strong," said American Airlines Chief Executive Robert Isom on a conference call with analysts.

Isom said the company has also made progress in restoring programs with travel managers and corporate programs after suffering lost revenue from a failed attempt at direct bookings.

In May, American ousted an executive responsible for the revamp and said it would pivot back to its traditional system.

In a press release, Isom said the company had taken "aggressive action" to right the booking operation.

"We have heard great feedback from travel agencies and corporate customers as we work to rebuild the foundation of our commercial strategy and make it easy for customers to do business with American," Isom said.

American lifted its full-year profit forecast to between $1.35 and $1.60 per share, compared with the earlier range of 70 cents to $1.30 per share.

Shares rose 4.4 percent in early trading.

© 2024 AFP
Mangrove-planting project to hold flooding at bay in Sierra Leone

Issued on: 24/10/2024


Video by: 
Caitlin KELLY

Over the past few decades in Sierra Leone, thousands of acres of mangroves have been destroyed by erosion, construction and other man made threats. The forests are critical defences against flooding and their disappearance has left coastal communities struggling to maintain their ways of life. However, a new push is planting hope in the heart of millions. Caitlin Kelly, our correspondent in the region, has more.