Shiite cleric warns Iraq’s leaders; protest death toll at 42

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s top Shiite cleric on Friday sharply criticized the government in the wake of deadly violence gripping the country, urging both the political leaders and the protesters to pull back “before it is too late” as the death toll in this week’s anti-government demonstrations climbed to 42.

The highly-anticipated comments by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani were his first since the protests erupted earlier this week. Many across Iraq’s predominantly Shiite south had looked to the influential cleric for guidance.


Al-Sistani’s sermon came just hours after Iraq’s prime minister called on protesters to go home, comparing security measures imposed in the wake of the demonstrations to “bitter medicine” that needs to be swallowed.

Since Tuesday, security forces have fired live rounds and tear gas every day to disperse protesters across multiple provinces demanding job opportunities, improved services and an end to corruption.

The rallies have erupted spontaneously, mostly spurred by youths wanting jobs, improved services such as electricity and water, and an end to endemic corruption in the oil-rich country. Authorities have also cut internet access in much of Iraq since late Wednesday, in a desperate move to curb the rallies.

Al-Sistani blamed the leaders of the two biggest parliament blocs in particular, saying they failed to make good on their promises.

“The government and the political sides have not fulfilled the demands of the people to fight corruption,” al-Sistani said in his Friday sermon, delivered by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

Al-Sistani called on political leaders to take “practical and clear steps” toward combatting corruption and on the government to “carry out its duty” to diminish people’s suffering. He also reiterated his suggestion for a committee of technocrats tasked with making recommendations on fighting corruption, as a way out of the current crisis.

It was not immediately clear whether al-Sistani’s comments would give momentum to protesters or help diffuse the situation.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi urged anti-government protesters to disband, saying their “legitimate demands” have been heard.

But dozens of protesters defied his message, gathering shortly before noon near Baghdad’s central Tahrir Square. Many had camped out on the streets overnight.


Security forces responded by firing live bullets to disperse the crowd near Tahrir.

Meanwhile, Iraqi hospital officials reported nine more deaths in the southern city of Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, bringing this week’s overall death toll to 42.

Hospital officials said the deaths occurred late Thursday. Nasiriyah has witnessed the most violence in the protests, with at least 25 people, including a policeman, killed. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Abdul-Mahdi spoke in a televised address to the nation, broadcast at 2:30 a.m., about the demonstrations that have spread across many provinces in the country.

“We will not make empty promises … or promise what we cannot achieve,” said Abdul-Mahdi, who hails from Nasiriyah.

He said there is “no magic solution” to Iraq’s problems but pledged to work on laws granting poor families a basic income, provide alternative housing to violators and fight corruption.

“The security measures we are taking, including temporary curfew, are difficult choices. But like bitter medicine, they are inevitable,” he said. “We have to return life to normal in all provinces and respect the law.”

The prime minister also defended the nation’s security forces, saying they abide by strict rules against use of “excessive violence” and that it was the escalation of the protests that leads to violence.

He also said, without elaborating, that he “regrets some have successfully derailed some of the protests from their peaceful path” in order to “exploit” the violence for political reasons.

The unrest is the most serious challenge for Abdul-Mahdi’s year-old government, which also has been caught in the middle of increasing U.S.-Iran tensions in the region. Iraq is allied with both countries and hosts thousands of U.S. troops, as well as powerful paramilitary forces allied with Iran.

The mostly leaderless protests have been concentrated in Baghdad and in predominantly Shiite areas of southern Iraq, bringing out jobless youths and university graduates who are suffering under an economy reeling from graft and mismanagement.

In Nasiriyah, protester Haidar Hamid dismissed the prime minister’s speech, saying instead that said he was looking to the Shiite religious authority for a resolution.

“If the government is not dissolved, we will avenge our martyrs,” said Hamid, an unemployed 32-year-old.

A group that monitors internet and cybersecurity, NetBlocks, said internet was briefly restored before al-Mahdi’s speech but by the time he was on screen access was again shut as new videos emerged of the protests. The internet in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region has not been affected.

On Thursday, Iraq closed a border crossing with Iran in the eastern province of Diyala, saying it will remain closed until further notice. Protesters who had blocked sections of the road to Baghdad’s International Airport late Thursday had dispersed before daylight. /jpv

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Hong Kong’s ‘front line’ protesters explain their stance

HONG KONG — On a recent sweltering Saturday, a day now reserved for protest in Hong Kong, a demonstrator named Wayne stepped past a row of plastic barricades, lifted a pair of binoculars and squinted.

Four hundred meters away, a line of riot police stood with full-length shields, batons and tear-gas launchers.

It was a familiar sight for Wayne after more than two months on the front lines of Hong Kong’s turbulent pro-democracy demonstrations. Along with hard hats and homemade shields, face-offs with police have become part of the 33-year-old philosophy professor’s new normal.

The stories of Wayne and three other self-described “front line” protesters interviewed by The Associated Press provide insights into how what started as a largely peaceful movement against proposed changes to the city’s extradition law has morphed into a summer of tear gas and rubber bullets. They spoke on condition they be identified only by partial names because they feared arrest.

The movement has reached a moment of reckoning after protesters occupying Hong Kong’s airport last week held two mainland Chinese men captive, beating them because they believed the men were infiltrating their movement.

In the aftermath, pro-democracy lawmakers and fellow demonstrators — who have stood by the hard-liners even as they took more extreme steps — questioned whether the operation had gone too far.

It was the first crack in what has been astonishing unity across a wide range of protesters that has kept the movement going. It gave pause to the front-liners, who eased off the violence this past weekend, though they still believe their more disruptive tactics are necessary to get the government to answer the broader movement’s demands.

The demands grew from opposing legislation that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be extradited for trials in mainland China’s murky judicial system to pressing for democratic elections, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s resignation and an investigation into allegations of police brutality at the demonstrations.


The protesters on the front lines are the ones who throw bricks at police and put traffic cones over active tear gas canisters to contain the fumes. They have broken into and trashed the legislature’s chambers, blocked a major tunnel under Hong Kong’s harbor, besieged and pelted police headquarters with eggs and halted rush-hour subways by blocking the train doors from closing.

To Lam, these are “violent rioters” bent on destroying the city’s economy. To China’s ruling Communist Party, their actions are “the first signs of terrorism.”



To these most die-hard protesters, there’s no turning back.

“The situation has evolved into a war in Hong Kong society,” said Tin, a 23-year-old front-line demonstrator. “It’s the protesters versus the police.”

___

When Hong Kong’s youth banded together for this summer’s protests, they established a few rules: They would not have clear leaders, protecting individuals from becoming symbols or scapegoats. And they would stick together, no matter their methods.

The peaceful protesters would not disavow the more extreme, sometimes violent tactics of the front-liners, who would distract the police long enough for others to escape arrest.

These were lessons learned from 2014, when the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement fizzled after more than two months without winning any concessions. Many involved feel internal divisions partly led to defeat.

Chong, a 24-year-old front-liner, said everyone’s opinion is heard and considered, and they decide on the right path together. But no decision is absolute: The demonstrators have pledged to not impede actions they may disagree with.

Two massive marches roused Chong and others who had given up on political change after the failure of Occupy Central, also dubbed the Umbrella Revolution.

On consecutive weekends in June, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to oppose the extradition bill. It struck at fears that China is eroding civil rights that Hong Kong residents enjoy under the “one country, two systems” framework.

“I didn’t think I would ever do this again,” said Chong, who quit his job as an environmental consultant to devote himself to the protests. “But this time, society is waking up.” 



On June 12, three days after the first march, protesters blocked the legislature and took over nearby streets, preventing the resumption of debate on the extradition bill. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Lam suspended the bill indefinitely the day before the second march, but it didn’t mollify the protesters, who turned out in even greater numbers.

As their demands expanded, Lam offered dialogue but showed no signs of giving ground.

That’s when hard-liners like Chong and Wayne became convinced that peaceful protest might not be enough.

They blocked roads with makeshift barricades and besieged the Chinese government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, defacing the national seal over its entrance. Week after week, they clashed with police, who became an object of their anger. Every round of tear gas only seemed to deepen their conviction that the government did not care.

“We’ve had numerous peaceful protests that garnered no response whatsoever from the government,” said J.C., a 27-year-old hairstylist who quit his job in July. “Escalating our actions is both natural and necessary.”

Then came the “white shirt” attack. On July 21, dozens of men beat people indiscriminately with wooden poles and steel rods in a commuter rail station as protesters returned home, injuring 44. They wore white clothing in contrast to the protesters’ trademark black.

A slow police response led to accusations they colluded with the thugs. Police Commissioner Stephen Lo said resources were stretched because of the protests.

Many saw the attack as proof police prioritized catching demonstrators — around 700 have been arrested so far — over more violent criminals. That view has been reinforced by other images, including police firing tear gas at close range and a woman who reportedly lost vision in one eye after being hit by a beanbag round shot by police.

Each accusation of police brutality emboldens the hard-core protesters to use greater violence. Gasoline bombs and other flaming objects have become their projectiles of choice, and police stations are now their main target. 



___

In this cauldron of growing rage, the protesters set their sights on Hong Kong’s airport.

Hundreds of flights were canceled over two consecutive nights last week as protesters packed the main terminal, blocking access to check-in counters and immigration.

While the major disruption of one of the world’s busiest airports got global attention, it was the vigilante attacks on two Chinese men that troubled the movement.

In a written apology the following day, a group of unidentified protesters said recent events had fueled a “paranoia and rage” that put them on a “hair trigger.” During the prior weekend’s demonstrations, people dressed like protesters had been caught on video making arrests, and police acknowledged use of decoy officers.

At the airport, the protesters were looking for undercover agents in their ranks. Twice they thought they found them.

The first man ran away from protesters who asked why he was taking photos of them. Protesters descended on him, bound his wrists with plastic ties and interrogated him for at least two hours. His ordeal ended only when medics wrested him away on a stretcher.

The second man was wearing a yellow “press” vest used by Hong Kong journalists but refused to show his credentials. In his backpack, protesters found a blue “Safeguard HK” T-shirt worn at rallies to support police.

A small group of protesters repeatedly beat him, poured water on his head and called him “mainland trash.” He turned out to be a reporter for China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper.

Footage of the mob violence inflamed anti-protester sentiment in China, where the reporter became a martyr. In Hong Kong, pro-democracy lawmakers said it was something that “will not and should not happen again.” 



Within the movement, some apologized for becoming easily agitated and overreacting. Others questioned whether provocateurs had incited the violence.

Through it all, the front liners called for unity. They pointed to the injuries sustained on their side and the rioting charges that could lock them up for 10 years.

On the night of the airport beating, Wayne couldn’t get through the crowd to see what was happening, but he understood how the attackers felt.

“I would have done the same thing,” he said. “It’s not rational, but I would have kicked him or punched him at least once or twice.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

‘We’re still here’: Hong Kong protesters return to streets

HONG KONG — Thousands of pro-democracy protesters hit the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday for the 10th weekend in a row, once again defying police after a night of “hit-and-run” rallies across the city.

Activists calling for greater democratic freedoms in the city have shown no sign of standing down, despite Hong Kong’s leader insisting she will not meet their demands.

Early Sunday afternoon, hundreds of protesters were gathered in the city’s Victoria Park, braving hot and humid conditions and a police ban on the demonstration following a planned march route from the park.

“The police should try their best to maintain public security instead of rejecting our request to march,” said a 25-year-old protester who gave only her family name, Wong.

“We’re still here… and we’ll see if we feel like marching later. We won’t worry that much about illegal assembly. We still have our rights,” she told AFP.

Police have given protesters a permit to gather at the park, but denied their request to stage a march through an eastern part of Hong Kong Island.

They also denied protesters a permit for a second protest in the city’s working class neighbourhood of Sham Shui Po, but a rally was also underway there.


‘Freedom from fear’

“It will be no good for Hong Kong if everyone is scared and no one dares to come out,” Wong said. “We should have freedom from fear.”

The fresh protests come after a night of cat-and-mouse demonstrations around the city, with protesters taking their mantra of flexible action — “Be Water” — to new heights.

Groups of protesters sporting helmets and gas masks, dressed in their movement’s signature black, blocked intersections across the city for hours throughout the night.

In several locations riot police fired tear gas, and 16 people were arrested, but the rallies largely avoided the lengthy pitched battles between the two sides that have been seen in recent weeks.

Protesters said they were adopting a new strategy to try to minimise direct confrontations with police.

“Our aim is no injuries, no bleeding and not getting arrested,” said a 17-year-old student protester who gave his family name as Chan.

“I think our previous tactics of staying in one place led to many arrests and injuries… We need to ‘be water’ to avoid injuries,” he told AFP at the Victoria Park gathering.

‘Internal perils’

Protesters were also on their third and final day of a sit-in at the city’s airport that was billed as way to explain their movement to sometimes bemused arriving visitors.

The demonstrations that began more than two months ago in opposition to a bill allowing extraditions to mainland China have morphed into a broader bid to reverse a slide in democratic freedoms in the city.

The movement has been seen as the biggest threat to Beijing’s rule of the semi-autonomous Chinese city since its handover from the British in 1997.

And the city’s Beijing-appointed leader Carrie Lam has made clear she will not grant the protesters’ demands, which include a full withdrawal of the now-suspended extradition bill, direct election of the city’s leader and an investigation into police violence.

On Friday she ruled out concessions “in order to silence the violent protesters,” saying what the city needed was “to stop the violence.” 



On Saturday, she addressed students at Hong Kong army cadets camp and warned that the city was “suffering from external worries and internal perils, and the risk of an economic downturn is very high.”

“Every person who cherishes Hong Kong and loves peace should work hard together and safeguard our beautiful home.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

US students stage massive walkout to protest gun violence

They bowed their heads in honor of the dead. They carried signs with messages like “Never again” and “Am I next?” They railed against the National Rifle Association and the politicians who support it.

And over and over, they repeated the message: Enough is enough.

In a wave of protests one historian called the largest of its kind in American history, tens of thousands of students walked out of their classrooms Wednesday to demand action on gun violence and school safety.

The demonstrations extended from Maine to Hawaii as students joined the youth-led surge of activism set off by the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“We’re sick of it,” said Maxwell Nardi, a senior at Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico, Virginia, just outside Richmond. “We’re going to keep fighting, and we’re not going to stop until Congress finally makes resolute changes.”

Students around the nation left class at 10 a.m. local time for at least 17 minutes — one minute for each of the dead in the Florida shooting. Some led marches or rallied on football fields, while others gathered in school gyms or took a knee in the hallway.

At some schools, hundreds of students poured out. At others, just one or two walked out in defiance of administrators.

They lamented that too many young people have died and that they’re tired of going to school afraid they will be killed.

“Enough is enough. People are done with being shot,” said Iris Fosse-Ober, 18, a senior at Washburn High School in Minneapolis.

Some issued specific demands for lawmakers, including mandatory background checks for all gun sales and a ban on assault weapons like the one used in the Florida bloodbath.

While administrators and teachers at some schools applauded students for taking a stand — and some joined them — others threatened punishment for missing class.

As the demonstrations unfolded, the NRA responded by posting a photo on Twitter of a black rifle emblazoned with an American flag. The caption: “I’ll control my own guns, thank you.”

The protests took place at schools from the elementary level through college, including some that have witnessed their own mass shootings: About 300 students gathered on a soccer field at Colorado’s Columbine High, while students who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in 2012 marched out of Newtown High School in Connecticut.

In the nation’s capital, more than 2,000 high-school age protesters observed 17 minutes of silence while sitting on the ground with their backs turned to the White House. President Donald Trump was out of town.

The students carried signs with messages such as “Our Blood/Your Hands” and “Never Again” and chanted slogans against the NRA.

In New York City, they chanted, “Enough is enough!” In Salt Lake City, the signs read, “Protect kids not guns,” ”Fear has no place in school” and “Am I next?”

At Eagle Rock High in Los Angeles, teenagers took a moment of silence as they gathered around a circle of 17 chairs labeled with the names of the Florida victims.

Stoneman Douglas High senior David Hogg, who has emerged as one of the leading student activists, livestreamed the walkout at the tragedy-stricken school on his YouTube channel. He said students couldn’t be expected to stay in class while there was work to do to prevent gun violence.

“Every one of these individuals could have died that day. I could have died that day,” he said.

In joining the protests, the students followed the example set by many of the survivors of the Florida shooting, who have become gun-control activists, leading rallies, lobbying legislators and giving TV interviews. Their efforts helped spur passage last week of a Florida law curbing access to assault rifles by young people.

Another protest against gun violence is scheduled in Washington on March 24, with organizers saying it is expected to draw hundreds of thousands.

But whether the students can make a difference on Capitol Hill remains to be seen.

Congress has shown little inclination to defy the powerful NRA and tighten gun laws, and Trump backed away from his initial support for raising the minimum age for buying an assault rifle to 21.

A spokeswoman for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, newly appointed head of a federal panel on school safety, said DeVos “gives a lot credit to the students who are raising their voices and demanding change,” and “their input will be valuable.”

David Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas who has studied social change movements, said it is too soon to know what effect the protests will have. But he said Wednesday’s walkouts were without a doubt the largest protest led by high school students in the history of the U.S.

“Young people are that social media generation, and it’s easy to mobilize them in a way that it probably hadn’t been even 10 years ago,” Farber said.

Wednesday’s coordinated protests were organized by Empower, the youth wing of the Women’s March, which brought thousands to Washington last year.

At Aztec High School in a rural, gun-friendly part of New Mexico where many enjoy hunting and shooting, students avoided gun politics and opted for a ceremony honoring students killed in shootings — including two who died in a December attack at Aztec.

“Our kids sit on both ends of the spectrum, and we have a diverse community when it comes to gun rights and gun control,” Principal Warman Hall said.

In Brimfield, Ohio, 12-year-old Olivia Shane, an avid competitive trap shooter who has owned her own guns since she was about 7, skipped the gun protest and memorial held at her school.

“People want to take away our guns and it’s a Second Amendment right of ours,” she said. “If they want to take away our Second Amendment right, why can’t we take away their amendment of freedom of speech?”

About 10 students left Ohio’s West Liberty-Salem High School — which witnessed a shooting last year — despite a warning they could face detention or more serious discipline.

Police in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta patrolled Kell High, where students were threatened with unspecified consequences if they participated. Three students walked out anyway.

The walkouts drew support from companies such as media conglomerate Viacom, which paused programming on MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and its other networks for 17 minutes during the walkouts. /muf

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net