Monthly Archives: November 2021

Cops tear-gas women protesting violence (VIDEOS)

Turkish riot police unleashed tear gas to disperse a large crowd of demonstrators protesting violence against women in Istanbul, as well as the government’s withdrawal from an international treaty devoted to combating it.

The massive group of protesters, reportedly numbering in the thousands, marched to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Thursday to mark the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.’ They met a heavy police presence in the square, which was barricaded off by officers clad in heavy riot gear, who proceeded to fire tear gas on the crowd after ordering it to disperse.

Scuffles with police were captured in videos circulating online, showing officers moving in on the demonstrators to clear them from the area as tear gas wafts through the air.

Protesters were also seen carrying a colorful assortment of signs and banners, some even toting flares, while others chanted anti-government slogans and demanded an end to what’s been dubbed by some activists as ‘femicide.’ Some 345 women in Turkey have been killed in acts of gender-based violence so far this year, just shy of the 410 reported in 2020, according to ‘We Will Stop Femicide,’ a women’s rights group.

The protest, which was mirrored on a smaller scale in other cities across the country, comes after the Turkish government formally withdrew from an international treaty meant to address violence against women in July. Known as the Istanbul Convention, the pact was originally negotiated in the same city in 2011, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to pull out of the deal has been sharply criticized both by local activists as well as foreign leaders, with US President Joe Biden dubbing the move “deeply disappointing.” 

Ankara, for its part, claimed the convention had been “hijacked” by “people attempting to normalize homosexuality,” which it said was “incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values.” Nonetheless, the government insisted it would not “give up on its fight against domestic violence” and would “continue protecting the safety and the rights of all women.”

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Covid strain ‘worse than Delta’ found in 3 countries

Scientists are sounding the alarm, as what could be the most highly-evolved strain of the coronavirus has been discovered in patients in different parts of the world. Its resistance to vaccines adds to the concerns.

The latest known variant of Covid-19 has significant changes in its spikes, which could make it invincible to vaccination. It could be the most highly-evolved coronavirus strain yet, as 32 mutations have apparently been detected in it. The currently dominant, highly transmissible Delta strain, which has contributed to this year’s surge in cases globally, has at least 11 spike mutations.

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FILE PHOTO.
Stark new projections for Europe’s winter Covid deaths revealed

Originally spotted in three patients in Botswana – and thus known as the Botswana variant – it has already been found in three countries since the first infections on November 11. Six cases have been detected in South Africa, and one more was later registered in Hong Kong, according to British media. 

The Hong Kong patient recently traveled to China from South Africa – putting scientists on high alert, as the new variant could have spread anywhere through international travel. The patient is also said to be double vaccinated.

READ MORE: Spiky death: how long will Covid remain a threat?

News of the mutated strain, known as B.1.1.529 and which could end up being named ‘Nu’, was shared by Tom Peacock, a virologist at London’s Imperial College Department of Infectious Disease. Describing the Botswana variant’s spike profile as “horrific,” he tweeted that it could be “worse antigenically than nearly anything else about.”

Warning that the new variant has a “very long branch length and really awful spike mutation profile,” the virologist said it “very, very much should be monitored.” On the bright side, according to researchers, the high number of mutations could mean the variant is unstable, which might prevent it from becoming widespread.

So far, Covid-19 has killed more than five million people globally, with over 259.5 million infected.

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