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A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 31 OcTOber 2019
Free haircuts, grilled fish as Iraq protests gain momentum

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA unemployment and cor-
ALI ABDUL-HASSAN ruption. Protesters have
Associated Press been joined by supporters
BAGHDAD (AP) — Barbers of an influential Shiite cleric
give free haircuts to pro- Muqtada al-Sadr, who has
testers. Young men grill called on the government
carp fish for a national dish to resign, and have snow-
called masgouf and distrib- balled into the biggest se-
ute to the crowds. Others curity challenge Iraq has
play dominoes, oblivious to faced since the Islamic
the chaos all around and State group was defeated
nearby security forces firing two years ago.
tear gas. The protests are unprec-
Anti-government protests edented in their scope and
in Iraq gained momentum the fact that they are most-
Wednesday with tens of ly grassroots, leaderless
thousands of people gath- and spontaneous. In recent
ered in a central square in days, university and school
Baghdad and across much students have also joined
of the country's Shiite-ma- the protesters. Civil society
jority central southern prov- groups have formed, in-
inces. cluding young people who
The sound of tear gas ex- clean the streets of litter left
plosions echoed through- An anti-government protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister fired by Iraq security forces to behind by the protesters.
out the day as security disperse a during a demonstration, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. Dozens of Tuk Tuks — or
forces battled young men Associated Press motorized rickshaws —
trying to advance toward crowd the streets around
the heavily fortified Green of the protests. "We are now in Tahrir dreds of people headed to the square, ferrying pro-
Zone through Al-Joumhou- The death brings the to- Square, which is called the Sanak Bridge that runs testers back and forth from
riya Bridge. tal number of people who nowadays 'the holy land,' parallel to the Joumhou- homes, and the injured to
Security and hospital offi- have been killed since the supporting our sons, broth- riya Bridge, opening a new ambulances and hospitals.
cials said one protester was unrest began Oct. 1 to 241. ers and friends who are front in their attempts to But that hasn't deterred the
killed after suffocating from The protesters have been here (protesting), to show a cross the Tigris River to the protesters from pouring into
the gas, and more than 100 met with bullets and tear civilized image of the pro- Green Zone. Security forces the streets. Tahrir Square, in
protesters were injured by gas by security forces from test to the whole world," fired volleys of tear gas that particular, has become a
tear gas canisters fired by the first day — a massive said Jenan Kareem, a mid- billowed smoke and cov- beehive for activists includ-
security forces in the vicinity security crackdown that dle-aged Iraqi woman who ered the night sky. ing some who have erect-
of Tahrir Square, which has has only served to bring out joined the protests. The protests are over dete- ed tents and are staying
emerged as the epicenter more protesters. Later on Wednesday, hun- riorating living conditions, there.q

Germany ups fight against anti-Semitism, far-right extremism

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER als include forcing internet million) annually for the
Associated Press companies to report hate next four years in their fight
BERLIN (AP) — Chancel- speech to police and ex- against far-right extremism
lor Angela Merkel's Cabi- tending requirements to and anti-Semitism.
net passed new measures delete illegal content to The head of Germany's
Wednesday aimed at help- online gaming platforms. main Jewish organization
ing fight far-right extremism German gun laws will also welcomed the new mea-
and anti-Semitism following be tightened to "do ev- sures, which still need par-
an attack on a synagogue erything to make sure liamentary approval.
earlier this month. weapons don't get into the "It's high time that action
The proposals include tight- hands of extremists," See- is being taken," said Josef
ening gun laws, stepping hofer said. Schuster, the president of
up prosecution of online The government also plans the Central Council of Jews
hate, and boosting finan- to devote more police and in Germany, according to
cial support for projects German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer attends a news confer- intelligence officers to tack- the dpa news agency.
ence on a package of measures against far-right extremism
fighting anti-Semitism and and anti-Semitism in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 30, ling far-right extremism and The attack on the syna-
far-right extremism. 2019. terrorism — so that eventu- gogue in Halle was pre-
"The horrible attack on the Associated Press ally the authorities will have ceded by the killing of Wal-
Jewish community in Halle the same amount of staff ter Luebcke, a regional pol-
showed again what the "We will fight far-right terror- later killed two passers-by and capacities as they itician from Merkel's party.
unleashing of hatred online ism and anti-Semitism with before being arrested. The have in their fight against Luebcke had vocally sup-
can lead to," Justice Min- all the power of the law," man posted an anti-Semit- Islamic extremism. ported Merkel's welcoming
ister Christine Lambrecht Lambrecht added. ic screed before the attack In addition, German Fami- stance toward refugees in
said at a news conference Germany is still reeling from and broadcast the shoot- lies Minister Franziska Giffey 2015 and the suspect in his
in Berlin when she intro- the attempted attack on a ing live on a popular video announced that pro-de- killing is a far-right extremist
duced the bundle of mea- synagogue by a 27-year- game streaming site. mocracy civil groups would with a string of convictions
sures alongside Germany's old German in the eastern Interior Minister Horst See- get additional funding of for violent anti-migrant
interior and family ministers. city of Halle on Oct. 9, who hofer said the new propos- 115 million euros ($127.8 crimes.q