Sunday, July 28, 2024

Iraq: Was the wife of MP Abdul Amir al-Ghazali shot and, if so, by who?

Iraq's the focus tonight.  There's too much going on and practically zero US coverage.  That includes an incident today that could end up international incident.  Dr Abdul Amir al-Hazali is an Iraqi MP.  His wife was apparently shot today and he is placing the blame on the US government.  The wife is reported injured, not dead.









 










 




Not really sure why the US media hasn't covered this.  Is this not a real story?  Is it made up?  Especially if it's made up -- some internet hoax -- that would be reason to note it.  IRAQI NEWS AGENCY reports on the death of an MP, "Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani offered his condolences on Sunday on the death of Member of Parliament Gandhi Mohammed Abdul Karim Al-Kasnazani, saying that "with this loss we have lost a national figure with a good impact.""


In other news, the Olympics have started.  NBC is carrying them in the US.  The US Ambassador to Iraq Tweeted:





And Iraq's Prime Minister Tweeted:



al-Sudani is congratulating Iraq's football team, the coaching staff and the football association on winning their first match (against Ukraine).  It was Iraq's first Olympic soccer win in 20 years.  Iraq's president, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, is in France to attend the Olympics.  




Next month, France will host the Paralympics. Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) reports:

Najla Imad Lafta recounts the fateful day a bomb tore off parts of her legs and right arm.

Only three years old at the time, she had left her breakfast and dashed outside after hearing a familiar car horn in the street.

As her father's car rolled to a gentle stop, he stepped out and scooped her up, placing her alongside him in the front passenger seat.

Then a deafening boom suddenly ripped through the neighbourhood in her hometown of Baqouba in north-eastern Iraq.

“The sound of the explosion was very loud,” Ms Lafta, now 19, recalls during a break in her training for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games that start a month from today.

 


The Olympics are held every four years.  A census?  It can vary.  However, Iraq hasn't held a national census since before the 2003 US-led invasion.  AMWAG MEDIA reports:


The story: Iraq is gearing up for its first general population census in 27 years, due to take place on Nov. 20. However, claims that the initiative will fall victim to partisan wrangling have dogged its planning stages. Meanwhile, supporters of the campaign have defended the economic focus of the census questionnaire, claiming that the data will be invaluable to rebuilding Iraq’s battered public services—particularly amid its ongoing development boom. 

The coverage: At the core of the controversy is Baghdad’s decision not to include both “sect” and “ethnicity” in the questionnaire, leading to charges that the census has been politicized by Iraq’s political establishment.

  • Iraqi journalist Yahya Al-Kubaisi claimed that Shiite political parties have sought to suppress data which may challenge commonly cited demographic estimates of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority.
  • Kubaisi further asserted that population figures produced by Iraqi and international organizations are “not just numbers,” but rather “demographic narratives” claimed to be objective for political purposes. 


The CIA estimates Iraq's population to be 44 million and to be evenly distributed with just about one million more males than females.  Iraqis have called for a census throughout the war but the government has repeatedly postponed it.  As a result of the disputed territories, Iraq's 2005 Constitution (Article 140) mandated a census by December 31, 2007.  Nouri al-Maliki was prime minister during this deadline and refused to carry out the census.  As part of 2010's Erbil Agreement that gave Nouri a second term after he lost at the ballot box, he agreed to immediately implement a census and then -- almost as immediately -- declared the Erbil Agreement unconstitutional and refused to be bound by what he agreed to in the US-brokered contract. 


Baghdad's Tahrir Square was the scene of a protest today.  SHAFAQ NEWS reports:


Hundreds of Iraqi women took to the streets of Baghdad on Sunday to protest against proposed amendments to the country’s personal status law, expressing particular outrage over provisions that would legalize child marriage.

Demonstrators, including members of women’s rights organizations, gathered in Tahrir Square, carrying signs that read "No to child marriage" and "The era of child brides is over." The protesters denounced the proposed amendments to Law 88 of 1959, arguing that they would roll back women’s rights.


Here are some photos of the protest. 





AP's Hadi Mizban has a photo of the protest here.  Not really sure why AL-MONITOR's Shelly Kittleson is insisting few turned out.   Reaction on Twitter to the proposal?


































 In health news, a new possible case of Hemorrhagic Fever inn Iraq.  SHAFAQQ NEWS reports:


Health officials in Nineveh governorate reported a suspected case of hemorrhagic fever in a young man, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 12 since the beginning of the year 2024.

A source from the Nineveh Health Department told Shafaq News Agency on Sunday that a 20-year-old man from the Al-Ayadiyah sub-district, west of Mosul, is currently receiving treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Mosul.

The source stated that Nineveh Health officials are awaiting laboratory confirmation from the Public Health Department in Baghdad to verify the infection. "the young man had slaughtered an animal believed to be infected a few days prior."


The Mayo Clinic notes:

Viral hemorrhagic (hem-uh-RAJ-ik) fevers are infectious diseases that can cause severe, life-threatening illness. They can damage the walls of tiny blood vessels, making them leak, and can hamper the blood's ability to clot. The resulting internal bleeding is usually not life-threatening, but the diseases can be.

Some viral hemorrhagic fevers include:

  • Dengue
  • Ebola
  • Lassa
  • Marburg
  • Yellow fever

These diseases most commonly occur in tropical areas. In the United States, people who get them usually have recently traveled to one of those areas.

There's no cure for viral hemorrhagic fevers. There are vaccines for only a few types. Until additional vaccines are developed, the best approach is prevention.


In 2023, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guerrero declared the disease to be "endemic in Iraq."   In 2021, there were 33 confirmed cases.  Every year since then the number has spiked highter.  SCIENCE DIRECT examined the 2023 numbers and offered this overview:


  • •

    From January to June 18, 2023, there were 229 Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cases and 36 deaths in Iraq.

  • •

    Majority of the cases were recorded in the middle and south of Iraq.

  • •

    The gender distributions of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cases were 61% males and 39% females.

  • •

    Nearly 30% of the deaths were housewives, 22% butchers, and 18% animal owners.



The following sites updated:


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