Germany’s professional soccer leagues have been marked by widespread protests against the World Cup in Qatar, with rival fans joining forces to condemn FIFA corruption and human rights abuses in the Gulf Arab country. On Sunday, before the last Bundesliga game ahead of the league’s extended two-month winter break, Freiburg fans behind one goal held a huge banner with the words, “Boycott Qatar.” Other large banners highlighted alleged injustices in the country, while it seemed almost every supporter in the 34,700-capacity stadium held an individual sign calling for a boycott of the tournament, seven days before it was due to begin. Mainz fans also called for a boycott during their team’s draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. They were the final protests after weeks of public displays across stadiums against the tournament controversially awarded to Qatar by FIFA amid allegations of vote-buying in 2010.  “It was wrong and it’s still wrong,” Bernd Beyer of the “Boycott Qatar 2022” initiative told The Associated Press on Sunday. “The fans do not identify with it and are saying they don’t want to have anything to do with it, but they are actively criticizing it and not just switching off.” Beyer said the fans were partly spurred by developments across international soccer, where money is playing an increasingly important role. “All professional soccer is becoming more and more commercial. That’s just something you don’t identify with,” Beyer said. “And, of course, the same thing is happening in Qatar now. The decision is wrong because Qatar is a country where human rights don’t apply, where migrant workers are heavily exploited, where homosexuality is forbidden.” Beyer, a Cologne and Borussia Dortmund supporter, was keen to stress that the protests were driven organically by supporter groups and had not been coordinated by his own initiative, which has been documenting the protests on Twitter and has received inquiries from supporters in Spain and France who also want to demonstrate against the tournament. Hertha Berlin fans displayed a giant “Boycott Qatar” banner during their team’s win over Cologne on Saturday, with another sign saying “No Herthaner will watch the World Cup in Qatar.” Individual supporters held boycott signs. The week before, during the team’s game against Bayern Munich, Hertha fans slammed the tournament’s impact on the climate, Qatar’s persecution of LGBTQ+ rights and disregard for human rights. Hertha and Bayern supporters displayed banners saying organizers should be ashamed due to the high number of migrant deaths associated with the competition. Augsburg fans backed the call for a boycott while displaying a banner with a line through the logo of the German soccer federation (DFB). “Do like the federations, don’t look. #BoycottQatar22,” Augsburg banners said during Bochum’s visit on Saturday. Augsburg supporters also criticized World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman for his recent homophobic comments, telling him, “Your World Cup is haram!” Salman, a former Qatari national team player, told public broadcaster ZDF that being gay is “haram,” or forbidden in Arabic, and that he has a problem with children seeing gay people. Bayern fans referred to Salman’s comments on Tuesday during Werder Bremen’s visit with a banner saying: “Damaged mind? (expletive) you, Khalid & Co.” There were general protests during second-division games between Hamburger SV and Heidenheim, and Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Kaiserslautern, this weekend. “Anyone who watches even one World Cup game is complicit in tens of thousands of deaths!” said one banner from Heidenheim fans. Qatari officials have consistently pushed back against a figure of 6,500 migrant deaths reported by the British newspaper The Guardian. It is unclear exactly how many workers were killed helping Qatar get ready to host the tournament. Werder Bremen fans said Saturday the number of deaths is higher than the number of playing minutes at the 32-team competition, which they described as “soccer’s biggest crime to date.” Borussia Mönchengladbach fans on Friday displayed banners criticizing the “FIFA mafia.” Hannover supporters displayed banners calling for a boycott during their team’s win over Düsseldorf on Tuesday and said Germany’s national team has “blood on your cleats (boots).” The previous weekend, Dortmund fans unfurled numerous banners before their team’s game against Bochum criticizing Qatar’s human rights, mourning the loss of soccer’s morals and urging TV viewers not to watch the tournament. Kaiserslautern and Nuremberg were also united in their condemnation of the tournament during their game. At several stadiums, calls for a World Cup boycott were accompanied by flyers giving an outline of the alleged situation in Qatar and reasons for taking a stand against it. Supporters of Bayern, Hertha, Gladbach and 1860 Munich all distributed flyers. “There’s a clear indication that we don’t want to enjoy a World Cup like this,” Beyer told the AP. “What you see in the stadiums is just the most spectacular sign from the fans, these banners and slogans. But during the World Cup many groups in many cities are putting on their own events, their own tournaments, showing old soccer films and so on … It will show a different culture actively opposed to this commercial culture.” Greuther Fürth coach Alexander Zorniger isn’t a fan of the tournament, either. “Happy Christmas to you all, happy World Cup, nonsense World Cup,” Zorniger said after his team’s final game of the year on Sunday. Also read: Barcelona joins Qatar World Cup boycott; will not host public viewings  

The students of statistics department of Islamic University boycotted classes and examinations for the third consecutive day on Wednesday demanding an end to session jam.  About a hundred students of the department started the demonstration by locking up the department's collapsible gate since Monday. The students brought out a rally with banners and festoons from in front of Nuclear Scientist M.A. Wazed Miah Science Building in the morning. The rally ended in front of the university's administration building after parading main roads of the campus. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the university authorities.  According to the protesters, the department has eleven teachers. Five of them completed their classes, while six others could not as they are doing PhD abroad. READ: Female students stage demo at IU demanding resignation of hall provost  The protesters complain that they are facing session jams because of the teachers’ failure. Teachers, officials and staff of the department were not allowed to enter the department and no class and examination was held due to the demonstration of the student. 'We will continue our demonstration until our demands are met, ' one of the agitating students of the department said. The students gave a week ultimate to the department to press home their demand.  IU statistics department chairman associate Professor Mahbubur Rahman said that they had tried their best to take class-examination.

Iraqis voted Sunday in parliamentary elections held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the voting was marked by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the young activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and Iraq's southern provinces in late 2019. Tens of thousands of people took part in the mass protests and were met by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months. Although authorities gave in and called the early elections, the death toll and the heavy-handed crackdown - as well as a string of targeted assassinations - prompted many who took part in the protests to later call for a boycott of the vote. Polls closed at 1500 GMT (1800 local time) following 11 hours of voting. Results are expected within the next 24 hours, according to the independent body that oversees Iraq’s election. But negotiations to choose a prime minister tasked with forming a government are expected to drag on for weeks or even months. The election was the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many were skeptical that independent candidates from the protest movement stood a chance against well-entrenched parties and politicians, many of them backed by powerful armed militias. Read: Polls open in Iraq's general elections amid tight security Minutes after polls closed, fireworks organized by Baghdad's municipality went off in the city's landmark Tahrir Square, where demonstrators had set up tents for several months starting in October 2019. The protests fizzled out by February of the following year, due to the security crackdown and later, the coronavirus pandemic. Today, the square stands largely empty. The country faces huge economic and security challenges, and although most Iraqis long for change, few expect it to happen as a result of the elections. Muna Hussein, a 22-year-old cinematic makeup artist, said she boycotted the election because she did not feel there was a safe environment “with uncontrolled weapons everywhere," a reference to the mainly Shiite militias backed by neighboring Iran. “In my opinion, it isn’t easy to hold free and fair elections under the current circumstances,” she said. Amir Fadel, a 22-year-old car dealer, disagreed. “I don’t want these same faces and same parties to return,” he said after casting his ballot in Baghdad’s Karradah district. Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, whose chances for a second term will be determined by the results of the election, urged Iraqis to vote in large numbers. “Get out and vote, and change your future,,” said al-Kadhimi, repeating the phrase, “get out” three times after casting his ballot at a school in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to foreign embassies and government offices. Under Iraq’s laws, the winner of Sunday’s vote gets to choose the country’s next prime minister, but it’s unlikely any of the competing coalitions can secure a clear majority. That will require a lengthy process involving backroom negotiations to select a consensus prime minister and agree on a new coalition government. It took eight months of political wrangling to form a government after the 2018 elections. Groups drawn from Iraq’s majority Shiite Muslims dominate the electoral landscape, with a tight race expected between Iraq's influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and the Fatah Alliance, led by paramilitary leader Hadi al-Ameri, which came in second in the previous election. Read: Biden says US combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year end The Fatah Alliance is comprised of parties and affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly pro-Iran Shiite militias that rose to prominence during the war against the Sunni extremist Islamic State group. It includes some of the most hard-line Iran-backed factions, such as the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia. Al-Sadr, a black-turbaned nationalist leader, is also close to Iran, but publicly rejects its political influence. Earlier Sunday, al-Sadr cast his ballot in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, swarmed by local journalists. He then drove away in a white sedan without commenting. Al-Sadr, a populist who has an immense following among Iraq’s working class Shiites, came out on top in the 2018 elections, winning a majority of seats. The election is the first since the fall of Saddam to proceed without a curfew in place, reflecting the significantly improved security situation in the country following the defeat of IS in 2017. Previous votes were marred by fighting and deadly bomb attacks that have plagued the country for decades. More than 250,000 security personnel across the country were tasked with protecting the vote. Soldiers, police and anti-terrorism forces fanned out and deployed outside polling stations, some of which were ringed by barbed wire. Voters were patted down and searched. As a security precaution, Iraq closed its airspace and land border crossings and scrambled its air force from Saturday night until early Monday morning. In another first, Sunday’s election is taking place under a new election law that divides Iraq into smaller constituencies — another demand of the activists who took part in the 2019 protests — and allows for more independent candidates. The 2018 elections saw just 44% of eligible voters cast their ballots, a record low, and the results were widely contested. There are concerns of a similar or even lower turnout this time. Read: Death toll rises to 92 in blaze at coronavirus ward in Iraq In a tea shop in Karradah, one of the few open, candidate Reem Abdulhadi walked in to ask whether people had cast their vote. “I will give my vote to Umm Kalthoum, the singer, she is the only one who deserves it,” the tea vendor quipped, referring to the late Egyptian singer beloved by many in the Arab world. He said he will not take part in the election and didn’t believe in the political process. After a few words, Abdulhadi gave the man, who asked to remain anonymous, a card with her name and number in case he changed his mind. He put it in his pocket. “Thank you, I will keep it as a souvenir,” he said. At that moment, a low-flying, high-speed military aircraft flew overhead making a screeching noise. “Listen to this. This sound is terror. It reminds me of war, not an election,” he added.

Some kind of boycott is almost sure to affect next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics.

Balloting in the third phase elections to 62 municipalities began on early Saturday and ended amid reports of clashes, vote-rigging, polling centre domination, and boycotts.