Olympics opening ceremony composer quits over past bullying

#NOTOKYOOLYMPICS     #CANCELTOKYOOLYMPICS

Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

Keigo Oyamada was among the composers for the music for the opening ceremony

 Behrouz MEHRI AFP


Tokyo (AFP)

A composer for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony said Monday he would step down following an outcry over old interviews in which he described bullying disabled schoolmates.

The experimental musician Keigo Oyamada, known as Cornelius, is at the centre of the latest scandal to hit the virus-postponed Games, just four days before they kick off.

His departure follows that of several key Tokyo 2020 officials, including former chief organiser Yoshiro Mori who stepped down over sexist comments.

"I have offered my resignation to organisers," Oyamada, who is among the composers for the music for Friday's opening ceremony, said in a statement posted on Twitter.

"By sincerely accepting the suggestions and opinions given by many people, I want to reflect on my conduct and thoughts from now on. I truly apologise," he said.

"I have become painfully aware that accepting the offer of my musical participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics lacked consideration to a lot of people."

After news of his involvement in the music for the ceremony began to circulate online, interviews from the mid-1990s re-emerged in which Oyamada discussed, without apparent remorse, his bullying of schoolmates with handicaps.

His actions and his remarks sparked outrage online, and Tokyo 2020 organisers said at the weekend they had not been aware of the remarks, "but they are inappropriate".

The scandal is only the latest personnel headache for organisers, who have already weathered the resignation of their former boss Mori, who stepped down in February after claiming women speak too much in meetings.

The creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies, Hiroshi Sasaki, also opted to resign in March after suggesting a plus-size female comedian appear as a pig.

© 2021 AFP

US transfers Guantanamo prisoner to Morocco: Pentagon

Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

Demonstrators dressed in Guantanamo Bay prisoner uniforms march past Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2020 Brendan Smialowski AFP/File


Washington (AFP)

The Biden administration has transferred its first detainee out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said Monday, repatriating a Moroccan man whose release had been advised in 2016 but whose detention continued under Donald Trump's presidency.

"The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Abdul Latif Nasir from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Kingdom of Morocco," a Pentagon statement said, adding that 39 prisoners remain in the controversial facility.

Nasir was never charged with any crime.

His transfer out of Guantanamo was first recommended by the Obama administration "subject to security and humane treatment assurances," according to the Pentagon, but had not taken place by the time Trump took office in 2017.

Former president Barack Obama failed in his bid to close the prison at a US military base in Cuba, which became a symbol of excesses in the "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Republican Party blocked Obama's plans to shut the prison by 2009 by restricting the ability of the United States to move prisoners from Guantanamo to the US mainland.

Obama's successor Trump mused about sending more suspects to Guantanamo Bay but effectively kept it in place in the same form.

President Joe Biden's White House in February launched a study into how to close the prison but has been careful not to overpromise after the failure of Obama's vow.

The Biden administration "is dedicated to following a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population of the Guantanamo facility while also safeguarding the security of the United States and its allies," the State Department said in a statement Monday.

It praised Morocco's role, saying that the kingdom's "leadership in facilitating Nasir's repatriation, alongside its past willingness to return its foreign terrorist fighters from northeast Syria, should encourage other nations to repatriate their citizens who have traveled to fight for terrorist organizations abroad."

Tarred by accusations of extra-legal imprisonment, denial of rights and torture, Guantanamo was opened in 2002 for suspects captured around the world on the understanding that they would not be entitled to the constitutional right to due process guaranteed on US soil.

© 2021 AFP

POSTMODERN BUDDHIST FUEDALISM

Rajapaksa to seek second term as Sri Lanka crisis deepens

Gotabaya Rajapaksa previously said he would be a one-term president
Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

 LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI AFP/File


Colombo (AFP)

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced Monday he would stand for a second term, reversing a promise to only stay for five years, media reports said.

The 72-year-old nationalist leader told top media executives he needed more time to fix Sri Lanka's worsening economic crisis, reports said.

During his triumphant 2019 election campaign, Rajapaksa said he would be a one-term president.

He reaffirmed in March last year that one five-year term was sufficient to implement his ambitious manifesto, triggering a succession struggle within the powerful Rajapaksa family that dominates the government.

Elections are not due until 2024, but Rajapaksa now says he needs five more years to implement his "Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour" manifesto after the economy contracted by a record 3.6 percent in his first year. The government has banned many imports because of a foreign currency crunch.

Rajapaksa "today declared that he would contest for a second term", the pro-government The Morning website quoted him as telling media owners.

Other media also reported on the comments, which set off new speculation about the intentions of the ruling family.

The elevation of the president's youngest brother Basil, 70, as finance minister earlier this month was widely seen as a move to groom him for the presidency.

Basil was thought to have edged out his nephew, Namal, the minister of sports and eldest son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to be the next family leader.

"Another U-turn and maybe this squashes Basil's chances for the next presidency," said Jamila Husain, a deputy editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper, on Twitter.

Since his election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has tightened the family grip on power.

With the entry of Basil, the cabinet now has five members of the ruling family.

Eldest brother Chamal, 78, is minister of irrigation. Several Rajapaksa family members hold junior ministerial positions and other key posts.

Basil was described as "Mr Ten Percent" in a 2007 US embassy cable published by the WikiLeaks organisation, because of commissions he allegedly took from government contracts.

He has denied any wrongdoing and inquiries failed to find any evidence to back charges he siphoned off millions of dollars from state coffers.

Basil is a dual US-Sri Lankan citizen, but Gotabaya removed constitutional provisions which blocked him from standing in a parliamentary election last year.

© 2021 AFP

Show of 'solidarity' in Cyprus ghost town before Erdogan visit

Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

Nikos Karoullas, on the left, joins a human chain in the fenced-off area of Varosha in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on July 16 Christina ASSI AFP/File


Varosha (Cyprus) (AFP)

Ahead of a visit Tuesday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Cypriot ghost town of Varosha, activists from both sides of the divided island made an emotional call for unity.

Their voices echoing off abandoned and dilapidated buildings, some 50 Greek and Turkish Cypriots held hands last Friday to form a human chain symbolising solidarity and their desire for reconciliation.

Erdogan's controversial visit will mark 47 years since Turkey's invasion of northern Cyprus split the Mediterranean island and left Varosha, a former playground for the rich and famous, a fenced-off no-man's land.

"We're in front of our houses which were looted 47 years ago," said Nikos Karoullas, a Greek Cypriot in his sixties, during a visit to the area adjacent to the UN-patrolled Green Line.#photo1

"Our houses are unreachable. But we say: the Turkish Cypriots are our friends, we will fight for a reunified country."

The former resident of Varosha said he had originally only wanted to meet up with some friends and show them his childhood home town, where bougainvillea now shoots through caved-in roofs.

But then he found that Cypriots from both sides had turned up for a brief show of solidarity with those who had fled and lost everything decades ago.#photo2

On July 20, 1974, Turkish troops invaded northern Cyprus in response to a coup aimed at attaching the country to Greece.

The island has since been divided between the Republic of Cyprus, a Greek Cypriot-majority state and European Union member, and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Ankara.

- 'I want to scream' -

Varosha, still surrounded by barbed wire, was placed under Turkish army control and left to rot, a crumbling bargaining chip in years of negotiations that have failed to resolve the island's divisions.#photo3

Then last year, on October 8, the self-declared TRNC reopened Demokratias Avenue, which crosses through Varosha and leads to its long and golden beach.

That sparked protests in the south.

But the same month also saw the election of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who is close to Ankara and pushing for international recognition of TRNC statehood rather than an island-wide federation.

When Erdogan travels to Varosha, in a visit that has infuriated Greek Cypriots, he is expected to announce the reopening of other parts of the town.

Andreas Anastassiou, 67, another former Varosha resident back there last week, struggled to control his anger.

"I see the buildings are destroyed. I want to cry and I want my cry to be heard all over Cyprus," he said.

"They stole our town from us."

According to a University of Nicosia poll of 1,000 former residents, 73 percent would refuse to resettle in Varosha if it were reopened under Turkish Cypriot control -- a move that would defy UN resolutions.#photo4

"It's easy for them (to) tell us to come back because they know we will say no. No one will accept to live under Turkish law," said Anastassiou.

He pointed to a Turkish worker cementing a wall.

"That's my old school," he said, raising his voice. "Look, they've already removed the name!"

- 'Death and sorrow' -

At the end of their reunion in a military zone where demonstrations are banned, Yilderim Hasoglu, a longtime Turkish Cypriot friend of Karoullas, sighed.#photo5

"I see nothing but death and sorrow here, a big waste," he said. "I came to show my solidarity with Nikos."

Landscape workers and builders have been racing to spruce up Demokratias Avenue in time for Erdogan's visit to the area that has become a magnet for tourists on bikes or rollerblades.

Local officials say over 200,000 people have visited Varosha since its partial reopening, mainly Turkish Cypriot residents of the city of Famagusta -- Ammochostos in Greek or Gazimagusa in Turkish -- of which Varosha is a district.

Nigerian student Goodness said she had seen photos of Varosha on social media and wanted to see it for herself.

"I keep asking my friends what happened during the war and they said I should go read about it," she said. "It's scary also -- what if there were ghosts here?"

For Karoullas, the ghosts have never left Varosha.#photo6

"We used to come here for a drink after class, to dance, to flirt," he reminisced with a smile.

He pointed to the gutted facade of the Cafe Edelweiss, near the school where he studied on the same benches as Anastassiou.

"Many of us fell in love here," he said.

© 2021 AFP

BATTLE FOR THE NILE

Ethiopia hits second-year target for filling Nile mega-dam
Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, pictured in a satellite image last July by Maxar Technologies Handout Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies/AFP/File

Addis Ababa (AFP)

Ethiopia said Monday it had attained its second-year target for filling a mega-dam on the Blue Nile River that has stoked tensions with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.

"The first filling already was done last year. The second one is already done today. So today or tomorrow, second filling will be announced," an official told AFP, adding there is now enough water stored to begin producing energy.

Water Minister Seleshi Bekele later confirmed the milestone, which officials had earlier predicted would come in August.

In a post on Twitter, he attributed the accelerated timeline to "extreme rainfall" in the Blue Nile basin.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.

Egypt and Sudan view the dam as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters, while Ethiopia deems it essential for its electrification and development.

Talks held under the auspices of the African Union (AU) have failed to yield a three-way agreement on the dam's filling and operations, and Cairo and Khartoum have demanded Addis Ababa cease filling the massive reservoir until such a deal is reached.

But Ethiopian officials have argued that filling is a natural part of the dam's construction process and cannot be stopped.

- Energy generation -

The UN Security Council met earlier this month to discuss the project, although Ethiopia later slammed the session as an "unhelpful" distraction from the AU-led process.

Egypt claims a historic right to the Nile dating from a 1929 treaty that gave it veto power over construction projects along the river.

A 1959 treaty boosted Egypt's allocation to around 66 percent of the river's flow, with 22 percent for Sudan.

Yet Ethiopia was not party to those treaties and does not see them as valid.

In 2010 Nile basin countries, excluding Egypt and Sudan, signed another deal, the Cooperative Framework Agreement, that allows projects on the river without Cairo's agreement.

The Nile's main tributaries, the Blue Nile and White Nile, converge in Khartoum before flowing north through Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.

The process of filling the GERD's reservoir began last year, with Ethiopia announcing in July 2020 it had hit its target of 4.9 billion cubic metres.

The goal for this year's rainy season -- which had been announced before the first cycle was completed -- was to add 13.5 billion cubic metres. The reservoir's capacity is 74 billion.

With the second-year target hit, the dam can run the first two of its 13 turbines, Seleshi said Monday on Twitter.

"Intensive efforts are being made for the two turbines to generate energy," Seleshi said, adding that "early generation" could be realised "in the next few months."

- 'National symbol' -

The $4.2-billion dam is ultimately expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, making it Africa's biggest hydroelectric dam and more than doubling Ethiopia's electricity output.

Ethiopia had initially planned output of around 6,500 megawatts but later reduced its target.

The first two turbines should produce 750 megawatts of electricity, increasing national output by roughly 20 percent, said Addisu Lashitew of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

It is "a significant amount" for an economy that frequently faces power shortages and is sometimes hobbled by power rationing, he said.

The milestone would also have "political implications" for a country going through "a very difficult time" in no small part because of the eight-month-old war in its northern Tigray region, Addisu said.

"The dam is seen as a national symbol, a unifying symbol. It's one of the very few things that bring together people from all walks of life in Ethiopia," he said.

"Definitely the government will try to extract some political value from the second filling."

© 2021 AFP

NATO NATION BUILDING
Crisis-hit Libya faces lean Eid as livestock prices spiral

Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

Sheep seller Osama al-Aqury blames soaring fodder prices for the rising cost of meat in Libya Abdullah DOMA AFP

Benghazi (Libya) (AFP)

Muslims in war-scarred Libya mark Eid al-Adha from Tuesday, but few will be able to afford the sheep or goat traditionally slaughtered during the festival.

The guns may have fallen silent in the North African country, but its people are now fighting a deep economic crisis worsened by the Covid pandemic and drought.

Few customers were stopping in the days before Eid at the Sidi Khalifa roadside market outside Benghazi in Libya's east, where trader Osama al-Aqury blamed soaring fodder prices for the rising cost of livestock.

"For the past four years state farming cooperatives have been meant to sell fodder to sheep farmers at subsidised prices, but they haven't," said the 35-year-old, who uses a wheelchair.

Seriously wounded in the 2011 revolt that overthrew and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, he manoeuvred easily among his animals, grabbing them by the horns to show them to the few potential buyer.

While the ritual is not obligatory in Islam, tradition and social conventions mean that most families hope to buy and slaughter a sheep or goat for the Eid feast.

But like many people in the Arab world facing grinding economic crisis as the year's biggest Muslim festival approaches, Libyans are looking at the prospect of a lean Eid.

- Pandemic and drought -

Kadhafi's fall sparked a decade of violent chaos in Libya and the collapse of an economic system that was based on state patronage funded by oil revenues.#photo2

Today, non-subsidised animal feed costs 150 dinars (around 30 euros) per 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds), Aqury said.

Meanwhile "the fields are totally dry" after months with no rain, he added, before moving aside to perform one of his five daily prayers, perched in his wheelchair as he faced Mecca.

Amer al-Messilati, who manages the herd of a wealthy Benghazi rancher, agreed that times are tough.

"The price of feed this year has impacted the price of sheep," he said, as market-goers wandered past without buying. "To help buyers, we've been accepting cheques as well as cash."

A one-year-old sheep with good quality meat can now sell for up to 2,000 dinars (375 euros) -- up from 1,400 dinars last year.#photo3

Years of fighting and the Libyan state's division into two rival administrations have compounded a liquidity crisis, sent prices higher and led to endless delays in salary payments to the many public sector workers.

With many banks also capping withdrawals at 1,000 dinars, queues at cash machines are long and Libyans are forced to plan their shopping and expenses long in advance.

The coronavirus pandemic has compounded Libya's woes, and cases have exploded in recent weeks.

- Struggle to survive -

In Benghazi, Faraj al-Nayli, a state employee who had come to the market to seek out a bargain, said that "wealthy families shouldn't haggle, because everyone finds something to suit their budget".

He also said the state should help out poorer families.#photo4

With economic woes mounting, a new unity government in power since March has put aside more than 10 million euros to import tens of thousands of animals for municipalities to distribute to poorer families.

This year the livestock are arriving from all over: sheep from Spain and Romania, calves from Ireland and Hungary; even camels from Djibouti.

Some 38,000 thousand head of livestock arrived in recent days, for distribution across the country, according to the size of families.

The question remains whether they will arrive on time for Eid.

"The state is getting in late...it should have done it two months ago, not a few days before Eid," said Nayli.

Moreover, he said, "without liquidity, we can't survive."

© 2021 AFP

International community calls for 'urgent end' to Taliban offensive

Issued on: 19/07/2021 - 

Afghanistan has seen a deadly surge in fighting in recent months FARSHAD USYAN AFP/File



Kabul (AFP)

More than a dozen diplomatic missions in Afghanistan on Monday called for "an urgent end" to the Taliban's ruthless military offensive, saying it was at odds with claims they want to secure a political deal to end the conflict.

The statement -- signed by the US, EU, and more than a dozen other missions in Kabul -- follows another round of inconclusive talks in Doha over the weekend between the Afghan government and the Taliban that many hoped would kickstart the ailing peace process.

"The Taliban's offensive is in direct contradiction to their claim to support a negotiated settlement," it read.

"It has resulted in loss of innocent Afghan lives, including through continued targeted killings, displacement of the civilian population, looting and burning of buildings, destruction of vital infrastructure, and damage to communication networks."

For months, the two sides have been meeting on and off in the Qatari capital, but have achieved little, if any, notable success -- with the discussions appearing to have lost momentum as the militants made enormous battlefield gains.

A joint statement released late Sunday said little more than they had agreed on the need to reach a "just solution", and to meet again next week.

"We also agreed that there should be no pause in the negotiations," Abdullah Abdullah, who oversees the Afghan government's delegation, told AFP on Monday.

He noted, however, that neither side was currently pursuing a joint ceasefire during the talks, despite urgent calls from Afghan civil society and the international community to end the surge in fighting.

- Turkish talks -

On the heels of the weekend summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his administration was also hoping to start talks with the Taliban over the group's refusal to let Ankara run the Kabul airport after US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

"We will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us," Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul on Monday.

Turkey has been negotiating with US defence officials over an offer to secure Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries to retain a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country after the troop withdrawal.

Last week, the Taliban called Turkey's offer "reprehensible".

Despite the latest round of shuttle diplomacy, fighting continued to flare in Afghanistan with both the Taliban and government making claims of taking and re-taking territory in various areas across the country.

Over the weekend, the Taliban's supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada released his own statement saying he "strenuously favours" a political settlement -- even as the hardline Islamist movement continues its sweeping offensive across the nation.

Despite coming days ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday, the statement notably made no mention of a formal call for a ceasefire.

Over the years, the Taliban have announced a series of short truces during Islamic holidays.

However, the group has been criticised for using them to resupply and reinforce their fighters, allowing them to launch devastating onslaughts on Afghanistan's security forces once the truces expire.

With foreign forces in the last stages of a withdrawal due to be complete by the end of August, the Taliban have cut a huge swath across Afghanistan, capturing hundreds of districts, seizing key border crossings and encircling provincial capitals.

© 2021 AFP

Why is Pakistan seeing a surge in Taliban support?

Pakistani citizen Abdul Rasheed died in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province earlier this month. Hundreds of people attended the 22-year-old's funeral near Peshawar and chanted pro-Taliban slogans.

 

THE TALIBAN WERE CREATED BY THE PAKISTAN SECRET SERVICE UNDER BENAZIR BHUTTO



Analysts say Islamabad's alleged support to the Taliban could dent Pakistan's reputation in the international community

Videos of Pakistani citizens holding Taliban flags and chanting Islamist slogans at rallies to show support for the Afghan insurgents have been circulating on social media. This comes amid rapid Taliban advances in Afghanistan ahead of the complete withdrawal of US troops by September.

Islamic clerics in various parts of the country are also soliciting support for the Afghan Taliban and calling for donations.

Many locals and witnesses in the city of Quetta and district of Pishin of Balochistan province told DW that there had been an increased pro-Taliban activity in their areas.

"The Taliban enjoy local support in our area, but the rallies are not possible without support from state authorities," a resident told DW on condition of anonymity. "Initially, the clerics were asking for donations for the Afghan Taliban at mosques; now they are coming door-to-door to generate funds for the 'Afghan jihad,'" he said.

Mohsin Dawar, a progressive opposition lawmaker from Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, said that "the Taliban continue to roam freely in different parts of Pakistan, including Quetta."

"It is not possible without the state's support," he said.

Government officials say the reports about pro-Taliban rallies and donations are unfounded. "The allegations are baseless. No such thing is happening," Zahid Hafeez Chuadhary, a spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, told DW.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is officially banned in the country, but experts say Islamabad's alleged support to the Afghan Taliban is giving impetus to the outfit.

'Taliban funerals' in Pakistan

Taliban gains in Afghanistan are also encouraging Pakistani Islamists to join their ranks in the war-ravaged country. According to local sources, dozens of Pakistanis have been killed in Afghanistan in the past few months while fighting alongside the Taliban against Afghan forces.

Analysts say Pakistani authorities have not taken any action to stop their movement. Social media posts have shown announcements and advertisements for their memorial services, as their dead bodies return to their hometowns.

Hundreds of people have attended the funerals of the Pakistani fighters in various parts of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and the southwestern Balochistan provinces.

Abdul Rasheed, a 22-year-old Taliban supporter, died in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, earlier this month. His funeral took place on July 11. Reports emerged that Islamist sympathizers chanted pro-Taliban slogans in his funeral, and hundreds of people visited his family to congratulate them on Rasheed's "martyrdom."

"Pakistan derives leverage over the Taliban not just because of the safe havens it has provided to the group's leaders, but also through the medical facilities it provides for Taliban fighters and support for the group's families," Michael Kugelman, deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told DW.

"Islamabad has previously suggested that its relationship with the Taliban puts it in a great position to facilitate talks between the insurgents and the Americans, and more recently the Afghan state. But, when it says it has limited leverage, it appears to be contradicting its own message. There is public support for the Taliban within Pakistan and over the years Pakistani nationals remain their volunteer fighters," he added.

Strategic contradictions

Many Afghan and Western officials accuse Islamabad of providing safe havens and military support to the Taliban, which could further dent Pakistan's international reputation.

"The pro-Taliban rallies indicate two things: the state's inability and unwillingness to counter violent extremism as the next step after military operations. The government has not done much to mainstream Islamic madrasas and extremist groups because of political and strategic contradictions," Amber Rahim Shamsi, a senior journalist and political analyst, told DW.

"It is a contradiction that the authorities keep saying one thing to the international community, but the ground reality depicts a different picture," she said.

"While it is true that political engagement by the international community has given legitimacy to the Taliban, Pakistan ultimately has to bear the brunt of the spillover from Afghanistan."

Qamar Cheema, a political analyst, said pro-Taliban rallies were "a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty."

"At the same time, it also shows support for the Taliban ideology in Pakistani society. The authorities have failed to counter their narrative," he said.

Analyst Kugelman shares a similar view about the support enjoyed by the Taliban in Pakistani society: "Many Pakistanis see the group as a better alternative to President Ashraf Ghani's government, especially because of the perception that it better serves Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan. So, if there are indeed rallies in Pakistan advocating on behalf of the Afghan Taliban, it wouldn't be a surprise."

MILITANT HAQQANI NETWORK - A BRIEF HISTORY

Remnants of the Afghan war against Soviets

The Haqqani Network was formed by Jalaluddin Haqqani, who fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. In 1995, the Haqqani Network allied with the Taliban and the two groups captured the Afghan capital Kabul in 1996. In 2012, the US designated the group a terrorist organization. On September 4, 2018, the Taliban announced that Jalaluddin passed away after a long illness. PHOTOS 123456789

'Government is watchful'

Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai told DW that Pakistanis were unlikely to join Afghan Taliban forces, at least not in large numbers as they did during the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.

"The situation is much different now because the government is watchful. It will not allow people to cross over into Afghanistan and fight for the Taliban," Yusufzai said.

"However, in remote areas close to the Afghan border, people might still go to fight and collect donations," he said, adding that some Afghan students studying in Pakistani seminaries might support the Taliban and head to Afghanistan.

"They can see the victory of the Taliban and the situation is in their favor," he said.

Peshawar-based analyst Samina Afridi believes that support for the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan's so-called tribal belt has dwindled.

"There are pockets of support for the Afghan Taliban in North and South Waziristan, but most of the people in other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province want schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure, not any militancy, be it from the Afghan Taliban or any other group," she told DW.

Afridi said clerics sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban might begin recruitment or collect donations but that such actions would be "vehemently" resisted by anti-war grassroots organizations like the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.

Additional reporting by S. Khan, DW's correspondent in Islamabad.

PAKISTAN: HOW ISLAMIST MILITANCY WRECKED A TRIBAL WOMAN'S LIFE

A hard life

Life is hard for Pakistan's tribal women. For Baswaliha, a 55-year-old widow, life became even more painful after she lost her son in 2009, and her husband in 2010 — both in terrorist attacks. Baswaliha lives in Galanai, a town in the tribal Mohmand district that shares a border with Afghanistan. The area was hit hard by the Taliban insurgency following the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. PHOTOS 1234567

JORDAN JUST ANOTHER NAME FOR PALESTINE

Jordan and the US: An alliance too important to fail

Jordan's King Abdullah II meets US President Joe Biden on Monday. An economic crisis, severe drought and an attempted coup make this meeting of allies more important than ever.

THE ORIGINAL FAKE STATE

    

King Abdullah, whose legitimacy has been questioned by some at home, hopes for better ties with the US once again

On Monday, King Abdullah II of Jordan will become the first Arab head of state to meet with United States President Joe Biden.

The two will meet at the White House in Washington. The visit is part of a three-week tour of the United States by the Jordanian king, his wife Queen Rania, and his son Crown Prince Hussein.

The visit "will be an opportunity to discuss the many challenges facing the Middle East and showcase Jordan's leadership role in promoting peace and stability in the region," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this month.

"This meeting is very important for Jordan," Edmund Ratka, head of the Amman office of Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, told DW. "It has both an important international dimension and a vital domestic dimension."

Jordan hopes to play a key role in the Middle East once again

Long-running friendship

"Given the various crises that Jordan has been dealing with recently, it's of great symbolic importance," Ratka said, referring to recent political plots within the Jordanian royal family, the country's ongoing economic and water crises and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The past few years haven't been easy on the small Middle Eastern state, or its alliance with the US.

Washington's friendly relationship with Jordan dates back to the end of World War II. But it was not until the 1950s that the kingdom became truly important for the American government — which saw it as a safe, moderate country and a bulwark against communism and Arab nationalism in the region.

Over the decades, Jordan has also played a long-running role in negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was the second Arab nation to make peace with Israel in 1994, but also lobbies strongly for the Palestinian people. Many Jordanians have Palestinian roots.

High hopes for Biden: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (left) and King Abdullah met in June

US-Jordan relations at a 'low point'

Still, none of this prevented the previous US president, Donald Trump, from sidelining Jordan. Trump seemed to favor the strongman leaders of other countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt over Jordon's King Abdullah.

"He [Trump] really didn't care about Jordanian interests at all," said Ratka. "It was very difficult for Jordan under Trump. The relationship was really at a low point."

At the same time, Jordan is not as stable as it once was. In an analysis by the Brookings Institution's Doha Center, the country of 10 million was described as a "soft dictatorship" with minimal democracy. Simply put, despite elections and a parliament, the royal family are in charge.

Jordanians have now begun to question their legitimacy. Recently, against the backdrop of an economic recession and what are seen as broken government promises, Jordan experienced grassroots Arab Spring-style protests.

Although anti-austerity protests may have been quelled, Jordan's financial woes persist

These were quickly repressed — but this April, the country made international headlines after what appeared to be a possible coup within the palace, allegedly led by King Abdullah's half-brother, Prince Hamzah, a would-be reformer.

Multiple crises

Due partially to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions have failed to improve in the resource- and water-poor country. According to the World Bank, the Jordanian economy shrank 1.6% over the course of the last year while unemployment has risen to nearly 25%. Youth joblessness is even worse, at around 50%. Jordan also has major water woes and at the sam time is experiencing a severe drought.

As a result of these factors, Jordan remains heavily dependent on foreign aid — most of which it receives from the US — amounting to around $1.5 billion (€1.26 billion) annually.

According to a July Congressional Research Service's report, Jordan received $22 billion (€18.6 billion) from the US between 1946 and 2018. "Currently, Jordan is the third-largest recipient of annual US foreign aid globally, after Afghanistan and Israel," the briefing noted. 

Jordan is experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history

Jordan gets military aid from Washington, too. The US Department of Defense (DoD) says the kingdom has received $1.5 billion in military assistance since 2015. The funding allows the kingdom to buy and maintain military equipment like F-16 fighter jets. There are also currently around 3,000 American soldiers stationed in the country.

And although American funding did keep flowing during the Trump presidency, the country lost its foreign policy significance. At first, King Abdullah clearly attempted to find favor with Trump — but around halfway through the former president's tenure, the Jordanians seemed to give up on him.

Biden changes everything

After December 2017, when the US controversially announced that Jerusalem would be the site of its new embassy, contact at the leadership level ceased, something that observers said was unusual in the long alliance.

Jordan has always been a supporter of a two-state solution, where both Israel and Palestine would have their own countries. The decision to relocate the US Embassy seemed to fly in the face of that idea. Jordan also acts as the "caretaker" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

King Abdullah met President Trump four times over the course of 2017

But the election of Joe Biden has changed all that. Biden and King Abdullah have met many times, as the US president often traveled to Jordan as both a senator and as a vice president. King Abdullah was the first world leader to congratulate Biden on his election in November 2020, and also the first Arab leader to speak with Biden on the phone that same month.

Jordanian revival

"The Jordanian monarch hopes his long-standing friendship with Biden will yield dividends that would not only give a much-needed boost to the economy, but will also show Jordanian citizens, especially those in the majority who are of Palestinian descent, that he will use his influence with the US president to solidify US support for Palestinian rights," Gregory Aftandilian, a nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington, wrote this week.

During Monday's meeting, the Jordanians are expected to lobby for an extension of its current five-year aid package, worth $6.4 billion and set to expire next year, experts have said.

Although tangible outcomes from the talks won't be immediately apparent, the signals sent will be significant.

"Luckily for the kingdom, regional and international actors still see the country as too important to fail," Aftandilian said.

"The fact that Biden is taking a more balanced approach to the Middle East means that once again, Jordan has a role to play," Ratka concluded. "Jordan still wants to play a part in those major Middle Eastern questions."

Czech gold for future generations?

In the earth beneath the Czech Republic lies gold worth €20 billion. But unlike the country's lithium reserves, this gold is not planned to be mined — due to environmental concerns and economic factors.


Jilove u Prahy is a picturesque town with almost 5,000 inhabitants and a great many historical monuments. This region, along the River Sazava, a tributary of the Vltava near Prague, is a popular recreational area for citizens of the Czech capital.

In the 14th century, Jilove u Prahy was the third-most-important town in the kingdom of Bohemia, after Prague and Kutna Hora, and its population was more than double that of today. Back then, King Charles IV of Bohemia (1355-1378) was Holy Roman Emperor, and during his reign Jilove was the empire's most important source of gold.

"A large part of the city of Prague was built from the proceeds of gold mining, including some of the buildings of Charles University that still stand today," says Sarka Jurinova, director of the Regional Museum in Jilove u Prahy, which houses a large exhibition on gold mining.

"We're probably the only museum where your admission ticket entitles you to take home gold you've panned yourself," she quips, pointing to a pool of water in the courtyard. Visitors can prospect in the sand at the bottom, and whatever tiny pieces of gold they find belong to them.

Director Sarka Jurinova in front of the charming Jilove Regional Museum

"There are about 7 tons of gold under and around Jilove," the museum's geologist, Jan Vana, tells DW. Although mining ended in 1968, Vana says there were times when some of the shafts would yield as much as 4 grams of gold, or about 1/8 ounce, per metric ton of rock. This would make gold mining a profitable operation, despite the drastic drop in gold prices in 2013.

"The problem is that Jilove is in a recreational area," Vana explains. "Without the use of toxic cyanide, the yield would be low."

Nonetheless, many locals would like to return to the days when gold was mined in Jilove. "Then we could buy Czech gold instead of importing it from South Africa," one elderly local woman says.

Nuggets the size of handballs

The mining tradition was kept alive in Jilove decades after the mines themselves had closed. "In 2018, when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of mining, the last few former miners came and gathered here," says Sarka Jurinova, standing in front of a mining car, one of the exhibits in the museum. An inscription informs us that there is sufficient gold in the lumps of rock in the wagon to produce a wedding ring.

In the past, however, gold nuggets weighing several kilograms were found beneath Jilove. One specimen, the size of a handball, is on display in the Jilove Regional Museum.

A gold nugget of such purity and size is a rare find indeed

The museum offers tours of several of the former shafts — although no one in Jilove is seeking to revive the mining industry today. "People do still try and prospect gold in the sand along the tributaries of the River Sazava," Jurinova points out.
Czech Republic's gold resources

There are recoverable gold deposits in several places of the Czech Republic. A conservative estimate suggests that it would be possible to mine around 400 metric tons of gold there. At current prices, that would yield about 500 billion Czech crowns — the equivalent of €20 billion, or almost $24 million.

Since 1990, there have been several attempts to resume gold mining, but all have failed due to lack of interest from the state along with resistance from residents in affected localities.

Last year, the state mining company Diamo launched a survey of closed gold mines in Zlate Hory in the north of the Czech Republic. "The geological survey will last three years, and the results will be used to determine the conditions under which the gold deposit near Zlate Hory can be exploited," Ludvik Kaspar, the director of Diamo, told the Czech news agency CTK.

Mining yes, cyanide no

"The study should provide the government with up-to-date information on the possibility of exploiting gold reserves and their concomitants," Stepanka Filipova, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told the high-circulation daily MF Dnes. Here, too, several tons of gold are said to lie buried underground.

"I will make the case for the project to resume mining to go ahead," Czech president Milos Zeman told CTK some years ago.

With the Zlate Hory mine, the assumption is that, if mining is resumed, the gold-bearing rock would be sent abroad for further processing, meaning that no extraction of gold involving highly toxic cyanide would be done in the Czech Republic.


Czech President Milos Zeman is interested in rejuvenating domestic gold mining
Mining not yet profitable

In the Czech Republic, gold mining would be profitable with the use of cyanide, but without cyanide its profitability is questionable.

But for Richard Brabec, the current environment minister, renouncing cyanide is an essential requirement for the resumption of gold mining in the Czech Republic.

"For us, it is absolutely inconceivable and unacceptable that gold mining should in future be done by leaching — that is, by chemical processing," Brabec said on Czech television. "The only other option is deep mining," he continued, referring to mining involving shafts sunk 1.5 kilometers or nearly a mile below ground.

"But I hope that gold will remain hidden underground as the riches of our country for decades to come," Brabec concluded.

Czech economist Lukas Kovanda believes profitability factors are behind the decision to hold back from gold mining

However, Czech economist Lukas Kovanda, a member of the government's National Economic Council in Prague, believes the lack of haste in the resumption of gold mining reflects mainly economic factors.

"Gold mining is not yet profitable again, so no one is in a hurry to resume it," Kovanda told DW. "If things were different, they would have started mining gold again in the Czech Republic long ago."

Czech Republic: lithium superpower?

The example of lithium, often referred to as "white gold," is illuminating. In recent years, large lithium deposits were discovered near Cinovec in the Ore Mountains, close to the border with Saxony in Germany. It is estimated to be the largest lithium deposit in Europe, with about 60% on the Czech side of the border and about 40% on the German side.

In March, Karel Havlicek, Czech deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade, announced that with the help of the partly state-owned energy company CEZ, he had succeeded in gaining control over mining in the majority of the Czech Republic's deposits.

A CEZ spokesperson, Roman Gazdik, told the online portal of the MF Dnes newspaper that mining could start in 2025, after which it would be possible to mine 1.8 million metric tons of lithium ore per year.

An estimated 4% of the world's lithium reserves are located in the earth beneath the Czech Republic — 140,000 million metric tons near Cinovec alone. Lithium is a strategic raw material with great potential — among other things, it is needed for the manufacture of batteries.

But lithium mining also presents pollution hazards, so environmental considerations could come into play there as well.

Watch video 02:59 Lithium mining faces huge resistance in Portugal and Spain

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