Ethiopia aims to end 'illegal administration' in disputed territory

MAKE IT A CONFEDERATION NOT A NATION STATE

Reuters
Tue, August 22, 2023 

People displaced due to the fighting between TPLF and ENDF sit inside their shelter at the Abi Adi camp for the Internally Displaced Persons in Abi Adi town, Tigray Region

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia plans to organise a referendum to determine the status of territory disputed by the country's Tigray and Amhara regions, the defence minister said on Tuesday.

The government also vowed to dissolve what it called an "illegal administration" in the area run by the Amharas, potentially risking a further backlash from former allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war.

Defence Minister Abraham Belay's comments are the government's clearest to date on its plans for the disputed territory, fertile farmlands officially known as Western Tigray where some of the most intense fighting of the war took place.

The remarks are likely to fuel Amhara complaints that federal authorities have turned their backs on Amharas, whose forces captured the lands while providing military support to the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) against rebellious Tigrayan forces.

Those grievances have been at the root of fighting that erupted late last month between Ethiopia's military and local militiamen across Amhara and led the government to declare a state of emergency.

Abraham, who is from Tigray, but remained loyal to the federal government during the civil war, wrote on his Facebook page that efforts were underway to allow people from these areas who were displaced by the conflict to return home.

Most of those who fled the disputed area identify as Tigrayan, while the territory is currently governed by Amhara forces and administrators.

"In those areas where an illegal administration was created, it will be dissolved," Abraham said. "The ENDF will ensure there are not any other armed forces except the federal security forces."

He said the status of the lands would be decided by referendum "when our people are ready, and without any pressure from anyone".

Amhara nationalists have opposed the idea of a referendum, calling it an improper way to determine the status of territory to which they say they have a clear historical right.

Tigrayan officials reject Amhara claims to the land. The federal constitution, which was drafted by a former Tigrayan-led federal administration in 1995, recognises the lands as belonging to Tigray.

A spokesperson for Amhara's regional government did not respond to a request for comment about Abraham's comments.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the Tigray war, which ended with a peace deal between the government and Tigrayan leaders last November.

Amhara nationalists complained they were not included in the negotiations and felt betrayed by the deal's stipulation that the status of the disputed lands be resolved in accordance with the 1995 constitution.

Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Giles Elgood

How Ethiopia’s Amhara breadbasket became its biggest challenge

Samuel Getachew
Wed, August 23, 2023 

The News

ADDIS ABABA — After a brutal civil war lasting two years, Ethiopia’s government has been scrambling to rebuild its once booming economy with appeals to international donors and investors. But instead of turning the corner and focusing on revival, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 2020’s Nobel Peace prize winner, finds himself stuck in the middle of another dangerous, emotionally-draining ethnic battle with yet another formidable regional adversary in Amhara.

This week Ethiopia’s finance minister Ahmed Shide called on investors to help raise $20 billion as part of a wider recovery plan to revive the country’s crippled economy and rebuild its damaged infrastructure. But instead, with the outbreak of skirmishes then full-fledged conflict between federal forces and Amhara’s Fano militia since November 2022, Ethiopia has taken a big blow to one of its most economically important regions.

Companies like Safaricom, which has been rolling out its M-Pesa mobile money service nationally since the start of the year, have had to curtail operations in the province. The government has declared a state of emergency and suspended internet services. Meanwhile, the international flower trade has had to suspend exports from the region. So far the local investment bureau estimates that more than $45 million of damage has been done with more than 3,000 jobs lost as the economy has slowed since the regional skirmishes took hold last November.

Amhara administrators have told local press they estimate it will cost nearly half a trillion birr ($9.5 billion) to rebuild war-ravaged areas in a region that has contributed more than a fifth of national GDP in recent years.

“Investment in Amhara was already struggling from the previous conflict with many assets looted and destroyed,” said a regional investor, who asked not to be named due to sensitivities around the ongoing conflict. “Everyone remains in a suspended state of mind not knowing what to do with fear of more unrest coming down the road.”

Know More

The conflict between the Ethiopian government’s forces and the Fano militia in the Amhara region was triggered soon after a November 2022 peace deal between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to end a devastating two-year civil war in the north of the country. Instead of being welcomed unanimously as a war-ending pact, it was almost immediately questioned by the Amharas who said they had been excluded from the talks, even though they had fought alongside the federal army against the Tigray rebels.

The final straw seemed to be when Prime Minister Abiy proposed that all regional special forces should be integrated into the federal army and police force to boost ethnic unity. The Amharas saw that as leaving them vulnerable to future attacks from Tigray and have pushed back.

Earlier this month Abiy introduced a state-of-emergency in the province and conducted a “law enforcement operation” against the Fano militia. There has been growing resistance from the Amhara region with allegations of an attempt to weaken its power against the Tigray regional government with recurring boundary disputes.

The protracted conflict has disrupted supply chains and blocked critical overland trade routes that keep Amhara’s marketplaces alive. The region is an important breadbasket for Ethiopia and prices of staple food have risen sharply since the outbreak of this latest conflict. The cost of teff, the main grain used to make injera bread, is estimated to have almost doubled in the Addis area, according to recent media reports.

Samuel’s view

It seemed like only a few years ago that Ethiopia was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It was remarkable for a country with Africa’s second largest population of over 125 million people. That rapid economic growth brought international players who helped develop key investment across the country at industrial parks and local factories.

But now most foreign investors in the Amhara region are being impacted as a result of the recurring conflicts, including European breweries such as Bavaria, which was forced to temporarily halt production, and various Chinese manufacturers located inside the Hawassa industrial park in the Sidama region.

This follows the loss of tariff-free access under the United States’ Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) preferences, withdrawn last year due to suspected human rights abuses during northern Ethiopia’s conflict.

With the growing influence of international investors in Ethiopia’s economy over the last decade of rapid growth, it is notable that there are now significant concerns about the volatility of the country. Many will likely take their chances elsewhere in the region.

Most of those impacted during the current conflict are international businesses such as flower growers from the Netherlands who helped the region create thousands of jobs and bring much needed hard currency to Ethiopia.

There are, of course, many other unintended consequences for long-term development if the country is distracted by internal volatility. Take for example the dispute ongoing between Ethiopia’s Railway Corporation and Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish construction company before a UK arbitration board over an aborted railway project. It was to have been built across the Amhara region but the $1.7 billion project was heavily damaged during the two-year northern conflict. The Turkish company is seeking $500 million in compensation.

It will likely take several years for Ethiopia’s economy to fully recover from these spasms of conflict and in that time a decade of development and progress would have been squandered.

Room for Disagreement

Some analysts remain optimistic about Ethiopia’s long-term potential to become a regional investment hub — despite the current security challenges.

“Even during the Tigray war, the (Ethiopian) government has shown that it can attract foreign direct investments,” said Patrick Heinisch, an African analyst at German commercial bank Helaba. “Foreign investors know that the government relies on forex brought in by foreign investment and investors are aware they can purchase state assets at a cheaper price compared to other times as the government begins to privatize”, Heinisch added.

The View From AMSTERDAM

“Investing in Ethiopia for us is a long-term investment. We look ahead at a bright Ethiopian future instead of only looking at the current struggles,” said Jan Groenen, CEO of Dutch African Investment Holdings and a major coffee brand that exports to the European market from Ethiopia.

Notable

• The conflict in the Amhara region has “wreaked havoc on local industries,” reports the Addis Standard which quotes an initial estimate of 2.5 billion birr in damages.

LUNA MISSION

India has fired the starting gun in the race to control the Moon

Sarah Knapton
Wed, August 23, 2023 

Prime minister Narendra Modi congratulates the Indian Space Research Organisation for the successful lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon - Punit Paranjpe/AFP


India has just fired the starting gun on the race for resources on the Moon.

Not since Roald Amundsen wired Captain Scott to inform him he was: ‘At Madeira. Going South’, has there been such a frenzy to reach the South Pole.

While the Antarctic wasteland proved fatal for Scott, the Moon’s southern polar region holds the key for sustaining life for future astronauts, because it likely contains vast amounts of frozen water.

Controlling such a resource - which could also be converted into rocket fuel - will be vital for establishing Moon bases, a key goal of many space agencies in the next decade.

People celebrate the successful lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon - Arun Sankar/AFP

Nasa plans to send a rover to the South Pole next year with US-based company Astrobotic Technology to measure water ahead of landing astronauts there in 2025 in the Artemis III mission.

China has also committed to sending astronauts there by the end of the decade, while Russia attempted a soft landing last week, which ended in failure.

So it is somewhat surprising that it is relative newcomer India which got there first, giving the country an unexpected head start in the hunt for water and other resources.

Its solar powered rover, named Pragyan, will trundle across the polar region for the next fortnight searching for ice.

Rajinikanth, the Indian actor, summed up what many were feeling, tweeting: “While superpowers like the US, Russia, and China watch in agast amazement, India stuns the world with this humongous achievement.”

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) said the Indian success was evidence the world was living in a “new space age” where new countries and companies were setting their sights on the Moon and beyond.

“This current crop of missions are focused on new areas of opportunity - there are important scientific discoveries to be made about the presence of water on the lunar surface, which could support humans to live and work there for extended periods of time,” Professor Anu Ojha OBE, Championing Space Director at the UK Space Agency.
Who owns the Moon?

But the Chandrayaan-3 mission also raises important questions about who owns the Moon, or any other space resource, and who should be allowed to exploit it.

Several countries including the US, Japan, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates have passed legislation granting companies and agencies the right to anything they extract on the lunar surface.

Earlier this year, the private Japanese company iSpace was due to carry out the first business transaction on the Moon - selling Moon dust to Nasa - but the spacecraft crashed on landing.

Some states, including Russia, are uncomfortable with what they see as a land grab by individual countries, and have called for international regulations to reign in the ‘Wild West’ economies that are emerging.

It does not help that current space law is vague about the exploitation of resources.

The UN’s 1966 Outer Space Treaty states that “outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”.

In addition, its 1979 Moon Treaty called for “the orderly and safe use of the natural lunar resources with an equitable sharing by all state parties in the benefits derived from those resources”.

Nasa’s Artemis Accords, signed by 21 countries including Britain, the US and Japan, but not Russia, endorsed the ability to extract and use space resources.

But the accords also called for the Outer Space Treaty to be unheld, making for a puzzling and contradictory situation.

It is also unclear who would police any space misdemeanours, what the possible punishments might be, and if anything would even be enforceable off-world.
The great ‘water rush’

What is clear, is that all eyes are now turned skywards and whoever wins the great ‘water rush’ of the next decade is likely to control the Moon for far longer.

Bill Nelson, the administrator of Nasa has already warned that if China gets taikonauts to the region first, the country may seek to claim the South Pole.

In 2021 a Chinese lunar engineer, Ye Peijian, said it was ‘entirely possible’ the country could have ‘boots on the moon’ by the end of the decade.

Now India has also thrown its hat into an already crowded ring.

Narendra Modi watches the Chandrayaan-3 mission

Speaking after the successful landing on Wednesday, Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, said: “The sky is not the limit. This is a victory cry of a new India.”

It is possible that India may face an ethical dilemma of spending millions to mine water on the Moon while struggling to provide water for hundreds of millions of its citizens back on Earth.

In a curious synchronicity, the current head of the Indian Space Research Organisation is Sreedhara Somnath, whose name translates to ‘Lord of the Moon’.

Whether this will prove to be a harbinger of Indian lunar supremacy remains to be seen.

Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lands on the moon in 'victory cry of a new India'

Updated Wed, August 23, 2023

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee

BENGALURU (Reuters) -An Indian spacecraft became the first to land on the rugged, unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India's standing as a space power, just days after a similar Russian lander crashed.

"This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal. This is a victory cry of a new India," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who waved the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa where he is attending a BRICS summit, a group that joins Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Scientists and officials clapped, cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed and people across India broke out in celebration, setting off firecrackers and dancing in the streets.

"India is on the moon," said S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chandrayaan-3 landed, making India the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.

ISRO shared pictures from the spacecraft showing the moon’s surface and the leg and shadow of the lander.

Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, but the region's ice could supply fuel, oxygen and drinking water for future missions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated India in a message to Modi published on the Kremlin website.

"This is a big step forward in space exploration and of course a testament to the impressive progress made by India in the field of science and technology," he said.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated the ISRO on the landing.

"And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon," he said on X, formerly Twitter. "We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!"

This was India's second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon and comes less than a week after Russia's Luna-25 mission failed. People across the country were glued to television screens and said prayers as the spacecraft approached the surface.

Nearly 7 million watched the YouTube live stream.

Chandrayaan means "moon vehicle" in Hindi and Sanskrit. In 2019, ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed.

The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

The moon rover will take a few hours or a day to come out of the spacecraft, Somanath told reporters, adding that the landing has given India confidence to extend its reach to possible voyages to Mars and Venus.

India is also planning to launch a mission in September to study the sun, Somanath said. A human space flight is also planned and, while no official date has been announced, preparations are likely to be ready by 2024.

The landing is expected to boost India's reputation for cost-competitive space engineering. The Chandrayaan-3 was launched with a budget of about 6.15 billion rupees ($74 million), less than the cost to produce the 2013 Hollywood space thriller "Gravity".

"Landing on the south pole would actually allow India to explore if there is water ice on the moon. And this is very important for cumulative data and science on the geology of the moon," said Carla Filotico, a partner and managing director at consultancy SpaceTec Partners.

Anticipation before the landing was feverish, with banner headlines across Indian newspapers and news channels running countdowns to the landing.

Prayers were held at places of worship across the country, and school children waved the Indian tricolour as they waited for live screenings of the landing.

Children gathered on the banks of the Ganga river, considered holy by Hindus, to pray for a safe landing, and mosques offered prayers.

At a Sikh temple, known as a gurduwara, in the capital New Delhi, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also offered prayers.

"Not just economic, but India is achieving scientific and technological progress as well," Puri told reporters.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Sunil Kataria, Krishn Kaushik, Tanvi Mehta, Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Shivam Patel, Editing by Gerry Doyle, Angus MacSwan and Nick Macfie)

India's adorable, dog-sized moon rover is set to roll out any minute and collect the first samples of the lunar south pole ever

Sonam Sheth,Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Wed, August 23, 2023 

The Pragyaan rover will be the first robot to drive around on the lunar south pole. What will it find?Indian Space Research Organization

India's moon rover could roll out any minute to collect the first-ever samples of the lunar south pole.


The 57-pound rover is called Pragyaan — a Hindu name meaning one who possesses wisdom.


This moon landing is "a huge achievement for the whole nation," a space-exploration expert told Insider.

India just made history by becoming the first country to land successfully on the lunar south pole. And it's wasting no time.

Within hours of the uncrewed Vikram lander's successful moon landing, a tiny rover inside the lander is getting ready to roll out onto the dusty grey surface of the moon.

It's set to collect the first samples ever of the lunar south pole.

The adorable rover is called Pragyaan — a Hindu name meaning one who possesses greater knowledge and wisdom.

Pragyaan weighs 57 pounds, about the size of a small German shepherd or bull terrier, and it's poised to spend the next two weeks driving where no robot or human has been before.

S. Somanath, the director of the Indian Space Research Organization, told reporters outside mission control that the rover could roll out in a few hours or tomorrow, according to the New York Times.

Pragyaan's science could be critical for learning how to mine moon water — a goal every moon-minded nation is eyeing.

The rover may be small and cute, but India's new moon mission "definitely puts them on the international stage as an emerging space power," Robert Braun, head of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory's (APL) Space Exploration Sector, told Insider.
What will India's moon rover do next?

It's equipped with a laser and an alpha-particle beam to help it study the composition of the lunar south pole, which is of particular interest.

The Vikram lander is the first robot to successfully land on the lunar south pole. Inside, it carried the Pragyaan lunar rover, which rolls out and down to the ground on the ramp shown here.Indian Space Research Organisation

The lunar south pole is thought to be the most water-rich region on the moon. That's critical since water ice could be mined to produce breathable oxygen for future crewed lunar bases, as well as hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel that could propel future missions to Mars and beyond.

The rover will also use its RAMBHA and ILSA payloads on board to study the lunar atmosphere as well as dig up samples for additional analysis of the surface's composition, per Times of India.

Moreover, its laser beams will attempt to melt a sample to study the gases emitted for more insight into the lunar south pole's chemical makeup, per Times of India.
A moment for the history books

India is the fourth country — after Russia, the US, and China — to land on the moon.

"It's a huge achievement for the whole nation," Braun said. "Last time they got to the playoffs, if you will, and this time they won the Super Bowl."

"Everyone in the space community is joining with the nation of India, and their talented engineers and scientists, and celebrating their success and this achievement," he added.

India is first to lunar south pole. Here’s why it matters

Art Raymond
Wed, August 23, 2023

This NASA image, showing areas of the moon’s south pole that are most likely to hold deposits of water ice, was assembled with data gathered by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Water sources are seen as a key element in supporting an ongoing human presence on the moon and could help provide fuel for future space missions launched from the lunar surface. | NASA

India became the first nation to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday, winning a multination race to reach the area and joining an elite group of countries that have successfully landed on the Earth’s sole satellite.

The Indian Space Research Organization tweeted about its efforts to deploy a small rover from the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft later on Wednesday and has plans to conduct experiments for the next two weeks in an area that is believed to hold deposits of water ice. The landing makes India the fourth country, in addition to the U.S., Russia and China, to have landed spacecraft on the moon.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the landing from South Africa, where he is participating in the BRICS nations summit.

“India is now on the moon. India has reached the south pole of the moon — no other country has achieved that. We are witnessing history,” Modi said as he waved the Indian tricolored flag, per The Associated Press.

In a surge of activity that echoes the multinational race to plant the first flag at the Earth’s south pole around the turn of the 20th century, the world’s leaders in extraterrestrial exploration have been vying to be the first to do the same at the lunar south pole. And all are keenly interested in finding out more about a single, precious commodity on the planet.

Water.

Russia was poised to be the first nation to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Monday but the state-run space corporation Roscosmos reported its Luna-25 lander ran into trouble and crash-landed on the surface of the moon on Saturday.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 had been in lunar orbit since earlier this month before its landing on Wednesday.

While the failed Luna-25 and the Chandrayaan-3 are both unmanned probes on missions to gather further information on lunar water sources, the U.S has its own plans for deeper exploration of the moon’s south pole. But NASA has a grander vision in place, the multiphase Artemis program, and instead of sending a remote probe, the U.S. space agency has plans underway to send a manned mission to the lunar south pole, which would be the first human return to the surface of the moon since the final Apollo moon visit in December 1972.

Scientists are accumulating mounting evidence that water ice could exist on or near the moon’s surface and believe one of the most likely areas to find it could be in permanently shaded locations near the satellite’s south pole. Water access will be a necessary component in any plans for a long-term human presence on the moon as a life necessity, source of oxygen production, a potential material for shielding against constant radiation bombardment, and is a material that can be refined into its base components of oxygen and hydrogen to fuel potential rocket launches from the lunar surface.

While human colonization of the moon may sound more like the plot of a science fiction tale than a workable plan, NASA is aiming for a manned mission to the moon in late 2025 and believes components for a moon base could start ferrying from Earth in the 2030s.

In 2020, NASA unveiled plans to build a single moon base in the south pole region as part of its long-range Artemis program goals but earlier this year offered an update on how that might play out.

At a space symposium in April, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, Jim Free, said the agency’s Artemis program may ultimately build several bases around the moon instead of a single Artemis Base Camp at the lunar south pole as unveiled in 2020, according to a report from Space.com.

“It’s really hard to say we’re going to have a single base camp,” Free told reporters at the symposium. “Because if we miss a launch window, we might have to wait a month to go back to that place.”

NASA says returning astronauts to the moon and continuing to work toward establishing permanent moon bases will accommodate greatly expanded scientific study of the lunar environment while also laying the groundwork for future deep space exploration missions.

“With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before,” NASA said in a web posting. “We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.”

One giant step: Moon race heats up

AFP
Wed, August 23, 2023 

NASA's Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifted off on November 16, 2022 (Jim WATSON)

India became the first nation to successfully land a craft on the Moon's south pole on Wednesday, the latest milestone in a renewed push for lunar exploration that has drawn in both the world's top space powers and new players.

New Delhi's attempt came days after the crash-landing on the Moon of Russia's Luna-25 probe.

Here is the latest on various missions to the celestial body:

- India's Chandrayaan-3 -

Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, follows India's successful launch of a probe into lunar orbit in 2008 and a failed lunar landing in 2019.

The mission launched in mid-July and orbited Earth several times to build up the necessary speed for its journey.

Following Wednesday's successful landing, a solar-powered rover will explore the surface of the relatively unmapped lunar south pole and transmit data to Earth over its two-week lifespan.

The mission is the latest milestone in an ambitious but relatively cheap space programme that saw India become the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars in 2014.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is also slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth's orbit by next year.

- Russia's Luna -

The launch of Luna-25 on August 11 was the first such Russian mission in almost 50 years and marked the beginning of Moscow's new lunar project.

On August 16, the lander was successfully placed in the Moon's orbit but three days later, it "ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface", space agency Roscomos said.

It had been set to land on the Moon's surface and remain there for one year to collect samples and analyse soil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been working to strengthen space cooperation with China after ties with the West broke down following the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of the Soviet-era Luna programme, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of financial troubles and corruption scandals at its space programme.

- China's great leap -

China is pursuing plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and build a base there.

The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars in its military-run space programme in a push to catch up with the United States and Russia.

China was the third country to place humans in orbit in 2003 and its Tiangong rocket is the crown jewel of its space programme, which has also landed rovers on Mars and the Moon.

The unmanned Chang'e-4 rocket landed on the far side of the Moon in 2019. Another robot mission to the near side raised the Chinese flag there in 2020.

That Moon landing brought rock and soil samples back to Earth, the first time that has been done in more than four decades.

- NASA's Artemis -

NASA's Artemis 3 mission is set to return humans to the Moon in 2025.

Under the Artemis program, NASA is planning a series of missions of increasing complexity to return to the Moon and build up a sustained presence so it can develop and test technologies for an eventual journey to Mars.

Artemis 1 flew an uncrewed spacecraft around the Moon in 2022.

Artemis 2, planned for November 2024, will do the same with crew on board.

NASA sees the Moon as a pitstop for missions to Mars and has done a deal with Finnish mobile firm Nokia to set up a 4G network there.

However it has said the Artemis 3 mission may not land humans on the Moon. That will depend on whether certain key elements are finished in time.

Elon Musk's firm SpaceX won the contract for a landing system based on a version of its prototype Starship rocket, which remains far from ready.

An orbital test flight of the uncrewed Starship ended in a dramatic explosion in April.

- New players -

Recent technological progress has reduced the cost of space missions and opened the way for new players in the public and private sectors to get involved.

But getting to the Moon is not an easy task. Israeli non-profit organisation SpaceIL launched its Beresheet lunar lander in 2019 but it crashed.

And in April this year, Japan's ispace was the latest company to try, and fail, at the historic bid to put a private lunar lander on the Moon.

Two US companies, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, are set to try later in the year.

burs-pjm-gle/sco

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/08/space-race-2_23.html

END THE EMBARGO

China's Xi vows to support Cuba in defending its national sovereignty

Reuters
Wed, August 23, 2023 

BRICS Summit in Johannesburg


BEIJING (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping has pledged to support Cuba's defence of its national sovereignty, opposing foreign interference and a U.S. economic blockade, and will expand strategic coordination with Havana.

Xi made the remarks in a meeting with Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday.

"China highly appreciates Cuba's consistent firm support for China on issues involving China's core interests, and will continue to firmly support Cuba in defending its national sovereignty, opposing foreign interference and blockade, and doing its best to provide support for Cuba's economic and social development," Xi said at the meeting, according to the release.

During talks Diaz-Canel labeled Cuban-Chinese relations at an "all-time high".

"The Cuban people greatly admire President Xi Jinping and sincerely thank China for its understanding and valuable support for Cuba's just cause," Diaz-Canel said at the meeting, which was also attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The meeting between the two leaders comes months after a media report surfaced that China had reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island. But the U.S. and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.

China quickly denounced the U.S. government and media for releasing what it called inconsistent information, calling the allegations false.

(Reporting by Bernard Orr; Editing by Michael Perry)

Cuban president to address UN next month: report

Rafael Bernal
Mon, August 21, 2023 


Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is due to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September, according to a Monday report by the Miami Herald.

Díaz-Canel’s high-profile New York trip will underscore the cold relationship between the island and the Biden administration, which has avoided major policy shifts on Cuba.

While the two countries have advanced modest collaboration agreements on areas such as migration, any return to Obama-era rapprochement has all but been abandoned on both sides of the Straits of Florida.

Two issues are driving the impasse: The Biden White House has maintained Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation slapped on it by former President Trump, and Cuba has not satisfied U.S. demands regarding political prisoners on the island.

Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the second anniversary of the July 11 protests in Cuba with a call for the release of political prisoners.

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío earlier this month dismissed U.S. concerns on the issue, saying Cuba would be open to a “reciprocal conversation” on prisoners in either country.

“I don’t believe that there’s truly a willingness to improve the relationship,” Fernández de Cossío told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

“We could speak of human rights between the two countries. We have serious concerns about the respect of human rights in the United States. It’s an issue which we are ready to discuss, but it has to be a comprehensive conversation,” said Fernández de Cossío.

Díaz-Canel’s visit to the General Assembly, his second, is unlikely to disentangle those knots.

Yet his presence comes amid a Cuban diplomatic push to raise the country’s profile.

Immediately before heading to New York, Díaz-Canel is due to host a Group of 77 summit in Havana, where the group’s 123 member nations and China will rally ahead of the General Assembly.

SPACE NEWS
Hubble Space Telescope captures 'ghostly' glow of distant galaxy (photo)

Samantha Mathewson
Tue, August 22, 2023

Tons of very tiny stars are clumped together in the center of this image, against the dark background of space. Together, they create a foggy glow.

A distant galaxy sparkles from the soft glow of its many tiny stars in a new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The galaxy, named ESO 300-16, is located about 28.7 million light-years away from Earth in the Eridanus constellation and appears as a celestial cloud of sparkling stars against the dark backdrop of space. Other galaxies and stars are also featured in the new Hubble image, providing a captivating view of this cosmic neighborhood.

"The galaxy ESO 300-16 looms over this image," European Space Agency (ESA) officials said in a statement about the image on Monday (Aug. 21), adding that it "is a ghostly assemblage of stars which resembles a sparkling cloud."

This recent view of ESO 300-16 was taken using the Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, which is a joint mission led by NASA and ESA. It is part of a series aimed at surveying Earth's galactic neighbors.

"Around three quarters of the known galaxies suspected to lie within 10 megaparsecs [32 million light-years] of Earth have been observed by Hubble in enough detail to resolve their brightest stars and establish the distances to these galaxies," ESA officials said in the statement. "A team of astronomers proposed using small gaps in Hubble's observing schedule to acquaint ourselves with the remaining quarter of the nearby galaxies."

ESO 300-16 is classified as an irregular galaxy due to its indistinct shape and lack of nuclear bulge or spiral arms. Instead, it resembles the shape of a cloud, comprised of many tiny stars all clumped together.

The stars give off a soft, diffuse light that surrounds a bubble of bright blue gas at the galaxy's core. The brighter, foreground objects represent nearby stars and galaxies, according to the statement.

Vivek Ramaswamy Tries to Back Off 9/11 Comments—Then Doubles Down on Them

GOP CANDIDATE FOR POTUS

Tori Otten
Tue, August 22, 2023 

Another day, another terrible take from Vivek Ramaswamy. This time, the Republican presidential candidate insists that 9/11 was an inside job.

Ramaswamy is under fire over a profile published Monday in The Atlantic. When reporter John Hendrickson asked him what the “truth” about the January 6 riot is, Ramaswamy quickly spiraled into conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attack, including wondering how many federal agents “were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers.” When Hendrickson pressed further, he said he was really talking about January 6.

But Ramaswamy doubled down on his comments Monday night. “Our government, for 20 years, lied to the American people about it. That is hard fact, actually,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

Collins pointed out that the official 9/11 commission published a report on the attack in 2004—which distinctly found zero evidence of a U.S. government plot.

“Yes, and it lied. And it was false,” Ramaswamy said.

He also insisted he is “speaking truth, grounded in fact.”

Ramaswamy is, of course, not speaking the truth, but instead is spreading dangerous and harmful conspiracy theories. In the Atlantic profile, when asked about the truth of January 6, Ramaswamy said, “I don’t know, but we can handle it.… How many government agents were in the field?” (No federal agents were involved in inciting the riot.)

As for 9/11, he said, “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero.… But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.” (Again, no federal agents were involved in orchestrating the tragedy.)

Ramaswamy is no stranger to spreading conspiracies. Last week, he blamed the tragic wildfire in Hawaii on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

His other major talking points include battling “wokeness,” taking away rights, and, apparently, caving to Russia and China.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M; CORRUPTION

India bridge collapse: At least 26 killed at construction site

Ece Goksedef & Kathryn Armstrong - BBC News
Wed, August 23, 2023 

At least 26 people have been killed and more are feared missing after a railway bridge under construction collapsed in north-eastern India, officials said.

The incident occurred near the town of Sairang, in the state of Mizoram.

Up to 40 workers were at the site when part of the bridge collapsed, according to local media reports.

The cause of the incident is not yet clear and the railway authority has opened an investigation. Three people have so far been rescued.

That includes an injured worker who had to be brought down from the top of one of the bridge's 100m-high (328ft) pillars.

The incident happened over the Kurung River, about 20km (12 miles) from the city of Aizawl, Mizoram's capital.

"All possible assistance is being given to those affected," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office in a statement.

The government will pay some 200,000 rupees (£1,900; $2,400) to the next of kin of those killed, it added.

The victims are all from West Bengal, according to railway officials.

"Words cannot express the depth of sorrow and sympathy for the families affected by this tragic event," said Mizoram's Home Minister Lalchamliana.

The Khamrang-Sihhmui railway line will be 51km long and is due to be completed in December after work began nearly two years ago.

Accidents on these kinds of construction sites are not uncommon in India.

In October last year, more than 140 people were killed when a pedestrian suspension bridge collapsed in India's western state of Gujarat.

17 killed in Indian bridge construction collapse, more feared trapped

Doug Cunningham
Wed, August 23, 2023

At least 17 workers were killed Wednesday when an under-construction bridge collapsed in India's Mizoram state. More are feared trapped as rescuers work to find them. Pictured is a suspension bridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, India, Oct. 31, 2022, that killed 135 people. File Photo by Siddharaj Solanki/EPA-EFE


Aug. 23 (UPI) -- At least 17 workers were killed Wednesday and dozens of others may be trapped in a railway bridge collapse in northeast India.

The bridge was under construction.

The bridge collapsed around 10 a.m. local time near the Sairang area of Mizoram state according to police.

"Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the debris so far... many others are still missing," a police officer said, according to Indian news media.

Rescue operations are underway for the additional workers feared trapped by the collapse.

Seventeen workers died in an Indian bridge collapse Wednesday in Mizoram state. Shown here is a deadly May 2018 bridge collapse in Varanasi, India. File Photo by Prabhat Kumar Verma/EPA-EFE

Prime Minister Narenda Modi said in a statement: "Pained by the bridge mishap in Mizoram. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being given to those affected."

Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said on X: "In an unfortunate incident during bridge work by contractor a girder has fallen down in Bhairbi-Sairang new line project in the state of Mizoram...High level inquiry committee has also been constituted to investigate the matter."

"Shocked to learn about the tragic collapse today of an under-construction railway bridge in Mizoram, leading to loss of lives of several site workers, including some belonging to our Malda district," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement. "Have instructed my chief secretary to coordinate with Mizoram administration at once for rescue/ assistance operations."

In November 2022, a bridge collapse in India's Morbi, Gujarat area killed 135 people in one of the worst infrastructure accidents in India's history.

Jair Bolsonaro’s Rolex Was Sold at a Pennsylvania Mall. Now Brazil’s Former President Is in Hot Water.

Bryan Hood
Wed, August 23, 2023


Donald Trump isn’t the only former president facing serious legal trouble.

Jair Bolsonaro, the ex-leader of Brazil, is also the target of several criminal investigations in his home country. And one of those, The New York Times reports, is related to a Rolex that one of his aides sold at a Philadelphia-area shopping mall.

Brazilian federal police are looking into whether Bolsonaro and some of his allies have tried to embezzle gifts he received from foreign governments while in office. The investigation into the former president’s handling of foreign gifts stems from an incident in 2021 when a Brazilian official was caught carrying $3 million worth of undeclared jewels in their backpack following a state trip to Saudi Arabia. The official said the jewels were gifts to the then-president and his wife, Michelle, from the Saudi Arabian government, and Bolsonaro tried to recover them on multiple occasions. Federal police claim that their investigation has uncovered evidence of embezzlement and money laundering.

Former presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump in 2019

In one incident cited by the Times, Bolsonaro’s personal aide, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, allegedly made an attempt to sell an 18-karat gold jewelry set from Chopard valued at $140,000. In another, Cid purportedly sold a diamond-set Rolex watch (another gift from Saudi Arabia) and a Patek Philippe timepiece from the government of Bahrain to Precision Watches & Jewelry, a dealer in the Willow Grove Park mall just north of Philadelphia, following Bolsonaro’s trip to the Summit of the Americas last year. The former president allegedly received $68,000 in cash from the sale.

Bolsonaro and his lawyers claim that the gifts are his to do with as he pleases, but not everyone agrees. Brazilian law allows ex-presidents to keep some personal gifts, but not items of high value, such as jewelry. A government-appointed panel declared that most of the items that Bolsonaro’s aides have tried to sell are personal property, but the judge overseeing the case says there is evidence the panel was pressured to do so. Regardless, even if the jewelry belonged to Bolsonaro, he would have been required to get permission to sell the items, which he did not.

Bolsonaro isn’t alone in facing scrutiny for his handling of foreign gifts. Trump has been accused of failing to document more than a hundred foreign gifts valued at over $250,000. Of course, both men have bigger legal worries. The former U.S. president has been indicted four times since the start of the year, most recently for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. His Brazilian counterpart, meanwhile, was barred from running for office until at least 2030 after spreading false claims about the country’s voting system after his reelection bid failed last year. Bolsonaro is also facing trial in several other cases.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
One of the Country’s Best Steakhouses Allegedly Spent $2 Million in Pandemic Funds on a Private Jet

Tori Latham
Tue, August 22, 2023 

New details have emerged in the allegations of PPP fraud at one of the country’s best steakhouses.

Earlier this year, Maple & Ash came under scrutiny for allegedly misusing funds received via the Paycheck Protection Program, which was set up to help businesses struggling during the pandemic. Now, thanks to the unsealing of court records in the case, we’re able to see where exactly some of that money went, with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times recently reporting that information.

According to records reviewed by the two outlets, Maple & Ash locations in Chicago and Arizona benefitted from about $7.6 million in PPP money. However, the investors suing the restaurant claim that none of that money went toward helping the business and its employees. Rather, bank statements show that $2.2 million was spent on a 12-seat 2007 Learjet and that more than $32,000 was paid to a Chicago country club.

The documents depict “the rampant misappropriations of PPP funds” and “massive payments of millions of dollars in undisclosed and improper payments,” the lawyers for the investors said, according to WBEZ and the Sun-Times.

However, Doug Wexler, an attorney for the Maple & Ash co-founder James Lasky, said in a statement that “all funds were properly applied for, utilized for operations, and forgiven. . .Ultimately, Maple & Ash will prevail on each issue put forth by the Plaintiffs.” (Wexler has not responded to Robb Report‘s request for comment.) The former co-owner David Pisor, meanwhile, said that he is no longer involved in Maple & Ash or any pending lawsuits. (He and Lasky settled a different suit in January, opting to break up the restaurant’s parent company.) Additionally, Pisor told WBEZ and the Sun-Times that he never signed PPP loan documents or handled related finances.

“The documents speak for themselves,” he said. “I had nothing to do with it.”

Last year, Chicago’s Maple & Ash brought in more than $30 million in sales, making it the fourth-highest-performing independent restaurant in the country, according to Restaurant Business. The Scottsdale location came in at No. 12, notching more than $23 million in sales. The investors, however, have said that they received smaller-than-expected dividends from the restaurants and had trouble getting financial information from the company. (Michael Forde, an attorney for the investors, declined to comment to Robb Report.)