Report: Chinese Police Kill Dissident Journalist

• Published: 28 November 2023
• • WRITTEN BY ERIKA DI BENEDETTO

A group of police officers in China beat freelance Chinese journalist Sun Lin so badly in his home on Nov. 17 that he died hours later, as reported by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Nov. 21.

Chinese journalist, Sun Lin. (Photo: IFJ Asia-Pacific/X, License)Sun Lin, a former citizen journalist for networks like the US-based Boxun News Network, was widely recognized for his investigative reporting on human rights violations and for his advocacy work. He was nearly 70 years old, according to Radio Free Asia (RSF).

Witnesses in the neighborhood reported hearing a commotionbetween the journalist, who also went by the pen name 'Jie Mu,' and the national security officers during the early afternoon of Nov. 17.

Sun was subsequently rushed to the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital between 2:30 p.m.and 3 p.m., where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m, as stated by The International Federation of Journalists.

Radio Free Asia described the severity of Sun's injuries, particularly to his head, and the state of his torn clothing.

Sun’s relatives were denied access to his body even three days after his passing.

Doctors at the hospital confirmed that his clothes were torn and in disarray when he arrived.

Additionally, the local National Security Bureau allegedly intimidated Sun's family and friends, warning them against discussing his death or engaging in any public mourning activities, as stated by RSF.

“This gruesome murder is a direct consequence of the Chinese regime’s paranoia, which leads its leaders to see an enemy of the state in every independent media or journalist, and therefore exposes them to systematic retribution,” said Cédric Alviani, RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director. “We urge the international community to build up pressure on the regime for it to end its relentless attacks against press freedom and the right to information.”

The reason behind the raid remains uncertain. However, earlier in November, law enforcement agencies in Nanjing and Wuhan had confiscated a new book written by Sun, which he had sent to a friend residing in Wuhan.

Additionally, the news website Weiquanwang suggests that the raid might be linked to videos shared by Sun on social media, featuring protests against Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his recent participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum held in San Francisco.

Sun Lin had previously served a four-year term in 2008 for his coverage of forced evictions and his efforts to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Additionally, in December 2018, he was sentenced to four years on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" in Nanjing after taking photographs outside the trial of a human rights activist and sharing pro-democracy messages on social media. He was released in 2022.

According to RSF, over the past few years, numerous journalists and advocates for press freedom have been killed as they opposed the Chinese government's propaganda.

China is ranked 179th out of 180 countries in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index (North Korea ranks dead last). With 123 journalists and press freedom defenders currently in prison, China is the top jailer of journalists in the world.

Some Russians Still Deeply Divided by Civil War of a Century Ago, Memorials Conflict Shows

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NESTOR MAKHNO
 UKRAINIAN ANARCHIST 

 

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 25 – A serious conflict has broken out in Rostov-na-Donu over a memorial bust of Baron Wrangel, a leader of the anti-Bolshevik forces in South Russia during the Russian Civil War, with monarchists praising him and defending the bust and communists denouncing him and demanding the memorial be taken down.

            What is most striking about this is that both sides present their positions as reflecting Kremlin policy and discuss the future of the bust in terms of Moscow’s current military campaign in Ukraine  (kavkazr.com/a/neokonchennaya-voyna-pamyati-kak-pamyatnik-vrangelyu-raskolol-rostov/32700233.html).

            But lest this fight, which close observers say, is really a struggle between two small groups rather than a division in the population at large, the Kremlin has restricted coverage in all-Russian media of this debate lest it exacerbate tensions and highlight the internally contradictory nature of Putin’s belief in “a single stream” of Russian history.

            Russian political scientist Dmitry Dubrovsky says that “Putin has demonstrated that his sympathies are on the side of the white movement and the emperor and not the revolutionaries.” But at the same time, aware of how that might disturb Russians, he has not expressed himself forcefully and consistently on these issues, thus creating an opening for debate.’

            Memorial historian Andrey Petropavlov says that another factor is at work: Moscow can reasonably distance itself from Wrangel because the divide over the civil war is about the war over all rather than about individual personalities. They can be treated in various ways as the Kremlin struggles to define itself on an issue that still divides the population.

‘           What is taking place in Rostov, he continues, is “an example of an unfinished war of memory in which the Civil War continues in the thoughts” of Russians, a war that will continue as long as the government fails to putout a clear vision of the events of those years and the individuals involved.

            That hasn’t happened, Petropavlov says. The new Medinsky history textbook, for example, refers to Wrangel only once even though it gives more extensive treatment to Yudenich and Chapayev, neither of whom played as important an historical role.

 

Putin stresses establishment of sovereign Palestinian state

TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas that the key to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

"It is in this (the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders) that we see the key condition for achieving a comprehensive, long-term and just Palestinian-Israeli settlement," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov read out the Russian president's message to Abbas at an event marking the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the Palestinian Embassy in Russia, Sputnik reported.

In the text of the telegram published on the Kremlin's website, Putin stressed that "now, when the bloody conflict is bringing untold suffering to the peaceful population of Palestine, I consider it particularly important to reaffirm Russia's consistent position in favor of the realization of the legitimate rights of your people to establish their own sovereign state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem (Quds) as its capital."

The Israeli regime unleashed a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 in response to the besieged territory-based Resistance groups' Operation al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories.

The latest aggression against Gaza killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and children.

MNA

Putin takes aim at West’s “AI monopoly”

November 28, 2023

Scott Nover

President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned that the West should not be allowed to develop a monopoly in the sphere of artificial intelligence and said that a much more ambitious Russian strategy for the development of AI would be approved shortly.

 Reuters

Vladimir Putin wants Russia to rival the West on AI development. On Friday at the Artificial Intelligence Journey conference in Moscow, the Russian president vowed to sign off on a new AI strategy, which would see his government pour money into supercomputers and educational initiatives. Moscow’s strategy would focus on generative AI and large language models, a field dominated by American firms such as Google and OpenAI.

Putin’s speech was both a statement of intent and a critique of the West’s dominance of modern technology. “Monopolistic dominance of such foreign technology in Russia is unacceptable, dangerous, and inadmissible,” Putin said, noting that “monopoly and domination” of AI by foreign powers is “unacceptable and dangerous.”

Russia is lagging in the AI race. By one count of “significant machine learning systems” cited by Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, the US leads the world with 16 such systems, followed by the UK with eight, and China with three. Russia, meanwhile, has just one.

Russia has its own AI chatbots hoping to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, such as GigaChat from the state-owned financial services company Sberbank. But Moscow has meddled in the affairs of its private technology firms, including Yandex, the so-called “Google of Russia,” for its namesake search engine. Yandex, now owned by a Dutch holding company, is in the process of divesting from its Russian assets after clashing with Moscow’s censors. With Yandex largely left out of Moscow’s AI planning due to deep-seated distrust, Russia has funneled its AI ambitions through state-owned firms like Sberbank and made limited progress in jumpstarting its domestic AI development.

Moscow may be serious about funding AI development, but that would require Putin to loosen his chokehold on Russian industry – which is about as likely as him sharing eggnog with Zelensky this Christmas.

World Federation of Trade Unions sets Nov. 29 as global Palestine solidarity day

November 28, 2023  

 BY SPECIAL TO PEOPLE’S WORLD

ATHENS—In response to Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has called for international action by the labor movement worldwide on Nov. 29. The date coincides with the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

“The ongoing bloodshed has been going on and escalating since Oct. 7 and has already resulted in thousands of people losing their lives and many more injured,” said the WFTU Secretariat. “It makes the need to intensify our actions of solidarity with the struggling Palestinian people more urgent than ever before.”

The federation notes that the massacre in Palestine includes the bombing of hospitals and the killing of a child every 10 minutes, which it calls “crimes which are committed with the provocative tolerance and support that Israel receives from the USA, the European Union, and the rest of their allies.”

The WFTU has long stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people and understands that the root cause of the current crisis is Israel’s occupation and illegal settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as the continuous aggressions and blockades which Israel has imposed on the Palestinian people for decades.

Its statement continued:

“The consistent and principled support and solidarity to the heroic Palestinian people has always been a priority for the international class-oriented trade union movement. It is clear that the only way to secure and consolidate peace and security for the people in Palestine and Israel, but also in the wider Middle East, is to immediately end the Israeli occupation and settlement in the occupied Arab territories, as provided for in U.N. resolutions, and to establish an independent Palestinian state…and guarantee the right of return of Palestinian refugees.”

In calling for the day of labor action, the WFTU says that as imperialist aggression intensifies, working-class solidarity must intensify as well.

“While Palestinians in Gaza live without food, wate,r and electricity for almost two months, while an unprecedented murderous attack is being carried out to flatten the Gaza Strip, workers from every corner of the globe refuse to stay silent. Militant trade unions join their voices with the Palestinian people, condemn the imperialist hypocrisy, and demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”

The federation, which represents more than 105 million workers in 133 countries, is calling on its affiliates and all trade unions around the world to organize mobilizations and demonstrations in both the streets and the workplaces, under the slogan: “Workers of the world stand with Palestine!”

People’s Voice

Peru mining keeping country out of deeper recession, minister says

Tue, November 28, 2023 a
By Kylie Madry

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Peru's mining sector is keeping the economy from sinking deeper into repression, Economy Minister Alex Contreras said on Tuesday, adding that progress kick-starting projects was a priority in the near term.

"If it weren't for mining, we would probably be facing a larger recession this year," Contreras said at a conference. Peru has been preparing to launch a package of economic stimulus measures.

Contreras said the first three measures, out of more than two dozen aimed at attracting mining investment and boosting production, would be published later in the day.

Peru, the world's No. 2 copper producer, fell into a recession this year due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, lower private investment and lingering effects from anti-government protests late 2022 and early this year.

Contreras said the mining nation was aiming to consolidate an industry "hub" in Peru's south, highlighting existing projects such as copper mines Las Bambas, Antapaccay and Cerro Verde.

Peru is betting on a boost from public-private partnerships, eyeing $7.98 billion in the partnerships next year, Contreras said. "In 2024, we want to at least triple the amount awarded to projects by public-private partnerships from this year."

Contreras highlighted a port "hub" project "to make Peru the international trade center of South America."

A megaport project

outside of Lima is set to open next year, but Peru is still working "against the clock" to make sure supporting infrastructure is ready in time.

Contreras also said the Ancon industrial park developed by the state, near the port, would be a guinea pig for the special economic zones set to be proposed to Congress soon.

"These will be special economic zones administrated by private organizations, on either public or private land," said Contreras, underscoring expectations for added tax revenues and greater investment in exports. (Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland and David Gregorio)

Panama's top court ruling on mine contract latest setback for First Quantum

Reuters

November 28, 2023

View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022. 

REUTERS/Aris Martínez/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights


Nov 28 (Reuters) - Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals' (FM.TO) contract to operate its flagship Cobre Panama mine was unconstitutional, the country's Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

The contested contract gave First Quantum a 20-year mining right with an option to extend for another 20 years, in return for $375 million in annual revenue to Panama.

Cobre Panama accounts for about 1% of global copper production and contributes to about 5% of Panama's gross domestic product.

A look at the events since December last year as the ruling puts the company on the long and unpredictable road of international arbitration:
2022

Dec. 15: Panama orders First Quantum to pause operations at Cobre Panama after missing a deadline to finalize a deal that would have increased payments to the government.

Dec. 24: First Quantum starts arbitration process against Panama.
2023

Feb 23: First Quantum suspends ore processing at the mine.
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March 8: Panama and First Quantum agree on the final text for a contract to operate the mine.

March 15: First Quantum resumes operations at Cobre Panama.

Sept. 9: First Quantum reaches a deal over wages with the workers union at Cobre Panama.

Oct. 3: Panama's government authorizes the withdrawal of the proposed contract to regulate operations of First Quantum's local unit.

Oct 10: Panama's cabinet approves a modified version of the government's contract.
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Oct 20: Panama's President Laurentino Cortizo gives final approval of a law authorizing a new long-term contract for the mine.

Oct 24: Police arrest nearly 50 protesters in confrontations over the new contract.

Oct 27: Cortizo says the country will reject all new mining projects after widespread protests against the deal.

Oct 29: Cortizo says Panama will hold a referendum to decide whether to scrap the contract with the Canadian miner.

Oct 30: Panama's electoral court says currently there are not "conditions" to hold a referendum on the disputed mining contract.

Nov 2: Panama's lawmakers scratch provisions to cancel the contract with First Quantum from a proposed bill banning new mining concessions in the country.

Nov. 7: Two people taking part in an anti-government protest in Panama are shot dead by an assailant.

Nov. 13: First Quantum says reduced ore processing at mine as protesters block access to ports.

Nov. 16: The company and workers at the mine reach an agreement guaranteeing salaries as protests continue.

Nov. 24: Panama's top court starts deliberations to rule on several constitutional challenges to the contract.

Nov. 27: The company says it hopes to avoid arbitration with Panama's government by resolving disagreements during a 90-day period for talks.

Nov. 28: Panama's Supreme Court declares the contract "unconstitutional". The company says it remains committed to regulatory compliance.


Reporting by Sourasis Bose and Roshia Sabu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

First Quantum says it hopes to avoid Panama arbitration over mine

Reuters 

View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022.

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Canadian miner First Quantum hopes to avoid arbitration with Panama's government over a major copper mine by instead resolving disagreements during a 90-day period for talks between both sides, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

First Quantum issued a legal notification of intent to start arbitration proceedings with the Central American country under an existing trade pact between Panama and Canada, Panama's government announced on Sunday.

The country's top court is currently weighing the validity of a contract that would extend operations at the massive open-pit Cobre Panama mine, following a series of legal challenges.

The company has been forced to halt operations due largely to blockades by protesters at a key port.

In a statement, Panama's trade ministry stressed it is prepared to defend the national interest.

Last month, lawmakers in Panama approved a new contract for First Quantum to continue operating the project, which included a minimum 20-year extension while guaranteeing $375 million a year in annual payments to the government.

Opponents of the mine argue that the contract is biased in favor of the miner, and criticize its environmental impact.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by David Alire Garcia)

MODI'S CURSED TUNNEL 

LE GRANDE FINALE

'Rat miners' to the rescue: How trapped India tunnel workers were saved

SILKYARA, India - When heavy machinery broke down trying to break through the debris trapping 41 workers in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas, authorities called in a group of people whose profession is effectively banned in the country - "rat-hole mining".

While augur machines managed to horizontally drill through nearly three-quarters of the debris, it fell on half a dozen miners adept at burrowing in tight spaces to reach the trapped workers on Nov 28.

Rescuers successfully pulled out the workers in wheeled stretchers through a wide pipe that was pushed through the debris after a 17-day ordeal.

"It was a difficult task, but for us nothing is difficult," said a beaming Mr Firoz Qureshi, one of the miners, standing with his fellow workers outside the tunnel, their faces patched with white dust after overnight drilling.

The "rat miners" started working late on Monday after a second drilling machine also broke down with 15m out of 60m still left to reach the trapped men.

They worked in two teams of three each, with one person drilling, the second collecting the debris and the third pushing it out of the pipe.

They said they had worked for more than 24 hours.

"When we saw them inside the tunnel after the breakthrough, we hugged them like they were family," said Mr Nasir Hussain, one of the six miners.

"Rat-hole" mining is a hazardous and controversial method used extensively in the northeastern state of Meghalaya to extract thin seams of coal before an environmental court in 2014 banned the practice because of environmental damage and many fatalities.

Some of the miners involved in the rescue operation said they were not involved in coal mining and got their training in Delhi.



The name comes from its resemblance to rats burrowing pits into the ground. The pits are sized just enough for the workers, often children, to descend using ropes or ladders to extract coal - often without safety measures and proper ventilation.

At least 15 miners were killed in one such "rat hole" mine in Meghalaya after being trapped for more than a month until January 2019 - one of the many tragedies in the state where rights group say 10,000 to 15,000 have died in such mines between 2007 and 2014.



The practice became illegal in the 1970s, when India nationalised coal mines and gave state-run Coal India a monopoly.

Still, many small mine owners continued to employ short people or children to illegally extract coal and the federal government did not interfere, given the state's remote location and the low quality of its coal. 

REUTERS

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

India tunnel collapse: All 41 workers rescued after 17 days

Collapsed Indian tunnel had no safety exit, was built through geological fault: Expert

Indian rescuers pull out all 41 workers who were trapped in a tunnel for 17 days, minister says

UTTARKASHI, India (AP) — All 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in northern India for more than two weeks were pulled out on Tuesday, bringing an end to a drawn-out rescue mission that had grabbed the country's attention

Ambulances drive past carrying workers rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. India’s transportation minister says all 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country’s north have been pulled out. (AP Photo)

UTTARKASHI, India (AP) — All 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in northern India for more than two weeks were pulled out on Tuesday, bringing an end to a drawn-out rescue mission that had grabbed the country's attention for days.

A crowd of local residents gathered around the tunnel erupted in joy and shouted slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, or “Long live mother India,” and set off firecrackers in celebration. Officials presented the first rescued workers with garlands made of flowers, hanging them around their necks as the crowd cheered.

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Nitin Gadkari, the minister of road transport and highways, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “completely relieved and happy” after all workers were rescued from the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi following an ordeal that lasted 17 days.

“I am very happy that all the 41 trapped workers have come out and their lives have been saved,” he said in a video message posted on X. Gadkari added that “this was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years.”

The workers were pulled out through a passageway made of welded pipes that rescuers previously pushed through dirt and rocks. They will each have an initial health checkup at a temporary medical camp set up inside the 13-meter (42.6 feet) wide tunnel.

One of the rescuers, Devender, who only gave his first name, told the New Delhi Television channel that “the trapped workers were overjoyed when they spotted us in the tunnel. Some rushed toward me and hugged me.”

The massive rescue mission had many on edge. The workers got trapped on Nov. 12, when a landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel they were building in Uttarakhand state to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance.

They survived on food and oxygen supplied through narrow steel pipes.

Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson, said about a dozen men had worked overnight to manually dig through rocks and debris, taking turns to drill using hand-held drilling tools and clearing out the muck in what he said was the final stretch of the rescue operation.

Rescuers resorted to manual digging after the drilling machine broke down on Friday while drilling horizontally from the front because of the mountainous terrain of Uttarakhand. The machine bored through about 47 meters (nearly 154 feet) out of approximately the 57-60 meters (nearly 187-196 feet) needed, before rescuers started to work by hand to create a passageway to evacuate the trapped workers.

By Tuesday, they had drilled through more than 58 meters (190 feet). As dusk fell, families of those trapped underground gathered near the site of the accident, anxiously waiting to see their loved ones emerge from the tunnel.

Among them was Jaimal Singh who said he was hopeful he would soon see his brother Gabbar Singh, who is trapped inside. “Even nature looks cheerful today ... the weather is good. Let’s hope this ends soon,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Rescue teams had inserted pipes into dug-out areas and welded them together so the workers could be brought out on wheeled stretchers. On Sunday, rescuers also began to create a vertical channel with a newly replaced drilling machine as a contingency plan.

What began as a rescue mission expected to take a few days has turned into weeks, and officials have been hesitant to give a timeline for when it might be completed.

“I just feel good. The drilling on top of the mountain is coming along perfectly, in the tunnel, it’s coming along very well. I have never said ‘I feel good’ before,” Arnold Dix, an international tunneling expert who is helping with the rescue, told reporters at the site earlier on Tuesday.

Most of the trapped workers are migrant laborers from across the country. Many of their families have traveled to the location, where they have camped out for days to get updates on the rescue effort and in hopes of seeing their relatives soon.

As the operation unfolded, the trapped workers were supplied with hot meals through a 6-inch (15-centimeter) pipe after days of surviving only on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. They were getting oxygen through a separate pipe, and more than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, were at the site, monitoring their health.

The tunnel the workers were building was designed as part of the Chardham all-weather road, which will connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites. Some experts say the project, a flagship initiative of the federal government, will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where several towns are built atop landslide debris.

Large numbers of pilgrims and tourists visit Uttarakhand’s many Hindu temples, with the number increasing over the years because of the continued construction of buildings and roadways.

The Associated Press

Indian rescuers just five metres from 41 trapped workers in tunnel

The 41 construction workers have been trapped since November 12 in a tunnel being constructed between the remote towns of Silkyara and Dandalgaon in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.


A drilling machine was brought up to a forested hill above the tunnel on a specially constructed track. / Photo: AFP

Indian rescue teams digging by hand are now within five metres of 41 men who have been trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for over two weeks, officials said Tuesday, saying a breakthrough was expected "soon."

After repeated setbacks in the operation, military engineers and skilled miners are working by hand in a painstaking dig through rock and rubble towards the men using a so-called "rat-hole" mining technique to clear the final stretch.

Some five metres (16 feet) of rubble remain, chief minister of Uttarakhand state Pushkar Singh Dhami told reporters at the site as rescue efforts entered their 17th day.

"The escape passage has been prepared up to 52 metres inside the tunnel, and the passage will break through at 57 metres," Dhami said Tuesday morning.

"The rescue operation is expected to be completed soon," he added, without giving a specific timeframe, raising hopes the end was in sight for the marathon operation.

However, previous hopes of reaching the men have been dashed by falling debris and the breakdown of multiple drilling machines.

The government has repeatedly warned that timelines are subject to "technical glitches, the challenging Himalayan terrain, and unforeseen emergencies".

The 41 construction workers have been trapped since November 12 in a tunnel being constructed between the remote towns of Silkyara and Dandalgaon in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

'Last hope'

Rajput Rai, a drilling expert, told the Press Trust of India that three-person teams were taking turns working at the rock face inside a metal pipe, just wide enough for someone to squeeze through.

While one worker drills, a second scoops up the rubble by hand, and the third places it on a wheeled trolley to be pulled out, Rai said, according to PTI's Tuesday report.

Rescuers have brought in a superheated plasma cutter to slice through metal rods that have repeatedly impeded progress.

Tunnel expert Chris Cooper, who is advising the rescue teams said Monday that progress depended on "how the ground behaves", warning they may yet have to cut through heavy-duty girders that had been meant to hold the collapsed roof up.

Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through the 57 metres of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the rubble, snapping a giant earth-boring machine.

In a separate effort, a drilling machine was brought up to a forested hill above the tunnel on a specially constructed track.

Vertical drilling from that location is now nearly halfway through the 89 metres needed to reach the stranded men, a risky route in an area that has already suffered a collapse.

Digging, blasting and drilling have also begun from the far side of the road tunnel, a much longer third route estimated to be around 480 metres.

The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity are being delivered.



'Rat-hole mining': India digs by hand to free 41 trapped tunnel workers


India initiates vertical drilling operation to save tunnel-trapped workers


India rescuers hit snags in two-week bid to free 41 tunnel workers

India rescuers make painstaking progress towards 41 trapped in tunnel


By AFP
November 28, 2023

The Silkyara road tunnel in northern India, which partially collapsed on November 12

 - Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR

Pitcha DANGPRASITH

Indian rescue teams crept forward Tuesday in a painstaking dig by hand through rock and rubble towards 41 workers who have been trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 17 days.

Soldiers and skilled miners are using a so-called “rat-hole” mining technique to clear the final stretch, digging through some two metres (six feet) of rubble to leave only an estimated seven metres (23 feet) to go.

Rajput Rai, a drilling expert, told the Press Trust of India that three-person teams are taking turns working at the rock face inside a metal pipe, just wide enough for someone to squeeze through.

While one worker drills, a second scoops up the rubble by hand, and the third places it on a wheeled trolley to be pulled out, Rai said, according to PTI’s Tuesday report.

Rescuers have brought in a superheated plasma cutter to slice through submerged metal rods that have repeatedly impeded progress.

Tunnel expert Chris Cooper, who is advising the rescue teams, said Monday he was optimistic that they would break through.

“It depends on how the ground behaves,” he told reporters, adding that they may have to cut through heavy-duty girders that had been meant to hold the collapsed roof up.

“We are confident that we can overcome it.”

The 41 construction workers have been trapped since November 12 in a tunnel being constructed between the remote towns of Silkyara and Dandalgaon in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

The more than two-week-long rescue operation has been hit by repeated setbacks.



– ‘Last hope’ –



Efforts have been complicated by falling debris and repeated breakdowns of drilling machines.

Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through 57 metres (187 feet) of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the rubble, snapping a giant earth-boring auger machine.

In a separate effort, a drilling machine was brought up to a forested hill above the tunnel on a specially constructed track.

Vertical drilling from that location is now nearly halfway through the 89 metres (292 feet) needed to reach the stranded men, a risky route in an area that has already suffered a collapse.

Digging, blasting and drilling have also begun from the far side of the road tunnel, a much longer third route estimated to be around 480 metres (1,575 feet).

The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity are being delivered.

“Our only source of strength is God, as it is the last hope for us,” said mother-of-three Musarrat Jahan, whose husband Mohd Sabah Ahmad is a migrant worker trapped inside.

“We have more faith in God than anything”, she told AFP by phone from her home in the eastern state of Bihar, one of India’s poorest.

Though trapped, the workers have plenty of space in the tunnel, with the area inside 8.5 metres (28 feet) high and stretching about two kilometres in length.
Rescuers begin risky vertical drilling after agonizing bid to free trapped Himalayan tunnel workers falters

By Rhea Mogul and Aishwarya Iyer, CNN
Mon November 27, 2023

New DelhiCNN —

The weekslong effort to save 41 workers trapped in a collapsed Himalayan tunnel has entered a perilous new phase, with rescuers attempting to drill downward through unstable mountain terrain after a safer route faltered at the final stage.

The men have been trapped since November 12 when the part of tunnel they were helping to construct in India’s northern Uttarakhand state gave way, blocking their only exit with more than 60 meters (200 feet) of broken rock, concrete and twisted metal.

Engineers had previously attempted to excavate the debris in the exit shaft but were forced to abandon efforts late on Friday after the powerful US-made drill they were using broke down just meters from the trapped men.

The setback was the latest to befall the complex and challenging operation, that has twice seen officials suggest a rescue was imminent only for conditions to change and efforts halt.

Authorities are now attempting to manually dig through the remaining debris in the exit tunnel while simultaneously drilling down from a forested hill some 86 meters (282 feet) above the trapped men.

India airlifted a high-powered drilling machine to assist in the rescue of dozens of road workers trapped underground.AshokKumar_IPS/X

The vertical drilling had reached a depth of 35 meters (114 feet) by Monday, according to the secretary of India’s Ministry of Road Transport Highways, Mahmood Ahmed, who estimated work could be completed by Thursday.

But geologists have warned vertical drilling is fraught with risk and warned it could weaken the fragile mountain, causing more debris to fall into the already partially collapsed tunnel chamber.

“The rock types in the Himalayas are very weak,” Yaspal Sundriyal, a geology professor from the H.B. Garhwal University in Uttarakhand told CNN.

“The vertical drilling will disturb the rock formation and will cause vibrations to the mountain,” said Sundriyal, who is considered an expert in local rock formations.

“The rocks in the Himalayas should be treated very cautiously and with very strong support. I’m afraid drilling will disturb the soil of the rock above the tunnel.”

On site, authorities say both rescue options are considered safe options, but are unable to tell which will deem most effective.

“Both vertical and horizontal drilling are safe,” said Harpal Singh, the former director of India’s Border Roads Organization that maintains the country’s road networks.

“However, it is difficult to say which one of the two methods would help us reach the trapped workers first,” he told reporters Monday.
Families face agonizing wait

The trapped men, all migrant workers from some of India’s poorest states, have been receiving food, water and oxygen through a 53-meter (173 foot) pipe that has been inserted through the debris and authorities say they remain in good health.

Doctors on site have kept in regular contact with the men inside, giving them tips on how to remain positive and calm.

But for most of the families of the trapped men, the wait has been an agonizing switch between hope and despair.

One of the trapped workers can be seen on camera.Uttarakhand Government Handout

Mahi Shah, whose brother-in-law Sonu is trapped inside, said his family didn’t learn about the incident until his grandfather read about the collapse in the newspaper on November 14.

Shah immediately took a train from his home in India’s eastern Bihar state to be closer to Sonu, he said.

Like other relatives, Shah has gathered at the tunnel exit each day to pray beside a makeshift temple.

“The fear inside Sonu’s mind is growing bigger and bigger,” Shah said, adding that he has a seven-year-old daughter who keeps asking where her father is.

”We have not told her the truth yet. We hope we don’t need to… Everyone at home is petrified.”

Krishna Chauhan, whose 21-year-old nephew Manjeet is stuck inside, said the wait is a reminder of another heartbreaking incident their family had to endure nearly two years ago.

Manjeet’s older brother, also a construction worker, was killed after he suffered an electric shock while working in Mumbai. The family is still coping with that loss, Chauhan said, adding Manjeet is the one that holds them together.

They are holding onto hope that Manjeet will walk out of the tunnel safely.

“Manjeet is known to be the one to make everyone laugh in the house,” Chauhan said.

“Right now, the priority is (the men) come out. No project should be allowed without any safety inside. We want an investigation”
‘Coming home by Christmas’

The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway route, a controversial multimillion dollar project to upgrade the country’s transport network and improve connectivity to important Hindu pilgrimage sites in the region.

The project has received criticism from environmentalists who say the heavy construction could seriously damage the Himalayan region, where millions are already feeling the impact of the climate crisis.

New video shows trapped laborers alive in Himalayan tunnel but rescue still no closer

A panel of experts told India’s Supreme Court that construction of the highways will “lead to further landslides and soil erosion in an already sensitive environment,” according to a 2020 report by the court.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the tunnel collapse and are likely to examine the role of drilling on the mountain. CNN has contacted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India.

On Friday, tunneling expert Anrold Dix, an Australian engineer who has flown to India to consult on the rescue effort said they were putting the safety at the core of the operation.

“With each option, we are considering how do we make sure that 41 men come home safe and we don’t hurt anyone,” Dix told reporters.

“I am confident that the 41 men are coming home by Christmas… If we rush, we can cause another problem in there.”

Starbucks Egypt 'lays off workers' amid pro-Gaza boycott campaign

Starbucks has suffered declining sales in Egypt as people boycott its cafes over its perceived support for Israel, which it has denied.

Nabila El-Gaafary
Egypt - Cairo
28 November, 2023

Starbucks Egypt has recently suffered declining sales triggered by boycott campaigns [Getty]
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Starbucks Egypt has allegedly laid off scores of workers after a boycott campaign of the coffee chain, amid the deadly offensive on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, reportedly leading to losses for the company.

Starbucks is believed to have been financially affected by the boycott in Egypt, which was fuelled by claims that the Seattle-founded coffee franchise provides support to Israel, something that the company has repeatedly denied.

Starbucks has not operated a franchise in Israel since 2003 but has been a target of boycott campaigns for the MENA region, partly because its former CEO, Howard Schultz, is an outspoken supporter of Israel.

One employee told The New Arab, on condition of anonymity due to fears over their job, that "the company had informed several employees and workers they would be discharged due to a substantial decline in sales attributed to the ongoing boycott campaign".

The source did not provide any further details about the alleged financial losses or how many staff had been released.

"Currently, they cut down expenses... and forced the remaining workers to do more work than they were supposed to in order to compensate for the shortage of staff," he said.

Why Sinai is so sensitive in Egypt-Israel ties

The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) condemned the reported layoffs in a statement this week, offering free legal support and advisory services for the sacked workers and arguing that the company had violated Egyptian labour law.

"Egyptian labour law stipulates that in case an employer wishes to reduce the workforce for financial reasons, the company is legally required to submit a request for downsizing the establishment… before a committee [at the labour bureau] formed especially for this purpose," the union said.

"The request in this case must include justifications for downsizing the staff and the number and categories of workers to be laid off."

Starbucks is not on an official Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) boycott list but the company has been engaged in a dispute with a US labour union over workers' support for Palestine.

Some argue that the popular boycott of Starbucks has inflicted losses on Egypt’s already ailing national economy as many of the products sold at the chain, especially food and beverages, are locally sourced.

Egyptians are boycotting other Western brands over perceived links with Israel with some restaurants and outlets offering special offers and discounts to entice customers.

McDonald's Egypt currently offers an average-sized coffee for 20 Egyptian pounds ($0.65) and its famous ice cream cone for half this price.

When calling the hotline of McDonald’s Egypt to order a meal for home delivery, a caller will hear a recorded promotional message saying that the company uses 100 percent Egyptian products and raw materials, and employs only a local workforce, in what appears to be an attempt to show their connection to the local economy.

McDonald's Israeli franchise, however, began offering free meals to Israeli soldiers after Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel and this was widely reported across the Arab world. McDonald's franchises in Arab countries were quick to distance themselves from their Israeli counterpart.

A report released by Reuters last week cited a source at McDonald's Egypt as saying that the local branch had experienced a 70 percent drop in sales last month, compared to the same period last year.

The New Arab has reached out to Starbucks for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.

 

TANZANIA

Workers with disabilities to form own union

Nelly Mtema in Dodoma1 day ago

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DODOMA: WORKERS with disabilities are finalizing some legal procedures to establish their trade union.

According the group, the envisaged union will be named as the Tanzania Trade Union of Workers with Disabilities (TATUWOD).

Among others, the prospective union will be responsible for advocating for the statutory rights of the handicapped Tanzanians at their respective working places.

Last year, the employees with disabilities from different regions and institutions teamed up to mull over how best to initiate their tailor-made trade union for voicing their rights at workplaces.

As a positive result, the meeting picked a steering committee to oversee and coordinate needed protocols for the establishment and registration of the much- needed trade union.

The selected committee had successfully managed to compile a 100-page constitution proposal draft, as well as the prospectus union regulations, the crucial two drafts that are now being reviewed by the members before official approval by the relevant authorities.

Technical Director for the people with disabilities, Peter Charles, said they will have a special meeting for the final review and improvements of the draft constitution, in order to submit it to the responsible authority for the official approval.

“Establishment of the trade union is in line with the country’s set laws towards the employees with disabilities, but also, it adheres to international laws,” he expressed.

He further informed that among the pending issues on the process to be discussed, include the proposed trade union title, objectives, membership registration, as well as the involved responsibilities.

Others are the needed protocols in establishment of the union’s office of Secretary General, roles of Secretary General, and selection of the union’s board members, according to him.

“The general quest is to ensure the workers with disabilities are treated equally at their workplaces, whereby there must be a friendly infrastructures to cater for the physical requirements of people with disabilities at workplaces,” Mr Charles briefed.

He observed that the government in cooperation with the development partners and other stakeholders in the private sector have so far worked on improving policies and livelihoods of the physically handicapped employees, but much more must be put in place to erode the remaining setbacks.

Should the eagerly-awaited registration gets a green light, he sounded to have remained optimistic that the foreseen Tanzania Trade Union of Workers with Disabilities will play a significant role to help contain the long- standing challenges and numerous plights haunting the group.

Under the aspiration, there’re more 200 workers with physical disabilities from different public and private entities.

Special Seat MP, Stella Ikupa, for her part appreciated the numerous supports being offered by the stakeholders to back up different initiatives for the disabled communities in the country.