It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, September 07, 2024
RIP
Brazil's Sergio Mendes who made bossa nova popular globally dies at 83
Sergio Mendes Photo: AFP / ROBYN BECK
Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes, who brought bossa nova to international audiences in the 1960s, died on Friday at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, his family said.
In a statement posted on his website, the family said Mendes, who had been suffering from the effects of long Covid, died peacefully surrounded by his wife and children.
One of the most successful Brazilian artists internationally, Mendes recorded more than 35 albums, many of which went gold or platinum.
A three-time Grammy award winner and Oscar nominee, Mendes last performed in November 2023 to sold out and wildly enthusiastic houses in Paris, London and Barcelona.
Mendes leaves "an incredible musical legacy from more than six decades of a unique sound first showcased by his band Brasil '66," the family said.
American musician Herb Alpert, who helped Mendes launch his international career, said on Instagram that Mendes was "an extremely gifted musician who brought Brazilian music in all its iterations to the entire world with elegance and joy."
- Reuters
Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 - Mas que nada (introduced by Eartha Kitt / Something Special 1967)
Open letter urges UN to ensure accountability, recognize ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan
A coalition of 90 human rights and civil society organizations has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to formally recognize and address “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
In an open letter released on Thursday, the organizations urged the Council to renew and strengthen the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, ensuring it is equipped with sufficient resources.
They also pressed for the creation of an independent international mechanism to investigate human rights abuses and preserve evidence for future accountability efforts.
The letter calls on the Council’s Member and Observer States to stand in solidarity with the Afghan people and ensure that victims, survivors, and their families have a genuine prospect of justice.
“In the past three years, the Taliban have completely reversed measures previously adopted to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan,” the letter states. “The Taliban, as the de facto authority, have spurned Afghanistan’s international obligations and have continued to impose arbitrary, unlawful, and wide-ranging restrictions on human rights.”
The letter highlights the marginalization of religious and ethnic minorities, including Shias, Ismailis, Sikhs, and Hindus, who it says are prohibited from practicing their religious and cultural ceremonies under Taliban rule.
The organizations urged the Council to take immediate action, renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and establishing a mechanism with a mandate to investigate ongoing violations of international human rights law. The proposed mechanism would have a broad scope, with tasks ranging from gathering and preserving evidence to identifying perpetrators and ensuring accountability.
Among the recommendations for the new mechanism are provisions to investigate crimes such as gender persecution, to consider the impact of violations on women, children, and minorities, and to ensure that evidence is systematically recorded for future legal proceedings.
The letter calls for the mechanism to be staffed by independent international experts with expertise in areas such as international human rights and humanitarian law, armed conflict dynamics, and sexual and gender-based violence.
The appeal comes amid mounting concern over the Taliban’s policies, which have severely curtailed the rights of women and marginalized communities in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Israeli forces prepare for “offensive actions” against Lebanon
PRELUDE TO ATTACK ON IRAN
2024-09-07
Shafaq News/ Israeli forces are preparing for “offensive actions” in Lebanon amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi announced on Saturday.
During a tour in the Golan Heights, Halevi stated “The IDF is very focused on fighting Hezbollah. I think that the number of attacks in the last month, operatives killed, rockets destroyed, infrastructure destroyed, is very large.”
“The Northern Command, with all the IDF’s capabilities, is attacking many of Hezbollah’s capabilities inside Lebanon before they attack us, and at the same time we are also preparing offensive moves in the territory [of Lebanon],” he added.
Earlier, intense Israeli airstrikes resumed in southern Lebanon, targeting “rocket launch sites” in several towns including Bait Leif, Aitaroun, Al-Dhahira, Kfarkela, Kafr Sir, and Froun in the Nabatieh Governate of southern Lebanon, with concurrent artillery attacks also reported by Israeli forces.
In response, Hezbollah stated: “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza, in solidarity with their courageous and honorable resistance, and in retaliation for the Israeli enemy's attacks on the resilient southern villages and safe homes, especially the recent assault on Froun, Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the Israeli Mount Niriya military base (currently occupied by Golani Brigade forces) with multiple Katyusha rocket strikes on Saturday, September 7, 2024.”
In addition, the Lebanese party targeted several Israeli positions.
Hezbollah, a major paramilitary force in the Middle East, has been deeply involved in intense, near-daily cross-border fighting with Israel since October 7, targeting Israeli military positions from southern Lebanon “in solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza who have been subjected to Israeli aggression, where Israel's actions have resulted in the deaths of over 40,861 Palestinians and injured over 94,398, predominantly children, and women. In turn, Israel has struck what it describes as “Hezbollah's military infrastructure and fighter movements.”
At least 610 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 394 Hezbollah members and 135 civilians, based on official data and Hezbollah's announcements. However, Israel remains highly secretive about its losses in the conflict with Hezbollah.
Friend recalls phone call with Turkish-American activist hours before being killed by Israel
'I told her to stay safe,' Palestinian activist Saif Sharabati recalls Aysenur Ezgi Eygi as saying just hours before she was shot dead
Rabia Iclal Turan and Tayfun Coskun |07.09.2024
SEATTLE, US
A friend of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, killed on Friday by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank, described her as “brave,” “honest” and “smart.”
Saif Sharabati, 20, a Palestinian-American based in Seattle, where Eygi lived, studied and married, spoke with her just hours before her death. She had been preparing to join a protest in Nablus, standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
“She was getting ready to go to that demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Nablus. She was standing in solidarity with them to defend their land,” he told Anadolu.
"She told me: ‘I’m not scared, but I’m not feeling good. I’m stressed out’... I told her she’s going to be fine. I told her to stay safe.”
Eygi was deeply impacted by her experiences in the West Bank, according to Sharabati, as it was her first time visiting the region. The harsh reality of the checkpoints and the situation on the ground moved her deeply. She had planned to visit Sharabati’s family in Hebron the following week – a visit that would never happen.
Despite knowing the dangers of traveling to the occupied territory, Eygi was determined to show her support for the Palestinian cause.
"She was brave," Sharabati said.
“She was telling me about her plans, about the visits that she was planning to do. She was planning on visiting my family in Hebron, West Bank, the next week. But that didn't happen because she was killed,” he added.
Eygi, 26, a dual US and Turkish citizen, was fatally shot by Israeli forces during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in Beita, Nablus district of West Bank.
Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on demonstrators against the illegal settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus. Though she was standing away from the main protest area, she was fatally shot. Despite being rushed to a hospital, medical workers were unable to save her.
Eygi had arrived in the West Bank on Tuesday, volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to help protect Palestinian farmers.
The Israeli military acknowledged the firing, claiming it responded to a "violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them (Israeli security forces)." Israel's claim had been rebuffed by witnesses and the ISM.
Born in Antalya, Türkiye in 1998, Eygi moved to Seattle, Washington, with her parents, Rabia Eygi and Mehmet Suat Eygi, when she was less than a year old, and graduated in June from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
Sharabati and Eygi had met a few months prior at a pro-Palestine university encampment in Seattle, quickly becoming close friends.
“Aisha was amazing,” he said. ”She was so nice. She was honest … She was that person who's doing things from her heart.”
Eygi had confided in Sharabati that this was her first time attending a such a demonstration in the West Bank, and she felt nervous. He urged her to stay safe and stay close to locals who knew the behavior of the Israeli soldiers and who knew how to handle the situation.
“She loved Palestine. She always wanted to stand with the Palestinians and their resistance against Israeli occupation. She gave me that shirt. It means me a lot,” Sharabati said.
“We will never forget Aisha,” he said, wearing a sweatshirt with a Palestinian map on it that she had given him as a gift a month ago.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry described Eygi’s death as a "murder" committed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The US State Department and the White House said they were gathering more information from Israel about the circumstances of her death, and had requested an investigation.
Eygi's family released a statement on Thursday urging the Biden administration for an independent investigation into her killing.
"A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter. We welcome the White House's statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur's killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate," the family said in a statement.
"We call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties."
Dengue outbreak in Bangladesh escalates amid inaction
Bangladesh is witnessing a sharp rise in dengue cases, with the situation becoming increasingly alarming. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported that at least nine people have died, and 1,963 have been hospitalised due to dengue in the first six days of September.
This year, the number of cases has surpassed 15,000, with the death toll reaching 93, reflecting a growing crisis amid civic inaction.
The outbreak comes in the wake of administrative disruptions following the fall of the Awami League regime, which has led to disarray in city management.
Anti-mosquito drives in major cities, including Dhaka, Chittagong, and Barisal, have been discontinued over the past few weeks, worsening the situation.
As per DGHS data, around 2,000 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals across the country, with the highest number of cases concentrated in the Dhaka, Chittagong, and Barisal divisions.
Entomologists have raised concerns over the recent neglect of mosquito control measures, warning that the unchecked breeding of mosquitoes could lead to a further spike in hospitalisations and fatalities.
Questions have also been raised about the effectiveness of the insecticides and outdated spray methods employed for years.
Last year, Bangladesh recorded 1,705 dengue-related deaths, marking the deadliest year in the country’s history for the mosquito-borne disease. Experts fear that without immediate action, this year could follow a similar trajectory.
-Navalsang Parmar (Dhaka)
Colombia orders hunting of Pablo Escobar's out-of-hand hippos, after decades of failed eradication efforts
The hippos have no natural predators and their numbers are growing at a fast pace. (AP: Fernando Vergara)
In short:
Colombia's hippopotamus population — all descendants of four hippos illegally imported by Pablo Escobar in the 1980s — can be legally hunted under a new court order.
Officials in Bogota gave the go-ahead for the invasive animal's "controlled hunting and sterilisation" this week as a last-ditch attempt at their eradication. What's next?
A three-month deadline has been set to issue regulations charting out the hippos' removal from the country
A Colombian court has called for the hunting of hippos that were introduced to the country in the 1980s by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca on Friday local time set a three-month deadline for the Ministry of Environment to issue "a regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species", which is affecting the area's "ecological balance".
In their homeland in Africa, the animals are responsible for more human deaths than almost any other animal but in Colombia, the hippopotamuses have become loved members of the local community and a tourist attraction.
They have also been increasingly posing problems for the local community near Escobar's old ranch in Antioquia state — one that experts worry may soon turn deadly.
Hippos have serious effects on the ecosystem due to their large size, and exert aggression and territorial behaviour towards humans and wildlife. (AP: Fernando Vergara)
After Escobar's death in 1993, hippos from his private zoo escaped into nature in an area of abundant vegetation where there were no predators and they were able to reproduce, creating what is today their largest population outside Africa.
Starting from just four hippos Escobar smuggled in, there are now some 166 of the two-tonne beasts wandering freely, with authorities remaining unsuccessful in curbing their numbers over the past two decades.
Attacks on fishermen have been reported on the Magdalena River and experts argue manatee populations could be threatened. According to BBC Wildlife, hippos cause an estimated 500 human deaths annually.
Photo shows A mugshot of infamous drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar.
In a first, the US Federal Court has recognised animals as legal persons — specifically, the descendants of Pablo Escobar's hippopotamuses who have thrived in Colombia since the notorious drug lord was killed almost 30 years ago.
However, animal rights activists and tourism workers oppose hippopotamus hunting.
The killing of one of these hippos, nicknamed Pepe, in 2009 raised a furore in Colombia and saw street protests, eventually prompting a ban on hippo hunting in 2012.
The court specified that measures to eliminate the hippos should include "controlled hunting and sterilisation".
Last year the environmental ministry had already announced plans to sterilise part of the population, while euthanasing others, as part of an effort to contain the growing number.
The sterilisations have proceeded slowly while no cases of euthanasia have been carried out.
Plans to relocate the animals to Mexico, India or the Philippines — estimated to cost about $3.5 million — have also floundered.
Along with the human threat, hippos being an invasive species also have a heavy toll on the environment, consuming vegetation extensively, destroying wildlife, and altering local landscapes.
ABC/AFP
How the Balkans region grappled with the hottest summer in more than a century
Balkan countries are reporting that the summer of 2024 was the hottest since the measurements started more than 130 years ago
ByJOVANA GEC
Associated Press September 7, 2024
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Jelena Popovic normally loves summer and all it brings along, including the hot weather. But this year it was just too much.
“This summer was too hot, you couldn't walk in the city. It was only pleasant when you swim," said Popovic, a resident of Belgrade, Serbia's capital. “It was like a tropical summer, like we live in Africa and not in Europe."
This was true for much of the Balkans, a region in southeast Europe that is used to hot summers but where this one broke previous records with repeated heat waves and almost a totally dry July and August.
Experts say the summer of 2024 in the Balkans was the hottest since measurements started more than 130 years ago. Long periods with temperatures above 30 C (86 F) that didn't fall below 20 C (68 F) overnight have pushed average temperatures to new highs, meteorologists explained.
“Summer normally means exchange of hot days with high temperatures and then a break after five to six days with rain and thunderstorms,” Serbian meteorologist Nedeljko Todorovic said. “But this happened only in June. Practically entire July and August had no rain while high temperatures persisted.”
Climate scientists say that global warming caused mostly by burning fossil fuels has led to warmer temperatures, with the world recently experiencing 13 consecutive monthly heat records.
European climate service Copernicus reported on Friday that the summer of 2024 also was Earth’s hottest on record, making it even more likely that this year will end up as the warmest humanity has measured.
Southeast Europe was “trapped” this summer under a subtropical warm air mass from Western Africa and the Mediterranean Sea area, said Goran Pejanovic, from Serbia’s Hydrometeorological Service.
“We had four heat waves ... the most intense one in July lasted from July 5-21, for almost three weeks without a drop of rain,” he said. Overall, this summer in Serbia was 3.3 degrees warmer than average, he added.
In Slovenia, an Alpine nation bordering Austria and Italy, average summer temperatures were up by 2.5 degrees compared to the period before 2020, according to the country's Environmental Agency.
The summer in Slovenia passed without cooler periods that are normal for the mountainous country, the report said. Record high temperatures weren't found in the lowlands, but rather at higher altitudes in the Julian Alps while temperatures throughout the country remained above 30 C (86 F) in early September.
“All records were broken” in Bosnia as well when it comes to the number of very warm nights and days. These tripled in some areas compared to last year, which held a previous record, said Bakir Krajinovic, from Bosnia’s Hydrometeorological Institute.
Neighboring Croatia reported the highest ever recorded temperatures of the Adriatic Sea, which also reached 30 C (86 F) in some areas.
Last year previously was the hottest year on record globally, as human-caused climate change and the naturally occurring weather phenomenon El Niño, which warms parts of the Pacific, combined to reach sweltering highs.
Heat waves are hotter, longer and more frequent, and some parts of the world are also experiencing longer and more frequent droughts. The world has warmed on average around 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times.
Hot weather in the Balkans has dried out rivers in Bosnia and Serbia, caused raging forest fires in Croatia, North Macedonia and Albania, shriveled crops and scorched farmland throughout the region.
Increasingly hot nights mean people’s bodies, as well as animals and plants, can’t cool down to deal with the day time. This is even more extreme in big cities where concrete buildings radiate heat at night that accumulated during the day.
Meteorologists in Montenegro said that temperatures overnight in some towns were as high as 29 C (84 F).
While good for the tourism industry along Albania's coastline, the very hot summer was bad for agriculture and power production. Almost 98% of Albania’s power comes from hydropower stations that were crippled by monthslong drought.
North Macedonia struggled with around 2,000 forest fires in the past three months, three times more than in 2023. The fires destroyed tens of thousands of acres of forests. Emergency official Stojanche Angelov warned that "it is not over yet ... if it doesn't rain soon, we will have wildfires until November.”
Dozens of villages and towns in Serbia faced drinking water restrictions because of the drought. Soldiers brought up water tanks to mountains in the southwest of the country for thirsty cattle and horses.
Up north, the Rusanda salty lake, whose mud is used in medical therapy, dried out completely, turning into a moon-like gray surface. Jovica Mudric, from the local medical center, said they had to pour water from tanks in order to make mud for patients.
“It's not the first time this happened, but never like this year,” he said. “I know everyone likes summer but we could use some rain."
___
Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, Sabina Niksic in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Predrag Milic in Podgorica, Montenegro, contributed to this report.
The Hottest Place On Earth Just Had Its Hottest Summer Ever Recorded
The average daily temperature was 40.3°C (104.5°F).
Holly Large Jr Copy Editor & Staff Writer Editedby Katy Evans
An extreme heat alert has been in place for much of the summer. Image credit: National Park Service via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
There’s little doubt that the last few months in Death Valley National Park have been particularly toasty, but officials have now confirmed that the hottest place on Earth has just experienced its hottest-ever summer
“Death Valley National Park experienced the hottest meteorological summer (June-August) on record, with an average 24-hour temperature of 104.5°F (40.3°C),” announced the National Park Service (NPS) in a statement. “This surpasses the previous record of 104.2°F (40.1°C), set in 2021 and 2018.”
The MVP of this sweltering summer was no doubt July, which featured the summer’s highest temperature of 54°C (129.2°F). It was recorded at a weather station in Furnace Creek, where the world’s highest recorded temperature of 56.7°C (134°F) was recorded back in 1913.
While July 2024 might not have reached those heights, it did end up becoming the park’s hottest month in history.
Over the course of the month, there was little respite from the searing weather. On top of only featuring seven days that didn’t reach at least 48.9°C (120°F), there were also nine consecutive days during which temperatures were 51.7°C (125°F).
While daytime heat throughout the summer months contributed to the new record, the lack of a significant drop in overnight temperatures also ended up playing a role – it certainly wouldn’t have been a fun place to try and sleep.
“The average low temperature of 91.9°F (33.3°C) meant that there was little relief overnight,” said the NPS. “From June 1 to August 31, the temperature dipped below 80°F only five times, and there were nine days when overnight lows never fell below 100°F.”
The extreme temperatures this summer also saw a spate of heat-related incidents. In July, a group of motorcyclists traveling near Badwater Basin were treated due to the scorching heat; two members of the party had become severely ill, with one dying and the other taken to hospital for advanced medical care.
With temperatures expected to continue to reach at least 37.8°C (100°F) throughout September and into early October, the park’s “Extreme Summer Heat” alert remains in place for visitors.
“Expect high temperatures of 100°F to 130°F (43°C to 54°C). Minimize time outside in heat. Do not hike after 10 am. Drink plenty of water. Travel prepared to survive; cell phones do not work in most of the park,” reads the alert, with park officials also advising to wear hats and sunscreen, and stay within a 10-minute walk of an air-conditioned vehicle.
Khan Putin and the new Russian horde in Mongolia
by Stefano Caprio
The first visit of a Russian leader to the then capital Karakorum took place in 1247, when the whole of Russia and the whole of Asia were subjugated to the Great Khan Baty, Genghis Khan's heir. Putin needs to show himself on international stages, and Ulan-Bator is a much more convenient location than China, where the Russian inevitably appears as a subject. As the troubled affair of the Siberia-2 gas pipeline shows.
Vladimir Putin's trip to Ulan-Bator provoked a lot of reactions, due to his tracotence in ignoring the international court's arrest order, his evident attempt to force China into energy trade agreements, and for various other reasons.
In reality, Putin wanted to show the true meaning of his entire policy of aggression and disruption of the international geopolitical landscape, in the deepest roots of Russian resentment against the entire world: not only for the loss of the Soviet empire, but going all the way back to the greatest humiliation in Russia's millennial history, for the invasion and two-century-old yoke of the Tatar-Mongolian horde.
The first visit of a Russian leader to Mongolia had in fact taken place in 1247, when all of Russia and the whole of Asia were subjugated to the Great Khan Baty, Genghis Khan's heir whom Prince Aleksandr Nevsky - one of the figures most extolled by Putin and Patriarch Kirill - met in the Horde's capital at Karakorum, where he stayed for two years.
Qara Qorum in classical Mongolian is the ‘Black Mountains’, located in the westernmost part of the country, and the city had been founded shortly after the death of the ‘Khan of the Oceans’, who had united the Turanian and Mongolian peoples and conquered the largest empire in all history, by his third son and first successor Ögödei. It remained capital of the Mongol Empire for thirty years until 1264, when Kublai Khan moved the seat to Khanbalig, today's Beijing, and was finally destroyed by the Ming a century later.
The importance of Karakorum at that time was such that even Pope Innocent IV had sent one of his best missionaries from Rome as ambassador, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, one of the first disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi.
He described in the Historia Mangolorum the greatness of the empire and the devastation wrought, especially the total destruction of Kiev, the capital of Rus', which disappeared from history for almost four hundred years.
In Baty's reign he also met Prince Aleksandr, who in his agreement with the Mongols laid the foundations for the rise of Moscow, which flourished under them thanks to the commercial advantages, which also extended to the Orthodox Church.
Now Putin can land triumphantly at the airport of the capital of Mongolia, and show himself as the real Khan of the new ‘world order’, that of the invading Russian Horde, alongside President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh in the Yurt, the tent decorated like the palace of Karakorum inside the presidential palace of Ulan-Bator.
The new Russian tsar is the true ruler, and the leader of small and peaceful modern Mongolia appears as his devoted subject: it is the great revenge of all Russian history.
Putin wanted to celebrate the anniversary of another symbolic victory, that 85 years ago of the united Soviet and Mongolian troops against the Japanese army during the conflict on the Khalkhin-gol river, before the start of the Second World War.
It is one of the constants in the rewriting of Russian history that recurs most in the mind of the Kremlin Khan, the connection of 20th century victories with older wars, from Aleksandr Nevsky to Stalin, from Kievan Rus' to the Soviet Union.
Of course, the slap on the face of international conventions also counted a lot, showing the insubstantiality of the Hague Tribunal's arrest order to which Mongolia was bound, and which had previously kept Putin from travelling to Armenia and South Africa, two far less secure allies than the Mongols.
On top of all this, Putin chose a particularly delicate moment for the trip to Ulan-Bator, precisely during the particularly heated clash with Ukraine between the Ukrainian Kursk counter-offensive and the Russian counter-offensive in the Donbass, with countless casualties on both sides, including among the civilian population.
Moreover, in the very days of the trip to the East, which continued from Mongolia to the Russian Pacific capital of Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum, there were days of mourning in North Ossetia in the Caucasus, for the 20th anniversary of the massacre by terrorists (and Russian special forces) at the Beslan school.
Putin had gone there a few days earlier, confronting the angry mothers of the 186 massacred children, who still demand justice, having to retreat with their tails between their legs.
In all motivations, the trip was intended to emphasise the ‘normality’ of the situation from the Kremlin's point of view, as if the conquest of the thousand square kilometres of the Kursk region had not affected the plans for war and victory.
Putin's refrain since the start of the war has been that ‘everything is going according to plan’, when it is obvious that everything is working backwards, and instead of winning Berlin back we have to go to the Yurt of Mongolia, even though the recent electoral successes of the neo-Nazi right-wingers in Thuringia and Saxony have aroused great enthusiasm in Moscow, especially the demand to remove Ukrainian flags from German buildings.
Any victory makes broth, from Nevsky's in 1240 against the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights to that of 1938 against Japan, today an ally of the ‘western Nazis’ against whom Russia has unleashed the universal war, although one certainly cannot compare the taking of Bakhmut and Avdeevka with that of Könisberg and Vienna.
All the more so since the Khalkin-gol victory was achieved together with the faithful Mongolian ally, and of true allies today's Russia cannot find many, neither in the West nor in Asia, even among the ex-Soviet countries.
Some commentators believe that Putin's trip was meant to boost approval ratings among the population, which have plummeted far below 70% even in official polls after the Ukrainian initiative in Kursk.
But popular approval in Russia is now a very minor and easily manoeuvrable factor, especially after the rededication to the throne last March, and the only concerns could come from a real economic crisis, for now contained thanks to the proceeds of the war itself.
There is, of course, also a propaganda aspect to the ‘return to Karakorum’, but it is more for abroad than at home, especially thanks to Ulan-Bator's condescension in ignoring the arrest order.
Putin needs to show himself on the international stage anyway, and Mongolia is a much more convenient location than China, where the Russian inevitably appears to be a subject of the eastern great power, and even of the Central Asian states, which are taking advantage of the war in Ukraine to find their own greatness independent of Moscow, beyond the smiles and the agreements of circumstance.
In any case, the visit to Ulan-Bator was precisely to push the Chinese to be more amenable to the ‘Siberia-2 Force’ gas pipeline project, a crucial element of the ‘economic turn towards the East’ that they regard with a certain condescension in Beijing, having many alternatives in the energy sector.
The Mongolians had blocked the plan, which envisages a passage through their territory, and Putin emptied his pockets in talks with Khürelsükh by offering anything to resume the planning of this crucial work for the future of Russia, which sells oil and gas to anyone and at any price, in order to maintain control over an economy gone mad.
Of course, Mongolia has been invited to the Brics Summit, which will be held in Kazan, Tatarstan, from 22 to 24 October and is to celebrate Russia's role in the new ‘multipolar’ world order, the contemporary variant of the Putin-Khan empire.
Brics is the anti-West front making it more a ‘Bricolage’ of countries in search of identity and opportunities to exploit, than a real power in the new world geopolitics. The ‘Force of Siberia’ is transformed on the Mongolian side into an even more resounding title, the Sojuz Vostok, the ‘Union of the East’ a thousand kilometres long to unite Moscow and Beijing, putting the two powers of the new world Horde on an equal footing, at least in the intentions of the Russians.
After Mongolia, Putin intervened in Vladivostok to explain to everyone how important it is to invest in the development of the Russian East to counter the West's claims of domination, which ‘does not allow Ukraine to open negotiations with Russia’ and pointing out as possible mediators precisely the Brics countries, India and Brazil, at most even Turkey, which has also agreed to take part in the Kazan summit.
The only concern Putin expressed at the Vladivostok conference concerned demographics, promising to make multiple births a ‘new fashion’ among the younger Russian generations.
To this end, the school curricula of the new year that has just begun are being reworked, trying to persuade even the underage generation to get involved in this sense right from the school benches, considering pregnancy the true ‘traditional value’ to which they will then somehow aggregate that of the family, whatever it may be.
It is perhaps no coincidence that it is only now that rumours are spreading about Putin's two ‘secret’ children with his ‘unofficial’ wife Alina Kabaeva, aged 6 and 9, Ivan and Vladimir, to set a good example beyond the requirements of security and the more or less ‘traditional’ officialdom of emotional ties. For the time being, the Russians do not seem very convinced of following this model, waiting rather for the end of the ‘Putin yoke’ within a couple of centuries.
This content was originally written for an undergraduate or Master's program. It is published as part of our mission to showcase peer-leading papers written by students during their studies. This work can be used for background reading and research, but should not be cited as an expert source or used in place of scholarly articles/books.
New Africa/Shutterstock
The study of Russian information operations has seen an explosion since 2014. This is visible in the number of publications on the topic since that year. To illustrate this point, a quick survey of aggregating platforms of academic journals (JSTOR, Taylor and Francis Online, Google Scholar) is sufficient. Querying the platform JSTOR with the search terms [“Russia” “information operations”] produces 169 publications overall, only 40 of which were published before 2014. The platform Taylor and Francis Online produces 19 publications corresponding to this search term with a publication date up to 2014, and 40 overall. Google Scholar produces 628 results published before 2014, and 2200 overall.[1] Furthermore, institutions that specialise in studying, documenting, and counteracting Russian information operations were set up after 2014. The two most notable ones are the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (Bentzen, 2016, p. 3) and the East Stratcom Task Force under the European External Action Service (Vilson, 2016, p. 127)
Such an explosion of academic interest is explained by the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014 (Giles, 2016, p. 2) and the extremely successful informational component that it featured (McIntosh, 2015, pp. 299-300). Russian information operations were studied pre-2014. Examples are the 2007 cyberattacks against Estonia (Lange-Ionatamisvili, 2015, p. 3) and Georgia’s “victory” on the informational front in the 2008 war (Thomas, 2010, pp. 279-282). However, the Crimean operation reshaped the field, producing a streak of multidisciplinary, comprehensive studies between 2014 and 2016.
Following 2016, the field underwent a second shift. The intervention of the Russian special services into the US presidential elections made clear that “hybrid warfare”—including information operations—was more relevant than thought even after Crimea. This operation globalised the scope taken to study Russian information operations. If the US was vulnerable, so was everybody else. As a consequence, regional projects started appearing, investigating Russian information operations in the local language. This led to the splintering of the field geographically, and to the decreased attention to the common trends of Russian information operations, one of the key subjects of the literature around Crimea.
One of these trends is the subject of this dissertation. More precisely, I propose that the internal Russian information space is used to test narratives before they are deployed in Russian information operations. Such a mechanism would be especially effective against the countries of the post-Soviet space. These states are typically more vulnerable to Russian information operations due to the presence of ethnic minorities, as well as a shared historical memory with Russia that is easy to exploit for manipulative purposes.
To explore the viability of this hypothesis, I will present the case of the Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research (Lugar Lab) in Tbilisi, Georgia. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, a narrative was deployed first in Russia and then in Georgia, alleging the involvement of the laboratory in the creation and spreading of the COVID-19 virus as part of US biological warfare against Russia. Through a detailed analysis of this case, I hope to illustrate the theory of the Russian information space as a testing ground for information operations. I use the term “information operations” throughout the dissertation because it is inclusive of everything that might form part of such an operation from Russia. Information operations in the Russian understanding include everything from network-based activities, influence campaigns, intelligence, economic activities, deception, elite corruption, special operations, etc. (Giles, 2016), and are aimed at altering the public consciousness of the adversary populations in ways advantageous to Russia. Despite the shift away from such terminology in Western literature after 2016, I deem it useful, as it provides the necessary scope to understand operations as a whole.
In the following section, I will summarise the key features of post-Crimea literature to highlight the more substantial attention paid to the general understanding of Russian information operations. Following the 2016 shift within the field, I will narrow my focus to the studies that make the connection between the Russian internal information space and Russian information operations. In order to explore this connection, I will elaborate on my hypothesis. The similarity of methods between Russian internal informational control and Russian information operations, administrative ties, and the logical rationale behind testing narratives before deploying them abroad represent the key elements. To highlight how this mechanism of testing might operate, the case of the Lugar Lab will serve as an example.
The aim of this dissertation is not to prove conclusively that this mechanism exists. It is to illustrate the potential for conducting further, potentially more quantitative research on this particular question, as well as the general topic of how the Russian information space is used and interacts with Russian information operations. An understanding of these phenomena would undoubtedly aid in detecting, counteracting, or preventing altogether Russian activities that aim to exploit divides within societies to further Russia’s objectives. From the theoretical point of view, the dissertation aims to widen the scope of existing research on the connection between the Russian information space and Russian information operations.
Shutdown of ‘symbolic’ nickel plant compounds New Caledonia’s economic woes
The French territory’s current political crisis is aggravating long-running problems in its struggling nickel industry.
Harry Pearl 2024.09.06 Brisbane
The Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) plant is seen at the Vavouto site in Voh, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on Aug. 30, 2024.
Delphine Mayeur/AFP
For the past 13 years, engineer Didier Bule has maintained the machinery at the heart of New Caledonia’s Koniambo nickel plant, a symbol of economic empowerment for the French territory’s indigenous Kanak population.
But last weekend, the smelter’s furnaces were switched off – leaving about 1,000 workers at Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) out of a job.
“It has been very difficult for us,” the 37-year-old told BenarNews. “I was there when we started importing the equipment from China and Malaysia, so we have seen the plant built piece by piece. Now we have seen all the equipment being turned off one by one.”
Attempts to find a new investor for Glencore’s 49% stake have coincided with New Caledonia’s worst civil unrest in decades. Damage from riots that erupted in the capital Noumea in May is estimated to have caused 1.2 billion euros (U.S. $1.3 billion) in losses and left 35,000 people jobless, New Caledonia’s congress has said.
The unrest was triggered by the French government’s backing of electoral roll changes that would have enfranchised newer French arrivals. Pro-independence groups said this would have diluted the voting power of Kanak people.
Though the electoral changes were shelved ahead of French National Assembly elections in late June, tensions remain high.
Symbol of ‘rebalancing’
Analysts say New Caledonia’s current political crisis is exacerbating long-running problems in the nickel industry.
“Koniambo – like many nickel refiners in New Caledonia – has long been beset by uncompetitive cost fundamentals, especially as relatively cheaper production from Indonesia has expanded,” said Will Talbot, principal analyst for nickel and cobalt at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
“The French government has historically supported this industry but many domestic producers have struggled, particularly during the recent period of unrest.”
An employee hands in his badge at the security post on the last day of work at the Vavouto site of the Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) plant in Voh, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on Aug. 30, 2024. [Delphine Mayeur/AFP]
New Caledonia, located roughly halfway between Australia and Fiji, was the third-biggest producer of nickel last year and holds the world’s fifth largest reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Nickel accounts for about 20% of the South Pacific archipelago’s GDP and 90% of exports, depending on the year.
The metal has been mined in New Caledonia since the 1860s, but the sector was for decades dominated by the French companies while the Kanak population was excluded.
When the Koniambo nickel smelter was inaugurated by former French President François Hollande in 2014, it was seen as emblematic of the “economic rebalancing” policies agreed to under the Noumea Accord in 1998.
The policies were designed to address colonial-era inequalities that divided the majority-Kanak North Province and the wealthy, loyalist South Province.
Academic Matthias Kowasch, an expert in mining governance in New Caledonia, said the Koniambo smelter had “symbolic value” for Kanak people.
“Koniambo, including a garnierite mine and a processing plant, is seen as an instrument for economic emancipation and, at a later stage, for eventual political independence from France,” said Kowasch, who is a professor at PH Steiermark and INN University.
“[But] without a new investment, Koniambo is not viable, which has and will have consequences for employees, subcontracting companies, and restaurants.”
Rescue package
The French government on Wednesday announced an additional 130 million euros (U.S. $144.2 million) in aid for critical public services and benefits in New Caledonia, bringing total assistance to 400 million euros since the unrest began.
But the figure falls well short of what’s needed to get the economy back on track.
In late August, the New Caledonian congress passed a resolution asking France for 4.2 billion euros over five years for reconstruction. It also requested “substantial commitment to rescue the nickel industry.”
Like KNS, the territory’s two other nickel processors, SLN and Prony Resources, are also in financial strife and have cut back operations.
The French government has proposed a state bailout package that would subsidize energy costs for the sector in exchange for reforms. But talks on the “nickel pact” have stalled amid souring relations between pro-independence parties and Paris.
In the meantime, with New Caledonia’s nickel industry at a virtual standstill, all workers like Bule can do is wait and hope.
“Since the events happened in May, the job opportunities have been reduced drastically,” he said. “Now we have 1,200 more people looking for a job, so it will be very difficult come the end of October.”
