Work begins to clean up train derailment in Montana’s Yellowstone River

By Associated Press
June 27, 2023

Work is underway to clean up rail cars carrying hazardous materials that fell into the Yellowstone River in southern Montana after a bridge collapsed over the weekend, officials said Monday.

Montana Rail Link is developing a cleanup plan and is working with its unions and BNSF Railway to reroute freight trains in the area to limit disruption of the supply chain, Beth Archer, a spokesperson for the US Environmental Protection Agency, said in a joint statement issued with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Montana Rail Link.

Contractors and a large crane were on site to stabilize and remove cars from the river once a plan is set, officials said.

Some rail cars that did not go off the tracks were removed from the area, and two cars carrying sodium hydrosulfide had their contents transferred to other cars and moved to safety, Archer said.

Montana Rail Link will be responsible for all cleanup costs, CEO Joe Racicot told a news conference.

The train derailment spilled over into Yellowstone River near Reed Point.

AP

Sixteen cars derailed, and 10 of them ended up in the river downstream from Yellowstone National Park Saturday morning.

Six mangled cars that carried hot asphalt, three holding molten sulfur and one with scrap metal remained in the rushing water on Monday in an area surrounded by farmland near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings.

Two of the cars were submerged, and a dive team was deployed to gather more information, Archer said in a statement.

Portions of a freight train are seen in the Yellowstone River after an overnight railroad bridge collapse, near Columbus, Mont., on June 24, 2023.

AP

Joni Sandoval, the EPA on-scene coordinator, told a news conference her agency had invited experts from federal and state fish and wildlife agencies to come to the site to assess how the derailment has affected wildlife.

The asphalt and sulfur solidified and sank in the cold water, officials said. Some asphalt globules were found downriver, but they are not water-soluble and are not expected to impact water quality, the statement said.

Water samples taken Saturday showed the materials from the derailment had not affected water quality, Shasta Steinweden of the state Department of Environmental Quality said. The tests showed no presence of petroleum and sulfur levels were consistent with upstream water samples, she said.

Crews work the site of a railroad bridge that collapsed the day before on the Yellowstone River.

AP

Results from samples taken Sunday and Monday were still pending.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation. Part of the train had crossed the bridge before it failed, and some cars at the back remained on stable ground at the other end. No injuries were reported.

The collapse also cut two major fiber-optic lines. Global Net said late Sunday that it had developed a temporary workaround. Company officials did not return a call Monday seeking further information.

Several train cars are immersed in the Yellowstone River after a bridge collapse near Columbus, Mont., on June 24, 2023.

AP

The White House was monitoring the situation and was prepared to offer any federal help that might be needed, spokesperson Karin Jean-Pierre said Monday.

The derailment comes just over four months after a freight train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, sparking a fire that led to evacuations and the eventual burning of hazardous materials to prevent an uncontrolled explosion.

Freight railcar inspections are happening less often, union officials testified last week during a congressional hearing about the Ohio derailment.

Jean-Pierre said the US Department of Transportation is looking into ways to prevent derailments.

The government has been “all hands on deck,” she said.

Secretary-General Appoints Aarti Holla-Maini of United Kingdom Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

26 JUNE 2023

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Aarti Holla-Maini of the United Kingdom as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), based in Vienna.

She will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.  The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to the Chief of Committee in UNOOSA’s Policy and Legal Affairs Section, Niklas Hedman of Sweden, who will continue to serve as the Office’s Acting Director until Ms. Holla-Maini assumes the position.

UNOOSA works to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space and in the utilization of space science and technology for sustainable economic and social development.

Ms. Holla-Maini brings to this position over 25 years of professional experience in the space sector, including in managerial and advocacy functions.  Most recently, she was Executive Vice-President for Sustainability, Policy & Impact at NorthStar Earth & Space, prior to which she spent over 18 years as Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association.

Ms. Holla-Maini’s experience includes service as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space; member of the Advisory Group of the Space Sustainability Rating managed by eSpace at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Space Center; member of the Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India; Senior Space Policy Advisor to Forum Europe and Expert Advisor on Space Traffic Management for European Union studies 2021-2023.  She was also one of the chief architects of the Crisis Connectivity Charter established in 2015 for emergency telecommunications via satellite with the World Food Programme’s Emergency Telecommunications Cluster.

Ms. Holla-Maini holds a bachelor’s degree in Anglo-German law from King’s College London and a master’s degree in business administration from HEC Paris.  She is also an alumna of the International Space University.  She is fluent in English, French, German and Punjabi and has moderate knowledge of Dutch.

RIP
John Goodenough, Pioneering Creator of the Lithium-Ion Battery, Dies at 100

Goodenough played a key role in the creation of the widely used rechargeable battery.

BY TAYLOR LYLES
Posted June 27, 2023, 

Dr. John B. Goodenough, one of the most influential scientists that have positively impacted technology, passed away on Sunday at the age of 100, The University of Texas at Austin announced today.

Goodenough is most notably known for his work on creating lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-ion is a rechargeable battery and is a common component in tech devices, from gaming consoles to smartphones.

In 2019, Goodenough, along with Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, were jointly awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to "the development of lithium-ion batteries." Despite the impact and common usage of the lithium-ion battery, The New York Times notes in their obituary that Goodenough signed away "most of his rights," noting that he cared "little for money."

"John's legacy as a brilliant scientist is immeasurable — his discoveries improved the lives of billions of people around the world," said UT Austin President Jay Hartzell said in an obituary dedicated to Dr. Goodenough. "He was a leader at the cutting edge of scientific research throughout the many decades of his career, and he never ceased searching for innovative energy-storage solutions."

A Criminal Cancer Spreads in Southeast Asia

In post-coup Myanmar, crime syndicates, working with the military, are moving into more complex fraud schemes from a growing number of autonomous enclaves.

Monday, June 26, 2023 / BY: Priscilla A. Clapp;  Jason Tower

PUBLICATION TYPE: Analysis and Commentary

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In the fractured authority surrounding crime-group controlled enclaves on the Moei River separating Thailand and Myanmar, this is what a crackdown on armed gangsters looks like: China presses Myanmar’s military junta — a sometimes client of Beijing — to make Thailand cut electric power to a large gambling and fraud hub run by Chinese crime syndicates across the river in Myanmar. The military-supervised Border Guard Force in the area, a partner of the syndicates, responds with threats to shut down cross-border trade. Then, giant generators appear in the enclave, deployed by the border guards and the gangs. The army, without explanation, does nothing. Individual commanders, if not the army itself, are believed to profit from the criminal activity. Business as usual continues.

A military checkpoint along the border with Myanmar, in Mae Sai, Thailand, May 9, 2012. (Giulio Di Sturco/International Herald Tribune)

That is roughly how it goes along Myanmar’s lawless border, with variations for geography and the local cast of characters. Late last year, awareness began to rise in the region that Myanmar’s criminal enclaves were metastasizing, and the call do something about it grew louder from the media, civil society and governments. While the zones themselves were not a new phenomenon, a nefarious development amplified international alarm: After Beijing’s anti-COVID measures sent Chinese workers scurrying home from the enclaves, their criminal operators began luring jobseekers from around the world with offers of lucrative high-tech jobs, then trafficking them across borders into cyber slavery to work in financial scams.

Despite the growing perception of the enclaves as a global security threat, nothing of consequence has changed. Every angle of attack is blunted by the tangle of interests in these zones — powerful organized criminal groups, local armed actors, fragmented sovereignty, and corruption, with the gambling and fraud city of Shwe Kokko at the heart of it all.

Myanmar’s military has neither the will nor the capacity to manage its own Border Guard Forces (BGF), much less curb the reach of transnational crime from enclaves under BGF control. Much of the country, embroiled in full scale revolution against the junta, is beyond the reach of the overstretched army. It will be up to key neighboring countries, in cooperation with international law enforcement, to cut off access to critical cross-border connections and resources. For the United States, which has already been victimized, this crime wave represents a growing non-traditional security threat that requires a robust response. 

BGF and Its Criminal Syndicates Grow Deeper Roots in Myanmar

At least 17 distinct crime zones now provide an estimated 5 million square meters of criminal office space along a 31-mile stretch of the Moei River on the Myanmar border with Thailand alone.

Despite strict border controls and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, these zones expanded dramatically in size following the 2021 military coup. For example, the notorious KK Park Zone — sensationalized on Tik-Tok for harvesting and selling the organs of trafficking victims who refused to work on scams — grew from 26 to over 75 structures between 2021 and May 2023.

By early last year, the criminal activity had victimized nationals of more than 46 countries, with the majority trafficked into Myanmar through Thailand. Despite increased awareness of the problems by the media and international law enforcement, the gangs continued expanding their ability to infiltrate online hiring platforms, set up fraudulent recruitment firms and networks, establish links with traffickers, and set up shop in new jurisdictions across Myanmar.

By March 2023, growing organized crime activity in Karen State began to generate tremendous pressure for action even on resistance figures. Karen civil society groups raised concerns that the BGF’s illicit pursuits threatened to undermine governance and prospects for democracy and autonomy in Karen State, as suspicion deepened that a growing number of Karen resistance leaders had ties to the BGF schemes.

In April, tensions spilled into armed conflict when a coalition of pro-democracy armed forces attacked the BGF criminal empire in Shwe Kokko and other illicit BGF businesses in Myawaddy township. “Shwe Kokko is a hub of drugs and sex-trafficking that funds the military regime with dirty money,” they charged. The junta responded with a joint force of BGF and army troops, intercepting the advancing resistance fighters, crushing a key People’s Defense Force group, and taking dozens of hostages. Thus, the junta proudly demonstrated its determination to keep Shwe Kokko a safe zone for crime.

An Online Confidence Scheme — ‘Pig Butchering’ — Goes Global

Initially focused on illegal online gambling, the crime zone operators now concentrate on a new form of fraud known as “pig butchering” or in Chinese, “shazupan.” The scheme originated in China around 2018, and as COVID depressed profits from gambling, Chinese-affiliated crime groups ramped it up.

Here’s how it works: Scammers lure potential victims into trusting online relationships over a long period. Eventually, the scammer proposes a small investment idea and often transfers to the victim purported returns over what appear to be legitimate online trading platforms. This process, known as “fatting the pig,” continues until the victim feels secure enough to hand over substantial funds. The scammer then “butchers the pig” and disappears with the money.

Some syndicates are developing new forms of artificial intelligence to identify potential victims on Western social media sites and WhatsApp, or to enhance the efficiency of the scams. This includes the use of generative AI to create images and video content for fraud schemes, as well ChatGPT to generate scripts and content. 

The Military and BGFs Provide Protection for Myanmar’s Crime Enclaves

The overarching obstacle to staunching the spread of organized crime in Myanmar is the chaos in governance and the lawlessness triggered by the February 2021 military coup. While the elected government tried to stem the influx of Chinese gangsters, the junta reversed those efforts after the coup, and the illegal operations quickly resumed their rapid expansion. 

At the center of that story is the Karen Border Guard Force, which maintains its headquarters in the very heart of the Shwe Kokko crime city.  

The rise of the Karen BGF, operating at least nominally under Myanmar Army control, was accelerated by the coup and its ties with the Chinese crime bosses.  

The Karen BGF emerged in the late 2000’s from an ethnic armed group called the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army. From 2017-2019, it forged alliances with two key Chinese criminals, She Zhijiang, head of Yatai International Holding, and Wan Kuok-Kui (aka Broken Tooth), a triad leader who heads a transnational criminal organization known as the Hongmen World Historical and Cultural Association. The BGF provided land and support for these first two large illegal gambling cities to spring up near the Thai border — Shwe Kokko and Saixigang (now known as Dongmei Zone), respectively.

When Thai police arrested She Zhijiang in August 2022, his absence left the BGF in control of a massive criminal empire, vastly increasing its wealth and power. Meanwhile, Wan Kuok-kui, who was sanctioned by the United States in December 2020, relocated to China, where his focus seems to be laundering hundreds of millions of dollars into the Chinese economy. His move apparently gave the BGF even wider control over the enclave’s criminal activity.

From the beginning of their emergence in Myanmar, the autonomous crime zones have relied on Karen BGF leaders to offer secure space. By providing security, controlling border trade, and handling relations with rival armed groups and the Myanmar army, the BGF and its leaders are among the greatest beneficiaries of the illicit activity.  

Profits from the partnership have been plowed into high-tech upgrades of weapons and other military equipment for the BGF, commanded by Col. Chit Thu and his colleague, Major Mote Thon. Indeed, Chit Thu’s forces’ weapons are qualitatively superior to the Myanmar Army’s, making his BGF one of the most lethal units under the military’s “command.” 

Thailand Sees the Threat, But Makes Little Headway Against It

Seeking influence and material support, the BGF and the Chinese crime groups have invested heavily in Thailand. They use the country to traffic people into the criminal zones and to access the internet and electricity essential to their operations. Thailand is also a source and transit route for the BGF’s sophisticated arms and equipment — made easy by BGF control of crossing points for bilateral trade.

By mid-2022, Thai authorities were increasingly concerned about what they call “grey Chinese business” and an explosion of trafficking Thai nationals and tens of thousands of foreigners into Myanmar. A string of murders, gunfights and rumors of Chinese kidnapping, assaulting or torturing victims on Thai soil produced a serious public outcry.

Consequently, Thailand has begun to clamp down. Yatai crime boss She Zhijiang is on the verge of extradition to China. A Thai working committee was set up to crack down on trafficking, and Thai law enforcement has mobilized to investigate Chinese “grey business.” In June 2023, the Thai police raided the Hongmen office in Thailand, arrested a second notorious criminal associated with Shwe Kokko named Yu Xinqi, and scooped up the owners of several exclusive nightclubs catering to Chinese crime bosses.

So far, however, these measures have failed to dent the Thai base for criminal operations in Myanmar. Construction continues around Mae Sot and new players are emerging along the Thai border to the north in Myanmar territory controlled by the United Wa State Army.

Meanwhile, the Karen BGF has brazenly flouted Thailand’s enforcement efforts. When Thai police arrested She Zhijiang, a BGF spokesman stated publicly that the arrest would not “harm normal operations” in Shwe Kokko. When Thailand moved to curtail electricity to the border compounds in early June 2023, the BGF threatened to close the largest frontier crossing to bilateral trade. After Thailand squeezed the power supply, the BGF ramped up diesel imports for generators, turning a crackdown into a money-making opportunity.

Even China’s Moves to Curb Criminal Groups Has Had Only Mixed Effects

As a key target for scam operations, China has significant steps to rein them in to protect its own citizens and its relations with the Southeast Asia neighborhood. Beijing has enhanced anti-money laundering requirements for banks, cut off criminals’ access to Chinese telecoms by policing WeChat, raised public awareness on trafficking and banned travel for many Chinese to Southeast Asia.

Unfortunately, none of this has stopped the networks from regional spread. Instead, gangsters have adapted, focusing more on markets outside of China and recalibrating efforts to traffic young Chinese job seekers.

Last month, Chinese authorities insisted the junta crush criminal activities directed at Chinese nationals from Myanmar. As yet, Chit Thu and his BGF are still operating with impunity, making it clear that not even a military operation — like the one launched by the pro-democracy forces in April — will dislodge the criminals. Taking the cue, other armed militias are building their own enclaves at an alarming rate.      

Only a Concerted, Transnational Approach Will Halt the Spread of Myanmar-Based Crime

To stem the rise of these criminal networks will require a coordinated international effort. The United States could potentially take a leading role, partnering with others to sanction the BGF and cut off telecommunications services to all criminal militias in Myanmar. This would call for careful coordination with neighboring countries and other international law enforcement. Repatriating the sheer number of globally trafficked victims inside Myanmar will require a major cross-border operation.

US treatment of Guantanamo inmates 'cruel, inhuman and degrading', says UN expert

Special rapporteur completes first official visit by a UN expert to the detention facility in Cuba

People protest against the US prison in Guantanamo Bay outside of the US Capitol in Washington. Reuters

Adla Massoud
United Nations
Jun 26, 2023

The treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees amounts to “continuing cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment that runs contrary to international law, a UN expert said on Monday after concluding a visit to the infamous US military jail.

“I observed that after two decades of custody, the suffering of those detained is profound and it's continuing,” Fionnuala Ni Aolain, UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, told reporters in New York.

Ms Ni Aolain, whose official visit was the first by a UN expert to the detention facility on a US base in Cuba, called for Washington to ensure accountability for all breaches of international law with regard to victims of its counter-terrorism practices.

She underscored the importance of apology, noting that the time is “now to undo the legacies of exceptionalism, discrimination and securitisation perpetuated by Guantanamo’s continuing existence”.

“Every single detainee I met with lives with the unrelenting harms that follow from systematic practices of rendition, torture and arbitrary detention,” she said.

“As I listened in those conversations, I understood that for many of these detainees, the dividing line between the past and the present is exceptionally thin.”

US releases Saudi Guantanamo Bay detainee after 21 years

The independent expert praised President Joe Biden's administration for providing her with full access to detainees.

“The US government has led by example by being prepared to address the hardest human rights issues,” she said.

“I affirm the openness of the technical visit, the spirit of positive constructive dialogue that sustained it, and the singular importance of access to all detention sites affirmed by it.”

The special rapporteur also met repatriated and resettled detainees and their families, as well as government personnel in other countries.

Following Ms Ni Aolain's report, the head of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard, stressed the pressing need to shut down Guantanamo and offer compensation to former and current detainees.

“Very few of these men have ever been charged with a crime, and absolutely none have faced a fair trial,” she said in a statement.

“It is well past time to demand the closure of the prison, accountability from US officials, and reparations for the torture and other ill-treatment that the detainees have suffered at the hands of the US government.”

The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay was opened in 2002 during the administration of former president George W Bush during the expansive War on Terror that began following the September 11 terror attacks.

About 780 Muslim men and boys held in the prison at various times over the past 20 years have never stood trial or were even charged with a crime.

The US naval base at Guantanamo Bay

Despite Poverty and Fear of Deportation, Syrian Refugees Build Lives in Lebanon

ANDREA LÓPEZ-TOMÀS
06/26/2023

Syrian children play on a sports field at Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. 

(Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

A group of Syrian women living in the Shatila refugee camp outside Beirut acknowledge the hardships but express worry about the recent rise in deportations by the Lebanese authorities

Ahed Huran never would have believed that a crowded, poverty-stricken concrete labyrinth would prove to be her family’s refuge and salvation. But for the past 11 years, this mother of five from Idlib in war-torn Syria has been saying “Thank God” that her family has been able to feel safe in the narrow alleys of the Shatila refugee camp outside Beirut.

And yet now, with the Lebanese authorities having launched a massive campaign to deport hundreds of Syrian refugees back to their home country, her calm has been shattered.

We hear many stories of people who have been deported to Syria and who, within days, have disappeared or died. Of course we are afraid.

“We hear many stories of people who have been deported to Syria and who, within days, have disappeared or died. Of course we are afraid,” Huran, 29, told The Media Line.

She speaks for many. There are about 20 women in the room, all of them refugees from Syria. They meet every week at the Alsama Studio, a social business enterprise in Shatila that provides a place for the women to create hand-made embroidery art inspired by their roots. While the items are sold and the funds raised go to the women—who are often the sole breadwinners in their families—the work primarily gives them an excuse to meet and share their experiences and their fears.


Alsama Studio, Shatila refugee camp, Lebanon. (Andrea López-Tomàs/The Media Line)

Life in Shatila, historically a Palestinian refugee camp, has isolated the Syrian refugees from the rest of the Lebanese capital, but now, ironically, it protects them. Neither the police nor the Lebanese Army dares to enter this concrete jungle rife with drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, and general precariousness, so the refugees here are not the target of the rising number of deportations.

Between April and May alone, at least 1,100 Syrian citizens were arrested in Lebanon, and about 73 raids led to the deportation of 600 people back over the border. On many occasions, the Syrian Army has handed returned refugees over to smugglers who charge them large sums of money to bring them back into Lebanon, where the majority, despite the deplorable situations in which they live, prefer to be.

“Our situation has changed a lot in recent weeks,” one woman, who wanted to be identified by the false name of Aisha for her own protection, told The Media Line.

“Everything is much more difficult, we are afraid to go to work,” she said.

In many towns, the municipalities have imposed new restrictions on Syrian refugees, such as requiring registration of Syrian citizens, imposing mandatory curfews on them, or conducting raids.


If all Syrians left Lebanon, this country would cease to exist, because most of the workers are Syrians. That’s why I don’t understand why they hate us.

“If all Syrians left Lebanon, this country would cease to exist, because most of the workers are Syrians. That’s why I don’t understand why they hate us,” a woman called Muna, also from Idlib, told The Media Line.

Syrian refugees, including children, are in charge of doing the hardest jobs in agriculture or construction, jobs that the locals do not want to do. Some 839,000 Syrian refugees are registered in Lebanon with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. But the Lebanese authorities estimate that the number is really closer to 1.5 million. The government’s request to the UNHCR to stop registering new arrivals after 2015 prevents the actual number from being known.

Syrian refugees in Shatila refugee camp, Lebanon. (Andrea López-Tomàs/The Media Line)

“The Lebanese attack us because they consider that we receive more humanitarian aid than they do, but that is not true,” said a woman called Amal, another made-up name.

“The UNHCR gives us 1,100,000 Lebanese pounds a month [about $73.50], which is not even enough to pay for one of my children’s school fees,” Muna said.

Lebanon’s economic collapse has pushed the already vulnerable Syrian refugee community into extreme poverty, with more than 90% of the refugees living in poverty, according to the United Nations.

“If the situation in Syria was good, obviously I wouldn’t be here, but unfortunately it’s not something that’s in our hands,” Huran said.

Another woman, Ghofran Limam, said that before the civil war, “In our country, we had everything, we could find anything we wanted.” But that Syria no longer exists.

The return of Syria under dictator Bashar Assad to the Arab League recently has aggravated the situation. The same Arab countries that supported the popular uprising in 2011 are the ones now holding hands with the Syrian president, and many are beginning to return refugees to Syria on the basis that it is now “safe.” For many refugees, this has been the confirmation of the defeat of the revolution.

“We are against his re-entry [to the Arab League], he is not our president,” Aisha told The Media Line. “They have made this decision for the return of Assad without making our country better.”

Not only is Syria suffering the effects of more than a decade of civil war, but it is still under international sanctions and recently endured a deadly earthquake.

“Everything is the regime’s fault. I don’t want to return to a country with the same regime,” Muna said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian refugees in Lebanon also suffer from the contempt of the Lebanese towards them.

“Even when we go to the market we notice it. They whisper ‘they are Syrians’ and then say a string of bad words,” Limam told The Media Line.

“The Lebanese think that we Syrians don’t understand anything, that we don’t have a culture, as if we came from nowhere,” Huran said. “When I hear something like that on the street, it really hurts me.”

Speeches by Lebanese politicians pointing to the Syrian population as the origin of all of Lebanon’s wrongs have fueled anti-Syrian rhetoric in recent months. Inactive and ineffective in handling the economic meltdown of the country, the Lebanese authorities have made the Syrians their scapegoats and have focused on deportations as the solution.

Asked what she thought about the future, Huran snorted and stared up at the ceiling.

“I think about tomorrow, whether everything will improve or it will be worse again,” she said. “Above all, I think about my children, that if we stay in this situation, it is impossible that there is a future.”

She added that lack of access to education was yet another area where Syrians suffered from a lack of opportunities.

From across the room, Muna reminded her that there was something good in everything that had happened to them.

“We are all Syrians, but from different parts of the country, so if we weren’t here, we wouldn’t have met,” she said and smiled, prompting her friends to smile too. At least, they all seemed to say in silent unison, they have each other.

Armenia Wins European Pair Blitz Chess Championship



Published on  26 June 2023

KRAKÓW — The Armenian team emerged victorious at the European Pair Blitz Chess Championship, which took place in Kraków on Monday. The Polish team of Oliwia Kiołbasa and Jan-Krzysztof Duda placed fourth. The Championship was an accompanying competition to the 2023 European Games and one of the biggest chess events of the year in Poland.

The Armenian pair, women’s tournament winner Elina Danielian and the open event runner-up Shant Sargsyan finished ahead of the teams from the Netherlands (Elina Roebers and Benjamin Bok) and Azerbaijan (Gunay Mammadzada and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov). The Polish duo tied for fourth place with Romania. They were followed in the standings by Spain, Israel and Ukraine.



The tournament was a real success, as hundreds of chess enthusiasts filled the audience in the Kraków Opera House. Many of them were young aspiring chess players, who came to observe the champions.

“It is a great moment, not just for Polish chess, but for the game on the European and global scale, for the tournament to be associated with the European Games. We believe chess will one day become part of the Olympic family; since we have no doubt that chess is a sport and a very beautiful one. I am happy the event is taking place in Poland, as Polish chess is a part of the global elite. Poland loves the game; it is evident, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda is one of the faces of the 2023 European Games. Poland is a great chess nation, with competitors at a very high level,” said Dana Reizniece-Ozola, the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management board and the first vice-president of the European Chess Union. Both these bodies greatly contributed to the organization of the Championship in Kraków.



Łukasz Turlej, FIDE Secretary General, believes that holding the European Pair Blitz Championships as an accompanying event to the European Games is an excellent opportunity for the game.

“It is a big deal for chess, not just in Poland, but also globally, since the Games in Kraków is the biggest sport events in the world this year. The chess championship held in conjunction with the Games and starting them off is a great distinction and an opportunity. It is special for a chess player to be one of the ambassadors of the Games. Jan-Krzysztof Duda is highly regarded in Kraków. Here he is very popular, which is a source of great joy for the entire chess community,” Turlej stated. The tournament’s sponsors included Superbet, the Superbet Foundation and Mokate, all of which are strongly involved in promoting the royal game in Poland.

Greece ignored help offer for migrant boat: Frontex

The trawler packed with migrants capsized in the Ionian Sea near Greece's Peloponnese peninsula on the night of June 13 after setting sail from Libya towards Europe.


"Hundreds" were reported missing, according to some of the 104 survivors. / Photo: Reuters Archive

The European Union's border agency Frontex has said it received "no response" when it offered aerial support to Greek authorities shortly before a migrant vessel capsized, leaving at least 82 dead.

"Frontex offered additional aerial support to Greek authorities on 13 June but received no response," the Frontex press office told AFP news agency by email on Monday.

The vessel sank off the Greek coast in mid-June, and hundreds were reported missing, casting a spotlight on authorities and whether they could have intervened to halt the disaster.

The press office also added that Frontex offered to move forward with a scheduled patrol, but Greek authorities asked it to instead attend a search and rescue operation off Crete.

Earlier that day, the Italian coordination centre (MRCC) directed the Frontex plane to look for the fishing vessel with migrants on board at 0833 GMT, and the aircraft spotted it at 0947 GMT.

"The plane was monitoring the fishing vessel for 10 minutes before it had to return to base for refuelling," Frontex said.

The trawler packed with migrants capsized in the Ionian Sea near Greece's Peloponnese peninsula on the night of June 13 after setting sail from Libya towards Europe.

"Hundreds" were reported missing, according to some of the 104 survivors.

Jenin tells the story of Palestine

June 26, 2023 

Smoke rises after Israeli forces' aerial bombardment attack on the city of Jenin, West Bank on June 19, 2023 [Nedal Eshtayah - Anadolu Agency]


Dr Amira Abo el-Fetouh
June 26, 2023 

Jenin refugee camp is just one kilometre square, but is home to 12,000 Palestinians. It lies seventy kilometres north of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, and very close to the part of Palestine occupied since 1948 which now forms the occupation state. The people of Jenin have sacrificed their lives for freedom and dignity, and created a legend of resistance to the occupation, so much so that the Gaza Strip no longer monopolises resistance.

The camp has stood alone in the fierce war waged against its residents by the Zionist army, which invaded on 19 June with its Apache helicopters and armoured vehicles. Six Palestinians, including a child, were martyred and dozens were injured. However, the heroes of Jenin did not stand idly by, asking for the help of their Arab brothers who have rushed to normalise relations with the enemy state, nor did they ask for the support of the pro-Israel international community, which turns a blind eye to the crimes committed against Palestinian civilians. Instead, they confronted the attack, defended their camp, and gave the enemy a harsh lesson, damaging seven military vehicles with roadside bombs and wounding seven soldiers. A helicopter was also damaged, according to the Israeli army itself.

READ: The extraordinary Palestinians of Jenin will not surrender

A few hours after the attack on the camp, the Jenin Brigades responded with a commando operation at the illegal Eli settlement. Four settlers were killed and others were seriously wounded. The Palestinian responsible was martyred, and his action prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a repeat of 2002's Operation Defensive Shield.

The latest Battle of Jenin ended with victory for the resistance and confirmed that the Zionist enemy, despite its military power, is weaker than the young Palestinians and their basic weapons. However, the Palestinians possess faith, will, determination and a just cause. Their resistance to the occupation is entirely legitimate under international law. This is the difference between the indigenous people and the usurpers who occupy Palestinian land, and yet fear the local people.

That is why the attack against Jenin intended to eliminate resistance turned into a rout as the Zionist troops rushed to escape. Despite their massive military superiority and use of latest surveillance technology, the occupation forces failed to monitor the movements of the resistance fighters or predict their operations. The delusion of Israel's deterrence factor that the occupation state gloats about died in the face of the will and determination of a few resistance fighters.

The resistance of the people of Jenin and their determined defence of their camp was a sign that the Almighty does indeed favour them over their enemy. Jenin refugee camp has become the capital of Palestinian resistance in the north of Palestine, just as Gaza is in the south. This is not the first time that the people of Jenin have demonstrated their heroism; several other attempted incursions by the so-called "Israel Defence Forces" have failed over the past couple of years.

The precedent was, of course, in 2002, with Operation Defensive Shield and 12 days of an Israeli offensive in which at least 24 soldiers were killed, including senior officers. The troops withdrew in order to cut their losses, as they did recently.

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Israel has used a number of tactics to defeat the Palestinian resistance, and built the apartheid wall in an effort to isolate 1948-occupied Palestine from the West Bank. Even that didn't work, and nor has the feted Iron Dome missile defence system, which has not prevented resistance rockets from reaching their targets deep inside Israel.

Ever since the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed the cursed 1993 Oslo Accords with the Israeli enemy after the First Intifada, it has been clear that the uprising so shook the occupation state that it needed a poisonous deal to protect itself. The occupation state was duly recognised by the PLO, which abandoned armed struggle to liberate the land. The resultant Palestinian Authority and its security services exist solely to protect Israel. The independent state of Palestine promised by Oslo has still failed to materialise after thirty years of the "peace process", which has kept the Palestinians talking and bought Israel more time to steal more Palestinian land. Today, less than 20 per cent of historic Palestine is available for this imaginary "independent" state, and that percentage is getting smaller by the day.

The Second ("Al-Aqsa") Intifada started on 28 September 2000, and restored the spirit of resistance to the Palestinian people under the late Yasser Arafat, who returned from the US frustrated by his Camp David meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak under the auspices of President Bill Clinton. He confirmed that there is no point in peace agreements with the Israeli entity; that they created mirages that disappeared quickly, including the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of the Palestinian refugees to their land.

These were hopes that the Palestinians had after Oslo, but they woke up to the reality that they were required to return to the struggle to liberate Palestine. Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, did not abandon the Palestinian struggle for all of Palestine from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. There is no other way to achieve this other than through legitimate resistance.

Arafat was besieged in his compound in Ramallah, and then poisoned in 2004 as punishment for the Aqsa Intifada. The Israeli enemy withdrew its illegal settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but still assassinated Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Dr Abdulaziz Al-Rantisi and others. It also imposed a complete air, land and sea blockade on the Palestinian people in Gaza after Hamas won the "free and fair" Palestinian Legislative Council election in 2006. None of this weakened the strength of the resistance, nor did it undermine its resolve, or weaken the Palestinian people who are ready to make huge sacrifices in order to liberate their land. Facing six major Israeli military offensives over the past few years, they have suffered a lot for their right to live in freedom with their dignity intact.

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The Zionist enemy has failed to bring the Palestinian people to their knees in Gaza, Jenin, Nablus and Jerusalem, just as it has failed to defeat Hamas. Now there is a new generation of young Palestinians taking up the resistance banner. Neither their abandonment by the Arabs who have normalised relations with the apartheid state, nor international complicity in the crimes against them will stop them from exercising their right to liberate their occupied land from Israeli occupation. The flame of resistance burns fiercely every day across all of the occupied Palestinian territories.

There is no doubt that there is hope for the great Palestinian nation, for it cannot be defeated and forever turns the tables with its innovation and ingenuity in the means of its resistance and struggle. This new generation includes the great-grandchildren of the Palestinians who were expelled from their land and displaced during the 1948 Nakba. They've never known a free Palestine, but even those living in forced exile keep their land alive in their hearts and minds. The early Israelis claimed that the old Palestinians will die and the young will forget, but that hasn't happened. Yes, the old have died, but they passed the keys and the responsibility to the young, keeping the flame of resistance alive. This is at the core of the Spirit of Palestine, and it is a story encapsulated by the people of Jenin. Long live the Palestinian people, free and dignified.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.