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, November 05, 2022
Mongolians and chess, almost as traditional as herding and wrestling International chess master Jigjidsuren coached the Mongolian national chess team until he turned 70. / Courtesy of Antonio Graceffo.
By Antonio Graceffo in Ulaanbaatar November 5, 2022
At this year's 44th World Chess Olympiad, Mongolia shook up the world when the Mongolian women’s team defeated the seventh-ranked Americans. Overall, the Mongolian men’s team placed 35th out of 188 countries, while the women placed 15th out of 162.
When one thinks of Mongolia, one very probably thinks of horses and wrestling, but certainly not chess. But chess has a long history in the country. Mongolians’ ancestors played ankle bones and chess during the 13th century, and possibly before, while Mongolian traditional chess, shatar, dates back to the Great Mongol Empire.
The Mongolian word for international chess is in fact shatar. A medieval variation of the game is called Hiashatar, which means “Bodyguard Chess” (Shatranj). The pieces are the same as in traditional chess except that there is an additional piece called a Bodyguard (also called 'Senior Adviser' or 'Warrior'), which can slide one or two steps in any direction. However, a Bodyguard cannot checkmate the enemy king. 'Hiashatar' is believed to be about 500 years old.
A Mongolian chess, or shatar, set (Credit: Immanuel Giel, cc-by-sa 3.0).
An ancient legend about the origin of Mongolian chess tells of a khan, or king, who lived “long, long ago”. After fighting in many wars, he decided that training alone was not enough for victory. So, he established the position of bodyguard in his entourage, and the position was then added to the game of chess.
The Mongol names for the pieces are:
King - noyon (prince, duke)
Queen - bers (fantastic animal resembling a big dog)
The first Mongolian national chess championship was held in 1948, and the country’s first women’s chess championship was held in 1954. The Mongolian Chess Championship is currently organised by the Mongolian Chess Federation (Mongolian: Монголын Шатрын Холбоо). Bazar Khatanbaatar holds the record for most national championships won, with eight victories; Tsagaan Battsetseg holds the women's record, with seven.
Chess is hugely popular in Mongolia, it's not unusual to see a game taking place on a bench (Photo courtesy of Antonio Graceffo).
One of the proudest achievements for Mongolians in international chess came in 1967 at the Sousse Interzonal when American Bobby Fischer played against Mongolian champion Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren. Myagmarsuren won the Mongolian national title four times in 1965, 1980, 1981 and 1982, and was awarded the title of international master in 1967. His nickname in the Internet Chess Club is "Shatar” (the Mongolian word for chess).
Although Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren lost to Fischer, the match resulted in a new technique called The Mongolian tactic. According to the tale, Fischer had asked Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren his name several times, but could neither spell nor pronounce it. So, he just wrote “Mongolian” on the paper. Since then, Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren’s special technique has been known as the Mongolian tactic.
In 2020, the International Chess Federation awarded stipends to a number of retired players including Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren. His match with Fischer has inspired Mongolian chess players down the decades. There is even a photo of Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren hanging in Zuunii Shatar chess club near the centre of Ulaanbaatar.
In recent years, Mongolia has repeatedly distinguished itself in international chess. Khulan Enksaikhan (25) led her team to gold at the 2020 Asian University Chess Championship (AUC). In 2021, 12-year-old N. Sodbileg won a silver medal at the under-17 World Amateur Chess Championship held in Rhodes, Greece.
In 2021, a most unique chess honour was won by Mongolia, when Mongolian inmates won the first ever Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. In October this year, the Mongolian women’s chess team won the 2nd Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. The event, organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chicago, US) was the largest chess event ever organised among correctional facilities.
International master and world grand master Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, who works at the Court Decision Making Agency of Mongolia, teaches chess in prisons and organiss tournaments. She explained that Mongolia has been organising chess events in its prisons since 1956, and it has now become a tradition.
FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich attended the online closing ceremony where he congratulated the winning teams and extended a special message of encouragement "We all hope that at some moment of your life, you will be free to make your own choices, and chess will help you to make those choices rationally."
Tuvshintugs told Chess News that it was no wonder that the prisoners could play chess so well because the Mongolian amateur chess level was quite high, a sentiment supported by 76-year-old international chess master Jigjidsuren, coach of the Zuunii Shatar chess club, who believes that Mongolian children are exceptionally intelligent and particularly good at chess.
Jigjidsuren began playing chess in 1960 at the age of 11. He originally learned by watching his parents play in the countryside. Later, he studied under both Mongolian and Russian masters, eventually being admitted to the Russian chess university in 1971. He graduated in 1975. After a lengthy career as a world-class chess player, Jigjidsuren was asked to coach the national team, a job he did until he turned 70. Since his retirement, he has been coaching at Zuunii Shatar chess club.
Jigjidsuren explained “Mongolian children are very good at chess actually. The reason why is that Mongolians are much more intellectual and have a high brain capacity. And I came to this conclusion by observing many, many kids along the way of coaching and teaching lessons to the children.”
He estimated that 30 to 40% of the Mongolian population knows how to play chess. “We don’t have an exact number on this, but by observation, I have seen an instance where the whole town can play chess in the countryside. It is actually a rare occasion to find families without a chess board.”
When asked if Mongolians played chess in their gers (yurts) to kill time during the long winters, Jigjidsuren objected that while some may only be killing time, for most, “there is always a purpose when they are playing chess. The parents want their children to have a strong mind, a respectful manner and high potential, and they believe that chess helps in all those aspects.” He even drew a connection between herding and chess. “There used to be a lot of ways to educate kids back in the days of nomadic tradition.”
Chess is not only played in gers and chess clubs in Mongolia, it’s also played on the street.
Fifty-seven-year-old Naymtsogt is one of several chess experts who play outdoors, for money, on the benches in front of the central sports centre in Ulaanbaatar. He has been playing chess since he was seven. He first learned it from his parents, but later studied under Russian and Mongolian masters and grandmasters. While he can also play Mongolian chess, he focuses on international chess. Since 2008, he has been playing on the street, averaging five to six opponents per day.
Naymtsogt said that he particularly likes chess because, “There is nothing to cheat on in chess. It’s just simply a mind game. There is a lesson on how to start and how to proceed and how to end your moves and in chess you will be able to master it.”
After he defeated me in a relatively long game (pictured above), he said “You’re a very aggressive player. The game itself should be played like this.” Knowing I was a wrestler, he said wrestling was the same as chess. In Europe and America, catch wrestling is often referred to as physical chess. So, it was interesting to hear a chess master make the same comparison.
Jigjidsuren went on to draw more parallels between wrestling and chess. “Wrestling is a tradition which covers a minimum number of people that have a well built or developed body. For chess, it does not require anything physical or does not depend on gender. Secondly, chess is not a seasonal sport. You can play it anywhere you want, anytime.”
And the Mongolians do play chess anywhere, anytime. In the gers, in the streets, in the chess clubs and academies, in Russia, and at the world level.
Antonio Graceffo, PhD, China-MBA, is an economist and China analyst who has spent over 20 years in Asia, including seven in China, two and a half in Taiwan, and three in Mongolia. He conducted post-doctoral studies in international trade, at School of Economics Shanghai University, holds a PhD. from Shanghai University of Sport, and a China-MBA from Shanghai Jiaotong University. Antonio is the author of seven books about Asia, three of which are about the Chinese economy. For the past 10 years, he has been reporting on the Chinese economy, the US-China trade war, investment, geopolitics and defence. Since 2019, Antonio has been based out of Ulaanbaatar, where he continues his China economic research, while also reporting on the Mongolian economy. In addition to publishing reports and articles on a regular basis, he makes frequent appearances as a China economic expert on NTD TV, Bloomberg Mongolia TV and VTV.
Space rice promises robust new varieties
November 6, 2022
ANN/CHINA DAILY – Mutated rice seeds brought from space may provide new species on Earth and result in higher yields than their terrestrial counterparts.
At a scientific research demonstration base in Wuhan, Hubei province, workers from Hubei Jinguang Agricultural Technology Co recently completed harvesting space rice from 20 hectares of paddies where they had planted seeds from China’s Shenzhou-12 manned space mission.
Space breeding is a process in which seeds are exposed to cosmic radiation and microgravity during a space mission to mutate their genes and are returned to Earth to generate new species.
Back on Earth, scientists examine and evaluate the mutations.
Some can be positive, conferring properties favoured by farmers, such as greater yields, shorter growth periods and better resistance to disease.
“On September 17, 2021, we got back the seeds carried by the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship when it returned to Earth after three months in space,” said President of Hubei Jinguang Agricultural Technology Co Gao Xuegang.
“The high-quality seeds that we carefully selected include corn, rapeseed and rice.”
After the seeds went through an additional selection process and were germinated by experts at China’s Space Breeding Achievement Transformation Centre, the rice seedlings were planted in Hainan province in November 2021 to generate more seeds.
In June, 150 kilogrammes (kg) of high-quality space-bred rice seeds were selected and planted on 20 hectares in Wuhan.
“This is the second time we planted space-bred rice, after a first success in 2021,” Gao said.
“During the whole process, we used no pesticides or chemical fertilisers. The rice harvested last year had better quality than common rice, a sweeter fragrance and a softer and waxier texture.”
Gao said the results of this year’s planting experiment show that space-bred seeds can be used as an early or late crop because of their adaptability.
“Because of the unusually high temperatures and severe drought this summer, diseases and insect pests were serious in some regions in the country, reducing the rice output,” he said.
“However, the space-bred rice showed strong drought resistance and good ability to resist pests and disease. Space rice was significantly less affected than ordinary rice.”
“Space breeding has outstanding advantages,” said an expert from the provincial academy of agricultural sciences Dong Hualin.
“Space creates a special mutagenesis environment, which is difficult to achieve on Earth.”
Mutagenesis is a process that leads to permanent and possibly inheritable genetic mutation.
“The high vacuum, high cleanliness, weightlessness, strong radiation, ultra-high-speed operation and magnetic wire cutting in space can greatly shorten the breeding period,” he said.
Scientists expect to produce 7,125 kg per hectare this year, Gao said. Some of the rice will be used for further breeding research and some will be supplied to the markets as a high-end product costing about CNY200 (USD27.46) per kilogramme.
So far, the company has conducted the planting experiment on more than 333 hectares of farmland in Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and Shandong provinces in cooperation with local farmers.
“I believe there are good prospects for the industrial development of large-scale planting of space-bred rice,” said Dong.
UN General Assembly First Committee includes "community of shared future for humankind" in three resolutions
06-Nov-2022 CGTN
The United Nations General Assembly First Committee has included in its three resolutions the notion of "a community of shared future for humankind."
This is the sixth consecutive time that the notion has been included in First Committee resolutions.
The resolutions are "Further Practical Measures for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space," "No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space" and "Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security," which were adopted on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
During the deliberations, a handful of countries raised questions about the phrase "a community of shared future for humankind" contained in the drafts and demanded separate votes on relevant paragraphs. In the voting, the inclusion of the notion was supported by more than 100 member states on all occasions.
Prior to the voting on Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Li Song, also head of the Chinese delegation to the First Committee, noted that the phrase was not rejected by any state in the first two years of its inclusion in resolutions.
"It wasn't until 2019 that certain countries requested separate votes on the relevant paragraphs. This is outright political manipulation," Li said.
These countries are doing so simply because this concept was put forward by China. They are so obsessed with the Cold War mentality and ideological bias that they would oppose anything Chinese. In essence, they are trying to seek supremacy at the United Nations, he said.
"I would like to emphasize that expressions in UN documents reflect the collective wisdom of all member states. They are not the proprietary rights of any country. Today, a handful of countries can vote down anything Chinese, tomorrow they may well obstruct at will other countries' ideas that are positive, constructive and reflecting the shared interests of the broad membership," he said.
This is not the way things should work in the world, let alone in the United Nations, Li said.
"A community of shared future for humankind" is a neutral term without any ideological undertone. This concept is highly consistent with the content of the relevant draft resolutions, he said.
This concept is open, above-board and an embodiment of true multilateralism. It has been widely supported and recognized by the international community, Li said.
Nearly 1,000 migrants stranded on board NGO ships as storm hits Three NGO ships are stranded in the Mediterranean as Italy and Malta fail to greenlight entrance into port.
More than 500 people are on board the Geo Barents as a storm hits the Mediterranean Sea
Three charity-run vessels in the Mediterranean Sea are awaiting permission to disembark in Italy or Malta, as those on board need urgent assistance amid dwindling supplies and worsening weather conditions.
The vessels operated by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), SOS Mediterranee and SOS Humanity, have been at sea for more than a week, carrying nearly 1,000 people in total.
Italy’s new right-wing government has acknowledged the receipt of their requests to disembark but has stopped short of greenlighting their entrance into port.
“The latest request was made yesterday evening but we received no response,” Riccardo Gatti, MSF team leader on board the Geo Barents, told Al Jazeera via video message.
Similar requests forwarded to the Maltese government have gone unacknowledged.
Gatti said on Saturday the Geo Barents had entered Italian waters to find shelter from an incoming storm, carrying 572 people on board, including an 11-month-old and three pregnant women.
MSF media adviser Candida Lobes said water was being rationed and food supplies were also dwindling. Due to overcrowding, respiratory and skin infections were also spreading.
“The situation is simply unacceptable,” Lobes said.
International obligations
European maritime-humanitarian organisation SOS Mediterranee has called on authorities to comply with international obligations and provide a predictable system of disembarkation.
“Survivors retrieved from distress at sea must no longer be traded into political debates,” the organisation said in a statement on Thursday.
Elisa Brivio, a press officer at SOS Mediterranee, told Al Jazeera that 234 people were on board its Ocean Viking ship, including 40 unaccompanied minors.
“Not everyone can sleep below deck, we prioritise women and children,” Brivio said. “The others are sleeping outside and yesterday we installed some protective tents to shield them from the winds and the storm.”
Among those rescued, many bear the signs of torture and mistreatment.
Till Rummenhohl, head of operations at SOS Humanity, said the 179 people on board the Humanity 1 were “fleeing from detention camps in Libya, where they faced great violence”.
Should no country offer a post of safety, they may be pushed back into international waters.
“[This] would be a clear breach of international law and the Geneva Convention,” Rummenhohl told Al Jazeera. “It’s their human right to apply for asylum and seek safety.”
Italy’s far-right government
Italy last month formed its first far-right-led government since the end of World War II, with Giorgia Meloni becoming the first woman to serve as prime minister.
Rome has insisted that the countries whose flags these NGO boats are flying should bear responsibility for the migrants and refugees on board.
The Norwegian flag-bearing Ocean Viking and Geo Barents and the German-flagged Humanity 1 have been prevented from docking, while Italian patrols, including one carrying 456 people that arrived in Calabria on Thursday, were allowed to disembark.
Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, told local media the government had intended to give flag-bearing countries an “immediate signal”.
“We cannot bear the burden of migrants collected at sea by foreign vessels operating systematically without any coordination with local authorities,” he said.
Piantedosi drafted new measures, alleging that the non-governmental groups violated procedure by not properly coordinating their rescues, a step setting the groundwork for Italy to close the ports.
Charities have denied circumventing procedures and say it is their duty to rescue people in distress at sea.
The German embassy this week urged Italy to provide swift help, saying NGO ships made an important contribution to saving lives at sea.
Norway said it bears no responsibility under human rights conventions or the law of the sea towards people taken on board private Norwegian-flagged vessels.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, coastal states such as Italy and Malta are obligated to accept people from rescue ships “as soon as practicable” and governments should cooperate to provide a place of safety for survivors.
“It is frankly absurd that the Italian and Maltese governments have not yet offered them a place of safety,” Matteo De Bellis, a researcher on asylum and migration at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera.
“This incident signals a step back by Italian authorities in particular since the new government is resurrecting policies that we have seen implemented already in 2018 and 2019,” De Bellis added, referring to a “closed ports” policy implemented by then-Interior Minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini.
“These policies were and continue to be in breach of international law,” he said.
“It is clear that European states must share responsibility for assisting people in need, but it is equally clear that Italy and Malta must cooperate in good faith to ensure that people rescued at sea are provided a place of safety.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Italy closes its ports to rescue ships, leaving 1,100 migrants in limbo
MILAN (AP) — Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people were waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily on Saturday, one with permission to disembark its most vulnerable migrants while the other’s request for a safe port has gone unanswered despite “critical” conditions on board.
Chaos and uncertainty has resulted from the decision late Friday by Italy’s far-right-led government to close its ports to humanitarian rescue ships.
Nearly 1,100 rescued migrants aboard four ships run by European charity organizations are stuck in the Mediterranean Sea, some with people rescued as long as two weeks ago amid deteriorating conditions on board.
Both the Humanity 1 and the Rise Above ships, run by separate German humanitarian groups, were in Italian waters, both seeking shelter from rough seas. The Humanity 1, carrying 179 migrants, has received permission to disembark minors and people needing medical care, but the Rise Above’s request for port for its 93 rescued people has so far gone unanswered.
By the time darkness fell Saturday, the Humanity 1 still had not received any direct communications from Italian authorities regarding evacuations, spokesman Wasil Schauseil said.
The SOS Humanity charity challenged Italy’s move to distinguish “vulnerable” migrants, saying all were rescued at sea, which alone qualifies them for a safe port under international law.
Italy’s only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, said he would join migrants on the ship if Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government did not act soon to aid all those blocked at sea.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1 would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care.
The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants, and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn’t bear the burden alone.
No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships, and both the Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the Rise Above have entered Italian waters without consent despite repeated requests for a safe port. The Ocean Viking with 234 migrants remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina.
“We have been waiting for 10 days for a safe place to disembark the 572 survivors,” said Juan Mattias Gil, the head of mission for the Geo Barents. Operation chief Riccardo Gatti said besides suffering from skin and respiratory infections, many on board were stressed by the prolonged period at sea.
SOS Humanity, which operates Humanity 1, alone said it had made 19 requests for a safe port, all unanswered. The boat is carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as infants as young as 7 months.
Italy’s new far-right-led government is insisting that countries whose flag the charity-run ships fly must take on the migrants. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as “islands” that are under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance, cheered the new directive that he signed along with Italy’s defense and interior ministers.
“We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies,” Salvini said in a Facebook video, repeating his allegation that the ships’ presence encourages smugglers.
Nongovernmental organizations reject that interpretation, and say they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.
“The Italian minister of interior’s decree is undoubtedly illegal,” says Mirka Schaefer, advocacy officer at SOS Humanity. “Pushing back refugees at the Italian border violates the Geneva Refugee Convention and international law.”
Most have traveled via Libya, where they set off in unseaworthy boats seeking a better life in Europe, often facing abuses by human traffickers along the way.
While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or rescued at sea by Italian authorities. On Saturday, 147 arrived in Augusta, including 59 on the oil ship Zagara that also carried two bodies.
The situation on the Rise Above was particularly desperate, with 93 people packed aboard a relatively small 25-meter (82-foot) boat. Spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann described a “very critical situation that … led to very great tensions” on board, because passengers saw land and didn’t understand why they weren’t docking.
The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing bad weather and the limited capacity of the small ship.
“This is not a wish. This is everyone’s right,’’ he said Friday night.
___
Emily Schultheis reported from Berlin.
Swedish foreign minister criticizes politicians for waving PKK rags
'PKK is a terrorist organization and this type of behavior does not belong in a democracy,' says Billstrom
Leila Nezirevic |05.11.2022
LONDON
Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom on Saturday strongly criticized two Left Party politicians for waving PKK terrorist organization rags in the council hall.
"PKK is a terrorist organization and this type of behavior does not belong in a democracy," he wrote on Twitter.
In an interview with public broadcaster SR, Billstrom said: "As organizations such as the YPG and PYD have links with the PKK, which is on the EU’s terror list, we will distance ourselves from these organizations in order not to spoil our relations with Türkiye."
Sweden's new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said that Sweden could not cooperate with those who have close relations with the PKK terrorist organization.
"As part of our decision, we will firmly oppose any activity that raises or supports terrorism on Swedish territories," Kristersson told Swedish TV channel TV4.
Former Justice Minister Morgan Johansson described the new government's decision to distance itself from the PKK/YPG terror group as "worrying and heinous."
Underlining that the government took the decision without presenting it to parliament, Johansson argued that the decision was unacceptable.
Earlier this year, three other left-wing members of parliament posed with PKK rags.
Sweden's then-Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that the actions by the politicians were extremely inappropriate.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the EU, and US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
The Swedish state has classified PKK as a terrorist group since 1984.
*Zehra Nur Duz contributed to the story in Ankara
South African Police Investigating Deaths of 21 Suspected Illegal Miners
South African police investigate at the scene where more 21 bodies of suspected illegal miners were found near an active mine in Krugersdorp, South Africa, Nov. 3, 2022.
JOHANNESBURG —
South African police say the bodies of at least 21 suspected illegal miners were found outside an active mine this week in the town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. Police said murder is not suspected, but the bodies do appear to have been moved. Security analysts say the deaths are indicative of the prevalence of illicit mining activity in the country.
The discovery of the bodies has shocked the country and it is far from the first such incident.
The town also saw eight women gang-raped at gunpoint in July, and police at the time arrested dozens of illegal miners among the suspects.
“These guys are not random,” said Willem Els,a senior training coordinator with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. They are part of massive well-organized organized crime syndicates that have operating transnational. So, we need the intelligence to guide us in order to develop good strategies. And then we need well-trained police officers that are well equipped in order to challenge this unique challenge that we have in the mining industry."
Els said the country’s intelligence and policing operations are failing and are even infiltrated by organized crime syndicates.
“Law enforcement in South Africa is not what it's supposed to be,” he said.”They're not on the level that they can really prevent this. We also have a challenge with porous borders in the region, where for instance, in countries like Zimbabwe, their deposits of gold are dwindling, the mines are closing, and those people are without work. And then it's a welcome opportunity for them to cross the border into South Africa, most of the time illegally.”
Experts say foreigners aren’t just digging underground but are part of international networks to sell the minerals overseas.
Witness Maluleke, professor of criminology at the University of Limpopo, said the activity wouldn’t be possible without South African involvement.
“The South African youth are part of it. And South African organized criminal networks are part of it, he said. “So, there's not much to say that it is only illegal immigrants that are contributing largely to this crime or this practice. It is misleading.”
Maluleke said tackling illegal mining requires efforts to address other factors that drive people to crime.
“People are not working,” he said. “So, they take these enterprises and opportunity to get money and to commit various crimes that are happening on our mines.”
The illicit activity is costing South Africa and the mining industry millions.
There are more than 6,000 derelict mines in the country, some of which have been abandoned for decades.
Police officials and experts say the mining industry needs to take more responsibility for properly closing old sites.
“Mining houses must take responsibility in policing themselves, in taking ethical and moral accountability, plan more effectively, and so forth,” said Jean Steyn, a criminal justice professor at the University of Zululand. “Mining houses must preventively act towards reducing illegal artisanal mining and use, for example, those that don't have work to rehabilitate the mines.”
The mine shaft near where the bodies were found had been flooded by recent rains, but police say autopsies will be conducted to determine cause of death.
Four Zimbabweans part of 21 illegal miners found dead in SA mine
The African Diaspora Forum (ADF), an umbrella body of migrant communities, has confirmed that four Zimbabweans were among the 21 suspected illegal miners whose bodies were discovered in a mineshaft in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa.
Pic:New24
According to the ADF, authorities must take precautions to protect underground miners, especially during the rainy season.
Initially, 19 bodies of suspected illegal miners, known in South Africa as ‘zama zama,’ were discovered on Wednesday in Krugersdorp on the West Rand, but two more bodies were discovered on Thursday morning, bringing the total to 21.
Ten more suspected miners are said to be trapped elsewhere in Springs, on Gauteng’s eastern side.
In an interview with CITE, ADF Executive Director Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena, who is also the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Community in South Africa, said steps needed to be taken to protect underground miners, as he confirmed that four of the deceased were Zimbabweans.
“We know that four of those whose bodies were found are Zimbabwean as they were relatives. We are not sure of other deceased though there are rumours they are also migrants and that they might be Zimbabweans, that we can’t confirm. We can only confirm four,” Mabhena said.
“Our main concern is the safety underground, we call on everyone involved in the mining to make sure that before they go underground, there is safety. This is why we call for regulation of this mining so that safety can be put in place so we do not continue losing lives,” he said.
Mabhena stressed the importance of safety, citing other recent deaths of underground miners.
“This is not the first incident. It happened in 2016 we assisted in retrieving bodies of other miners who died underground in Johannesburg. In 2019, we did the same in Benoni. Early this year, some also died underground. We are worried about these deaths,” said the ADF executive director.
“ADF offers its condolences to the families of the 21 miners who died in Krugersdorp. We are told that the mine shaft was flooded because of the rainy season and people lost their lives. Our deepest condolences to the families.”
Iranian students, shopkeepers go on strike despite widening crackdown
Security forces adopt new measures to halt protests at universities in Tehran, searching students and forcing them to remove facemasks
By AFP5 November 2022 Iranians protests the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, October 27, 2022.
(This photo was taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran)
PARIS — Iranian students protested and shopkeepers went on strike Saturday despite a widening crackdown, according to reports on social media, as demonstrations that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death entered the eighth week.
The clerical state has been gripped by protests that erupted when Amini, 22, died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women.
As the working week got underway, security forces adopted new measures to halt protests at universities in the capital Tehran on Saturday, searching students and forcing them to remove facemasks, activists said.
But students were seen demonstrating and chanting “I am a free woman, you are the pervert” at the Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, in northeast Iran, in a video published by BBC Persian.
“A student dies, but doesn’t accept humiliation,” sang students at Gilan University in the northern city of Rasht, in footage posted online by an activist. AFP was unable to immediately verify the videos.
In the northwestern city of Qazvin, dozens were heard chanting similar slogans at a mourning ceremony 40 days after the death of protester Javad Heydari.
The Norway-based Hengaw rights group said people were observing a “widespread strike” in Amini’s hometown of Saqez, in Kurdistan province, where shops were shuttered.
“Our weapon is our unity, our weapon is our rage, our weapon is our resistance… You cannot stand against the will of people,” tweeted Hassan Ronaghi, the brother of prominent rights campaigner Hossein.
‘Massacre’
Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said Wednesday that at least 176 people have been killed by the security forces in the protest crackdown.
It said another 101 people had lost their lives in separate protests since September 30 in Sistan-Baluchistan, a mainly Sunni Muslim province in the southeast of the country.
An official in Kerman province admitted the authorities were having trouble quelling the protests that first broke out after Amini’s death on September 16.
“The restrictions on the internet, the arrest of the leaders of the riots and the presence of the state in the streets always eliminated sedition, but this type of sedition and its audience are different,” Rahman Jalali, political and security deputy for the province, was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.
In a flare-up in Sistan-Baluchistan, up to 10 people, including children, were killed Friday by security forces in the city of Khash, Amnesty International said.
Molavi Abdol Hamid, the cleric who leads Friday prayers in Sistan-Baluchistan’s capital Zahedan, in a statement, condemned the incident in Khash as a “massacre” that he said killed 16 people. A video verified by AFP shows youths running for cover and screaming as bursts of gunfire are heard on a road in Khash.
Ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday dismissed a pledge by his US counterpart Joe Biden to “free Iran.”
Campaigning for mid-term elections, Biden had said: “Don’t worry we’re gonna free Iran. They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon.”
US downplays Biden remarks
Raisi retorted that Iran had already been freed by the overthrow of the Western-backed shah in 1979.
“Our young men and young women are determined and we will never allow you to carry out your satanic desires,” he told a gathering commemorating the November 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by radical students.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday played down the American leader’s remarks.
“The president was expressing our solidarity with the protesters as he’s been doing, quite frankly, from the very outset,” Kirby told reporters.
Asked whether the Biden administration thought the Iranian regime could soon fall, he said: “I don’t believe we have indications of that kind.”
On Friday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform, Binance, acknowledged funds belonging to or intended for Iranians had flowed through its service and may have run afoul of US sanctions.
“Earlier in the week, we discovered that Binance interacted” with “bad actors” using Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, said Chagri Poyraz, head of sanctions at Binance.
Some of these users “attempted to move crypto through Binance’s exchange,” he wrote in a blog on the company’s website. “As soon as we discovered this, we moved to freeze transfers (and) block accounts.”
No Iranian cryptocurrency platforms are currently under sanctions. But US-imposed restrictions prohibit a US entity or US national from selling goods and services to Iranian residents, businesses or institutions. The ban includes financial services.
Elon Musk makes offer to buy Tunisian-Mauritanian telecoms operator: reports
Elon Musk is looking to buy an African telecoms operator, after his huge purchase of social media giant Twitter
Elon Musk recently became the owner of Twitter [Getty/archive]
Elon Musk has offered a multi-million dollar deal to purchase pan-African telecoms giant Mattel, just days after his controversial buy-out of Twitter.
Musk, the world's richest man, made a $270 million offer to purchase shares in the company from its current owners, including Tunisie Telecome and Mauritanian businessman Mohamed Ould Bouamatou, according to the financial journal Financial Afrik.
Tunisie Telecom owns a majority of 51 percent of Mattel’s shares.
Nothing was yet concrete according to the business journal that spoke with sources familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion earlier this year and his takeover of the social media giant was finalised last month.
It has led to fears both of an impact on free speech and a proliferation of fake news on the platform.
Israeli forces arrest, injure dozens of Palestinians in West Bank Israeli forces on Saturday arrested at least 13 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, one day after suppressing Palestinian protests against illegal settlement activity.
Israeli forces attacked Palestinian protesters in Beit Dajan near Nablus
[Getty]
Israeli forces on Saturday arrested at least 13 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, one day after suppressing protests in Palestinian towns and villages.
Palestinian media sources said that Israeli forces detained four young men in the village of Deir Nizam northwest of Ramallah, including the local secretary of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, Qusai Al-Tamimi.
Israeli forces also arrested a total of nine Palestinian youths in Ramallah and Hebron in the West Bank.
Four men were detained by Israeli forces – who also beat them and tied them up - in the Sha'aba area of Hebron. Another man was arrested at the Esioun Junction in Hebron after Israeli forces found a Carlo sub-machine gun in his possession.
Fighting broke out on the northern edge of Hebron on Friday night between Palestinians and Israeli force.
Israeli settlers, under the protection of troops, also attacked a Palestinian youth near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city.
A number of Palestinians were injured on Friday in a number of attacks by Israeli forces.
In the village of Beit Dajan east of Nablus, at least three people were injured on Friday when Israeli forces attacked a weekly protest against settlement activity in the area.
Fighting also broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces at a similar protest in the nearby village of Beita.
In the town of Taqoa near Bethlehem a 22-year-old man was hospitalised after being attacked by Israeli forces.
Musab Nofal, 18, was hit with a bullet in the chest and died at hospital in the city of Ramallah.
(Photo by Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli forces shot and killed a young man in the occupied West Bank.
The ministry said Musab Nofal, 18, was hit with a bullet in the chest and died at hospital in the city of Ramallah. Another Palestinian was also seriously wounded.
The Israeli military said Nofal and the second Palestinian were hurling stones at Israeli vehicles traveling on a West Bank road near Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, damaging several cars. Soldiers aimed live fire toward the rock throwers, it added.
This is the latest in a wave of Israeli escalation in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that has killed more than 130 Palestinians this year, making 2022 the deadliest since the U.N. started tracking fatalities in 2005.
The latest escalation came as a political shift is underway in Israel after national elections, with former longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to return to power in a coalition government made up of far-right allies, including the extremist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who in response to the incidents said Israel would soon take a tougher approach to attackers.
