Global

from Five Towns Jewish Home - 8-20-20

The Gift of Time by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

The Week In News

China: World’s Most Surveilled Country

With the highest number of video cameras per capita in the world, China is the most surveilled country on Earth.

A report put together by Comparitech, a leading cyber security firm, compared surveillance in different countries around the globe. Company researchers used data from government reports, news stories, and police records to map out which cities are most saturated with surveillance cameras.

The study only looked at CCTV cameras used by government agencies, such as law enforcement. According to the findings, China has the highest amount of cameras worldwide, with Chinese cities taking up 19 of the top 20 spots.

Topping the list was the Chinese city of Taiyuan, with 120 cameras for every 1,000 residents. The only non-Chinese city in the top 20 list of most-surveilled cities was London in third place. The British capital is known for its intensive public surveillance program, with Comparitech finding that it has 67 cameras for every 1,000 people.

I n the U.S., the most surveilled city is Los Angeles with six cameras for 1,000 residents, followed by New York City, with five.

CCTV technology has exploded over the past decade, driven by threats such as terrorism and advances in artificial intelligence. However, privacy advocates have decried the growing use of invasive cameras in public spaces as a way for governments to constantly monitor their citizens.

Massive Protests Rock Belarus

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets throughout Belarus to protest against irregularities in last week’s election.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, declared victory following last Monday’s presidential election with 80% of the vote. His dubious win, which came amid significant rumors of voter fraud, caused challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to flee to Lithuania.

The now-exiled Tikhanovskaya has said that the results “did not correspond to reality” and spoke of “numerous falsifications.” Her allies accuse Lukashenko of falsifying the vote in order to hide the fact that he had lost his mandate to rule the former Soviet republic.

Since then, massive protests have rocked Belarus as hundreds of thousands of citizens have called on Lukashenko to resign. In what the local media is calling the “the largest in the history of independent Belarus,” 222,000 people flooded the capital of Minsk on Sunday evening, where they heard a televised speech by Tikhanovskaya.

I n her video message, the opposition challenger declared herself the rightful victor and vowed to become the “national leader that Belarus needs.”

Police responded to protesters with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades and arrested more than 6,000 people. Videos on social media showed officers using extreme brutality against demonstrators, with those detained being badly beaten and thrown into overcrowded cells.

In a rival rally on Monday, Lukashenko vowed never to resign and alleged that Belarus would “die as a state” should another election be held. “You came here so that for the first time in a quarter-century you

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could defend your country, your independence, your wives, sisters and children,” he said.

As the protests grow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Lukashenko that Moscow is ready to help Belarus in accordance with their military alliance if necessary. In a statement, the Kremlin alleged that “external pressure” was being exerted on its western neighbor, which many took as a hint to NATO.

Amsterdam is Crumbling

Take a walk along a street in Amsterdam, and you may notice cracks

and sinkholes. The country is in danger of crumbling into the water that it’s built upon.

Back between the 12th and 16th centuries, when Amsterdam began to grow, buildings were constructed on wooden piles (concrete ones came later) that provided stability in the swampy and unstable land around the Amstel river. Canals were dug, and canal walls were built. Many of these structures are now more than 500 years old.

Over the years, though, things have been neglected. A significant number of its 1,600 bridges and 200 kilometers of canals need to be inspected and possibly replaced. For now, it’s like plugging up a dam – repairs are carried out when urgently needed, but safety isn’t 100 percent guaranteed.

Amsterdam is now facing what could be some of the biggest infrastructural challenges it’s ever encountered.

Alderman Sharon Dijksma, an elected official with oversight of traffic and transport, is managing it all.

After several incidents involving collapsed canal walls, she asked for an independent report which concluded that at least 5% of the city’s 200 kilometers of brick canal walls are in a poor state of repair. It noted that trees should be cut down, certain parking spaces removed, and roads closed to vehicles in the efforts to save the city. 22.5 million euros ($26.5 million) a year will be made available for maintenance work.

Six bridges have already been partially or totally closed for repairs. Canal walls are on close watch, as they are in the worst condition.

In the period up to and including 2023, some 27 bridges will be renovated, approximately 800 meters of quay walls will be renewed, and the replacement of about 3,800 meters of quay walls prepared.

The total costs are estimated at 450 million euros, or about $530 million.

1 Hezbollah Member Guilty in Hariri Murder

Judges at a United Nations-backed court in The Hague found a single Hezbollah suspect guilty in the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri 15 years ago. The group failed to convict three others and said they had no evidence that the terror organization’s leadership or Syria were directly involved.

The ruling is a blow to those in Lebanon who had hoped the findings would force a national reckoning on the role of the Hezbollah group. This month’s devastating explosion had already turned the spotlight on its influence over Lebanon’s fractured politics.

Salim Ayyash was convicted of being a co-perpetrator in a conspiracy to commit a terrorist act that killed Hariri and 21 others using explosive material. The court said it had insufficient evidence to find other guilty verdicts and couldn’t come to a conclusion on who ordered the attack.

“The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr. Hariri and some of his political allies,” David Re, the court’s presiding judge, said at a hearing broadcast online. “However, there was no evidence that Hezbollah’s leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri’s murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement in it.”

The four suspects were members of Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite group backed by Iran that’s denied involvement in the case and vowed never to hand over the accused. The fifth suspect, a commander, was killed in Syria fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad’s troops.

Hariri, a four-time prime minister and billionaire, was the face of Beirut’s multi-billion-dollar reconstruction following the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, becoming the most prominent Sunni figure in the country.

But under Syria’s tutelage that began following the bloody sectarian war, Hariri grew vocal against Assad’s policies in Lebanon.

“The sacrifice should today come from Hezbollah after it’s clear now that the network of killers are from its ranks,” Hariri’s son Saad, who also served as prime minister, said on Tuesday outside the court. “I won’t rest until they’re handed over.”

On February 14, 2005, Hariri was killed by a bomb in Beirut composed of about 1,000 kilograms of TNT. It sent shockwaves across the world since he had close ties with the likes of Jacques Chirac, former French president, and the Saudi royal family.

Critics of Syria’s presence in Lebanon blamed Assad for Hariri’s killing. Massive protests that began a few days after the assassination ultimately led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

The February 2005 explosion was followed by a series of killings and attempted assassinations of journalists and lawmakers as well as military figures.

Iran’s Bounty on U.S. Troops

A former Taliban commander revealed details of an Iranian program offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops, which he said he was offered but ultimately rejected.

The man, who led a unit in Zabul

province until 2014, confirmed that Iran explicitly offered him payment for killing Americans in two separate meetings.

According to Insider’s David Choi, with whom the Taliban commander spoke, such arrangements were common knowledge, and Iranian proxy forces boasted of them in a leaflet campaign across the country.

The former commander said of the Iranian: “He offered me money and training to do attacks against the Americans. They said they would give me some money and weapons to recruit some more men and would give us training on explosives and how to make the best IEDs [improvised explosive devices] to burn American tanks and Humvees.

“Then I was told they would offer us money for operations and bonuses for each American we killed.”

The commander considered the

offer but says he eventually rejected it because he did not trust the parties involved.

“Iran and Haqqani are supposed to be enemies. The Taliban and Iran have fought many times and are enemies,” he said.

“It’s normal in Afghanistan for such people to work together but I know Iran very well because I lived there, same with Pakistan, and I knew that both consider Afghans to be dogs they can use for their plans and let die. Haqqani and al-Qaeda tell everyone that the Iranians are [infidels] but they also arrange meetings for them with the Taliban. You cannot trust any of these people.”

The offer was later repeated, the source said, at which point he decided to leave the Taliban, fearing that he could be killed and replaced with a more cooperative commander.

New Zealand Delays Elections

New Zealand has postponed its elections by almost a month following a fresh coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Elections will now be held on October 17 instead of on September 19 as originally planned.

“Ultimately I want to ensure we have a well-run election that gives all voters the best chance to receive all the information about parties and candidates and delivers certainty for the future,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

While Ardern possesses the authority to delay elections, she consulted with all the opposition parties prior to her announcement on Sunday to avoid claims of impropriety.

“In the end, what matters most is what is in the best interests of voters and our democracy,” she asserted. “Any decision to review the election date must be as free from partisan political interests as possible.”

The prime minister also promised that there would be no further delays, saying that New Zealand’s elections commission promised that it would have a plan for safe voting ready by early October.

New Zealand had marked 102 days without a single case of infection, leading many to crown it “the world’s safest country.” And yet, last week, a new spate of cases was recorded in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.

T he new cluster of infection has been linked to a family residing in the city, who likely got it from an illegal immigrant who breached border security. Monday saw New Zealand record nine new cases, raising the number of active cases to 58.

Over the past five months, New Zealand has seen 1,280 confirmed cases overall and another 351 probable coronavirus cases with 22 deaths. Cargo Ship Split in Two

apart, authorities said on Saturday.

“At around 4.30 pm, a major detachment of the vessel’s forward section was observed,” the National Crisis Committee of Mauritius said

in statement.

The Japanese-owned ship, MV Wakashio, ran aground at Pointe d’Esny in late July and began leaking tons of oil into an Indian Ocean lagoon last week.

A massive clean-up operation involving thousands of local volunteers had been underway. But a crack inside the hull of the ship expanded earlier this week, according to the ship’s operator Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a Japanese company.

Authorities have “decreed the area a forbidden zone,” and volunteers have been asked to cease activities.

Earlier this week, Sunil Dowarkasing, a former strategist for Greenpeace International and former member of parliament in Mauritius, said that one of the ship’s three oil tanks had already leaked into the ocean and that crews were attempting to remove the oil from the other tanks before the ship broke up.

Earlier this week, the operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said about 1,180 metric tons of oil had leaked from the vessel’s fuel tank – with about 460 tons manually recovered from the sea and coast. The ship was carrying about 3,800 tons of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil and 200 tons of diesel oil, according to the operator.

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth had declared a state of environmental emergency.

“We are in a situation of environmental crisis,” Kavy Ramano, the country’s environment minister, said.

The spill is close to two environmentally protected marine ecosystems and the Blue Bay Marine Park reserve. Nearby are a number of popular tourist beaches and mangrove plantations.

The MV Wakashio was on its way from China to Brazil when it ran aground on the reef on July 25.

Clashes in the Ivory Coast

At least seven people were killed after violence broke out in the Ivory Coast over President Alassane Ouattara’s announcement that he will run for a third term.

Four of the deaths came in the city of Daoukro and the town of Bonoua in the country’s south. Further rioting occurred in the northern town of Gagnoa.

Protesters are angry at Ouattara’s intention to seek a third term in the upcoming elections in October. Claiming that a third term violates the constitution, they accuse Ouattara of breaking the fragile truce that has reigned in the Ivory Coast since unrest in 2011 killed 3,000 people.

While the constitution limits a ruler to only two terms, Ouattara claims that his first two terms didn’t count due to an amendment adopted in 2016. In power since 2011, Ouattara had intended to step down but decided to run for a third time after his handpicked successor passed

away last month.

Last Group of Taliban Prisoners Being Released

Afghanistan’s government began releasing the final 400 Taliban prisoners this week as a precondition to begin peace talks with the Islamic insurgency.

The first 80 prisoners were set free on Sunday after Afghanistan’s Council of Elders approved the release of the final 400 inmates. Included in the group are senior Taliban leaders whom the U.S. calls “highly dangerous.”

“The government…yesterday released 80 Taliban convicts out of the 400 that the Consultative Loya Jirga sanctioned for release to speed up efforts for direct talks and a lasting, nationwide ceasefire,” tweeted a National Security Council spokesperson.

Releasing Taliban inmates was the group’s condition for entering peace talks with the Afghani government. With the final batch now being set free, negotiations to end two decades of bloody conflict are expected to begin later this month in Qatar.

The U.S. had signed a peace deal with the Taliban earlier this year. The accord was designed to enable the Taliban and the Afghani government to hold face-to-face negotiations, with the former refusing to speak with the regime in Kabul as long as the U.S. remained in Afghanistan.

As part of the deal, the Afghani government was supposed to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the Taliban would set free 1,000 Afghan soldiers and officials. However, President Ghani, who was not consulted before Washington agreed to the terms, had balked in releasing the most dangerous prisoners.

In order to solve the impasse, Ghani convened a special Council of Elders composed of tribal leaders that were entrusted with making the final decision. After holding consultations that lasted for three days, the elders decided in favor of the prisoner release, paving the way for peace talks to move forward.