Blinis in Buenos Aires
NEED TO KNOW
Blinis in Buenos Aires
RUSSIA
Russian émigrés are buying apartments, beauty salons, restaurants, and other assets in Argentina and Brazil. They’ve brought popular Russian pastimes with them, too, noted the Wall Street Journal, like smoking tobacco from hookahs and eating beef shish kabobs rather than thick, South American-style steaks.
Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital and largest city, popular Russian-language rock group Bi-2, whose members oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been playing in bars. Bi-2 performed for Vladimir Putin in 2019 but last year, lead singer Igor Bortnik said he felt “only disgust and squeamishness” when thinking of the Russian president.
And in the United Arab Emirates, Russian émigrés have transformed neighborhoods even as governments in Central Asian nations have been struggling to handle the influx, added Foreign Policy magazine. Kazakhstan, like some others, has put restrictions in place to limit their numbers. But elsewhere, countries formerly under Russian dominance during Soviet times, like Lithuania, are welcoming the migrants to help foster anti-Russian voices, too, CBS News reported.
These expatriates are among nearly a million people who have fled Russia since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the Mixed Migration Center. Some left because they wanted to avoid dying on the Ukrainian front. Others are dissidents who face arrest and prosecution because they oppose the war. Then there are those who feared economic displacement if they remained at home.
“I understand perfectly well the general hatred for Russians and for everything Russian. I accept and understand it because what Russia is doing is wrong,” said Evgeniy Kosgorov, a Russian who fled to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Every time I want to say that it’s difficult for the Russians who left, something inside me protests because Ukrainians have it more difficult than us.”
Now, however, Russia is striking back.
Thai officials came close to extraditing Bi-2 at the behest of Russian officials – until Australian and Israeli diplomats stepped in to protect them, reported the New York Times. At the same time, Russian lawmakers have adopted new measures to allow the Russian government to seize the property of Russian citizens living abroad who refuse to tow the Kremlin’s line or submit to Russian authority.
Other aspects of life are not easy for these Russian émigrés, either. Many who moved to Turkey must now move again due to rising living costs, residency hurdles and other issues, wrote Reuters. Some locals want them out because of bad behavior, for example, the “Russian-only” businesses in Thailand or a “White-Faces only” party for expats in Sri Lanka have sparked local resentment. Russian expats are also blamed for skyrocketing property prices and taking local jobs.
Many of these folks have gone to Serbia and Montenegro, where officials have welcomed them, instead of the European Union and Norway, which have banned Russian tourists. Some Russian expatriates who moved abroad in the last year or two have even returned home, Bloomberg added.
Not Svetlana, in her early 30s, who says she would like to. Currently in Serbia, she left after the Ukraine invasion because she felt at risk, but says she misses her former life.
“I never thought I’d have to leave, I planned to retire in Moscow,” she told the BBC. “I love Russia and I enjoyed my life.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Money Matters
LIBYA
Libya’s Presidential Council abruptly dismissed Sadiq al-Kabir, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya, on Monday, a move that threatens to exacerbate tensions in the deeply divided North African country, the Associated Press reported.
Al-Kabir, who had led the bank since October 2011, was replaced by Mohamed Abdul Salam al-Shukri, an economist and former deputy governor, according to a decree issued late Sunday.
The Central Bank, which handles billions of dollars in oil revenue and foreign reserves, has been at the heart of the country’s conflict since 2014 when it splintered along political lines.
Libya remains split between an internationally-recognized government in Tripoli and rival authorities in the east, supported by military commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The bank’s headquarters remain in Tripoli, but an eastern branch also operates in Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi.
Al-Kabir’s dismissal prompted criticism from Libya’s east-based parliament, while the Supreme Council of State in Tripoli swiftly condemned the move as illegitimate. The two bodies hold the authority to appoint the heads of sovereign institutions, such as the Central Bank, according to the country’s constitutional framework.
Adding to the turmoil, the bank suspended all operations Sunday after unknown assailants kidnapped its information technology director, Musab Msallem, from his home in Tripoli. The institution has refused to resume operations until Msallem is safely released, the BBC added.
The kidnapping comes a week after the bank suffered a siege by armed men who called for al-Kabir’s resignation, citing dissatisfaction with his management of oil revenues and the state budget.
The upheaval at the Central Bank is emblematic of Libya’s ongoing instability, which has persisted since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that resulted in the deposing, and ultimately the death of longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.
Practice, Practice
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual military drills Monday, aimed at enhancing their joint defense capabilities’ response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile programs, as well as its cooperation with Russia, Radio Free Asia reported.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises – running until Aug. 29 – will include computer-simulated war games and more than 40 types of field exercises, such as live-fire drills and filed maneuvers. Around 19,000 South Korean troops will participate, although the exact number of US troops involved in the drills has not been confirmed.
There are around 28,500 US military personnel stationed in South Korea.
The focus of the drills is to prepare for a range of realistic threats from Pyongyang, including cyberattacks, GPS jamming and missile strikes.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol emphasized the importance of readiness against North Korea, calling the neighboring nation “the most reckless and irrational country in the world,” Reuters noted. He added that these exercises are crucial for maintaining a strong deterrence and defense posture on the Korean Peninsula.
In response, North Korea has condemned the exercises as rehearsals for invasion and nuclear war. Pyongyang officials claimed that the country’s nuclear ambitions are justified as a deterrent against what it sees as provocative war drills by the US and South Korea.
The military drills come amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Korean Peninsula, as North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program while fostering closer relations with Russia.
During similar exercises last year, Pyongyang conducted a series of ballistic missile tests, saying they simulated nuclear strikes on South Korean targets.
North Korea has also come under accusations from the West that it is supplying Russia with weapons to aid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Associated Press.
Wheels Up
AUSTRALIA
The Australian city of Melbourne moved to ban e-scooter rentals this month over safety concerns and their chaotic impact on the city’s sidewalks, a decision that mirrors similar restrictions for the electric vehicles around the globe, even as cities try to become more ecologically-minded, the Guardian reported.
Last week, the city’s council voted in favor of ending contracts with two e-scooter operators, Lime and Neuron, and gave them 30 days to remove the vehicles.
The ban comes more than two years after the state of Victoria – where Melbourne is located – began a two-year trial with e-scooters, promoting them as an “accessible, environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to travel.”
While Melbourne officials previously said the trial has helped cut carbon emissions by more than 400 tons, Mayor Nicolas Reece noted the local government had received a large number of complaints from residents, traders and visitors, many demanding an end to the experiment.
Reece cited concerns about the misuse of the vehicles, such as scooters being ridden on sidewalks, poor parking behavior and accidents.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital reported 256 e-scooter-related injuries in December 2023, including a fatal crash. In 2022, nearly 250 e-scooter riders were taken to the hospital’s emergency department, with intoxication, speed and a lack of helmet use being major risk factors.
While some supported the prohibition, others suggested that the scheme needed tighter controls rather than an outright ban. Meanwhile, companies Lima and Neuron expressed disappointment at the city’s decision, while also proposing different solutions to promote safety.
Despite Melbourne’s ban, the Victoria government announced that from October, public e-scooter schemes would be permanently legal in the state, with tougher rules and penalties for violations, including fines for riding on sidewalks, failing to wear helmets, and riding under the influence of alcohol.
Meanwhile, Melbourne’s move is not isolated, according to CNN.
Paris banned rented e-scooters in 2023, while the Danish capital of Copenhagen initially banned them in 2020 before reintroducing them with stricter rules. Barcelona has also imposed restrictions due to safety concerns.
In 2022, Italy’s capital, Rome, tightened e-scooter regulations because of public concerns and heritage protection issues. That year, two Americans were fined $800 for damaging the Spanish Steps by throwing rental scooters down them, resulting in about $26,000 in repairs.
DISCOVERIES
Lost and Found
Last year, an archeological team was stunned to discover a hoard of gold coins during excavations in the ancient Greek city of Notion, located in modern-day western Turkey.
It turned out these coins were Persian darics and were likely used to pay mercenary troops.
Lead archeologist Christopher Ratté of the University of Michigan described the valuable trove as a “very rare” find.
The coins depicted a kneeling archer, which was a typical design of the gold currency produced by the Persian Empire. Darics were gold coins created by the Persians from the late sixth Century BCE until Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire in 330 BCE.
Researchers believe the Notion hoard was minted at Sardis, roughly 60 miles northeast of the city, according to Popular Science.
But its location and discovery could help shed more light on the ancient Greek city and the timeline of the gold coinage of the Achaemenid – the dynasty that ruled Persia until Alexander’s conquest.
“This hoard will provide a firm date that can serve as an anchor to help fix the chronology of the (entire sequence of coins),” Ratté said.
The best-preserved remains of Notion date back to the Hellenistic period, over the third to first centuries BCE, but the recent excavations suggest that it was likely inhabited even earlier.
The city has undergone various periods of rule by outside powers, including under Persian and Athenian control. Because of its strategic position on the border between the Persian and Athenian spheres of influence, it was a site of frequent military operations and political tension.
The Greek historian Thucydides documented conflicting loyalties of Notion and surrounding areas: Events such as the pro-Persian occupation of Notion between 430 BCE and 427 BCE and subsequent expulsion by Athenian forces could have led to the coins being buried and lost, according to Ratte.
“No one ever buries a hoard of coins, especially precious metal coins, without intending to retrieve it,” he added. “So only the gravest misfortune can explain the preservation of such a treasure.”
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