Diamond in the Rough

NEED TO KNOW

Diamond in the Rough

BOTSWANA

The two main opposition parties in Botswana, the Umbrella for Democratic Change and the Botswana Congress Party, were planning to demonstrate outside the Zimbabwean embassy in the capital Gaborone to protest alleged Zimbabwean meddling in Botswana’s Oct. 30 election, according to Channel Africa.

A representative of President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) denied the allegations, however, telling Voice of America that the opposition parties made the same claims during the 2019 election but failed to prove the allegations in court.

The dispute highlighted how diamond-rich Botswana, while considered one of the most stable democracies in Africa, still faces considerable hurdles in carrying out truly free and fair elections. The BDP has dominated the country since independence in 1966 from the United Kingdom, explained Freedom House. The party has used its majorities to pass restrictive laws that curtail freedom of the press and oppress minority ethnic groups, dissidents, LGBTQ folks, and journalists.

The BDP, meanwhile, in power for 58 years, is preaching change for Botswana.

However, this election could spark change in the form of leadership because of heightened criticism of Masisi’s economic policies and disputes within the BDP.

Once one of the poorest countries in the world, Botswana has experienced growth and development post-independence at a pace second to none, noted the Harvard International Review. Today, Botswana is one of the least corrupt nations in Africa, boasts the highest economic freedom score in the region, and maintains a GDP per capita on par with other emerging economies, such as Brazil and Turkey.

While Botswana has grown steadily due to its rich diamond industry, however, the country has failed to diversify its economy beyond diamonds and herding. This underdevelopment has given rise to economic inequality and unemployment for those not involved in the country’s two most important sectors.

Perhaps more importantly, former President Ian Khama, the son of the country’s most revered independence leader and first president, has broken with Masisi, who was his handpicked successor, the BBC reported. Khama, who served as president for 10 years from 2008, has said Masisi is “drunk on power.” He’s been campaigning on behalf of the opposition Botswana Patriotic Front.

Botswanan prosecutors have also charged Khama with money laundering, owning illegal firearms, and other crimes. He has denied the charges but has returned from exile in the UK to face them in court. A decision is expected after the election.

In Botswana, voters elect legislators who then pick one of four candidates to be president, wrote Reuters. It’s possible that the Botswana Patriotic Front could take votes from the BDP, giving presidential candidate Duma Boko of the Umbrella for Democratic Change a better chance of unseating Masisi. As the Africa Report wrote, Boko has worked hard to assemble a coalition of opposition groups to maximize his yield at the polls, but has failed to bring everyone into his bloc.

The election could be a nail-biter.

But Dumelang Saleshando, leader of the opposition Botswana Congress Party, expressed confidence that voters will choose change.

The BDP “certainly cannot argue that it is an agent of change,” he told the BBC. “In the past, it has always tried to say it’s about keeping stability – more of the same – and out of panic they are trying to preach what they don’t believe in.”

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

A Push, a Shove

ISRAEL/ WEST BANK & GAZA

The Israeli parliament passed two laws this week that are likely to restrict the operations of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, a move that observers warned could severely affect the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank amid ongoing conflict, the Washington Post reported.

The first measure bans all activities by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on Israeli soil and the Palestinian territories – Israel controls access to both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

It is set to take effect in three months.

Meanwhile, the second law will cut all official ties between Israeli government agencies and UNRWA, stripping legal immunities from the agency’s staff.

Both laws mark the culmination of a long-running dispute between Israel and the aid agency over allegations that it is infiltrated by Hamas. Israel has long accused the agency of allowing Hamas to use UNRWA’s facilities for military purposes and diverting aid to the group’s operations.

Tensions came to a head following the attack on Oct.7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies launched an assault on Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza shortly after the attack, with the ongoing conflict leading to a humanitarian crisis in the territory and resulting in the deaths of more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.

The Israeli government, meanwhile, claimed that dozens of UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack, prompting the agency to launch an internal investigation into the allegations. While the probe found that the UN aid organization has “robust” neutrality safeguards, there were gaps in their implementation, such as staff expressing political views and “problematic content” in UNRWA-run schools.

The accusations initially resulted in many donor nations cutting funding to UNRWA, including the United States. So far, all – except the US – have restarted funding.

Following the passing of the new Israeli legislation, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini warned that the restrictions could lead to a “collapse” of humanitarian operations in Gaza, especially with the arrival of winter when displaced populations face heightened health and shelter needs.

Nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people rely on humanitarian aid.

The US – formerly UNRWA’s largest donor – has raised concerns over the potential impact of the laws on humanitarian aid in Gaza. Other international donors, such as Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom expressed “grave concern,” emphasizing UNRWA’s irreplaceable role in Gaza’s humanitarian response amid the conflict.

UNRWA’s mission was established in 1949 to support the 700,000 Palestinians displaced by the creation of the Israeli state. Its operations currently extend to nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Israel has long criticized UNRWA for allegedly perpetuating the Palestinian refugee issue rather than resolving it. But the agency’s supporters countered that the laws are part of Israel’s efforts to eliminate the Palestinian refugee issue by dismantling UNRWA.

Observers noted that the new legislation could force UNRWA to relocate its operations and say it will disrupt aid delivery, education and healthcare. They warned that the move could incite further unrest in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the agency’s support is deeply rooted.

Amid the controversy, Israel said it is exploring ways to oversee aid distribution itself or through other agencies. However, there have been no concrete plans made public so far, with analysts noting that any such effort would require additional military and logistical resources given Israel’s current military engagements in Gaza and Lebanon.

Wanted: A Do-Over

GEORGIA

Georgia launched a partial vote recount Tuesday, just days after the country’s president and the opposition called for mass protests and the annulment of the election after results showed the ruling Georgian Dream party winning Saturday’s parliamentary polls, France 24 reported.

Georgian Dream won nearly 54 percent of the vote, according to Georgian election officials. However, pro-Western opposition parties rejected the outcome, calling it “illegitimate” and alleging Russian interference.

A group of Georgia’s leading election monitors said they had uncovered evidence of complex, large-scale fraud and demanded an annulment of at least 15 percent of the votes cast.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a former Georgian Dream ally who became a member of the opposition, called on Sunday for people to take to the streets to protest the results, saying the vote was a “Russian special operation,” Reuters reported.

Zourabichvili appealed to the international community, adding that the results “do not correspond to the will of the Georgian people.”

The opposition has accused Georgian Dream of trying to steer the Caucasus country away from its goal of joining the European Union, a goal supported by a majority of Georgians, who viewed the election as a make-or-break referendum on the matter, reported Reuters separately.

On Monday, tens of thousands of Georgians wielding EU and Georgian flags protested outside the Georgian parliament in the capital Tbilisi, according to BBC news.

Following the demonstrations, the District Election Commission (DEC) announced it would hold a partial vote recount and “conduct recounts of ballots from five polling stations randomly selected in each election district.”

However, the opposition and the protesters have called for “fresh” elections run by an “international election administration.”

The EU, NATO and the United States have all called for a full investigation into the alleged electoral fraud.

No Limits

IRAN

Iran executed 69-year-old German-Iranian political scientist Jamshid Sharmahd on Monday, sparking outrage in Germany and across the globe, the Guardian reported.

Sharmahd, an Iran-born German citizen residing in the United States, was accused of orchestrating a deadly bombing in Iran in 2008. He was also accused of leading the Tondar group, which Iran classifies as a terrorist organization aiming to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

According to his family, Iranian officials seized Sharmahd when he was traveling via the United Arab Emirates in 2020. Iran law enforcement claimed at the time they had captured him in a “complex operation” but did not provide other details.

Sharmahd was sentenced to death in February 2023, for the offense of “corruption on earth,” which carries the death penalty, which was later confirmed by the Iranian supreme court. Sharmahd and his family maintained his innocence, with human rights groups and Western governments condemning his trial as a sham, reported the New York Times.

While Iran has executed many opponents of the government, the case of Sharmahd drew international attention because of his German citizenship and residency in the US.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the execution “shows once again what kind of inhumane regime rules in Tehran: a regime that uses death against its youth, its own population, and foreign nationals.” She added that “the execution of a German national would have serious consequences.”

The case has garnered attention from human rights groups such as the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR), which called the execution of Sharmahd “a case of extrajudicial killing of a hostage aimed at covering up the recent failures of the hostage-takers of the Islamic Republic.”

Iran has executed at least 627 people this year, according to IHR.

Rights groups have accused Iran of using capital punishment as a tool to instill fear in society, reported the BBC.

A number of other Europeans are still being held captive in Iran. European Parliament lawmaker member Hannah Neumann, who chairs the Iran delegation, called for a total change of the European Union’s policy towards the Iranian government following this incident.

DISCOVERIES

An Appetizing Asteroid

In space, astronauts’ diets usually consist of freeze-dried foods that need to be hydrated with water so as to conserve weight and storage space on missions. Space travelers’ choices are attractive, even including freeze-dried butterscotch pudding and shrimp cocktails on the menu, according to NASA.

But for longer missions or even life in space, scientists are coming up with alternative food methods that could sustain human life. Additionally, the crew at the International Space Station (ISS) currently relies on resupply missions from Earth, which is costly and complicated.

The solution of a research team from Western University’s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration goes beyond ideas such as farming on other planets. The research team, led by Eric Pilles, has discovered a way to turn asteroids into food, using the microbes and the organic compounds found on them to produce edible biomass, reported Space.com.

In the study published earlier this month in the International Journal of Astrobiology, the researchers said it was a critical mission: “To deeply explore the solar system, it will be necessary to become less reliant on the resupply tether to Earth.”

The researchers’ solution revolves around a process known as pyrolysis – using high heat to break down the organic compounds found in asteroids in oxygen-free environments. The resulting hydrocarbons would then be fed to microbes that would consume the organic material and produce edible biomass.

The initial idea came from turning plastic packaging into biomass, according to the New York Times. The researchers concluded that plastic and asteroids were similar from a microbe perspective, both containing a large quantity of carbon.

The researchers used a model space rock, Bennu, which NASA retrieved samples from last year on its OSIRIS-REx mission. Bennu’s total mass is around 85.5 million tons, and based on its size and carbon content, “it fits in that nice window of possibly making a tasty treat,” Joshua Pearce, a collaborator on the project, told the newspaper.

The team estimated that in a worst-case scenario, asteroids like Bennu could support one astronaut for around 600 years. However, before turning this theory into practice, scientists must figure out how to mine the asteroids and if the resulting food would be fit for consumption.

“Based on these results, this approach of using carbon in asteroids to provide a distributed food source for humans exploring the solar system appears promising, but there are substantial areas of future work required,” the study concludes.

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