Forged In Fire
NEED TO KNOW
Forged In Fire
SOMALILAND
Some want to make Palestine the world’s newest country – but others say Somaliland might be a better bet.
A former British protectorate whose independence was recognized in 1960 before it became a semi-autonomous part of Somalia, Somaliland experienced genocide in the late 1980s under Somali rule, but since then it has “embraced democracy and maintained internal peace,” argued Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in the Washington Examiner. In 1991, the country announced its secession from Somalia, but few countries have recognized its status as such.
True independence will certainly be on the mind of Somalilanders as they hold general elections on Nov. 13, noted Khalifa University associate professor Brendon J. Cannon in the Conversation. A peaceful vote and a peaceful transition of power will be key to Somalilanders realizing their dream of creating an internationally accepted nation.
Somaliland already shows signs of behaving like an independent nation. For example, its security forces have clashed with fighters from another semi-autonomous Somali region, Puntland, in the city of Las Anod. Both Somaliland and Puntland claim the city as their own, Al Jazeera reported.
Perhaps more importantly, Somaliland signed an agreement with its southwestern neighbor Ethiopia earlier this year that would give the Ethiopian navy access to the Red Sea – Ethiopia has been landlocked since losing Eritrea in a civil war in the early 1990s. Under the agreement, Ethiopia, a regional power, will recognize Somaliland’s independence.
Somalia understandably opposes the agreement, however, Voice of America reported. Somalian and Ethiopian leaders have been sparring over the deal, with the Ethiopians defending their proposal as a straightforward agreement and Somalians suggesting that Ethiopia wants to exert undue influence on their country – even though the Somalilanders don’t view themselves as Somalians.
Complicating the matter has been a military agreement between Somalia and Egypt. Coincidentally, the Middle East Forum explained, Egypt’s relations with Ethiopia have soured in recent years over the massive dam that Ethiopia has built on the Nile River, a facility that Egyptians fear could cut off the flow of this vital waterway.
Analysts say this complex web in the region is dangerous even as they note how new nations are often forged in fire.
“The involvement of other players in the Horn of Africa’s security landscape is a prime example of how middle-power politics and diplomacy in one region could, over time, create a tinderbox of conditions,” the Atlantic Council warned, adding, “one in which even a small mistake could cause a rapid escalation.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
A Gotcha Moment
WORLD
The oversight body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said this week that it would initiate an external investigation into sexual misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor, even as he remains in the job during the probe, the BBC reported.
Prosecutor Karim Khan is accused of trying to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship, a claim he denies.
“I welcome the opportunity to engage in this process,” he said, adding he would continue “all other functions as prosecutor” while the investigation is ongoing.
The move to seek an outside party to investigate came after the court’s internal watchdog concluded an inquiry into the matter in just five days, a time period deemed insufficient.
“An external investigation is therefore being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process,” Päivi Kaukoranta, head of the Assembly of States Parties, which is charged with overseeing the court, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the accusations come amid an Israeli intelligence campaign to discredit the court’s prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza, the Guardian wrote.
Multiple senior ICC sources told the British newspaper that the delay in establishing an external inquiry has exposed the court to attacks by those seeking to exploit the allegations to discredit the judicial body and undermine its investigation into the situation in Palestine.
A panel of ICC judges is considering applications by Khan for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
While many among Khan’s staff are alarmed by pro-Israeli interests seizing on the sexual misconduct allegations, there are concerns among senior ranks of his staff about his public response to the situation.
All That Rage
CHINA
A man upset over his divorce settlement rammed his SUV into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China this week, killing 35 people and injuring dozens more in the latest incident of mass killings afflicting the country, the Associated Press reported.
Chinese media outlet Caixin reported that the SUV crashed into multiple fitness walking groups, hitting dozens of participants, including the elderly and children.
The vehicle “struck all around, injuring people in various sections of the sports field’s circular track, across the eastern, southern, western, and northern areas,” a witness told Caixin.
Police arrested a 62-year-old man, who is being treated for wounds thought to be self-inflicted, shortly after the attack Monday evening in Zhuhai, a city currently hosting the People’s Liberation Army’s annual aviation exhibition.
“Officers found Fan self-harming with a knife in the vehicle, immediately stopped him and sent him to hospital for treatment – due to severe neck injuries, Fan is currently unconscious, still undergoing emergency treatment and unable to be interrogated,” police said, according to CNN, referring to the suspect by his last name.
Authorities said he was angry over the dispensation of the marital assets in his divorce.
Videos of the incident that evaded censors on social media – Chinese authorities took down most reports of the incident Monday night – showed dozens of people lying on the track at the sports complex, which is used by hundreds of people to run, play soccer, or dance.
China, a country of 1.4 billion people, has low crime rates but has seen a number of attacks recently in which suspects appear to target members of the public at random, the AP wrote.
In October, a man was detained after he allegedly attacked children with a knife at a school in Beijing, wounding five. A month earlier, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket, by a man with “personal financial disputes” who wanted to vent.
Canopy of Corruption
SERBIA
Thousands of Serbian protestors marched in the capital city of Belgrade on Monday, calling for the resignation of the prime minister and other top officials, the latest of ongoing and often violent protests since a deadly roof collapse at a train station earlier this month, Euronews reported.
Monday’s rally was peaceful, unlike one last week in the northern city of Novi Sad where masked protesters threw rocks, bottles and red paint at the City Hall, while police used tear gas against the demonstrators.
On Nov. 1, a massive 115-foot canopy on the outer wall of a railway station collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 14 people, including a six-year-old girl, and critically injuring three others, reported Al Jazeera.
Serbia’s opposition politicians, activists, and rights groups accuse authorities loyal to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and President Aleksander Vučić of rampant corruption, ties to organized crime, and nepotism that led to the disaster.
Specifically, the protestors attribute the roof collapse to government corruption in contracting the work and shoddy renovation techniques.
The train station was built in 1964 and renovated twice as part of a larger deal with Chinese state companies involved in infrastructure projects in the Balkan country. The renovation project, in conjunction with Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was intended to turn the train station into a stop for a future high-speed train link between Belgrade and Budapest.
The station reopened in July, and construction work was ongoing when the roof collapsed. Officials insisted that the canopy had not been part of the renovation work.
Nobody has yet been charged in the incident, but authorities have opened an investigation and questioned 48 people, including Vučić, in connection with the accident.
Meanwhile, the Serbian construction minister resigned last week.
DISCOVERIES
Space Trees
Last week, the International Space Station (ISS) welcomed a unique visitor: A palm-sized wooden satellite called LignoSat.
Launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, the innovative satellite is the first of its kind and marks a major step toward sustainable space technology.
Researchers at Japan’s Kyoto University and the logging company Sumitomo Forestry crafted the LignoSat from the Japanese magnolia wood known as “honoki” and used traditional techniques – no glue or screws – to assemble it, explained Space.com.
The device’s wooden structure aimed to address growing concerns about space pollution.
“While some of you might think that wood in space seems a little counterintuitive, researchers hope this investigation demonstrates that a wooden satellite can be more sustainable and less polluting for the environment than conventional satellites,” Meghan Everett, NASA’s deputy chief scientist for the ISS program, said in a briefing.
Traditional metal satellites produce aluminum oxides when they burn up on re-entry, which harms Earth’s ozone layer and alters its thermal balance. There has been a growing search for greener alternatives as the number of satellites rises – SpaceX’s Starlink for example has about 6,400 active satellites orbiting Earth.
In contrast, wooden satellites would leave behind fewer pollutants as they re-entered our planet’s atmosphere.
“Metal satellites might be banned in the future,” retired Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, now a professor at Kyoto University, told Reuters. “If we can prove our first wooden satellite works, we want to pitch it to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.”
Once released from the ISS, LignoSat is set to orbit Earth for six months. Its onboard electronics would measure the satellite’s structural integrity as it faced radiation, atomic oxygen, and extreme temperature changes between -148 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, Kenji Kariya from Sumitomo Forestry highlighted that the use of wood in space could invigorate the timber industry on Earth and reintroduce this ancient building material into a modern solution for sustainable space technology.
“It may seem outdated, but wood is actually cutting-edge technology as civilization heads to the Moon and Mars,” he explained to Reuters. “Expansion to space could invigorate the timber industry.”