CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Homes were flooded in Melbourne and other cities in Australia’s southeast on Friday with rivers forecast to remain dangerously high for days.
About 70 residents were told to leave the suburb of Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s northwest, along with hundreds in the Victoria state cities of Benalla and Wedderburn, authorities said. Melbourne is Australia’s second-most populous city with 5 million people.
About 500 homes in Victoria were flooded and another 500 had been isolated by floodwater, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said. Those numbers would increase, he said.
Most of the state was experiencing a “very, very, significant rainfall event and it comes, of course, with the ground completely sodden,” Andrews said.
“The real challenge now is we’ve got another rain event next week and the Bureau (of Meteorology) forecasting more rain throughout the next six-to-eight week period and it won’t take a lot of additional water for there to be further flood events,” Andrews added. “So this has only just started and it’s going to be with us for a while.”
Andrews said 4,700 homes were without power, more than the 3,500 that Victoria State Emergency Service had reported earlier on Friday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said major-to-record flooding was occurring or was forecast to occur on many rivers in Victoria and the island state of Tasmania to the south.
North of Victoria, moderate-to-major flooding was occurring along several rivers in inland New South Wales state, the bureau said.
A 63-year-old man was reported missing in floodwater in New South Wales on Tuesday and a person was reported missing in central Victoria on Friday, officials said. No details of the person missing from the Victorian town of Newbridge have been released.
Police on Tuesday found the body of a 46-year-old man in his submerged car in floodwater near the New South Wales city of Bathurst, west of Sydney, a day after he died.
The State Emergency Service said it had carried out 108 flood rescues in Victoria in the past 48 hours.
State Emergency Service commander Josh Gamble said complacency was the main reason for people getting into trouble.
“That is quite significant and we haven’t had that many flood rescues for quite some time, for some years in fact,” Gamble said.
“Many of these people are putting their own lives at risk, their own children in some circumstances, but more importantly, other community members and responders and that’s in all parts of the state not just metropolitan areas,” Gamble added.
Evacuation orders were also in place for the town of Rochester on the Campaspe River, north of Melbourne, and the central Victorian towns of Carisbrook and Seymour on the Goulburn River.
In New South Wales, 550 people have been isolated or evacuated from the town of Forbes as the Lachlan River flooded, authorities said.
South of Forbes, parts of the city of Wagga Wagga were evacuated due to the Murrumbidgee River breaking its banks.
“Fortunately, the Murrumbidgee River peaked on Thursday and we’re starting to see the floodwaters decline in those areas,” New South Wales State Emergency Service official Andrew Edmunds said.
In Tasmania, north coast residents were moving to higher ground with river levels forecast to rise and the major port of Devonport was closed on Friday due to flooding of the Mersey River.
The bureau said flood peaks on the Meander and Macquarie rivers in Tasmania were likely to be the highest on record.
The North Esk and Mersey rivers may peak around the same levels as they did during major floods in 2016, when three people drowned, the bureau said.
The bureau last month declared that a La Niña weather pattern, which is associated with above-average rainfall in eastern Australia, was underway in the Pacific.
The bureau forecast that the La Niña event may peak during the current Southern Hemisphere spring and return to neutral conditions early next year.
La Niña is the cooler flip side of the better-known drying El Niño pattern. La Niña occurs when equatorial trade winds become stronger, changing ocean surface currents and drawing up cooler deep water.
It is the third La Niña since 2019 became Australia’s hottest and driest year on record.
That year came to a catastrophic conclusion with wildfires fueled by drought that directly or indirectly killed more than 400 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and razed 19 million hectares (47 million acres) of woods, farmland and city fringes.
Sydney, New South Wales’ capital and Australia’s largest city, last week beat its 1950 record to make 2022 its wettest-ever year.
Opinion by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (bangkok, thailand)
Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 14 (IPS) – Ten years ago, the Asia-Pacific region came together and designed the world’s first set of disability-specific development goals: the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities. This week, we meet again to assess how the governments have delivered on their commitments, to secure those gains and develop the innovative solutions needed to achieve fully inclusive societies.
Armida Salsiah AlisjahbanaMinisters, government officials, persons with disabilities, civil society and private sector allies from across Asia and the Pacific will gather from 19 to 21 October in Jakarta to mark the birth of a new era for 700 million persons with disabilities and proclaim a fourth Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities.
Our region is unique, having already declared three decades to protect and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities; 44 Asian and Pacific governments have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and we celebrate achievements in the development of disability laws, policies, strategies and programmes.
Today, we have more parliamentarians and policymakers with disabilities. Their everyday business is national decision-making. They also monitor policy implementation. We find them active across the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Türkiye. They have promoted inclusive public procurement to support disability-inclusive businesses and accessible facilities, advanced sign language interpretation in media programmes and parliamentary sessions, focused policy attention on overlooked groups, and directed numerous policy initiatives towards inclusion.
Less visible but no less important are local-level elected politicians with disabilities in India, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Indonesia witnessed 42 candidates with disabilities standing in the last election. Grassroot disability organizations have emerged as rapid responders to emerging issues such as COVID-19 and other crises. Organizations of and for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh have distinguished themselves in disability-inclusive COVID-19 responses, and created programmes to support persons with psychosocial disabilities and autism.
The past decade saw the emergence of private sector leadership in disability-inclusive business. Wipro, headquartered in India, pioneers disability inclusion in its multinational growth strategy. This is a pillar of Wipro’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. Employees with disabilities are at the core of designing and delivering Wipro digital services.
Yet, there is always more unfinished business to address.
Even though we applaud the increasing participation of persons with disabilities in policymaking, there are still only eight persons with disabilities for every 1,000 parliamentarians in the region.
On the right to work, 3 in 4 persons with disabilities are not employed, while 7 in 10 persons with disabilities do not enjoy any form of social protection.
This sobering picture points to the need for disability-specific and disability-inclusive policies and their sustained implementation in partnership with women and men with disabilities.
One of the first steps to inclusion is recognizing the rights of persons with disabilities. This model focuses on the person and their dignity, aspirations, individuality and value as a human being. As such, government offices, banks and public transportation and spaces must be made accessible for persons with diverse disabilities. To this end, governments in the region have conducted accessibility audits of government buildings and public transportation stations. Partnerships with the private sector have led to reasonable accommodations at work, promoting employment in a variety of sectors.
Despite the thrust of the Incheon Strategy on data collection and analysis, persons with disabilities still are often left out of official data because the questions that allow for disaggregation are excluded from surveys and accommodations are not made to ensure their participation. This reflects a continued lack of policy priority and budgetary allocations. To create evidence-based policies, we need reliable and comparable data disaggregated by disability status, sex and geographic location.
There is hope in the technology leap to 5G in the Asia-Pacific region. The implications for the empowerment of persons are limitless: from digital access, e-health care and assistive devices at affordable prices to remote learning and working, and exercising the right to vote. This is a critical moment to ensure disability-inclusive digitalization.
We live in a world of volatile change. A disability-inclusive approach to shape this world would benefit everyone, particularly in a rapidly ageing Asia-Pacific region where everyone’s contributions will matter. As we stand on the precipice of a fourth Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities it remains our duty to insist on a paradigm shift to celebrate diversity and disability inclusion. When we dismantle barriers and persons with disabilities surge ahead, everyone benefits.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
A few months ago, a box was left outside the door of 34-year-old Yu Ting Xu’s* apartment in Beijing. Inside, there was an electronic monitoring wristband and a demand that she wear the wristband at all times as part of the fight against COVID-19 in her residential area.
While telling her story over a video call, Yu shuffles about in the background. When she returns to her screen, she is holding up the wristband, which looks like a smartwatch but has a plain white plastic surface instead of a display.
“I have never put it on,” she said.
“I have accepted lockdowns, forced COVID-19 tests and health codes, but this thing feels like surveillance just for the sake of surveillance.”
The wristband was the last straw for Yu who is among an increasing number of citizens concerned about the motivation for the Chinese authorities’ expansive use of COVID-19-related technology.
“I am afraid that the COVID-19 strategy is starting to be about controlling Chinese people instead of fighting COVID-19,” she told Al Jazeera.
China introduced a tracking app so that people with the virus or who might have been exposed would not spread it to others [File: Greg Baker/AFP]
Just a few days before Yu received the wristband, thousands of residents in central China had used social media to organise a protest outside a bank in Zhengzhou.
Many had been unable to access their bank deposits at the city’s Yu Zhou Xin Min Sheng Village Bank since April with the bank claiming that the problem was due to “system upgrades”.
Fed up with months of excuses, the depositors planned to protest in front of the bank’s headquarters. But the day before, thousands of depositors suddenly found their smartphones buzzing and the health codes on their compulsory COVID-19 apps turning from green to red.
Colour changes usually happen when the holder has visited a COVID-19-infected area or been designated a close contact with someone with the virus, and it means that the individual must quarantine immediately.
The red codes raised eyebrows.
There had not been a registered COVID-19 outbreak in the province, and the health codes of the family members who accompanied the many depositors to the protest remained green.
Some people who wanted to join protests in Zhengzhou over the freezing of their deposits suddenly found their COVID app went from green to red so they could not go out [File: Handout via Reuters]
Beijing has said technology such as the app and wristband are crucial to its zero-COVID strategy and its commitment to stamping out the virus, but the red health codes in Zhengzhou and the electronic wristbands in Beijing have contributed to growing scepticism.
Protection causing harm
When the health code system was implemented in early 2020, rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, warned such digital tools risked breaching the human rights of any Chinese citizen with a smartphone.
In the first two years of its operation, those early warnings were largely drowned out by thundering applause at the apparent success of the zero-COVID policy. While many Western countries were stumbling from one chaotic national lockdown to the next, Chinese authorities were able to keep most of China COVID-19-free with targeted lockdowns using digital tools to prevent the infected or potentially infected from spreading the virus.
Today, however, the roles are largely reversed.
While most of the world has used vaccination as a way to move on from coronavirus restrictions, China is stuck in a loop of relentless lockdowns in an unrelenting quest to stamp out every COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines and the associated decrease in death rates, Beijing’s zero-COVID policy remains firmly in place with no end in sight.
The Chinese government defends the policy as a well-meaning strategy to protect people.
But prolonged lockdowns in cities such as Shanghai have brought with them reports of food shortages, family separations and even the killing of the pets of patients sent to quarantine. In the middle of September, there was outrage when a bus transporting people to a COVID-19 quarantine centre crashed, killing 27 passengers.
District lockdowns, security guards in protective clothing and COVID-19 testing sites remain common across the country nearly three years after the pandemic first began in its central city of Wuhan [Aly Song/Reuters]
The accident fed directly into the ongoing discussion in Chinese society about the accumulating costs of the government’s coronavirus policy.
“It is the government’s zero-COVID strategy that is killing us, not COVID-19,” one Weibo user declared after the accident.
His post was quickly removed by censors.
Censors were initially overwhelmed, however, by the popular uproar that swept through Chinese social media sites following the handling of the bank demonstration in Zhengzhou. What human rights organisations had warned about in 2020 had happened: digital tools supposedly implemented to secure the health of Chinese citizens had instead been used to rob those very citizens of their rights.
More intrusion, less support
Han Wu*, 37, from the southern city of Guangzhou, was among the many Chinese users on Weibo that expressed outrage following the incident in Zhengzhou. Like Yu in Beijing, he also believes that the authorities have gone too far in their pursuit of zero COVID.
Han was forced to leave his home and move into one of the government’s quarantine centres for 14 days after testing positive for COVID-19 at the end of June.
“When I returned to my apartment, I could see that the door had been forced open and my things were scattered all over the place,” he told Al Jazeera, before turning on the camera on his phone to show marks and cuts on the outside of his door as evidence of the forced entry.
Han later learned from the local authorities that they had entered his apartment to disinfect the rooms and to make sure no one else was living there. These were necessary precautions, he was told.
“I back the containment of COVID-19 infections, but I don’t back government break-ins and privacy violations,” he said.
Lin Pu is a scholar of digital authoritarianism and Chinese influence at Tulane University in the United States.
He explains that it used to be so-called terrorists, separatists, criminals and political activists who felt the Chinese authorities’ capacity for oppression, but the zero-COVID policy had exposed the usually more apolitical middle class to the strong arm of the government.
He says the discontent could prompt further abuse of the system.
“It is quite possible that the digital tools initially used for COVID control will be increasingly used for social control if dissatisfaction continues to rise,” Lin says.
“In turn, this can create a feedback loop where dissatisfaction with the COVID strategy tempts the authorities to use the digital tools to ensure social control which creates more dissatisfaction.”
‘No revolutionary’
Upset over the COVID policies comes at a time when the need for stability is paramount for China’s ruling party.
The 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is set to start on October 16 and President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term, making him the party’s longest-serving leader since Mao Zedong.
The congresses are among the most important political events in China, and are held only once every five years.
“China is facing a series of compounding challenges at a time when the CCP and Xi Jinping needs China to appear prosperous and harmonious,” said Christina Chen, who specialises in Chinese politics at the Taiwanese think-tank INDSR.
The zero-COVID strategy is also damaging the economy, with growth at its slowest in decades, youth unemployment at a record 20 percent and a distorted housing market where thousands of people are refusing to pay mortgages on incomplete homes, while a decades-long building frenzy has left upwards of 50 million homes unoccupied.
“China needs to look stable, and the political projects associated with his presidency, like the zero-COVID strategy, must appear like indisputable successes in order to legitimise him serving a third term,” Chen adds.
Many welcomed the COVID-related digital tools when they first appeared thinking it would make their lives easier. But as time has gone on, resentment has grown [File: Hector Retamal/AFP]
Going into the congress, COVID cases are rising and new variants have been discovered. While no deaths have been reported since April, the government continues to stress its commitment to zero COVID no matter the resentment among the general public from the harsh restrictions and regular testing.
Back in Beijing, Yu admits the policy has made her more sceptical of the authorities.
“I am no revolutionary,” she said as she closed her fingers around the electronic monitoring wristband in her palm.
“I just don’t want to be monitored and exploited.”
When asked what she would do if she were forced to wear the wristband, she stands up and pushes her chair away.
“I will show you.”
She takes a few quick steps towards an open window at the back of the room and tosses the wristband out into the night.
* The names of Yu Ting Xu and Han Wu have been changed to protect their identities.
TOKYO (AP) — For decades North Korea has threatened to turn enemy cities into a “sea of fire,” even as it doggedly worked on building a nuclear weapons program that could back up its belligerent words.
Now, as North Korea conducts another torrid run of powerful weapons tests — and threatens pre-emptive nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul — it may be taking inspiration from the fiery rhetoric of the leader of a nuclear-armed member of the U.N. Security Council: Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
With Putin raising the terrifying prospect of using tactical nukes to turn around battleground setbacks in Ukraine, there’s fear that this normalization of nuclear threats is emboldening North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he puts the finishing touches on his still incomplete nuclear program.
“Putin and Kim feed off each other, routinizing the right to nuke a peaceful neighbor by repeating it without repercussion,” said Sung-Yoon Lee, an expert on North Korea at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. “Putin’s threats sound more credible than Kim’s, as there is bloodshed in Ukraine every day. But Kim’s threats must not be dismissed as empty bluster.”
After more than 40 missile launches this year — its most ever — there are a host of fresh signs that North Korea is becoming more aggressive in making its nuclear bombs the centerpiece of its military.
A recent two-week barrage of missile launches was meant, according to North Korean media, to simulate the use of its tactical battlefield nuclear weapons to “hit and wipe out” potential South Korean and U.S. targets. It’s believed to mark the first time that North Korea has performed drills involving army units tasked with the operation of tactical nuclear weapons.
The tests — all supervised by Kim — included a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched under a reservoir; ballistic missiles designed for nuclear strikes on South Korean airfields, ports and command facilities; and a new-type ground-to-ground ballistic missile that flew over Japan.
State media announced Thursday the tests the previous day of long-range cruise missiles, which Kim described as a successful demonstration of his military’s expanding nuclear strike capabilities and readiness for “actual war.”
There are also indications that North Korea is taking steps to deploy tactical nuclear weapons along its frontline border with South Korea. The North has also adopted a new law that authorizes preemptive nuclear attacks over a broad range of scenarios, including non-war situations, when it perceives a threat to its leadership.
North Korea is still working to perfect its nuclear-tipped missile technology, but each new test pushes it closer to that goal.
“North Korea has been clearly emulating Putin’s approach in his war on Ukraine while using it as a window to accelerate arms development,” according to Park Won Gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University.
In what’s seen as a reference to his nuclear arsenal, Putin has declared his readiness to use “all means available” to protect Russian territory. With a string of defeats in Ukraine leaving Putin increasingly cornered, observers worry that Putin could be tempted to explode a tactical nuclear weapon to avoid a defeat that may undermine his grip on power.
Battlefield nuclear weapons are intended to crush advancing enemy troops in one designated frontline section, and have a low yield compared to nuclear warheads fitted on strategic weapons. But even these types of nuclear weapons would expose huge numbers of civilians in densely populated Ukraine, and possibly Russia and other places, to radiation risks.
It would also have a devastating political impact, marking the first time nuclear weapons have been used since World War II and prompting rapid escalation that could end in all-out nuclear conflict.
The United States and its allies have said they are taking Putin’s threats seriously but won’t yield to what they described as Putin’s blackmail to force the West to abandon its support for Ukraine. Ukraine said it won’t halt its counteroffensive despite Russian nuclear strike threats.
U.S. officials have said they don’t believe that Kim is going to launch conventional or nuclear attacks because of what the North Korean leader sees happening in Ukraine. Rather, they see Kim as worried that North Korea may be left behind in the international influence battle and therefore escalating because Putin is getting all the attention.
North Korea’s missile launches are seen by many as presaging an eventual test of a nuclear device.
Such tests, besides putting Washington and Seoul on the defensive, may be meant to win talks, on North Korean terms, with Washington that could eventually get the North recognized as a legitimate nuclear power. That, in turn, would force the international community to ease crushing sanctions and, eventually, negotiate the removal of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.
Pyongyang’s ultimate goal, according to Lee, the Tufts professor, is to complete what Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, began in 1950 with the surprise North Korean invasion of South Korea and establish a Korean Peninsula ruled by the Kim family.
Putin’s moves in Ukraine could also help Kim by continuing to distract the United States from focusing on North Korea and deepening a divide on the U.N. Security Council where Russia and China side with North Korea and prevent additional sanctions over the North’s recent tests, said Park, the analyst in Seoul.
“North Korea is paying as much attention to the (Ukraine) situation as anyone,” Park said. If Putin gets away with using nukes without suffering major repercussions, North Korea will see that as boosting its own nuclear doctrine, Park said.
The Korean Peninsula is still technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice not a peace treaty, and the two Koreas have a history of bloody skirmishes. North Korea fired artillery during South Korean military drills in 2010 that killed two civilians and two South Korean military members on a front-line island. An international panel also blamed the North for sinking a South Korean warship the same year, killing 46.
Similar future clashes could be followed by North Korean threats to use nuclear weapons, said Park. He noted that conventional military clashes between India and Pakistan increased after Pakistan acquired its own deterrent to counter its nuclear-armed rival, mainly because the perceived balance in strength emboldened the countries to carry out more aggressive military action.
Recent North Korean missile tests came despite a U.S. aircraft carrier in nearby waters and during trilateral naval drills between the United States, South Korea and Japan, Park said. “This shows the growing confidence they have in their weapons.”
___
AP reporters Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this story.
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State media says the tests were another successful display of the country’s growing nuclear capability.
North Korea has test-fired a pair of long-range strategic cruise missiles, with leader Kim Jong Un lauding another successful display of the country’s tactical nuclear strike capability.
The test took place on Wednesday and was aimed at “enhancing the combat efficiency and might” of cruise missiles deployed to the Korean People’s Army “for the operation of tactical nukes,” state media KCNA reported on Thursday morning.
It was the latest in a series of weapons launches that have increased tension on the divided Korean peninsula and heightened fears Pyongyang might be about to conduct its first nuclear test in five years.
The cruise missiles travelled 2,000 km (1,240 miles) over the sea, according to KCNA, which said the projectiles hit their intended, but unspecified, targets.
Stressing that the test was another clear warning to its “enemies,” Kim said the country “should continue to expand the operational sphere of the nuclear strategic armed forces to resolutely deter any crucial military crisis and war crisis at any time and completely take the initiative in it”, according to KCNA.
State media has not reported regularly on the country’s missile launches in recent months, but has released a deluge of material in recent days covering various tests overseen by Kim [KCNA via Reuters]
On Monday, state media reported that Kim had supervised two weeks of guided nuclear tactical exercises, including the test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that was launched over Japan as a protest against recent joint naval drills by South Korea and the United States that involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan.
Mistake to dismiss tests
North Korean state media once reported routinely on the country’s weapons testing but has stopped doing so in recent months.
Analysts said while the recent “deluge of propaganda” could not be trusted, the tests should not be ignored.
“North Korea’s cruise missiles, air force, and tactical nuclear devices are probably much less capable than propaganda suggests. But it would be a mistake to dismiss North Korea’s recent weapons testing spree as bluster or saber-rattling,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, wrote in emailed comments.
“Pyongyang’s military threats are a chronic and worsening problem for peace and stability in Asia that must not be ignored. Policymakers in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington should not allow domestic politics and other challenges such as Russia’s war in Ukraine to prevent them from increasing international coordination on military deterrence and economic sanctions.”
North Korea’s cruise missiles usually generate less interest than ballistic weapons because they are not explicitly banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Kim made acquiring tactical nuclear weapons—- smaller, lighter and designed for battlefield use — a priority at a key party congress in January 2021 and first tested a “strategic” cruise missile in September of that year.
Analysts said it was the country’s first such weapon to have nuclear capability and was a worrying development because, in the event of a conflict, it might not be clear whether it was carrying a conventional or nuclear warhead.
The country revised its nuclear laws last month to allow pre-emptive strikes, with Kim declaring North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power, effectively ending the possibility of negotiations over its arsenal.
President Joe Biden unveiled the latest update to the United States national security strategy on Wednesday but it contained only a single reference to North Korea.
Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, said this was striking, “not only because it passes so quickly past a persistent and existential threat, but also because it frames the strategy as ‘seeking sustained diplomacy toward denuclearization,’ when North Korea has so convincingly demonstrated its utter rejection of negotiations”.
South Korea’s SK Hynix confirms it has received permission to obtain equipment for chip production facilities in China.
The United States government has allowed at least two non-Chinese chipmakers operating in China to receive restricted goods and services without their suppliers seeking licenses, easing the burden of a new crackdown on the Chinese chip sector, according to industry sources.
The Biden administration had planned to spare foreign companies operating in China, such as South Korean memory chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co, from the brunt of new restrictions, but the rules published on Friday failed to exempt such firms, the sources said.
South Korea’s SK Hynix on Wednesday confirmed it had received authorisation from the US Department of Commerce to receive chip equipment needed for its chip production facilities in China for one year, without seeking additional licensing requirements.
As published, the Biden administration’s rules require licenses before US exports can be shipped to facilities with advanced chip production in China, as part of a US bid to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances.
The US had planned to grant licenses to supply non-Chinese chip factories on a case-by-case basis, while licenses to Chinese chipmakers will face a presumption of denial.
As of midnight Tuesday, vendors also cannot support, service and send non-US supplies to such China-based factories without licenses if US companies authorise, direct or request them.
But whether a license is approved or not, the time it takes to get through the licensing process could create delays in shipments and halt production.
A US Commerce Department spokesperson did not directly respond to a request for comment on the authorisations but said the department hopes to get input from stakeholders about the rule and may consider changes.
A White House spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment.
Clearing ground to grow vegetables-Sultan’s Kinnow orchard. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS
by Alefia Hussain (lahore, pakistan)
Inter Press Service
LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 11 (IPS) – The zesty citrus whiff from the rows of trees boasting unripe kinnow (mandarins) freshens the autumn air in late September. Two deeply tanned men clear the ground under and between the trees to plant vegetables.
Opposite the orchard, and divided by a narrow dirt path, are rows of small greenhouses cloaked in white plastic. Inside, plants from small to large, possibly the entire variety of citrus fruit grown in Pakistan – including the ambitious seedless and rouge varieties – stand in glory. It’s an experiment in growing environment-friendly oranges without fertilizers or pesticides on the expansive farm owned by Shahid Sultan, one of the country’s largest citrus processors and exporters, in Bhalwal, Sargodha district, Punjab province.
Shahid Sultan. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS
Sargodha is the land of the citrus in Pakistan. Most of the country’s oranges, grown over thousands of hectares of farmland and exported across the world, come from here. Sargodha is also the district where most kinnow, a sweet and tangy thirst quencher and a good source of vitamin C, are grown and processed. The fruit is the product of experimentation conducted in California way back in the 1950s.
Once considered Pakistan’s fabled export product, kinnow’s market abroad is in decline. The country exported roughly 177,000 tonnes of the fruit in 2022 as opposed to 455,000 tonnes in 2021, according to figures provided by the Sargodha Chamber of Commerce. Sultan has also soured on the fruit.
‘I will not export kinnow anymore’
“I have decided I will not export kinnow anymore. I will grow and, Inshallah, export mushrooms but not kinnow, says Sultan, director of the Zahid Kinnow Grading and Waxing Plant, during a visit to his orchard. “It’s impossible to control kinnow’s shelf life. By the time it reaches markets abroad, it has perished.”
Sultan has been exporting oranges since 1996. “Between 2004 and 2016, I was the top orange exporter in the country. I was the first to enter the Russian market,” he claims. He exported to Persian Gulf, Central Asian and Far Eastern states some 1,000-1,200 refrigerator containers full of fruit every season.
Though agriculture experts cite climate change, rising power prices, shortage of water and outdated farming techniques as reasons for decline in the fruit’s quality, Sultan holds excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides as the only factor responsible. “We have used too many inorganic methods and products that have rendered the soil infertile.”
After incurring a loss of 80-100 million Pakistani rupees (US$36,000-46,000) in the last two years, the farmer is clear about his decision to switch from kinnow to mushrooms, reasoning that if China can grow and export mushrooms the world over, “so can I.” Launching production of mushrooms of the genus Agaricus, commonly called button or champagne mushrooms, is likely to cost $10 million. Sultan predicts the yield to be four times greater than the country’s consumption requirements. He is expecting his first crop to be ready by November this year.
Standing in the orchard it is hard to imagine the citrus-scented air replaced by the stink of compost and the rows of trees usurped by bunker-like ‘tunnels’ growing champagne mushrooms. Sultan has converted old cold storage rooms into the temperature and moisture-controlled spaces to raise the soft, round, white mushrooms. All processes will be carried out indoors on the company’s existing premises.
New machines imported
“My team and I have ensured that we are totally protected from the weather. The entire production – from spawn to compost to canning of the produce will be done under a controlled environment.” Brand new machinery required for his venture has been imported from China. The spotless machines await production.
The market for mushrooms is growing rapidly in Pakistan, as Chinese and Thai foods, as well as pizzas, are becoming popular among food enthusiasts. Leading hotels and gourmet restaurants are the main buyers of the product, in canned as well as fresh form. Larger supermarkets are selling a variety of mushrooms but they are too pricey for the average person.
Small farmers are growing and selling fresh mushrooms in local markets. The canned ones available in supermarkets are mostly imported from China.
With mushroom growing still in the inception stage, little technical knowledge and expertise is available to growers about commercial scale production and value chain development. They can either seek assistance from private companies involved in agriculture research and trade or approach international agencies that focus on hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
Having collected data on canning mushrooms from all over the world, Sultan decided to approach the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to gain insight into best management practices for commercial production, improving business performance and developing market linkages for export. He was also eager to connect with international experts in commercial production and processing of mushrooms.
“Although it has been Zahid Kinnow’s own decision to venture into mushroom cultivation, the FAO may consider supporting the private sector enterprise by providing technical assistance,” says Asad Zahoor, FAO consultant.
Smelly but healthy plant food-A mixture of spawn and compost. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS
Mushrooms get FAO nod
Zahoor told IPS that FAO, through its Hand in Hand Initiative (HiH), seeks to empower countries and their agricultural partners through data sharing and model-based analytics. Seeing reasonable potential for investment, the organization in Pakistan has decided to include mushroom in HiH as an emerging commodity that could add to the country’s export earnings.
Globally, HiH seeks to accelerate agricultural transformation, with the goal of eradicating poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, and reducing inequalities. The initiative was supporting 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as of May 2022.
The demand for canned mushrooms is rising fast in Pakistan. According to Karachi customs officials, in July 2021, 93,877 kg of canned mushrooms were imported from China via the sea route alone. That grew to 284,553 kg in June 2022.
In addition, the country imported nearly 17 million kg of fresh or chilled Agaricus mushrooms from China in 2021, according to International Trade Centre calculations based on figures provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Asif Ali, an agriculture expert associated with leading fertiliser manufacturer Engro Fertilisers, thinks that with the trend of consuming plant-based proteins increasing worldwide, investing in mushroom could capture the high value local and international export markets. “Mushrooms are considered to be a good source of protein and consumption is increasing among people at home and abroad,” he said in an interview.
Time will tell if Pakistan is well positioned to enter the international market for mushrooms. But, Sultan says, “I feel, with mushrooms, I have given birth to a new kid in town.”
Experts from the Netherlands and Bangladesh visit the Rupsha River in Khulna, southern Bangladesh, the planned site of future fish farms. Credit: IPS/Gemcon
by Mosabber Hossain (dhaka)
Inter Press Service
DHAKA, Oct 10 (IPS) – Bangladeshi businessman Kazi Inam Ahmed is building his dream in a village near Rupsha River in Khulna, southern Bangladesh—to develop fish farming in the region, where climate change is reducing the ocean’s catch. He envisions creating small ponds, which would employ local climate affected fisherfolk, then exporting the international quality harvest to the Netherlands.
Inam, director of Gemcon Group, a conglomerate that includes Gemcon Food & Agricultural Products Ltd, is preparing his project thanks to advice from experts who visited recently from the Netherlands. “The Dutch co-partner of this project, Viqon Water Solutions, shared the preliminary design with us on 29 September. They will provide us with the final design in December. We will start our civil works after getting the final design.”
“For the first one or two years we’ll start fishing to gain experience,” adds the businessman in an interview. “We’ll see which types yield better harvests. After that, we’ll focus on some species that are very popular in different countries and can earn export dollars. I’d like to start with shrimp.”
How did Inam find his dream? In November 2021, he was included as one of the private-sector representatives on a Bangladesh Government mission to the Netherlands, organized to develop the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and foster matchmaking to strengthen the country’s food exports, agro-processing, food safety, and laboratory capacity.
Organized through the Hand in Hand Initiative (HiH) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the delegation, which included five other agro-food companies, was led by Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdur Razzaque. It visited locations including the World Horticulture Centre, Wageningen University and Research, one of the world’s biggest onion exporting companies, and a range of other agricultural companies that grow and process produce that is exported globally.
Hand-in-Hand to improve agriculture
According to Robert D Simpson, FAO Representative in the country, “Bangladesh is a key country for HiH. Working with the government and private sector,” Simpson told IPS, “FAO develops value chains for profitable commodities, builds agro-industries, efficient water management systems, and digital services. The initiative also helps to reduce food loss and waste, and address climate challenges and weather risks.”
Bangladesh’s mission to the Netherlands, organized via the UN FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, visited various facilities in November 2021 to gather information on food exports, agro processing, and food safety. The delegation was led by Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdur Razzaque.
“The results will be raised incomes, improved nutrition and well-being of poor and vulnerable populations, and strengthened resilience to climate change,” added Simpson.
HiH is an evidence-based, country-owned and led initiative of the FAO to accelerate agricultural transformation, which also aims to eradicate poverty, end hunger and malnutrition, and reduce inequalities. The initiative was supporting 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as of May 2022.
Speaking at the end of the November 2021 official trip, Razzaque said that Bangladesh will benefit from Dutch technology and know-how. “To be competitive in the global market in terms of price, quality, and safety, I think it’s important to keep updated with the latest technology in order to increase productivity.”
“We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of this project,” added the minister. “Hopefully it will be one of the successful initiatives by the government and private sector. The technologies that are coming to Bangladesh will help cope with the impact of climate change on agriculture.”
In addition, potato and onion experts from the Netherlands will train officials from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), who will then train local farmers.
FAO Bangladesh has also organized several workshops and meetings with private sector and government officials to identify gaps and challenges for agricultural transformation.
Bangladesh’s mission to the Netherlands, organized via the UN FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, visited various facilities in November 2021 to gather information on food exports, agro processing, and food safety. Potato and onion experts from the Netherlands will train officials from the Department of Agriculture Extension, who will then train local farmers.
French fries on the menu
ACI Agro was another private-sector member of November’s delegation. “It was a magnificent learning platform,” the firm’s managing director and CEO, Dr FH Ansarey, told IPS. “We were searching for a good potato variant. In Bangladesh there is a big market for French fries but no variant to produce them. Luckily we found a company to help with that.”
“We spoke with Schaap Holland, one of the prominent potato seeds companies of the Netherlands. They agreed to send six different variant potato seeds to our company. Their potato variants are perfect for making good French fries.”
Ansarey said ACI Agro has already located a farming area near the capital Dhaka. “If everything is OK we’ll start farming soon. Their seeds are next generation potatoes, which can grow within 60-65 days. The cost of cultivation is less than three-four percent of other variants due to low infestation of diseases. Seventy percent of the potatoes are above 80 grams so they can be easily exported.”
“So I must say it’s a very good opportunity for Bangladesh to move into the next generation of farming as well as become a global exporter.”
The image of the typical, laid-back surfer does not sit easily with the stereotype of earnest environmental campaigners. But elite bodyboarder Chris Kirkman is proof that surfers have a part to play in fighting the climate emergency.
He has competed everywhere from Portugal and Chile to Tahiti and Brazil, and it was through surfing that he first started considering humans’ effect on the climate.
In 2019, Mr. Kirkman, along with champion longboarder Belinda Baggs, co-founded Surfers for Climate. The organization has four key goals: to mobilize and empower an alliance of surfers to care about the climate; take climate action; help the surfing community play a role in stopping coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments; and make politicians who represent surfing communities take climate action.
Australia, which has suffered drought, wildfires and flooding across the country in recent years, is at the frontlines of the climate crisis, sparking increased concern amongst all sectors of the population, including surfers.
“A lot of Aussies had taken their heads out of the sand when it came to the climate, but then the fires and the floods really stepped up the urgency of the issue,” says Mr. Kirkman. “It still a difficult pathway for people, as they don’t know where to start, or where to go”.
Part of Surfers for Climate’s remit is to reach out to surfers and point them in the right direction. “We are still learning about our audience and how to engage them,” explains Mr. Kirkman, “figuring out how we take every surfer on a journey of climate action. We refer to it as a wave of engagement with multiple take-off points on that wave”.
UNDP
Singer-songwriter Cody Simpson is a UN Development Programme Ocean Ambassador
Casting a wide net
The non-profit has done everything from hosting climate-themed pub trivia nights to producing environmentally friendly consumption guides. Last month, they launched a new initiative called Trade Up, aimed at surfers who are also tradespeople, such as builders, carpenters, and electricians.
“We ran a one-day seminar, where we brought in different suppliers of materials and builders who were embracing best practice on their job sites in terms of materials and carbon neutrality,” Kirkman says.
“They had never had anyone engage with them on the environment during their whole working lives. We know there are huge emissions from construction, yet we are not talking to the tradespeople. They haven’t been engaged in the climate movement, but they just needed someone to talk to them and give them examples of best practice,” he adds.
Mr. Kirkman also points out the discussion has been quite intellectual for a long time, with “people in suits in big meetings talking about frameworks and emissions, and we have forgotten that there are everyday people who can be involved if you take the time to engage with them, and that’s what we try to do with Surfers for Climate.”
Communication is vital, as is knowing who your audience is and what they are going to respond to, and Mr. Kirkman argues that people who aren’t scientists but are passionate about the issue, need to work out how to get their message across.
As the climate crisis gets more intense, more and more people are experiencing the devastating reality of a changing climate. In 2021, Australia experienced disastrous floods in the northern rivers of New South Wales, and many surfers took the initiative to help with the rescue efforts, using jet-skis to rescue people stranded in their homes, and delivering vital supplies.
Mr. Kirkman hopes Surfers for Climate can scale up its Trade Up initiative, engage with politicians ahead of upcoming elections and – like many non-profits – raise money so it can continue to do its work. “It’s the toughest yet most enjoyable job I’ve had,” he says. “There’s definitely nothing else I would rather be doing.”
Launch is Pyongyang’s seventh weapon test during a two-week period amid American-South Korean military manoeuvres.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards its eastern waters – the latest in its barrage of weapons tests after Pyongyang warned against the US redeployment of an aircraft carrier for a new round of drills with South Korean warships.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the two missiles launched early Sunday from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon. Both missiles reached an altitude of 100km (60 miles) and covered a range of 350km (217 miles), Japan’s State Minister of Defence Toshiro Ino told reporters.
South Korea’s military boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States, it said.
The Japanese government said North Korea fired what was possible ballistic missiles.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed officials to gather and analyse information while ensuring the safety of aircraft and ships around the country.
The Japanese coastguard said it warned ships off the coasts about falling objects and urged them to stay away. Ino said Tokyo would not tolerate the repeated actions by North Korea.
The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the United States and South Korea wrapped up a new round of naval drills off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.
The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest against the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea.
‘Righteous reaction’
On Saturday, North Korea’s defence ministry warned the Regan’s redeployment was causing a “considerably huge negative splash” in regional security.
It called its recent missile tests a “righteous reaction” to intimidating military drills between its rivals.
“Our missile tests are a normal, planned self-defence measure to protect our country’s security and regional peace from direct US military threats,” said state media KCNA, citing an aviation administration spokesperson.
North Korea regards US-South Korean military exercises as an invasion rehearsal and is especially sensitive if such drills involve US strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier.
North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons programme to cope with US nuclear threats.
US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North.
Take cover
North Korea’s latest launch added to its record-breaking pace of weapons tests this year.
These included a nuclear-capable missile that on Tuesday flew over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting a warning for residents there to take cover, and demonstrating a range to attack the US Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that place the US mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
North Korea’s testing spree has indicated its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the US and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal.
But some analysts said Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear programme to wrest greater outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim believes is essential in getting crippling UN sanctions on his country lifted.
South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile while maintaining readiness to perform its first underground nuclear test since 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday targeted an alleged Malaysian wildlife trafficker and what officials called his transnational criminal organization for financial sanctions related to the illegal shipment of rhino horn, ivory and other specimens.
The Treasury Department said Malaysian national Teo Boon Ching, his alleged trafficking organization and the Malaysian firm Sunrise Greenland Sdn. Bhd. engage in the “cruel trafficking of endangered and threatened wildlife and the products of brutal poaching.”
Teo specializes in the transportation of rhino horn, ivory, and pangolins — also known as scaly anteaters — from Africa, using routes through Malaysia and Laos to consumers in Vietnam and China, the U.S. said.
Teo was arrested in Thailand on June 29 and extradited to the U.S. on Friday, according to a joint statement by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams and Assistant Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement Edward J. Grace.
Teo, 57, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and two counts of money laundering. The money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the trafficking conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years imprisonment, the statement said.
It was not immediately clear if Teo was represented by a U.S. attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The Justice Department has accused Teo of participating in a conspiracy to traffic in more than 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of rhinoceros horns valued at more than $725,000, which involved poaching several animals from the endangered species, and laundering the proceeds.
Teo led a transnational criminal enterprise based in Asia with significant operations in Malaysia and Thailand. Their activities included poaching and international trafficking and smuggling of rhinoceros horns, the Justice Department said.
Teo allegedly served as a specialized smuggler, transporting rhinoceros horns from poaching operations centered largely in Africa to customers primarily in Asia. Teo also claimed to be able to ship rhinoceros horns to the U.S., authorities said.
Among other things, the sanctions deny Teo and others access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and people from doing business with them.
The Associated Press was not immediately able to contact Sunrise Greenland for comment. The company is based in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor, near Singapore.
Seizures of pangolin scales increased 10-fold between 2014 and 2018, according to the U.N.’s 2020 World Wildlife Crime Report.
Criminals tend to exploit legislative and enforcement gaps in some countries in efforts to hide the illegal trafficking, the report said.
“This is the case, for example, with pangolin scale traders who choose to store their stock in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as opposed to other source countries due to a perception of lesser capacity for interdiction,” the U.N. said.
Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and illicit finance, said wildlife trafficking groups perpetuate corruption and illicit finance.
“The United States considers wildlife trafficking to be not only a critical conservation concern, but also a threat to global security,” Nelson said.
Treasury worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State Department and the government of Thailand to uncover the case.
Originally estimated at $21m, the 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star diamond was sold for $49.9m at Hong Kong auction.
An 11.15-carat pink diamond has been sold for $49.9m in Hong Kong, setting a world record for the highest price per carat for a diamond sold at auction.
Auctioned on Friday by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the Williamson Pink Star diamond was originally estimated at $21m.
The gem draws its name from two legendary pink diamonds.
The first is the 23.60-carat Williamson diamond which was presented to the late British Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift in 1947; the second is the 59.60-carat Pink Star diamond that sold for a record $71.2m at auction in 2017.
The Williamson Pink Star is the second-largest pink diamond to appear at auction.
Pink diamonds are among the rarest and most valuable of the coloured diamonds.
“When you consider an alluring link to Queen Elizabeth, the rising prices for pink diamonds thanks to their increasing rarity, and the backdrop of an unstable global economy, this diamond could prove to be a very compelling proposal for the right person,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds.
“Hard assets such as world-class diamonds have a history of performing well. Some of the world’s highest quality diamonds have seen prices double over the last 10 years,” he said.
BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced a Japanese journalist to serve seven years in prison after he filmed an anti-government protest in July, a Japanese diplomat and the Southeast Asian nation’s government said Thursday.
Toru Kubota was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years for violating the electronic transactions law and three years for incitement, said Tetsuo Kitada, deputy chief of mission of the Japanese Embassy. The sentences are to be served concurrently, meaning that Kubota faces seven years of confinement.
The military’s information office said in a statement that a separate trial is continuing on a charge of violating immigration law. A hearing on the immigration charge is scheduled for Oct. 12.
The electronic transactions law covers offenses that involve spreading false or provocative information online and carries a prison term of seven to 15 years. Incitement is a catch-all political law covering activities deemed to cause unrest, and has been used frequently against journalists and dissidents, usually with a three-year prison term.
Kubota was arrested on July 30 by plainclothes police in Yangon, the country’s largest city, after taking photos and videos of a small flash protest against the military’s 2021 takeover in which it ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Kubota was the fifth foreign journalist detained in Myanmar after the military seized power. U.S. citizens Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, who worked for local publications, and freelancers Robert Bociaga of Poland and Yuki Kitazumi of Japan were eventually deported before serving full prison sentences.
Since the military seized power, it has forced at least 12 media outlets to shut down and arrested at least 142 journalists, 57 of whom remain detained. Most of those still detained are being held under the incitement charge for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating against a government employee.
Some of the closed media outlets have continued operating without a license, publishing online as their staff members dodge arrest. Others operate from exile.
The army’s takeover triggered mass public protests that the military and police responded to with lethal force, triggering armed resistance and escalating violence that have led to what some U.N. experts characterize as a civil war.
According to detailed lists by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group based in Thailand, 2,336 civilians have died in the military government’s crackdown on opponents and at least 15,757 people have been arrested.
The military said soon after Kubota’s arrest that he was detained while taking pictures and videos of 10-15 protesters in Yangon’s South Dagon township. It said he confessed to police that he had contacted participants in the protest a day earlier to arrange to film it.
A graduate of Tokyo’s Keio University with a master’s degree from the University of the Arts London, Kubota, 26 at the time of his arrest, has done assignments for Yahoo! News Japan, Vice Japan and Al Jazeera English.
His work has focused on ethnic conflicts, immigrants and refugee issues, including the plight of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. The military is particularly sensitive about the Rohingya issue because international courts are considering whether it committed serious human rights abuses, including genocide, in a brutal 2017 counterinsurgency campaign that caused more than 700,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh for safety.
Fellow Japanese Kitazumi, a freelance journalist, was arrested in April 2021 and freed and deported just under a month later, after being indicted but not tried.
The military government said at the time it decided to release Kitazumi “in consideration of cordial relations between Myanmar and Japan up to now and in view of future bilateral relations, and upon the request of the Japanese government special envoy on Myanmar’s national reconciliation.”
Japan has historically maintained warm relations with Myanmar, including under previous military governments. It takes a softer line toward Myanmar’s current government than do many Western nations, which treat it as a pariah state for its poor human rights record and undermining of democracy, and have imposed economic and political sanctions against its army rulers and their families and cronies.
In Tokyo, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said Kubota is in good health, citing his lawyer who saw him on Wednesday.
“The Japanese government continues to request the Myanmar authorities an early release of Mr. Kubota,” Isozaki said, adding that the Japanese government has been providing as much support as possible for him and his family.
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
The UN Human Rights Council has voted not to debate the treatment of the Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang even after the UN’s human rights office concluded the scale of the alleged abuses there may amount to “crimes against humanity“.
The motion for a debate on the issue was defeated by 19 votes to 17, with 11 countries abstaining in a decision China welcomed and others condemned as “shameful”.
Many of those who voted “no” were Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia, Somalia, Pakistan, UAE and Qatar. Among the 11 countries that abstained were India, Malaysia and Ukraine.
“This is a victory for developing countries and a victory truth and justice,” Hua Chunying, China’s foreign affairs spokesperson tweeted. “Human rights must not be used as a pretext to make up lies and interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, or to contain, coerce & humiliate others.”
The UN first revealed the existence of a network of detention centres in Xinjiang in 2018, saying at least one million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities were being held in the system. China later admitted there were camps in the region, but said they were vocational skills training centres necessary to tackle “extremism”.
Amid leaks of official government documents, investigations by human rights groups and academics, and testimony from Uighurs themselves, China has lobbied hard to prevent any further probe into the situation in Xinjiang.
Former UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, who first called for “unfettered” access to the region in 2018, was only allowed to visit in May, in what appeared to be a tightly-choreographed visit.
Her report (PDF) on the situation was also pushed back and was only released on August 31, minutes before her term was due to end.
While it did not mention the word “genocide”, it found that “serious human rights violations” had been committed, and said “the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups … may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
The United States, which called for the debate, condemned the latest vote.
“The inaction shamefully suggests some countries are free from scrutiny and allowed to violate human rights with impunity,” Michele Taylor, the US representative to the Human Rights Council, said in a statement. “No country represented here today has a perfect human rights record. No country, no matter how powerful should be excluded from Council discussions — this includes my country, the United States, and it includes the People’s Republic of China.”
In the wake of the UN report, Uighur groups had urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry to independently examine the treatment of Uighurs and other minorities in China and called on the UN Office on Genocide Prevention to immediately conduct an assessment of the risks of atrocities, including genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.
They expressed disappointment at Thursday’s outcome, with the Campaign for Uyghurs noting that Beijing had been “actively trying to suppress” the report “at every level”.
“Some member states have adopted China’s genocide denial,” the group’s Executive Director Rushan Abbas said in a statement. “They should consider the consequences of allowing one powerful country to effectively have impunity for committing genocide.”
Alim Osman, president of the Uighur Association of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, told Al Jazeera he was disappointed and angry at the decision.
“That even a debate on the human rights situation is not allowed by few a countries which have economic ties with the Chinese regime clearly shows on the international stage that their moral obligation to defend human rights is for sale, therefore corrupting the UN itself,” he said. “The UN needs urgent reform.”
Beijing has been lobbying hard against the findings of a long-delayed UN report into the situation in Xinjiang, which warned of possible ‘crimes against humanity’ [File: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]
Human rights groups also condemned the vote.
In a strongly-worded statement, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the decision protected the perpetrators rather than the victims of abuses.
“For Council member states to vote against even discussing a situation where the UN itself says crimes against humanity may have occurred makes a mockery of everything the Human Rights Council is supposed to stand for.” Callamard said in a statement.
“Member states’ silence — or worse, blocking of debate — in the face of the atrocities committed by the Chinese government further sullies the reputation of the Human Rights Council.
“The UN Human Rights Council has today failed the test to uphold its core mission, which is to protect the victims of human rights violations everywhere, including in places such as Xinjiang.”
Bindya Rana, a Karachi-based transgender activist and founder and president of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA), and Shahzadi Rai, a Karachi-based transgender person, believe that the debate over the law protecting the rights of transgender persons is problematic. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
by Zofeen Ebrahim (karachi)
Inter Press Service
Karachi, Oct 06 (IPS) – It has taken four years for some politicians to oppose a landmark law protecting the rights of transgender persons, saying it’s against Islam and the country’s constitution.
“This is an imposed, imported, anti-Islam, anti-Quran legislation,” said Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, a Pakistani politician belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), spearheading the campaign. “The West is hitting at the two strongest institutions of the Muslim Ummah – the family and marriage; they want to weaken us,” he told IPS from Peshawar, adding that this will “open the road” for homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
According to Ahmed, for the last four years, the government, with support from non-governmental organizations, was “shamelessly pushing the agenda of Europe and America,” terming it “cultural terrorism.”
Other politicians have also joined in voicing their concerns. For instance, PTI senator, Mohsin Aziz, said transgender people were homosexuals, and “Qaum-e Loot” referred to homosexuality introduced by the people of Sodom. “The longer we take in making amends, the longer the wrath of God will be upon us,” he added. He is among those who have recently presented amendments to the law.
“Using religion to stoke people’s sentiments sets a very dangerous precedence,” warned Shahzadi Rai, a Karachi-based transgender person. “Spare us; our community cannot fight back.”
Rai asked that the issue not be seen through the “prism of religion,” adding, “even we do not accept homosexuality.”
Physician Dr Sana Yasir, who has a special interest in gender variance and bodily diversity and offers gender-affirming healthcare services, said there was no mention of homosexuality in the Act.
“The right-wing politicians need such issues to keep their politics alive,” said Anis Haroon, commissioner for the National Commission for Human Rights, which was part of consultations on the Act and fully supported it.
Ahmed had presented certain amendments to the Act last year, and earlier this month, he introduced a brand-new bill for the protection of khunsa, an Arabic word he said was for people “born with birth defects in the genitalia.” If passed, the Act will apply to the entire country and come into force immediately.
In the proposed bill, khunsa is defined as a person who has a “mixture of male and female genital features or congenital ambiguities.” The person will have the right to register as a male or female based on certification from a medical board.
“I studied the old law for a good two years after it was enacted; held discussions with many jurists, even international ones, medical doctors, religious scholars. Based on the information gathered, I came up with amendments to the 2018 law,” Ahmed said, defending his stance and explaining why it took four years to oppose a law passed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate and the Parliament. He has also filed a petition in the Federal Shariat Court against the 2018 Act.
The right-wing Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-Fazl) and parliamentarians belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have also voiced their concern and opposed the 2018 act.
“Allah has just mentioned sons and daughters in the Quran; there is no mention of another gender,” said PTI’s senator, Fauzia Arshad, speaking to IPS. He has also presented amendments to the Senate’s standing committee on human rights.
The country’s top religious advisory body, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), has also termed it unIslamic law.
“We respect the rights of the transgenders given in the 2018 Act, but when it transgresses beyond biology, and psychology and sociology come into play, we have reservations,” said Dr Qibla Ayaz, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, talking to IPS from Islamabad. He also said the council was never approached when the bill was debated.
The law, instead of defining gender, has defined gender identity: A person’s innermost and individual sense of self as male, female, or a blend of both or neither, that can correspond or not to the sex assigned at birth. It also refers to gender expression: A person’s presentation of their gender identity and/or the one others perceive.
JI, meanwhile, has defined gender as a “person’s expression as per his or her sex which is not different than the sex assigned to him or her at the time of birth or as per the advice of a medical board.”
“We do not believe in self-perceived gender identity of a person and are asking for a medical board to be constituted to ascertain that,” said Ahmed.
Arshad endorsed this: “The sex of a person is determined from where the person urinates and should be determined by a medical board.”
“Self-perception of who you think you want to be, and not what you are born as is not in the Quran.”
“CII has some reservations about the self-perceived identity,” said Ayaz.
To rule out “real from fake” transgender people, Ahmed’s bill has recommended constituting a gender reassignment medical board in every district, which would include a professor doctor, a male and a female general surgeon, a psychologist, and a chief medical officer.
“Any sex reassignment surgery to change the genitalia will be prohibited if the person is diagnosed with a psychological disorder or gender dysphoria,” he said. Arshad agreed with this view.
“A medical board can help people figure out their gender identity by offering them personality tests and blood works. They can help decrease the intensity of gender dysphoria by offering non-medical and medical interventions,” said Yasir.
But the board cannot reject someone’s “experienced gender,” she asserted.
Yasir added there was no mention of a geneticist, a psychiatrist, or those trained in transgender health on the board.
Healthcare professionals argue that constituting medical boards in Pakistan’s 160 districts is nearly impossible. The complex issue requires genetic testing (from abroad), which is expensive for a resource-stretched country like Pakistan, and meticulous diagnosis by scarce experts.
The trans community has rejected the option of the constitution of a medical board outright.
“We will never allow anyone to examine us,” said Bindya Rana, a Karachi-based transgender activist and founder and president of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA). “We know, who we are, just like the men and women in this country know who they are!”
If this debate has done one thing, it is to validate and increase transphobia.
“Harassment, discrimination, and violence have increased due to the negative propaganda led by Jamat-e-Islami,” said Reem Sharif, a trans activist based in Islamabad.
“A week ago, one transgender was murdered. The alleged murderer is behind bars, but during interrogation, he told the police that he was on jihad as killing transgenders would take him straight to heaven. He is sure he will be released and will finish off the job,” said Rai.
She also recalled the horrific attack on three well-known transwomen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi two weeks back. “They received several bullets, but fortunately, all survived,” she said. The attack spread panic and fear among the community. Rai said the transphobia was “contained, but now it is out in the open.”
“There is a definite backlash,” agreed Lahore-based Moon Chaudhary. “Ten days ago, in Lahore, a few trans persons were publicly harassed at a posh locality. They were forcefully disrobed, asked about their gender, and then raped,” she said.
According to Mughal, the “more visible trans activists” like her, are increasingly feeling vulnerable. “Bullying is going on, and people are openly threatening. She gets scores of text messages from unknown numbers referring to her as a “man,” causing “mental torment.”
Rai said she feared for her life since she was actively participating in defending the law on various TV channels, and participating in debates organized by clerics. “I’m worried and have told my flatmates to be vigilant and take extra precautions in letting in their friends.”
Transgender activists are also fighting on another front – cyberspace.
“I am being misgendered on national television; then the same clips are shared on social media, which go viral. I am accused of being a man and feigning as a woman,” said Mughal. She said some are provoking people to go on a jihad against them and setting a “dangerous precedent.”
“I thought I was strong and would be able to handle online abuse, but it is taking a toll and affecting my mental health,” Rai admitted. For instance, of the 900 comments on a video clip on social media, 600 were abusive. There were some that were downright violent in nature, calling for her murder or burning her to death. “My photos are being circulated with vulgar messages attached,” she added.
Although Rana admitted the campaign against the 2018 law has brought “irreparable damage” to the transgender cause, she is confident the newly-presented bill by JI was just to create a storm in a teacup and will not see the light of day.
“All that we worked for, for years, has come to naught,” she lamented. While the law prohibited discrimination against transgender persons seeking education, healthcare, employment, or trade, Rana said, “we never benefitted on any score” except the right to change the name and gender on the national identity card, the driving license, and the passport. For us, even that was a big win,” she said. About 28,000 transgender persons had their gender corrected. But now, even that right is in danger.
Ahmed said his struggle would continue. “If the khunsa bill finds no takers, we will take it to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and start street protests,” he warned, adding: “It’s a ticking time bomb!”
MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — Dicky Kurniawan felt the sharp sting in his eyes as Indonesian police fired tear gas into the football stadium.
From his seat near an exit, he said he watched the melee unfold Saturday night as angry fans poured into the field to demand answers after host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city lost to Persebaya Surabaya, its first defeat ever on its home turf. The mob threw bottles and other objects, and the violence spread outside the stadium, where police cars were overturned and torched.
Kurniawan, 22, was shocked when police fired tear gas at spectators in the stands. As the stinging gas spread through the stadium, Kurniawan grabbed his girlfriend and — like everyone else — dashed to the exits.
The mass rush led to a stampede that killed nearly three dozen people almost instantly. The death toll reached 125 and hundreds more were injured in one of the world’s deadliest tragedies at a sporting event. More than 40,000 spectators were at the match, all Arema fans because the organizer had banned Persebaya Surabaya supporters due to Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.
“The chaos was on the field, but they fired the tear gas into the stadium stands,” Kurniawan said as he described the tragedy from his hospital bed. He received bruises on his face but said he was fortunate to survive.
“Now I am done watching soccer in the stadium,” Kurniawan said.
In the bed next to Kurniawan, teenager Farel Panji also had a lucky escape.
Panji, 16, had just left his seat to go to the exit when the tear gas came. As people ran past him to get to the exit, Panji said he got pushed down by the crowd and collapsed.
“I fainted for a while. When I woke up, I was still in the stadium seating area,” Panji said. He got home safely and was taken to the hospital the next day. Wearing an Arema jersey, Panji said Saturday’s incident did not stop him from loving the club.
Malang’s Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, one of several used to treat victims, was filled Sunday with grieving relatives waiting to identify bodies in the morgue or for information about their loves ones.
Police say 323 people were injured in the crush, with some still in critical condition. At least 17 children were among the dead and seven other children are being treated at hospitals, according to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.
Arema’s Chilean coach, Javier Roca, led the players and other officials in paying respect to the dead in a ceremony Monday.
Wearing black shirts, the team gathered at the statue of a lion head outside Kanjuruhan Stadium. Dozens of Arema supporters also attended, and started to cry when the players poured rose petals around the statue and prayed together.
“We came here as a team, asking forgiveness from the families impacted by this tragedy, those who lost their loves ones or the ones who are still being treated in the hospital,” Roca said.
He said soccer violence must stop.
“We feel like we got a punishment,” he said. “One match result is not worth paying with the lives of people, let alone more than 100 people.”
Pyongyang’s fifth test in 10 days comes after South Korea and the United States hold military drills.
North Korea has fired a mid-range ballistic missile over Japan, the fifth launch in 10 days, amid expectations that it is gearing up to test its first nuclear weapon in five years.
The missile, detected by the Japanese coast guard and South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, prompted warning alarms in northern Japan with residents advised to take shelter. Train services in northern regions of the country were suspended temporarily.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned what he called a “barbaric” act.
TV Asahi, citing an unnamed government source, said North Korea might have fired an intercontinental ballistic missile and that it fell into the sea some 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from Japan.
There were no further details on the weapon.
Pyongyang has conducted a series of launches around military drills held by the United States and South Korea, which it considers a rehearsal for invasion. The US and South Korea, which staged its own show of advanced weaponry on Saturday to mark its Armed Forces Day, say the exercises are defensive in nature.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said that firing a weapon over Japan represented a “significant escalation” of recent provocations.
“Diplomacy isn’t dead, but talks aren’t about to resume either,” Easley said in comments by email. “Pyongyang is still in the middle of a provocation and testing cycle and is likely waiting until after China’s mid-October Communist Party Congress to conduct an even more significant test.”
North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year and analysts see the increased pace of testing as an effort to build its capacity for ballistic weapons, which it is banned from testing under UN sanctions.
Officials in South Korea have suggested North Korea might carry out a nuclear test after the end of the Congress in China and before the US holds its mid-term elections in November. Pyongyang last carried out a nuclear test in September 2017.
A meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Credit: UN / Jean-Marc Ferré
Opinion by Meenakshi Ganguly (new delhi)
Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, Oct 03 (IPS) – Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia director at Human Rights WatchThe economic, political, and human rights calamity gripping Sri Lanka has made news around the world, but its roots go back years – or even decades. In September, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, underscored in her report on Sri Lanka that “impunity for serious human rights violations created an environment for corruption and the abuse of power.”
The UN Human Rights Council will soon consider a resolution to address this issue. Countries in the global south that serve on the council, – —including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Namibia and Senegal, have an important role in supporting the people of Sri Lanka to address the current crisis and its underlying causes.
Between 1983 and 2009 Sri Lanka endured a devastating civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The decades of brutality against civilians and the government’s continuing attempts to shield those responsible from justice, have cast a long shadow over the country. Both sides committed widespread violations of international law.
In the final months of the conflict in 2009, the LTTE used human shields, while tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed when government forces shelled no-fire zones and hospitals. As the war ended with the defeat of the LTTE and the destruction of its leadership, government forces were implicated in summary executions, rape, and enforced disappearances.
Since then, many Tamils have sought to learn what happened to those who did not return. In August, a group known as the Mothers of the Disappeared passed 2,000 days of continuous protests demanding to know the fate of their loved ones. Instead of receiving answers they have been subject to intimidation and surveillance by the government’s security apparatus. Nevertheless, representatives of the group have travelled to Geneva to ask the Human Rights Council to keep their hopes of justice alive.
Over many years, people from all of the country’s faiths and communities have taken their accounts of suffering and their search for justice to the Human Rights Council. As the prominent Sri Lankan activist Ruki Fernando recently wrote, “It is the inability to get truth and justice in Sri Lanka despite many efforts, and the subsequent loss of confidence and hope in domestic processes, that drive many Sri Lankans to Geneva.”
Successive Sri Lankan governments have appointed people allegedly responsible for these atrocities to high office, and blocked investigations, undermining the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. In one rare case in which a soldier was convicted of murder, the president pardoned him.
Earlier this year, following years of mismanagement and corruption, Sri Lanka ran out of foreign exchange – meaning that it could no longer finance essential imports such as fuel, food and medicine, causing the government to default on its foreign debts. As inflation spiralled and people were unable to obtain basic necessities, massive protests broke out leading to the resignation of the prime minister in May and of the president in July.
On the streets, huge numbers of ordinary Sri Lankans called for constitutional reform and action to address corruption. A 2020 amendment to the constitution weakened human rights institutions and gave the president the power to appoint senior judges. It also undermined institutions such as the Bribery Commission that are responsible for combatting economic crimes.
The use of the this law shows that the government’s assurances to the international community on human rights cannot be trusted. As recently as June the then-foreign minister told the Human Rights Council that there was a moratorium on the use of that law, which has repeatedly been used to enable arbitrary detention and torture, and which successive governments have promised to repeal.
The resolution currently before the Human Rights Council extends the mandate of a UN project to gather and analyze evidence of war crimes and other crimes under international law that have been committed in Sri Lanka and to prepare them for use in possible future prosecutions. It also mandates the UN to continue monitoring and reporting on the human rights crisis in Sri Lanka. As people struggle for daily necessities and the government cracks down on dissent, that is more important than ever.
The Sri Lankan government has opposed these measures, falsely claiming that it is already acting to protect human rights. To support Sri Lankans who are calling for change and accountability, Council members from the global south should fully support the resolution.
MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers were removed from their posts Monday and 18 others were being investigated for responsibility in the firing of tear gas inside a soccer stadium that set off a stampede, killing at least 125 people, officials said.
Distraught family members were struggling to comprehend the loss of their loved ones, including 17 children, at the match in East Java’s Malang city that was attended only by hometown Arema FC fans. The organizer had banned supporters of the visiting team, Persebaya Surabaya, because of Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.
The disaster Saturday night was among the deadliest ever at a sporting event.
Arema players and officials laid wreaths Monday in front of the stadium.
“We came here as a team asking forgiveness from the families impacted by this tragedy, those who lost their loves ones or the ones still being treated in the hospital,” head coach Javier Roca said.
On Monday night, about a thousand soccer fans dressed in black shirts held a candlelight vigil at a soccer stadium in Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi to pray for the victims of the disaster.
Witnesses said some of the 42,000 Arema fans ran onto the pitch in anger on Saturday after the team was defeated 3-2, its first loss at home against Persebaya in 23 years. Some threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials. At least five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze outside the stadium.
But most of the deaths occurred when riot police, trying to stop the violence, fired tear gas, including in the stands, triggering a disastrous stampede of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits. Most of the 125 people who died were trampled or suffocated. The victims included two police officers.
At least 17 children were among the dead and seven were being treated in hospitals, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection said. Police said 323 people were injured in the crush, with some still in critical condition.
National Police spokesperson Dedy Prasetyo said Malang police chief Ferli Hidayat had been removed along with nine members of an elite police mobile brigade and face possible dismissal in a police ethics trial.
He said 18 officers responsible for firing the tear gas, ranging from middle- to high-ranking, were being investigated.
Police are questioning witnesses and analyzing video from 32 security cameras inside and outside the stadium and nine cellphones owned by the victims as part of an investigation that will also identify suspected vandals, he said.
The parents and other relatives of Faiqotul Hikmah, 22, wailed Monday when an ambulance arrived at their home with her body wrapped in white cloth and a black blanket. She died while fleeing to exit 12 at Kanjuruhan Stadium.
A dozen friends had traveled with her to see the match, but Hikmah was one of only four who were able to enter the stadium because tickets were sold out, her friend, Abdul Mukid, said Monday. He later bought a ticket from a broker after hearing of the chaos inside the stadium in order to search for Hikman.
“I have to find her, save her,” Mukid recalled thinking.
Mukid found Hikmah’s body laid at a building in the stadium compound, with broken ribs and bluish bruises on her face. He learned that a second friend had also died from other friends who called him while he was in an ambulance taking Hikmah’s body to a hospital.
“I can’t put into words how much my sorrow is to lose my sister,” said Nur Laila, Hikmah’s older sibling. “She was just a big Arema fan who wanted to watch her favorite team play. She shouldn’t die just for that,” she said, wiping away tears.
President Joko Widodo ordered the premier soccer league suspended until safety is reevaluated and security tightened. Indonesia’s soccer association also banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the rest of the season.
Arema FC President Gilang Widya Pramana expressed his sadness and deepest apologies to the victims and the Indonesian people, and said he is ready to take full responsibility for the tragedy at his team’s stadium.
He said the management, coach and players were in shock and speechless.
“I am ready to provide assistance, even though it will not be able to return the victims’ lives,” Pramana said at a news conference Monday at Arema’s headquarters in Malang.
“This incident was beyond prediction, beyond reason … in a match watched only by our fans, not a single rival supporter,” he said, sobbing. “How can that match kill more than 100 people?”
He said Arema FC is ready to accept any sanctions from Indonesia’s Soccer Association and the government, and “hopefully, it will be a very valuable lesson.”
Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud said he will lead an inquiry that will examine law violations in the disaster and provide recommendations to the president to improve soccer safety. The investigation is to be completed in three weeks.
Mahfud instructed the national police and military chiefs to punish those who committed crimes and actions that triggered the stampede.
“The government urged the national police to evaluate their security procedures,” Mahfud said at a news conference.
Rights group Amnesty International urged Indonesia to investigate the use of tear gas and ensure that those found responsible are tried in open court. While FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas at soccer stadiums.
Despite Indonesia’s lack of international prominence in the sport, hooliganism is rife in the soccer-obsessed country where fanaticism often ends in violence. Data from Indonesia’s soccer watchdog, Save Our Soccer, showed 78 people have died in game-related incidents over the past 28 years.
Saturday’s game was among the world’s worst crowd disasters in sports, including a 1996 World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City in which over 80 died and more than 100 were injured. In April 2001, more than 40 people were crushed to death during a soccer match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. In February 2012, 74 people were killed and more than 500 injured after a match between rivals al-Masry and al-Ahly when thousands of al-Masry fans invaded the field and attacked visiting supporters. The Egyptian league was suspended for two years as a result.
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
