India wins historic double team gold at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024
India’s two team and four individual gold medals are hailed as the beginning of the country’s reign as the ‘best chess nation in the world’. India’s chess masters have created history by winning team gold medals in both men’s and women’s competitions at the 45th International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess Olympiad in Budapest. In addition to winning the team championships, India also walked away with four individual gold medals as the tournament wrapped up in the Hungarian capital on Sunday. Wins for Gukesh Dommaraju (more commonly known as Gukesh D), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi sealed gold in the men’s event, known as the Open event, while Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev won their respective games to secure gold in the women’s competition. Gukesh, Erigaisi, Deshmukh and Agrawal bagged individual gold medals on their respective boards. 🇮🇳 India triumphs at 45th Chess Olympiad, winning both Open and Women’s competitions 🏆 India has come a long way since Vishy Anand paved the way for the new generation of chess players. Young talents have emerged and grown to become some of the top players in the world. Gukesh… pic.twitter.com/KvOVjAFx3I — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 23, 2024 The feat was termed an “unbelievable” achievement by India’s chess great Viswanathan Anand. “It feels like a magical time for India,” the former five-time world champion said on the International FIDE YouTube channel in the lead-up to the final day. Anand, who also won the Chess World Cup twice, said the result was a few years in the making but for India to walk away with team and individual honours exceeded his expectations. The men’s team won 27 of their 44 games, losing just once and drawing six. Their final round of matches was against Slovenia, whom they defeated 3.5-0.5, while the women’s team beat Azerbaijan with the same score. Gukesh, who has also qualified for the final of the World Chess Championship in November, said he was delighted that his team got over the line in a dominant fashion after having some close misses in the past. India was declared a joint winner in the men’s competition along with Russia in the 2020 edition, which was held online during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are very happy with how we played together as a team,” Gukesh said after the win. Eighteen-year-old Deshmukh was a standout performer in the women’s competition and remained undefeated, winning seven of her 11 games and drawing four. “It started off well but got a bit tough in the middle but I am proud of how we handled it [the situation] and fought back,” she said in the winners’ news conference. “I feel quite overwhelmed with emotions.” Hungarian American chess great Susan Polgar hailed Deshmukh’s run at the tournament. “With an absolutely amazing performance in this Olympiad,” Polgar wrote in a post on X. The four-time world champion predicted more wins for the Indians, saying: “This team will stay on top for years.” Congratulations to India! 2024 #BudapestOlympiad Champions! 🇮🇳 #FIDE100 🥇🏆 They were so focused and determined at the start of the final round! Even though this was all about teamwork, @DGukesh and @ArjunErigaisi had insane performances! This team will stay on top for years… pic.twitter.com/Sv5ZbOxYKV — Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) September 22, 2024 Final standings of top 10 teams at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 Men India (21) USA (17) Uzbekistan (17) China (17) Serbia (17) Armenia (17) Germany (16) Azerbaijan (16) Slovenia (16) Spain (16) Women India (19) Kazakhstan (18) USA (17) Spain (17) Armenia (17) Georgia (17) China (16) Ukraine (16) Poland (16) Bulgaria (16) Adblock test (Why?)
Rhino numbers tick higher, but poachers lurk amid high demand for horns
Africa reports 586 rhinos killed in 2023, up from 551 in 2022, with poaching the main threat. Rhinoceros numbers across the world increased slightly in 2023, but so too did the number of animals killed by poachers, according to a new report. Thanks to preservation efforts, the white rhino population increased by 1,522 to 17,464 in 2023, an annual report by the International Rhino Foundation said as it marked World Rhino Day on Sunday. However, the number of black and greater one-horned rhinos stayed the same, it added. That left the global rhino population of the five subspecies at about 28,000, which stood at 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. In Africa, one rhino was killed every 15 hours last year as demand for the animal’s horn remains high, the State of the Rhino report says. A total of 586 rhinos were killed across the continent, most of them in South Africa, which has the highest population of rhinos at an estimated 16,056. The number of killed rhinos increased marginally from 551 in 2022, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Still, the white rhino population in South Africa is on the rise despite the poaching thanks to preservation efforts, the report said. While thriving in several regions, the total black rhino population declined slightly over the last year due to heavy poaching in Namibia and South Africa. Since July 2023, Indonesian authorities have been investigating and prosecuting Javan rhino poaching groups, who confessed to killing 26 animals in Ujung Kulon National Park from 2019 to 2023. In India, the one-horned Asian rhino population has risen from 1,500 four decades ago to more than 4,000 thanks to conservation and antipoaching efforts, according to government data included in the report. Rhinos face various environmental threats like habitat loss due to development and climate change but poaching, based on the belief that their horns have medicinal uses, remains the top threat. Philip Muruthi, the vice president for species conservation at the Africa Wildlife Foundation, said protection has played a big role in increasing the rhino population. In Kenya, their numbers rose from 380 in 1986 to 1,000 last year, he said. “Why has that happened? Because the rhinos were brought into sanctuaries and were protected.” Muruthi advocates for a campaign that will end the demand for rhino horns as well as the adoption of new technology in tracking and monitoring rhinos for their protection while also educating communities where they live on the benefits of rhinos to the ecosystem and the economy. Known as megaherbivores that mow the parks and create inroads for other herbivores, rhinos are also good for establishing forests by ingesting seeds and spreading them across the parks in their dung. Adblock test (Why?)
Scholz’s SPD narrowly ahead of far right in east German state: Projections
Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats likely to win 31 percent of the vote in Brandenburg, a slight lead over AfD at 29 percent, projections show. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has narrowly beaten the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a local election in the east German state of Brandenburg, initial projections show. Scholz’s centre-left SPD won around 31 percent against the anti-immigration and anti-Islam AfD, which scored about 29 percent, according to the projections by public broadcasters on Sunday. The result in the formerly communist east offers a rare moment of respite for Scholz’s embattled coalition government, which has sunk in opinion polls a year ahead of national elections. It is unlikely, however, to give him or his party a major boost given that popular, incumbent SPD premier Hubert Dietmar Woidke has distanced himself from Scholz during the campaign and criticised the federal government’s policies. The election in Brandenburg was closely watched because Scholz’s SPD has ruled there ever since Germany’s 1990 reunification. The chancellor’s own electoral district is in the state capital Potsdam, outside Berlin. The AfD, which rails against asylum seekers, multiculturalism, Islam and Scholz’s government, had hoped to replicate its recent electoral success in the east. Three weeks ago, the far-right party stunned the political establishment by winning its first-ever parliamentary vote – in the eastern state of Thuringia – and coming a close second in neighbouring Saxony. Despite its ballot box success, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any state since all other mainstream parties have so far ruled out entering into a governing alliance with the party. SPD’s Woidke, in office for more than a decade, had also thrown down a challenge to voters by telling them he would quit if the AfD won. The AfD, which had vowed “to send Woidke into retirement”, nonetheless hailed its strong showing. Party co-leader Tino Chrupalla said it had “taken gold once and silver twice” in three elections in the east this month. The AfD’s populist rhetoric has heaped political pressure on Scholz and his governing allies, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats. Both parties scored in the low single digits in Sunday’s state election. Adblock test (Why?)
UN aims ‘to bring multilateralism back’ as it adopts Pact for the Future
UN member countries adopt blueprint for the future to tackle wars, environmental threats and technological challenges facing humanity. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a “Pact for the Future”, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a landmark agreement that is a “step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism”. The pact, which also includes an annex on working towards a responsible and sustainable digital future, was adopted without a vote on Sunday at the start of a two-day Summit of the Future. The agreement came after some nine months of negotiations. “We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink,” Guterres told the summit. As an opener for the annual high-level week of the UN General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday, dozens of heads of state and government had gathered for the adoption of the pact. Leaders pledged to bolster the multilateral system to “keep pace with a changing world” and to “protect the needs and interests of current and future generations” facing “persistent crisis”. “We believe there is a path to a brighter future for all of humanity,” the document of the pact said. The UN chief has long pushed for the pact, which covers themes including peace and security, global governance, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations. It lays out some 56 broad actions that countries pledged to achieve. The adoption of the pact, however, faced a brief delay when Russia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Vershinin, introduced an amendment, emphasising the “principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states”. Russia’s objections were backed by allies Belarus, North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua and Syria, but its amendment was overwhelmingly dismissed in a motion to take no action. “It was somewhat irritating that, in the end, Russia once again tried to stop the whole process,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, co-sponsor of the text. Despite criticism of the pact, it is still “an opportunity to affirm our collective commitment to multilateralism, even in the difficult current geopolitical context”, one diplomat told AFP news agency, emphasising the need to rebuild trust between the Global South and North. “This pact gives us hope and inspiration for a better future,” said Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, who has been a keen advocate for the Global South at the UN through his country’s membership in the Security Council. Developing countries have been particularly vocal in demanding concrete commitments on the reform of international financial institutions, aiming to secure easier access to preferential financing, especially considering the impacts of climate change. “This [existing] approach to governance reinforces the notion that it is acceptable to have first-class and second-class citizens,” said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. The pact and its annexes – a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations – are nonbinding. This has raised concerns about implementation – especially as some principles, such as the protection of civilians in conflict, are violated daily. Adblock test (Why?)
Does the Israeli military have a clear battle plan?
Almost a year into its war on Gaza, Israel is fighting on multiple fronts in the region. Israel targets Al Jazeera Media Network yet again, this time in the occupied West Bank. During a predawn raid on Sunday, the military issued an order to close the channel’s bureau in Ramallah for 45 days. The Israeli government has already banned Al Jazeera from reporting within Israel. And with no let-up in its bombardment of Gaza, the military is also expanding operations in the occupied West Bank and across the border into Lebanon. There are also reports Israel is planning to issue mass evacuation orders in northern Gaza, similar to what it did in the first week of the war back in October. What’s the real objective behind this plan? Does Israel intend to reoccupy Gaza? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Daniel Levy – President of the US/Middle East Project and a former Israeli negotiator Meron Rapoport – Award-winning Israeli investigative journalist Ilan Pappe – Israeli historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Adblock test (Why?)
Israel closes Al Jazeera bureau in Ramallah: All you need to know
On live television, heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided Al Jazeera’s occupied West Bank bureau in Ramallah and handed the bureau head, Walid al-Omari, a notice to shut it down. The soldiers ordered everyone working the overnight shift at the bureau to leave, telling them they could take only their personal belongings. What happened and why? Here’s everything we know: Who closed the bureau? The order came from the Israeli military authority despite the bureau being in Area A, an area delineated as being under Palestinian control in the Oslo Accords. Wait, so if Ramallah is under Palestinian control, how can Israel do this? This is not the first time Israel has undertaken actions in the Oslo Accords-defined Area A, where Ramallah is and where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has its seat. One year ago, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland reported that, just between June and September last year, there had been many Palestinian casualties caused by Israeli operations in Area A. The other two areas in the occupied West Bank are Area B, which the PA also administers on paper, sharing security control with Israel. Area C is under complete Israeli control. Regardless of legal jurisdiction, Israel has acted with impunity across the occupied West Bank. Why did Israel raid the bureau? Israel has often targeted Al Jazeera and its journalists, at times going as far as killing them – as it did Shireen Abu Akleh, Samer Abudaqa, Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi. “This is very much in line with the policy of the state of Israel since 1948 … to prevent real news about Palestinians or about what the state of Israel is doing to Palestinians … colonising them and arresting them and torturing them,” Rami Khouri, distinguished fellow at the American University in Beirut, told Al Jazeera. But why did Israel do this? The closure order accuses Al Jazeera of incitement and supporting “terrorism”. Khouri said Al Jazeera is “the primary instrument for informing the world about” Israel’s violations in Palestinian territory. What did Israel do to the bureau? The entire team working in the bureau overnight was told to leave. Initially, they were told on camera that they should leave with their personal belongings and cameras. However, they had to leave the cameras in the office in the end. An Israeli soldier stands next to a military vehicle near the building where the Al Jazeera office is, in Ramallah, Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 22, 2024 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] Al Jazeera’s Jivara Budeiri, who had been working when the raid happened, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli group that raided the office had included engineers, which made her fear that the raiders had also come to destroy the bureau’s archives. The soldiers were in the offices for a few hours, during which time the only thing that could be observed was some of them tearing down a large banner of slain Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Are the Al Jazeera team OK? Nobody on the team has been injured. They spent hours standing on the street at a distance from the office building, unable to approach it to retrieve their cars. They were also, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s Budeiri, unable to move to cover the raid, as any member of the group who moved was threatened with an Israeli weapon’s laser. As the Israeli soldiers were in the Al Jazeera bureau destroying things like the banner of Shireen Abu Akleh, more soldiers in armoured cars patrolled the area around the building, and the bureau team could hear gunfire and firing of tear gas canisters all around. When can the bureau reopen? The order is for 45 days. However, bureau head al-Omari said he assumes it will be renewed automatically, as has been the case with an early May civilian order Israel issued to close the Al Jazeera bureau in Israel. Military vehicles roamed around the bureau building in Ramallah until daybreak. Gunfire and firing of tear gas canisters were heard, September 22, 2024 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] What’s the difference between a civilian order and a military one? Probably nothing in practice, however, there are some differences in form. Al Jazeera’s bureau in Israel was closed in May after the Israeli parliament passed what became known as the “Al Jazeera Law”, which allowed the government to shut down, for 45 days at a time, any foreign media that posed a threat to the state. With this justification, a large number of inspectors from the Ministry of Communications arrived at the Al Jazeera offices and confiscated equipment on May 5. The “temporary shutdown” has been renewed since then and still holds. The Ramallah closure comes from an authority that does not, in theory, have any power over Ramallah. What can the bureau do about this? Bureau head al-Omari was told by one of the soldiers that any inquiries would have to go to the military command that issued the order. Al-Omari told Al Jazeera Arabic over the phone that this likely meant that any appeal would have to go through the military courts system. The Israeli military courts run on an opaque system of “secret evidence” and indefinite administrative detentions. What’s the situation now? The Al Jazeera bureau is inaccessible to the team, sealed off with two large metal plates welded over the entrance. Adblock test (Why?)
German police chase and detain boy at pro-Palestine rally
NewsFeed Video shows German police chasing a 10-year-old boy carrying a Palestinian flag who ran, visibly afraid, when officers approached him during a protest in Berlin, before he was caught and taken into custody. Published On 22 Sep 202422 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s attempted silencing of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the occupation
NewsFeed ‘All we’ve been doing is reporting on what the Israeli military does to Palestinians’. Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi recorded this message in case Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah, from where our journalists have reported on the realities for people living under Israeli occupation for decades. Published On 22 Sep 202422 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
France’s Macron appoints new government weeks after divisive election
The announcement signals end to more than two months of political uncertainty in the EU member state. French President Emmanuel Macron has named a new government, hoping to put an end 11 weeks of political uncertainty after an inconclusive parliamentary election delivered a hung parliament. Conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Saturday put together the government whose first major task will be to submit a 2025 budget plan addressing France’s financial situation, which the prime minister this week called “very serious”. The 38-member Cabinet includes ministers from Macron’s centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans (LR) party. The difficult job of submitting a budget plan to parliament next month falls to 33-year-old Antoine Armand, the new finance minister. He has previously served as head of parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee. Jean-Noel Barrot is the new foreign minister. He brings extensive experience in navigating complex international issues, notably within the European Union. Sebastien Lecornu, a close Macron ally, retains his post as defence minister. The interior minister job goes to Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative who will now handle critical domestic issues like national security, immigration, and law enforcement. Barnier’s ability to govern effectively is already under scrutiny, with his political opponents on the left promising to challenge him at every turn. The party of far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, France Unbowed, held protests on Saturday against his government. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally said it would monitor the government closely and has enough votes in parliament to bring it down, but expressed willingness to cooperate on key budgetary issues. In the July election, a left-wing bloc called the New Popular Front (NFP) won the most parliamentary seats, but not enough to get an overall majority. Macron argued that the left would be unable to muster enough support to form a government that would not immediately be brought down in parliament. He turned instead to Barnier, 73, to lead a government drawing mostly on parliamentary support from the conservative Republicans and the centrist groups, while counting on a neutral stance from the far right. Even before Saturday’s announcement, thousands of people with left-leaning sympathies took to the streets in the capital, Paris, and the southern port city of Marseille to protest the formation of a government that they say does not reflect the outcome of the parliamentary election. Adblock test (Why?)
Kenya’s Ruto lands in Haiti to assess police mission as insecurity deepens
Kenyan President William Ruto has landed in the Haitian capital to assess a Kenya-led security mission in the Caribbean nation, a day after a United Nations expert warned that Haiti faced deepening violence and insecurity. In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for Ruto said the Kenyan leader would “visit and commend the Kenyan contingent working alongside their Haitian counterparts”. Ruto also planned to meet with Haiti’s transitional presidential council and other officials, Hussein Mohamed said in a social media post. The visit to Port-au-Prince comes about three months after the first Kenyan officers arrived in Haiti as part of a UN-backed, multinational mission aimed at tackling a surge in gang violence. Haiti has reeled from years of violence as armed groups – often with ties to the country’s political and business leaders – have vied for influence and control of territory. An uptick in attacks across Port-au-Prince at the end of February prompted the resignation of Haiti’s unelected prime minister, the creation of the transitional presidential council and the deployment of the Kenyan police deployment. President @WilliamsRuto arrives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 100 days after flagging off the Kenyan police contingent of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) to Haiti. The President is in Haiti to assess the progress of the MSS mission, visit and commend the Kenyan… — Hussein Mohamed, MBS. (@HusseinMohamedg) September 21, 2024 Yet despite the presence of Kenyan and other foreign police officers in the country, insecurity remains rampant, with armed groups believed to still control about 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. As of August, more than 578,000 Haitians had been internally displaced, largely due to the violence, according to data (PDF) from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Displaced families have been forced to live in squalid conditions as they wait to safely return to their homes. On Friday, William O’Neill, a UN human rights expert on Haiti, said the country faced a dire humanitarian crisis as the armed groups continued to exert influence and carry out attacks. He said the UN-backed mission – formally known as the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) – had so far deployed less than a quarter of its planned force. The mission’s mandate expires early next month. “The equipment it has received is inadequate, and its resources are insufficient,” O’Neill said at the end of a visit to the country. For its part, the Haitian National Police continues to lack “logistical and technical capacity to counter the gangs”, he said. “This enduring agony must stop. It is a race against time,” O’Neill said of the situation. It remains unclear what will happen when the UN-backed mission’s mandate expires in early October. The United States, the deployment’s key backer, has been pushing to get more funding and personnel to bolster the force. “The United States has been actively working to secure this additional support,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Port-au-Prince in early September, recently said. Blinken added that he plans to convene a meeting at the UN General Assembly this month “to encourage greater contributions to help meet Haiti’s security needs, its economic needs, its humanitarian needs, as well as to renew the mission’s mandate”. Citing unnamed sources, The Miami Herald reported on September 4 that Washington was exploring the possibility of transitioning the mission into a UN peacekeeping operation. “In coordination with partners, the United States is exploring options to bolster the Multinational Security Support mission and ensure the support that the MSS is providing Haitians is sustained long-term and ultimately paves the way to security conditions permitting free and fair elections,” a national security official told the US newspaper. Many Haitians remain wary of UN interventions, however, saying past deployments have brought more harm than good. A deadly 2010 cholera outbreak was linked to a UN peacekeeping base, for example, while past UN forces have been accused of sexual abuse. The UN-backed security mission also ran into numerous delays and met initial criticism. But Haitian civil society groups have said help is needed to stem the violence. They have added that a security deployment alone cannot solve systemic problems in the country, and urged safeguards to be put in place to prevent possible abuses by the international police force. Adblock test (Why?)