The World Today for June 09, 2023

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Mission Wealth

LAOS

Anousa “Jack” Luangsuphom is a prominent activist and critic of the authoritarian, communist government of Laos. He ran a Facebook page where members could share their grievances about corruption and air their dissent about the government’s failure to respect freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch wrote.

An unknown assailant shot 25-year-old Luangsuphom as he sat in a café in the capital of Vientiane one night in late April, reported the Guardian. Many considered the incident to be another example of the ruthlessness of Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith. The regime was sending a message to activists – you are not safe, noted Deutsche Welle.

“Laos has long been an authoritarian state with no tolerance for public criticism,” argued James Cook University lecturer in development studies, Kearrin Sims, in the Diplomat. “Increasingly, however, it appears to be also becoming a criminal state, where corrupt elites have enmeshed themselves within the state apparatus for the purpose of accumulating wealth.”

The people who took Luangsuphom to the hospital after the shooting said the activist was dead so that they could protect him from those who might want to finish the job, explained Voice of America. In fact, he was alive and was in hiding outside the country, the BBC wrote.

He was only the latest of many who have experienced violence, forced disappearances, and other forms of harassment and persecution.

Last month, for example, Laotian police arrested Thailand-based Laotian human rights activist Savang Phaleuth on charges of “political campaign work” while he was in his hometown visiting his family, wrote the Union of Catholic Asian News. His exact location and details of the case against him are now unknown. Meanwhile, Laotian police are also suspected of assassinating Laotian activists in Thailand.

And while President Sisoulith is busy hunting down dissenters, he is also strengthening his country’s ties with China.

He recently touted, for example, the 620-mile-long railway between Vientiane and the Chinese province of Yunnan. Completed in 2021 as part of China’s Road and Belt Initiative, the railway is helping to grow the economies of Laos and southern China, said Sisoulith, as Nikkei Asia wrote. The modern rail line currently cuts through impoverished rural areas, Insider showed.

The two countries are also pledging to cooperate more closely on security and law enforcement, according to Xinhua, to “push forward the construction of a China-Laos community.” They held rare joint military exercises recently to simulate repelling transnational armed criminal groups, Reuters added.

Sisoulith isn’t experiencing self-doubt about how to run his country.

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

Out of Sight …

AUSTRALIA

Australia will introduce a new bill next week that will ban the public display of Nazi symbols amid concerns that far-right and white supremacist groups are using them to raise their profile, Voice of America reported Thursday.

The proposed law will prohibit flags, clothing, armbands, and other symbols related to the Nazi party of Adolf Hitler, including the Hakenkreuz – better known as the swastika. Bans also apply to symbols of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the paramilitary group of the Nazi party.

Offenders can face up to 12 months in prison.

Officials said that the bill will make exceptions for the artistic, academic, or religious use of swastikas, which have a spiritual significance in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, Reuters noted.

Even so, they added that the bill will not ban the Nazi salute, noting that the “banning of these gestures is a matter for state and territory laws.”

Many including Jewish groups welcomed the proposed law.

Intelligence officials have been warning that far-right groups are on the rise in Australia and that they had become more organized and visible.

In March, neo-Nazis clashed with transgender rights protesters in Melbourne, raising their arms in a Nazi salute near the state parliament. Last year, a soccer fan who made the same salute at the Australia Cup final received a lifetime ban from Football Australia-sanctioned games.

The Haze

NORWAY

Norwegian officials warned Thursday that smoke and haze from Canada’s large wildfires are expected to permeate into the Scandinavian country in the coming days, the Associated Press reported.

The Norwegian Climate and Environment Research Institute used a forecasting model to estimate how smoke would travel through the atmosphere.

The research center said it has detected increasing concentrations of aerosolized particles in southern Norway, adding that smoke has already moved over to Greenland and Iceland since June 1.

The institute’s scientists noted however that the particles in the air will not be large enough to cause health problems.

For weeks, Canada has been battling wildfires that have stretched the country’s firefighting resources, USA Today wrote.

Since the fires began in April in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, Canadian authorities have been dealing with more than 400 blazes that have burned more than eight million acres.

The smoke from the wildfires has also been drifting across the rest of the country and into the neighboring United States, turning skies hazy over the Midwest and Eastern states and forcing millions to take precautions against breathing in harmful pollutants.

Representation Problems

EGYPT

Egypt banned archaeologists from a Dutch museum from conducting excavations at a key site after a new exhibition on Egyptian history at the institution drew condemnation from officials and historians for linking ancient Egyptians to contemporary Black musicians, the BBC reported.

The National Museum of Antiquities (RMO) in Leiden confirmed the ban this week, saying that its archaeologists will not be allowed to excavate at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo after nearly five decades of work there.

The museum said the ban came after authorities in the North African nation accused the museum of “falsifying” the country’s history through a recent exhibition exploring the influence of ancient Egypt on Black musicians.

Entitled “Kemet: Egypt in Hip Hop, Jazz, Soul & Funk,” the exhibition seeks to show how ancient Egypt and Nubia have been “an undeniable source of inspiration for musicians of African descent for over 70 years.”

It showcased how artists of African descent – such as Beyoncé and Miles Davis – have embraced ancient cultures and employed the associated motifs “as symbols of resistance, empowerment and spiritual healing,” according to the RMO.

The museum added that the exhibition also looks into what scientific research has unveiled about ancient Egypt and Nubia, as well as discusses their study from Eurocentric and Afrocentric perspectives.

But since its opening, the RMO said the exhibition has received abusive messages via social media that were “racist or offensive in nature.” Criticism also emerged from Egyptian antiquities scholars and lawmakers, who said it supported “Afrocentric theory.”

The Dutch museum called the accusations “unfounded” and expressed disappointment at the ban.

The recent controversy comes weeks after Egyptian officials condemned a new Netflix docudrama series depicting Queen Cleopatra as a Black African.

Egypt’s antiquities ministry countered that the ancient queen had “Hellenistic (Greek) features,” including “light skin.”

In response to the Netflix series, an Egyptian state-backed broadcaster announced last month it was planning its own Cleopatra documentary, according to the Los Angeles Times.

UKRAINE, BRIEFLY

This week, Ukrainian forces reportedly kicked off their counteroffensive with the aim of retaking Russian-occupied territory, according to Russian sources, as reported by Newsweek. The offensive allegedly involved a ground attack toward Zaporozhzhia but was repelled by Russian troops. Russian media reported increased fire and assaults on positions in the region, while Ukrainian officials denied the claims. The success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is key to winning the war.

Meanwhile, the reported offensive comes days after the destruction of a large dam in the Russian-controlled area of southern Ukraine, the BBC reported. The Kakhovka dam is crucial for water supply and cooling purposes, serving communities downstream and a nuclear power station in Russian-controlled territory. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the affected areas, and the floodwaters are expected to peak soon. The consequences of the dam’s destruction include contaminated water, loss of agricultural land, and disruptions to water supplies in Russian-occupied Crimea. Both Russia and Ukraine have previously accused each other of plotting to sabotage the dam but no independent investigation is currently possible because of military activity in the vicinity. Engineering and munitions analysts suggested that the destruction resulted from an internal explosion, but the evidence is lacking, according to the New York Times. This incident adds to a series of attacks on dams in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, resulting in flooding and power disruptions.

Also this week:

• Russian occupying forces in Ukraine are being accused of employing starvation tactics on civilians, according to an investigation by international lawyers, CNBC wrote. The tactics include targeting food lines, agricultural harvests, and water infrastructure. The investigation detailed specific incidents, including strikes in areas where civilians gathered to receive humanitarian aid and food supplies. The lawyers believe these actions violate international humanitarian law. The Kremlin has denied the accusations.

• Germany is organizing the largest air deployment exercise in NATO’s history, aiming to showcase its military capabilities and deter potential adversaries like Russia, the Associated Press noted. The Air Defender 23 exercise will involve 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations, simulating a response to an attack on a NATO member country. The United States is contributing 2,000 Air National Guard personnel and around 100 aircraft. The exercise seeks to show the agility and swiftness of NATO forces and send a strong message of strength and unity to world leaders, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Iran has sold $1 million worth of weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to security sources and an alleged arms contract seen by Sky News. The document, dated Sept. 14, 2022, appears to outline the sale of artillery, tank shells, and rockets. While the authenticity of the document has not been independently verified, the source asserts that they believe it to be genuine. The Russian and Iranian embassies in the UK have not responded to requests for comment on the alleged arms deal or the documents’ authenticity. Both the Ukrainian government and UK officials have expressed their intention to investigate and take appropriate action if the report is found to be credible.

• Meanwhile, the Swiss parliament has rejected a proposal to exempt the transfer of arms to Ukraine. The majority of lawmakers voted against the proposal, known as the “Lex Ukraine,” which would have allowed other countries to supply Swiss-made war material to the country, according to Anadolu Agency. Swiss law prohibits support for countries engaged in acts of war. Germany and Spain had requested permission to supply Swiss-made ammunition and anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine, but opponents argued that such a move would violate Swiss neutrality and draw the country closer to NATO.

DISCOVERIES

The Chicken, the Egg

A new genetic experiment on chickens is helping scientists uncover clues about the bird’s evolutionary origins from dinosaurs, Live Science reported.

In their study, a research team wrote about how they were able to permanently change the scales on a chicken’s feet into feathers.

They used commercial broiler chicken embryos and specifically targeted the sonic hedgehog gene (Shh), which is responsible for the development of certain characteristics at the embryonic level.

The gene – named after the video game character – affects the development of fundamental parts, such as the spinal cord, limbs, and brain, but also scales and plumage.

Researchers then utilized a technique called “egg candling” to illuminate the blood vessels inside an egg using a light source. This allowed them to detect the suitable vessel to inject a molecule to trigger the activation of the Shh pathway into the developing embryo.

The newborn chicks displayed downy soft feathers on their feet that were comparable to the plumage covering the rest of their bodies, the team noted.

“The effect is really clear once they hatch,” said lead author Rory Cooper. “And the change lasts. Once the chickens develop the feathers, they don’t go back to having scales on the targeted area.”

Cooper and his colleagues noted that the findings could help scientists understand how the avian species evolved.

“In dinosaurs, feathers could have been used to regulate the animal’s internal temperature or as a colorful display,” said co-author Michel Milinkovitch. “By changing the expression of one gene, we were able to create a cascade of developmental effects that triggered feather growth, offering new insights into the evolution of these animals.”

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