The World Today for August 10, 2023

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On the Side of Life

COLOMBIA

Pablo Beltran recently visited Bogota, the capital of his native country Colombia, for the first time in 31 years. Beltran is a leader in the National Liberation Army – known by its Spanish acronym ELN – a Marxist guerilla group. He has been living in Cuba since peace talks between the Colombian government and the ELN broke down in 2019 after the guerrillas detonated a car bomb at the Bogota police academy, killing 20 people, Agence France-Presse reported.

Good news precipitated Beltran’s return. He was in the capital to sign a six-month ceasefire with Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The deal was a major step in ending nearly 60 years of conflict between the country’s central government and rebels who operate in Colombia’s remote interior regions, the New York Times wrote.

Around 450,000 people have perished in the ongoing violence. In 2016, officials reached a separate agreement with another rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). “Everyone who really wants to transform this society, in today’s world, must be on the side of life,” said Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, at an event to mark the start of the ceasefire, according to the Associated Press.

Problematic signs are already appearing, though. The ELN has decentralized leadership, for example. While some factions have signed up to the ceasefire, others aren’t so sure about it.

ELN leader Aureliano Carbonell said that the guerrilla group’s revenue-generating activities would not stop. They allegedly include kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, and illegal mining. “Financing activities continue,” Carbonell told the Reuters news agency. “This process cannot weaken the organization.”

Other rebel groups are also still active in Colombia. Earlier this year, officials stopped negotiating with the Clan del Golfo, sometimes called the Gaitanista Self-defense Force of Colombia, because the group allegedly helped unlicensed miners organize violent protests. Officials are also supposed to start talks with the Estado Mayor Central, a FARC faction, but they have yet to begin.

Additionally, the ceasefire only pertains to fighting between ELN fighters and government troops, not any violence among ELN fighters and other rebels or criminal groups, added Al Jazeera. No matter who the belligerents are, if serious fighting breaks out, the ceasefire could collapse.

Petro faces problems, too, that could erode his government’s capacity to maintain the peace. Petro’s son, Nicolas, recently told prosecutors that his father received funding of “dubious origin” in his 2022 election campaign. Nicolas, a lawmaker, is facing charges of illicit enrichment and money laundering, the Associated Press reported separately.

For now, though, score one for peace.

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

About-Face

ITALY

The Italian government’s imposition of a one-off 40 percent windfall tax on its banking sector, to help first-time homebuyers and cut taxes for families and businesses, caused chaos in the European markets, CNN reported Wednesday.

The announcement of the tax, which came earlier this week, caused shares in a number of banks throughout Italy and across Europe to plummet, wiping out nearly $10 billion from the market capitalization of the Italian banking sector, according to CNBC.

The shock prompted the government to backtrack on its plan, with officials saying that the levy would be capped at no more than 0.1 percent of a lender’s total assets “in order to safeguard the stability of the banks.”

Italian and European bank shares rebounded Wednesday following the government’s reversal.

Analysts told CNBC that the government expected “to raise more than $3 billion in tax but then the market realized that the numbers didn’t add up.”

They added, however, that the chaos created by the announcement would not have a lasting negative impact on market sentiment toward Italy’s banking sector.

In the past year, other European countries, such as Spain and the Czech Republic, have announced taxes on banks’ windfall profits as interest rate hikes by central banks have beefed up many lenders’ earnings.

Wheeling and Dealing

THE AMAZON

Eight countries that share the Amazon rainforest agreed on “principles” to protect the region – but failed to reach a concrete deal to end deforestation, the Voice of America reported Wednesday.

The “Belem Declaration” came during a summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) in the Brazilian city of Belem, the first gathering since 2009 for the 28-year-old group.

Following a two-day meeting, ACTO members pledged to cooperate in tackling illegal activities in the rainforest that are contributing to deforestation, and otherwise promote sustainable development.

The nations’ leaders also vowed to protect the rights of the Amazon’s Indigenous peoples and agreed to cooperate on water management, health, and common negotiating positions at climate summits, Reuters wrote.

But the declaration did not include Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s call to end illegal deforestation by 2030, nor an appeal by his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, to end all oil exploration in the Amazon.

Petro’s demand in particular put the Brazilian leader in a difficult position, as Brazil’s state-owned oil company has been trying to develop new oil drilling platforms at the mouth of the Amazon.

More than 10 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been lost in recent decades because of cattle ranching, mining, logging, and oil drilling.

The majority of the rainforest lies in Brazil: Known as the ‘Earth’s lungs,’ it is crucial for carbon absorption to combat the effects of climate change.

Scientists warned that a loss of up to 25 percent of the Amazon would be a “tipping point” that would transform it into a source of carbon emissions.

Observers noted that the summit also served as a practice run for the United Nations climate conference, COP 30, set to take place in Belem in 2025.

The Big Reveal

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland authorities launched an investigation Wednesday into a data leak that released the private details of police officers online, sparking concerns for their safety, Euronews reported.

On Tuesday, a document detailing the names and ranks of thousands of police officers appeared online after police mistakenly posted it while responding to a routine request under the United Kingdom’s Freedom of Information Act.

Police officials said the leaked data included staff members’ place of work, last names, and first initials, but not their home addresses.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Federation, Liam Kelly, described the data leak as “monumental.” “Our officers go to great lengths to protect their identity,” he said. “Some of them don’t even tell their close friends and associates.”

The leak came just months after the attempted assassination of police officer John Caldwell by dissident Irish Republicans, an attack that raised the terrorist threat level in the province.

Police in Northern Ireland still face violence, although far less than officers did during the three decades of conflict between British loyalists and Irish republican paramilitaries known as “The Troubles”, which officially ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

DISCOVERIES

Ancient Do-Overs

A new study recently discovered evidence of errors and revisions by ancient Egyptian artists as they created their detailed artwork, Discover Magazine reported.

Ancient Egyptians used a variety of compounds for their colors, such as the iron-based hematite for red and a calcium–copper silicate for Egyptian blue. While the precise production process is unknown, it is believed artists started with a red ochre sketch, added background and some final colors, and finished with red ochre outlines and a clean-up.

An international research team analyzed two paintings from two separate tombs using a macro X-ray fluorescence imaging (XRF) machine. The tool analyzes the chemical layers on the paintings’ surface to detect the color the early painters used.

The first painting was in the tomb of Menna, an official under Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The artwork depicted Menna and his wife worshipping Osiris, the god of fertility, agriculture, and the afterlife.

The researchers used the XRF and found that one of Menna’s arms was painted on top of the other – making for the quickest possible do-over. They added that the changes were made soon after the tomb’s initial decoration, but they are not sure why the painter made this alteration.

For the second painting, scientists looked at the tomb of Nakhtamun, chief of the altar for the mortuary tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses II. Using XFR, they found that the painters had re-outfitted a picture of Ramesses II with a different crown, scepter, and necklace.

The authors believe this was a case of historical inaccuracy on the artists’ part: Nakhtamun’s tomb, constructed long after Ramesses’ reign, contained an unintentional depiction of the ruler in the fashions of the 20th dynasty. Upon discovery of the mistake, an artisan was asked to redo the artwork to align the attire with Ramesses’ 19th dynasty.

It seems even ancient Egyptian painters got do-overs.

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