The World Today for October 04, 2023

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NEED TO KNOW

Looking Outward

CANADA/ INDIA

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar recently said that his government was open to investigating any information that Canadian officials might produce in relation to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Vancouver in June.

Jaishankar’s announcement came more than a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament in Ottawa that Canadian intelligence suspected the Indian government of involvement in the assassination. As Reuters reported, Indian officials were furious, denied the allegations,  and in response suspended new visas for Canadians. They also asked Trudeau to pull 41 diplomats from India for their own safety as anti-Canadian sentiment swept through the subcontinent, the Financial Times reported.

“A mood of obstinance has echoed across India after the allegations from Canada,” said a caption for a photo in the Guardian depicting Indian men burning the Canadian flag. The men wear orange-yellow scarves that could be associated with the far-right Hindutva movement, an important part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political base, as CNN explained.

Jaishankar claimed that Sikh activists like Nijjar, who seek to carve a new, sovereign Sikh-majority country out of India’s Punjab state called Khalistan, also run criminal organizations in Canada. But while they agree on designating groups like al Qaeda or the Islamic State as terrorists, India has failed to persuade the Canadian and other Western governments that Nijjar and others like him are dangerous, wrote National Public Radio.

The Sikh insurgency peaked in the 1980s in Punjab, the community’s homeland. The Indian military quelled the movement. Today, reported the BBC, the conflict has “little resonance” in India, but is still a vivid memory in Sikh diaspora communities in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Members of the Canadian community have expressed their support for Trudeau, Al Jazeera noted.

Trudeau has sought to mend the rift, saying that India is an important partner. But the crisis in relations between these two major democracies has exposed Canada’s weak hand, argued Danielle Goldfarb, a global fellow at the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute.

If Modi did order the killing of someone on Canadian soil, Goldfarb wrote, he did so as the emboldened leader of a country whose geopolitical importance is growing, especially as a potential American ally and counterweight to China. The US and the rest of the West, furthermore, have been largely silent during the crisis, added Foreign Policy magazine, suggesting that they either don’t want to harm their new ties with India – or can tolerate undermining relations with Canada.

These are the growing pains as the world’s largest democracy turns outward.

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

S.O.S.

HAITI

The United Nations Security Council approved the deployment of an armed multinational force to Haiti, as the battered Caribbean country grapples with out-of-control violence from criminal gangs and a years-long political crisis, CNN reported.

Thirteen members of the Security Council voted in favor of a resolution, with Russia and China abstaining from the vote.

Under the resolution, a “multinational security support” force led by Kenya will be sent to Haiti for a 12-month mission. The force will not be under formal UN control, however.

The armed troops will try to help get the dire security situation under control and strengthen the Haitian National Police’s efforts to rein in criminal gangs.

The resolution also calls for a global stop to weapons sales to Haiti, except for approved security purposes.

The Haitian government and UN diplomats hailed the decision, saying the mission “speaks to the UN’s ability to galvanize collective action.”

It’s unclear when the force will be deployed, but the Security Council’s decision follows repeated calls by Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry for international support in tackling Haiti’s rising insecurity.

Warring gangs control much of the capital Port-au-Prince, and have forced around 200,000 people to flee their homes because of murders, kidnappings, and rape.

The prime minister has also warned that nearly five million Haitians are struggling to survive amid soaring inflation.

Despite international support, critics have expressed skepticism of the mission, citing past UN peacekeeping scandals in Haiti, including sexual abuse and a cholera outbreak.

Some also question Henry’s mandate: He took over the leadership following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

The prime minister has said Haiti needs better security before holding elections, which are long overdue.

The Standoff

TUNISIA

Tunisian President Kais Saied rejected financial aid from the European Union, a move that could undermine a deal between Tunisia and the bloc to stop illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, Reuters reported.

Last month, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, announced it would send $133 million in aid to Tunisia as part of a deal on immigration agreed to in July.

The deal includes measures on combating human traffickers and tightening borders and also a pledge of more than $1 billion in aid to help Tunisia’s battered economy, as well as implement measures to stem migration.

But Saied said Monday that Tunisia would reject the Commission’s aid “not because of the small amount … but because the proposal conflicts with the memorandum of understanding signed in July.”

Reuters said the smaller-than-promised payouts have frustrated the Tunisian government as it struggles to improve public finances. Credit rating agencies have also warned that the government could default on foreign debt in the coming months.

Saied’s comments come amid recent disputes between Tunisia and the EU in regard to the agreement and migration.

Tunisia recently postponed a European Commission delegation’s visit to discuss the deal and denied entry to five members of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee due to concerns about political interference.

Some European nations, including Germany, have also expressed opposition against the agreement, saying that it fails to address human rights concerns and the turgid political situation in Tunisia following Saied’s assumption of power, his dissolution of the Tunisian parliament, and his continued rule by decree.

Brooms and Ballots

SEYCHELLES

Seychelles authorities charged the country’s main opposition leader Patrick Herminie with witchcraft this week, a move that the politician described as a “political show” to tarnish his image ahead of the 2025 elections, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Police said Herminie, leader of the United Seychelles Party (USP),  and seven others face a number of charges, including possession of items intended for use in witchcraft and conspiracy to perform witchcraft.

Officials said the case is related to the discovery of two bodies exhumed from a cemetery on the island of Mahé.

A magistrates’ court freed Herminie and six others on bail, but ordered a Tanzanian suspect to remain in custody until a following court appearance in November.

Herminie, who previously served as the speaker of Seychelles’ parliament between 2007 and 2016, rejected the allegations.

He told local media that more than 40 officers raided the USP’s offices in the capital last week to search for items related to witchcraft. Herminie added that he doesn’t believe in witchcraft.

He accused the government of President Wavel Ramkalawan of being behind the raid in order to “eliminate those who he knows will remove him from power in the 2025 elections.”

The opposition leader is planning to run in the upcoming presidential election.

DISCOVERIES

Out of Nothing, Something

A new archaeological finding in Zambia showed that the ancestors of modern humans were very capable engineers, Agence France-Presse reported.

Archaeologists recently discovered the oldest known wooden structure near Zambia’s Kalambo Falls, and is estimated to have been created around 476,000 years ago.

In their study, researchers wrote that they initially found the structure four years ago above a 770-foot waterfall on the banks of Zambia’s Kalambo River.

The prehistoric structure was made from the logs of a large-fruited willow tree and possibly serves as a platform for various functions, such as storing firewood, tools and food. It could have also been the foundation of a dwelling, researchers said.

The site also had a trove of numerous wooden tools dating from that period, but no skeletal remains of its inhabitants.

The finding not only sets a new record for the oldest wooden structure in the world, but also sheds some new light on the prehistoric human ancestors in those areas.

Fossil records have shown that the extinct Homo heidelbergensis inhabited the region. The ancient hominins lived between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago and are known for their large brows, and having had a bigger braincase and a flatter face than earlier human species.

Lead author Larry Barham believes that H. heidelbergensis were the creators of this structure, which suggests that these species were way more intelligent than scientists had previously given them credit for.

He said the creation of such a structure implies a high level of skill, planning, and tool usage. This also suggests that early humans may have stayed in one location for extended periods, challenging the notion that they were solely nomadic.

“They used their intelligence, imagination and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed,” he added.

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