The World Today for August 09, 2024

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Human Shields

RUSSIA

The return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and other foreign prisoners in Russian custody in the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War ended the latest round of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “hostage diplomacy.”

Defined in World Politics Review as “the arbitrary detention of foreigners in order to gain diplomatic leverage,” hostage diplomacy – which dates to ancient times – is these days arguably the natural consequence of autocratic regimes like those in Russia, China and Iran, whose leaders will leverage every possible manner of exerting control both abroad and at home.

As M. Gessen wrote in the New York Times in a story describing the history and insider negotiations that produced the swap, the Russian judicial system is designed to take hostages that might prove valuable to the Russian state in the future. Russian law makes people into bargaining chips. The Palestinian terror group Hamas has employed the tactic, too, of course, kidnapping Israelis on Oct. 7 to complicate the response.

Under the terms of the swap – one of the biggest in history – Russia freed 16 Americans, Germans and Russians in exchange for eight Russians in the United States, Germany, and other countries, the Washington Post reported.

Besides Gershkovich and Whelan, the prisoners freed from Russia include Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who broke rules about writing about the Russian military, Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, and opposition movement leader Ilya Yashin, the BBC wrote.

After her release, Kurmasheva told CNN that she felt like she was “finally being treated as a human being … I’ve been waking up from that nightmare.” But Yashin was critical of the swap, noted Politico. He did not want to leave Russia. His liberation was a way for Putin to exile him from the country. Germany has agreed never to send Yashin back to his homeland.

“What happened on Aug. 1 I don’t view as a prisoner swap … but as my illegal expulsion from Russia against my will, and I say sincerely, more than anything I want now to go back home,” Yashin said in an emotional press conference in the German city of Bonn, Reuters reported.

Controversially, one of the freed Russians in Western custody was a spy who assassinated a Georgian, who had been fighting Russian troops in Chechnya, in a Berlin park in the middle of the day, added the Associated Press. As a result, the Las Vegas Review-Journal described the deal as “bittersweet.”

As both sides played up the victory, some believe the real losers are those in democracies, even when they get their citizens back.

That’s because the playing field is skewed, and democracies are particularly vulnerable, wrote the Wall Street Journal, calling it an asymmetric advantage for authoritarian states that currently hold hundreds of US and European citizens – for political reasons, and political leverage. “Countries with rule of law and independent judiciaries cannot just order tit-for-tat reprisals, grabbing similar hostages in return. They’re also constrained in what they can do to ban (the) travel of their own citizens to adversary nations.”

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

The Fugitive

SPAIN

Former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain Thursday after seven years of self-imposed exile, defying a pending arrest warrant and kicking off a national manhunt to apprehend him, CNBC News reported Thursday.

Puigdemont left Spain in 2017 after an unsuccessful referendum to secure independence for the Catalonia region, which Spanish officials deemed unconstitutional.

However, he made a public appearance in the regional capital of Barcelona on Thursday, where he told a crowd of supporters that holding a referendum “was not, is not, and will never be a crime.”

Despite a heavy police presence, he managed to vanish into the crowd, prompting authorities to launch “Operation Cage” to capture him. Police have set up roadblocks and are searching multiple locations, including sewers and zoos, Sky News noted.

The 61-year-old separatist leader, meanwhile, has used social media to taunt law enforcement forces, mocking the police operation and even claiming he was inside the Catalan parliament’s walls.

Puigdemont’s return coincides with the regional parliamentary session for the investiture of Salvador Illa as Catalonia’s new president. Illa’s platform secured the largest share in the Catalan elections in May, beating Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya party.

In anticipation of Puigdemont’s arrival, the regional police limited access to the Catalan parliament and deployed additional officers to secure the premises.

His reappearance also sparked criticism from some Spanish politicians, including Ignacio Garriga of the far-right Vox party, who called it “a real embarrassment and an international shame promoted and allowed by the government of the nation.”

Commentators said the former leader’s return could represent both a challenge and a potential opportunity for Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Sánchez’s ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party relies on the support of the Junts party for a parliamentary majority and the prime minister has sought to mend relations with Catalonia.

In May, the Spanish parliament narrowly passed an amnesty law that nullified charges against many separatist figures involved in the 2017 referendum.

However, the country’s supreme court ruled last month that this amnesty does not apply to an embezzlement charge against Puigdemont and upheld an arrest warrant against him.

Fear, Revived

JAPAN

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu Thursday, prompting authorities to issue tsunami alerts and its first-ever warning of a “megaquake” from a nearby submarine trough, the Washington Post reported.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the quake occurred at a depth of nearly 19 miles, far beneath the ocean floor, and was felt in the city of Nichinan and nearby areas. Officials reported at least nine people were injured, but there were no reports of serious damage or fatalities.

The JMA issued a tsunami alert with an expected height of 3.3 feet but cautioned that waves could grow rapidly. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged residents to remain prepared for potential evacuations and emphasized the government’s high alert status, the New York Times added.

Japan Rail suspended bullet train services as a precaution. Meanwhile, the Kyushu Electric Power Company confirmed that nuclear power plants in the region were operating normally.

Amid fears of tsunamis, the JMA warned of a potential “Nankai Trough megaquake” after a probe into the Thursday quake’s links to the subsea trough. It added that the possibility of a large-scale earthquake occurring in the trough is now considered “relatively higher than usual” for the following week.

Earthquakes in the Nankai Trough occur approximately every 100-150 years. The last one was in December 1946, with a magnitude 8.1 quake killing more than 1,300 people and causing widespread damage.

In January, Japan’s Earthquake Research Committee estimated a 70 to 80 percent chance of a magnitude 8.0 to 9.0 earthquake occurring in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years.

Japan is highly prone to earthquakes because it sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The country records about 1,500 earthquakes annually that are felt by people.

Memories of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths and a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, remain vivid to many Japanese. So do the 2004 earthquake that led to the Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed as many as 230,000 people across 14 countries.

Elsewhere, in Canada, the US-based National Tsunami Warning Center reported no tsunami threats for British Columbia following Thursday’s earthquake, the Canadian Press wrote.

Facing the Light

CHAD

Chad’s military is responsible for the deaths of detainees who were arrested following the October 2022 anti-government demonstrations, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which details the abuse and poor conditions protesters faced in one of the country’s most dangerous prisons, the Associated Press reported.

The 77-page report documented the detentions of hundreds of people who were arrested after the demonstrations amid unprecedented protests in the repressive Sahel country.

Thousands of Chadians took to the streets to demonstrate against then-interim leader Mahamat Déby Itno’s decision to extend his rule for two more years. Déby Itno seized power in 2021 shortly after the assassination of his father, Idriss Déby, who had ruled Chad for more than three decades.

The government launched a brutal crackdown that caused at least 60 deaths along with hundreds of protesters arrested and sent to Koro Toro prison.

HRW said the prison is located more than 370 miles from the capital N’Djamena and was initially designed for “violent extremists.” Its remote location and lack of cell phone reception make it difficult for detainees to communicate with families or lawyers.

According to the report, at least four individuals died during the transport to Koro Toro and six others died at the facility. One additional death occurred either en route or at the prison, but the actual toll is likely to be higher.

The organization also underscored the unlawful detention, mistreatment and denial of basic amenities that prisoners faced. Although under the military’s supervision, day-to-day administration was reportedly handled by prisoners linked to the Islamist group Boko Haram, who punished and beat other inmates.

HRW proposed a series of recommendations, including the closure of one of the main buildings in the detention facility because of its unfit conditions and the release of individuals held without charge.

Chadian officials have labeled the 2022 demonstrations as an insurrection, but claimed that there was there was “no evidence relating to the violation of human rights related to (the) transfer or detention in Koro Toro prison.”

Chad is part of an African region that has experienced numerous military coups in recent years.

The current president, Déby Itno, was elected in May in a vote that was long overdue and overshadowed by allegations of suppressing political opponents, which the authorities have denied.

DISCOVERIES

A Metal Smile

The bite of a Komodo dragon is something to be feared.

Apart from being venomous, the monitor lizard species sports curved teeth with serrated edges that can cut through a prey’s flesh like butter.

Now, a new study found that those gnashers are coated in iron.

Study leader Aaron LeBlanc discovered this unique feature while researching the dentures of flesh-eating dinosaurs.

Although not a direct descendant of dinosaurs, Komodo dragons share some similarities with the extinct giant lizards, such as long, curved, jagged teeth.

LeBlanc was reviewing the dragon’s teeth when he noticed an orange tinge along the serrated edges, which he initially dismissed as stains from feeding.

But further analysis showed that it was an iron coating located within a thin layer of enamel – the protective, white outer cover seen in most animal teeth.

The team explained that this iron provides extra protection on the cutting edges and tips of the teeth, as well as acts as a barrier against acidic digestive juices, according to New Scientist.

Gnawing animals, such as beavers, rats and shrews have iron in their teeth, which toughens their bite. But scientists have long believed that reptiles don’t pack any iron because they tend to shed and grow new teeth.

“We’ve never seen iron in reptile teeth, which is very interesting,” co-author Domenic D’Amore told National Geographic.

Crocodilians – including crocodiles and alligators – can concentrate iron in their tooth enamel, but don’t have iron-rich caps like the Komodo.

Meanwhile, the paper also raises questions about whether ancient reptilians and some dinosaurs had similar adaptions, although the fossilization process could have destroyed the iron signal in their teeth.

“(The study) tells us that reptiles still hold a lot of surprises,” LeBlanc told National Geographic. “It’s leading down a whole new avenue of research.”

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