Russia: At least 15 dead, five missing after illegal dam breaks in Siberia

Clara Weiss

A dam collapse Saturday in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia unleashed a flood of water that killed at least 15 people, most of them gold miners, with another five still missing.

The collapse came at 6 a.m. local time, releasing flood waters, carrying clay, stones and dirt, that swept away poorly constructed shelters in which between 74 and 80 miners were living at the time. Besides the dead and missing, another 26 workers were injured and hospitalized, three of them in serious condition.

Since the mine was over 260 kilometers from the next town, it took a long time for rescue and medical teams to arrive. Hundreds of people were involved in cleaning up the site of the disaster. The dam that broke was one out of four dams that were illegally constructed in this area to facilitate the mining of gold in the river.

Both the dam and the construction of the shelters for the workers on the Seiba River near the village of Shchetikino were in flagrant violation of Russian law and basic safety measures. The liberal Novaya Gazeta reported that the plans for the dam were never reviewed, let alone approved, by the regulatory agencies.

However, it is highly likely that the regulatory agency Rostekhnadzor did not in fact want to know about the existence of the dam. The newspaper pointed out that all four dams had a height of 5 to 10 meters and were widely visible from afar as well as on satellite images.

Residents of surrounding villages had been complaining for months about the gold mining works which, among other things, have led to heavy pollution of the rivers. Moreover, there had been several dam collapses in the recent past. One possible explanation for the dam collapse is that it followed an earlier collapse of another dam farther up the river.

The construction of the shelters was likewise illegal. They stood downstream from the dams, making it inevitable they would be flooded completely in the case of collapse. The deputy head of the regional ministry of emergencies told Novaya Gazeta: “When the dam started to collapse because of the rain, the water flooded in the direction of the dwellings of the gold miners. Everything [bad] that could happen did happen.”

An investigation has been initiated into the causes of the disaster. According to the latest reports, the main theory considered by the investigation is that serious violations of the rules of the conduct of the gold mining work caused the dam to collapse. The head of the company that owns the gold mine, Sisim, and the head of the company’s mining department were arrested. The offices of the company have been raided. Sisim is part of the Sibzolot holding, one of the biggest gold mining companies in Russia. It has been fined repeatedly for illegal extraction practices in the past.

The Kremlin has promised the families of the dead miners a miserable compensation payment of 1 million rubles (roughly $15,660) per dead miner.

Whatever the immediate causes of the disaster, it lays bare the blatant criminality with which private companies operate in Russia, while enjoying the tacit consent of the state. It is the latest in a series of disasters that were entirely preventable and, ultimately, qualify as social murder.

The restoration of capitalism in the USSR was carried out by the Stalinist bureaucracy and openly criminal elements, which merged into a new ruling oligarchy that has based its vast fortunes on a combination of open plunder of social wealth, ruthless exploitation of the working class and mafia-like operations carried out, more often than not, in tandem with the state and government.

The virtual absence of any kind of safety measures and regulations of workplaces and locations where large crowds gather has been the direct result of this counterrevolution. Workplace accidents and major fires in clubs, shopping malls and residential houses are a regular occurrence in Russia and throughout the former Soviet Union, and have claimed thousands of lives since 1991.

Most recently, a horrific fire in a shopping mall in March 2018 in Kemerovo claimed the lives of 64 people, many of them children. The region of Kemerovo has historically been a major centre for the mining industry and is directly adjacent to the Krasnoyarsk region where the dam broke. As was the case with this dam and the shelters for the miners, the company overseeing the construction of the shopping mall disregarded basic safety measures.

Like Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk is an important mining region. In particular, it is the centre for the extraction and production of aluminum in Russia and home to large sections of the country’s impoverished industrial working class.

In 2018, the average monthly income in the Krasnoyarsk region was 27,853 rubles per month ($436) but large sections of the population live on much less. In 2017, 15.7 percent of the population brought home between 14,000-19,000 rubles a month ($219-$300), 19.2 percent earned an average of 19,000 to 27,000 rubles a month ($300-$423) and 22.4 percent earned an average of 27,000-45,000 ($423-$704). Only 15.4 percent of the population earned over $704 a month and only 7.8 percent more than $940.

Workers in Lebanon reject tax hikes, demand the government’s resignation

Jean Shaoul

Five days of mass protests—the largest since 2005—over the government’s attempts to place the full burden of the international banks’ demands on the working class have rocked Lebanon. Demonstrators have demanded the government’s resignation and an end to the corruption that pervades every aspect of life in the country.

The protests, which are uniting workers across religious affiliations despite the confusion deliberately generated by Lebanon’s division for electoral purposes into 18 officially recognised sects, have reached almost every city and province. They are part of a broader upsurge in the class struggle that is taking place all over the world and testifies to the primacy of class over ethnicity, nationality and religion.

On Saturday, there were sympathy protests of more than 1,300 people outside the Lebanese embassy in London, with similar protests taking place in the United States in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, Dearborn, Houston, Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, North Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota, and Florida.

On Thursday, workers took to the streets of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, and the northern port city of Tripoli, which is the bastion of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement. They blocked the roads to demand the end of the government’s proposal to levy a $6 per month charge on WhatsApp and other Internet-based telephone calls. In a country where telephone charges are among the highest in the world, the proposed tax was the last straw.

As in earlier protests this year, public anger has been fueled by longtime hardships that include 37 percent youth unemployment, low wages, the soaring cost of living and dollar shortage. This has been compounded by the government’s tax hikes and austerity measures, the non-functioning of the electricity and water sectors, and fury over the corruption that is endemic throughout Lebanon’s political and economic life. According to the World Bank, more than a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.

All this has only served to enrich Lebanon’s financial elite who benefit from the country’s status as a tax haven for the rich. Just 1 percent of the people own 58 percent of Lebanon’s wealth, while the poorest own less than 1 percent. More than 14 million Lebanese currently live outside the country, more than double the country’s current population of just 6 million.

Police were deployed en masse to crack down on the protests. They used massive force, including tear gas and water cannon, to disperse the mainly peaceful crowds, leading to angry clashes between protestors and police. More than 60 people were injured the first day and 52 the second day. Two Syrian workers died as a result of smoke from a fire near the demonstrations. Scores of people were arrested, with most released the following day.

The government’s use of the security forces and their equipment to put down civil unrest—as was widely noted—was in stark contrast to its inability to cope with the more than 100 forest fires that broke out across the country just days earlier. Then, the government was forced to call for help from neighbouring countries to put out the fires. Its own firefighting helicopters, bought at a cost of £13.9 million, were out of action, due to a lack of maintenance.

Faced with mass opposition, the government—fearing the protests could further destabilise the country, whose economy is staring into the abyss—swiftly backtracked. But the protests, reflecting pent-up anger and deep-seated grievances, only escalated.

On Friday, demonstrators began to call not just for Hariri’s resignation but the resignation of the entire government, saying they would stay out on the streets until the government resigned. They shouted slogans such as “We are one people united against the state. We want it to fall” and “Revolution, revolution!”

The government ordered the closure of all schools and banks because of the demonstrations.

Government posts are distributed to key political dynasties, billionaires and key members of Lebanon’s sects, which, entrenched in power since the end of Lebanon’s 15-year-long civil war in 1990, refuse to surrender the rewards of cronyism and patronage.

As well as anti-government demonstrations in Tripoli, protesters in the southern Shi’ite city of Nabatiyeh tore down posters of Nabil Berri, speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and head of the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement, denouncing him as a thief. According to eye-witnesses, Berri’s supporters responded by attacking protesters in the southern port city of Tyre on Saturday.

Demonstrators blocked roads throughout the country, including in the Beka’a Valley, a predominantly Shi’ite area. Hariri’s government depends on Hezbollah’s support for its survival. Protesters also targeted Christian President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law and foreign minister, Jebran Bassil, for the country’s systemic corruption.

By Saturday, downtown Beirut looked like a war zone, with the streets littered with broken glass, upturned litter bins and burning tires, and banks and many shops and restaurants shuttered, and the main airport blocked by demonstrators.

Hariri demanded that unless his fractious coalition agreed on his budget proposals without imposing new taxes within 72 hours, he would resign. On Saturday, four government ministers from the Christian Lebanese Forces party, including the labour minister, social affairs minister and deputy prime minister, resigned.

The following day, the remaining factions announced that they had agreed on a final budget that did not include any additional taxes or fees. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah emerged as a key government supporter, warning that any change in government would only worsen the situation, since it could take a long time to form a new government and solve the crisis.

But none of this impressed the Lebanese people. Yesterday, the main labour union declared a general strike, and banks, businesses, schools and universities remained closed as the cabinet agreed on a long-stalled 2020 budget. It includes halving current and former politicians’ salaries and benefits and requires the central bank and private banks to contribute $3.3 billion to a “near-zero deficit” for the 2020 budget.

Protesters said this was not enough and demanded the government resign.

The protests follow earlier mass protests in May over budget proposals to cut public sector wages, pensions and benefits, as Hariri’s fragile government sought to put together an austerity budget aimed at slashing state expenditure and reducing the budget deficit.

Lebanon has a national debt of $86 billion—at 150 percent of GDP, this is one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world. The debt was recently reduced to junk-bond status by the credit ratings agencies. Lebanon must satisfy onerous economic and fiscal conditions if it is to access the $11 billion in loans pledged at the CEDRE conference in Paris last year.

On September 2, Hariri declared a state of economic emergency and vowed to speed up “financial reforms”—tax hikes and austerity measures to be borne by the working class—including a freeze on public sector hirings, the closure of loss-making public enterprises and the few remaining public services, ending of $2 billion worth of subsidies to the country’s barely functioning electricity sector, and further privatisations, including the telecoms sector.

Last month, gas stations and companies that import and distribute petroleum-based products staged strikes, leading to long lines of vehicles at petrol stations. This came in the wake of the refusal by Lebanese banks to supply dollars to their clients, including the gas importers and distributors, wheat millers and telecoms firms—in order to preserve the financial institutions’ hard currency reserves—forcing companies to buy dollars at a higher rate from currency exchange offices.

The dollar shortage is the result of the decline in the central bank’s foreign currency reserves, the reduction in remittances from Lebanon’s diaspora, falling foreign investment, particularly from the Gulf, and rising balance of payments deficits as imports far exceed exports.

In addition, the country’s economy has been particularly badly hit by the US-driven war for regime change in Syria, with whom Lebanon—once part of Syria until the post-World War I carve-up of the region by Britain and France—has historically had close family, social and economic relations. This has turned Lebanon into a proxy battleground for influence in the region between the imperialist powers and rival regional states, with the result that no political event in Lebanon can be understood as a purely domestic issue.

These events bring fresh confirmation that the bourgeoisie in Lebanon, reliant as it is upon the major imperialist and regional powers, as in all the former colonial countries, is incapable of securing workers’ entirely legitimate aspirations for economic security.

The only progressive solution is for the workers to bring down the political establishment, expropriate the billionaires that run the country and transform the key sectors of the economy into public utilities. The Lebanese protesters can only achieve their fundamental aims through the revolutionary mobilisation of the working class in a broader struggle with their class brothers and sisters in the region against capitalism and imperialism and for socialism.

Australian media companies protest government attacks on press freedom

Oscar Grenfell

Australia’s largest media companies launched a major public campaign yesterday against a government crackdown on press freedom. All of the country’s most prominent daily newspapers, including those owned by News Corp and Nine Entertainment, blacked-out their front-pages to protest government attacks on the media, including raids targeting journalists and the prosecution of whistleblowers.

The blacked-out covers of News Corp papers across the country

The campaign, titled “Your right to know,” follows Australian Federal Police raids in June targeting the Sydney headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the home of Annika Smethurst, a News Corp political editor.

Since these unprecedented operations, over stories exposing alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan and plans to expand domestic spying, Coalition government ministers have refused to rule out prosecution of the journalists involved.

The threat is a clear application by the government of the “Assange precedent.” The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London last April, and the unveiling in May of 17 US Espionage Act charges against him over lawful publishing activities, has opened the floodgates for an assault on journalists and media freedom around the world.

A press release by the campaign yesterday stated that it “shines a spotlight on the continued threats to media freedom, which hinder attempts to hold powerful people and organisations to account by intimidating and harshly punishing those who dare to speak out, often when they have nowhere else to turn.”

The front page of the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday

It explained: “The move aims to push the Federal Government into lifting its veil of secrecy. It follows the passing of about 75 laws related to secrecy and spying over the past two decades which effectively criminalise journalism and penalise whistleblowing, even when they reveal wrongdoing or important information about decisions the government is making.”

“Your right to know” television advertisements have pointed to the implications of the draconian legislation for ordinary people. They have noted that under various secrecy laws and regulations, whistleblowers are prevented from disclosing to journalists information ranging from abuses in aged-care facilities to government surveillance measures.

The ABC’s managing director David Anderson has warned that “Australia is at risk of becoming the world’s most secretive democracy.” Hugh Marks of Nine Entertainment stated: “This is much bigger than the media. It’s about defending the basic right of every Australian to be properly informed about the important decisions the government is making in their name.”

In articles and statements on Twitter, journalists have highlighted the oppressive conditions they face. The Australian’s national security editor Paul Malley, for instance, wrote: “I’d love to be able to tell you about my most recent experience reporting on a sensitive national security matter, but if I did I might end up in jail.”

The campaign has been launched amid a series of whistleblower prosecutions.

David McBride, a former military lawyer who leaked documents revealing Australian army illegality in Afghanistan, faces years in prison for violating secrecy offenses. Witness K, a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent, and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery are being prosecuted for detailing Australian spying on East Timor. Richard Boyle, an Australian Tax Office employee who blew the whistle on abuses of power, including aggressive debt collection practices, has been charged with 66 offenses.

The media corporations, along with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the union which covers journalists, are demanding a series of legislative changes.

These include the right to contest police warrants covering journalists and media organisations; public interest exemptions for journalists under security laws; whistleblower protections; new limitations of which documents governments can label as secret; a “properly functioning” freedom of information system and the easing of defamation laws.

The campaign expresses a groundswell of hostility among journalists to authoritarian measures aimed at suppressing evidence of government wrongdoing and muzzling the press.

The concerns of the media conglomerates are very different. For decades, they have functioned as partners of governments and the intelligence agencies, willingly suppressing information about a raft of “national security” issues, including Australia’s frontline role in the US confrontation with China and the persecution of Assange.

Their opposition to the government measures is based on fears that recent legislation could undermine their lucrative business models and open them up to costly and damaging legal actions. Many of the statements from the corporate publications have been plaintive appeals to restore the cosy, decades-long relationship between the establishment media and the authorities.

The tepid character of the official campaign was summed up by an editorial in the Age yesterday which declared that the publication was not “looking for an opportunity to put national security at risk.”

It stated: “The Age does not believe raids on journalists should be banned. But we argue police should make their case to a senior judge and any search warrant issued be deemed in the national interest.” The newspaper called only for the “right balance” to be struck between “transparency and common sense.”

For their part, senior opposition Labor MPs have cynically sought to exploit the campaign. At a parliamentary inquiry yesterday, Labor Senator Kristina Keneally waved copies of the blacked-out newspapers at representatives of the Australian Federal Police.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese made a pile of the papers in the House of Representatives. He tweeted that he was “Proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Australian journalists fighting to protect freedom of the press.”

Journalists and defenders of democratic rights should reject this posturing with the contempt that it deserves. Successive Labor governments have imposed draconian “national security” legislation, especially on the bogus pretext of the “war on terror.”

In opposition, Labor has given bipartisan support to a series of repressive laws. This included the passage, last year, of unprecedented foreign interference and espionage legislation.

Along with expanding jail terms for whistleblowers, the laws are explicitly aimed at creating the conditions for the prosecution of journalists. They make it a criminal offense to “deal with” information that “harms” “national security.” “Deal with” is defined to cover a long list of activities: “collect,” “possess,” “make a record of,” “copy,” “alter,” “conceal,” “communicate,” “publish” and “make available.”

The bipartisan crackdown also demonstrates the need for journalists to break the protracted silence of the Australian media over the persecution of Assange. In line with the support of the political establishment for the US-led vendetta against the WikiLeaks founder, the corporate publications have for many years blacked out information on his dire plight, while repeating the slanders concocted by the US intelligence agencies to discredit him.

In an opinion piece published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, Jennifer Robinson, one of Assange’s lawyers, outlined the direct relationship between the persecution of her client and the attacks on press freedom in Australia.

Robinson wrote that publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post had acknowledged that the US indictment against Assange “criminalises journalistic practices used by those newspapers to report in the public interest.”

The lawyer continued: “Not only has Australia refused to stand up for Assange and condemn this attack on free speech, the government has run with the precedent at home.

“There is no denying the parallels with the AFP raids on Australian journalists and the Assange indictment: both involve receipt and publication of classified information about Afghanistan, including evidence of possible US and Australian war crimes.”

Inquiry whitewashes Kiribati government over ferry disaster

John Braddock

A report compiled by a Commission of Inquiry investigating the 2018 ferry disaster in the Pacific state of Kiribati, in which 95 people perished, was finally released on October 2 after months of public pressure and growing anger. Only single copies were initially available at the office of the president, Taneti Maamau, and the national library. The restriction was criticised as secretive and undemocratic, with claims that time restrictions had been imposed along with a ban on copying, photographing and note-taking.

The document only became generally available, including to overseas media, on October 8. The report was originally submitted in September 2018, but the government declared that it would not be made public until a police investigation was completed.

The sinking of the MV Butiraoi, a double-hulled wooden catamaran, in January 2018 was the country’s worst disaster. The population was deeply shocked, with widespread criticism of authorities over the extraordinary tardiness of the rescue effort and demands for legal action against the operating company. The vessel, built for the government in 2010, was owned by the Abemama Island Council but leased to a company called TOKs Holding Co Ltd, which was responsible for maintenance and repair work.

The report whitewashes the Kiribati government and its agencies, which are absolved of any wrongdoing. It identifies no criminal culpability and makes no demands for prosecutions, sackings or resignations, including within the company.

The report makes clear the Butiraoi should never have been allowed to set sail. It was severely overloaded, unauthorised to carry passengers, had no emergency beacon, insufficient life jackets and its radio licence had expired—all of which made it unseaworthy. The boat had run aground three times previously, compromising its structural integrity, but had not been checked by marine authorities. It had no permission to sail, but did so anyway.

The Butiraoi departed the island of Nonouti on January 18 for the capital Tarawa, with over 100 passengers and crew, including 23 school students, and 29.5 tonnes of cargo. The 260 kilometre journey should have taken two days. It was not until seven days later that the company raised the alert, asking Nonouti’s mayor to mount a search and rescue operation.

President Maamau has consistently claimed the government was not aware the ferry was missing, even though a plane had reportedly searched for the ferry and found nothing as it lacked sophisticated radar equipment. After a series of meetings, a search-and-rescue operation was mounted by the Marine Division on 26 January, eight days after the sinking. An alarm was sent to the rescue coordination centre in New Zealand and a NZ Air Force Orion and two Australian aircraft were deployed, arriving on 27 January.

For the first time, the report reveals, in terrible detail, the circumstances surrounding the sinking and the fate of its victims. Most died from hunger, dehydration and hypothermia. One woman died while giving birth as the ferry sank.

The captain, who is not named in the report and who went down with the vessel, was warned on the day of departure of severe weather with swells up to three metres. However, the captain decided to set sail anyway without telling the marine guard at Nonouti.

After only 30 minutes at sea, the main cross beam holding the catamaran’s two hulls together failed. After three hours, the ferry collapsed in on itself, with the cabin and wheelhouse tumbling between the hulls. From there, panic ensued as the vessel sank rapidly.

The Butiraoi had only enough life jackets for 30 people. It was equipped with just two inflatable life rafts, which subsequently failed, and two aluminium dinghies. With passengers fighting and scrambling for their lives, no distress message was sent and an emergency locator beacon was either not activated or did not work.

About 30 survivors clinging to the dinghies drifted away into the open seas. They had little food and no water, and one by one started to perish. Seven people were finally spotted by the searching NZ Orion, frantically waving from one dinghy. The two crew and five passengers were the only survivors.

The commission blamed the ship’s operator and captain, saying the Butiraoi was not regularly maintained. In 2017, the report said, a locator beacon was borrowed from a pilot boat so as to pass an inspection. The captain and crew were under-qualified and should not have been in charge after the previous groundings. The captain was criticized for his lack of leadership, and emphasis was placed on the use of alcohol during working hours by crew members.

While making only general criticisms of the company’s lack of “procedures,” the report in fact blames the passengers for overloading the ferry. The operator had a debt to a local businessman and promised free passage to Nonouti people to pay it off. The report alleges the passengers “took advantage” to board in large numbers, and were “audacious… to the point of being virtually unstoppable by both master and crew.”

The government escaped any significant criticism. The report makes 15 hollow recommendations about tightening regulations, including ship-building guidelines and oversight, a reporting mechanism for damage, and code of ethics among seafarers. This is likely to remain a dead letter. The government failed to implement stricter maritime laws following a previous ferry sinking in 2009, which left 33 people dead.

Two groups—Tragedy that Affects Lives, composed of victims’ families, and Kiribati Citizens Against Corruption—are preparing lawsuits against the government. Ngatau Neneia, a NGO worker representing the latter group, said the case would centre on gross negligence: fewer people would have died if authorities had launched a search and rescue mission earlier. Australian and New Zealand legal firms have been approached, Neneia said, because local lawyers are seen as being “too close to the government.”

Such disasters in the Pacific are frequent, with similar sinkings in Tonga and Papua New Guinea in recent years. Responsibility rests not only with the private owners and government agencies that run the ferries or oversee their operations. The poor quality of transport services is bound up with a history of imperialist domination, exploitation and economic underdevelopment.

Kiribati, home to about 108,000 people, only became independent from Britain in 1979. The remote and impoverished nation has 33 atolls spread over 3.5 million square kilometres. From 1900 to 1980, Britain, New Zealand and Australia reaped huge profits from intensive phosphate mining on the country’s Banaba Island, which made it practically unlivable. Today, climate change and rising sea levels mean the country risks disappearing into the sea.

Chilean military deployed against protests for the first time since Pinochet

Andrea Lobo

For the first time since the fascist military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, tanks rolled into downtown Santiago, Chile, this weekend, deployed against protesters demonstrating against a drastic fare hike of the Santiago metro, from the equivalent of USD $1.12 to $1.16. Military personnel in plainclothes and uniform were filmed shooting machine guns and pointing them at crowds of demonstrators.

On Saturday, the right-wing government of billionaire Sebastián Piñera invoked the still-standing 1980 Constitution established by Pinochet to declare a state of emergency across the country and to impose curfews in Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepción, enforced by 9,441 soldiers and thousands of Carabineros, the infamous militarized police. The main border crossing with Argentina was also blocked throughout the weekend.

The seamless imposition of these dictatorial measures by the Chilean ruling class, with the backing of US and European imperialism, exposes the sham of a “transition to democracy” in which the basic political and military set-up under Pinochet remain untouched under the “Concertación” governments led by the Social Democrats and Stalinists that ruled the country for 25 of the last 30 years.

A demonstrator holds up his hands toward advancing soldiers during a protest as a state of emergency remains in effect in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019. Protests in the country have spilled over into a new day, even after President Sebastian Pinera cancelled the subway fare hike that prompted massive and violent demonstrations. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

The international character of this process, reflected concurrently in the fascistic repression against the Catalan nationalists by a Social Democratic government in Spain and the military crackdown in Ecuador, demonstrates that the ruling class everywhere is responding to the crisis of capitalism and the resurgence of the class struggle with a return to dictatorship to impose the economic diktats of finance capital.

The metro rate hike, which was announced in early October, led youth and workers via social media to call for rallies last Monday. Users jumped over turnstiles en masse, meeting brutal police repression. On Friday, these demonstrations sparked mass social anger against growing inequality and triggered protests for broader social demands.

Expressing these sentiments, Alejandra Ibánez, a 38-year-old demonstrator, told AFP: “I don’t like the violence or that some people break things, but all of a sudden these things have to happen so that they stop mocking us and stuffing their fingers in our mouths, raising everything but salaries, and all of this to make the rich in the country richer.”

On Friday, demonstrations grew and shut down all 136 stations of the Santiago metro system. Dozens of stations were lit on fire, as was the headquarters of Enel, a private Italian firm that controls 40 percent of energy distribution in Chile, and the offices of the pro-Pinochet El Mercurio newspaper in Valparaíso.

On Saturday and Sunday, the curfews were defied by thousands of demonstrators and, in Santiago, protesters holding pictures of victims under the Pinochet dictatorship temporarily surrounded the tanks.

At 10 p.m. Saturday, hours after invoking the state of exception and calling demonstrators “true delinquents who do not respect anything,” Piñera said he had “heard with humbleness the voice of my compatriots” and announced the repeal of the most recent fare hike of 30 pesos for the Santiago Metro. (Metro prices in rush hour had already increased 100 pesos, or nearly 15 percent, since February 2018.)

The state of emergency, however, will continue indefinitely, and the curfew was also invoked on Sunday night. According to a statement Sunday by the Ministry of Interior, 1,462 people have been arrested and 15 civilians hurt.

Five civilians died when a supermarket in Santiago caught fire amid the demonstrations and repression. At the same time, entire sections of Santiago remained without electricity Sunday, while school classes were suspended today.

The main trade-union confederation, Workers United Center (CUT), which is controlled by the Stalinist Communist Party (CP), has worked to suppress any industrial action beyond ordering metro workers to skip work due to “unsafe conditions.” Instead, the trade union officials marched in a stunt to the Moneda Presidential Palace to appeal to the conscience of Piñera to end the state of emergency.

Japan-South Korea: Choking Global Technology Markets through a Bilateral Trade War

Prakash Panneerselvam

The economic consequences of the 2019 Japan-South Korea trade dispute are already becoming apparent. S&P Global Ratings has warned that it will disrupt global supply chains, leading to potential global economic damage. However, both countries have chosen to intensify their political campaigns against each other. In the midst of these developments, Japan signed a new trade agreement with the US on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September.

The US-Japan deal, though limited in scope, is significant because it shows a change in the approach adopted by Trump, who has so far been reluctant in arriving at a compromise in the US' ongoing trade war with China. It also coincides with the extension of the long-standing Japan-Korea dispute to the trade and security sectors, with South Korea recently announcing its decision to exit the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in response to Japan's imposition of trade restrictions. The deal follows another important judgement: the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) ruling in favour of Japan on anti-dumping duties on pneumatic valves imposed by Seoul in 2015.

How does the Japan-South Korea dispute impact East Asian markets? What are its consequences for global technology supply chains?

Background

The WTO recognised Tokyo's stand that Japanese valves do not compete directly with locally-made products, and that South Korea’s price analyses fail to meet WTO requirements. The ruling was quickly interpreted in the scope of an already tense environment of mistrust between the two countries, leading South Korea to formally lodge a complaint with the WTO over Japan’s export restrictions.

This is but the latest in a series of developments that has further eroded the Japan-South Korea relationship. In October and November 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court's order to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nachi-Fujikoshi, and Nippon Steel, to compensate South Korean families of wartime labourers, was strongly protested by Japan on the grounds that this was a violation of the 1965 Agreement on the Settlement of Problem Concerning Property and Claim and on the Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea. On the basis of this agreement, all outstanding issues, including the wartime labour issue, was considered settled after Japan paid US$ 500 million in economic assistance to South Korea.

By interpreting the agreement as a settlement between the two governments, and not between the corporate houses and individual people, the court’s verdict re-opened the historic agreement to new scrutiny. Following the decision, Japan undertook export control measures on essential chemicals used in South Korean electronic products, specifically those manufactured by Samsung and LG. In retaliation, the South Korean government removed Japan from its list of preferred trade partners. This further escalated with the South Korean announcement on the GSOMIA, which is an important aspect of US-Japan-South Korea trilateral security cooperation through its facilitation of information-sharing on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

Trade Wars and Technology as Weapon

Japan's export control on chemicals was explained as the result of  a "loss of trust" with South Korea. It was securitised through Tokyo's accusation of Seoul improperly handling the exports of these sensitive materials, bringing into question the management of re-export controls and the chemicals' dual-use applications.

The materials in question are fluorinated polyimides, photoresists, and hydrogen fluoride. While fluorinated polyimides are used in smart phone displays, photoresists are thin layers of material used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers; and hydrogen fluoride is used as an etching gas in the chip-making process. Japan produces more than 80 per cent of the world’s fluorinated polyimides and photoresists, and without these raw materials, manufacturing chip and other smart phone components are impossible for Samsung or LG. The South Korean economy is technology-dependent, and stopping the supply of key components for the production of smart phones shows that beyond tariff and other fiscal policies, it is technological resources (raw materials) that determine the economic and political environment between the two countries.

Japanese officials have not yet stopped material shipments, and the companies concerned have some stockpiles. However, there is the possibility of disruptions in global supply chains–after all, in an interdependent market, a manufacturing-based economy feeds into the service-oriented markets of another country.

With Japan stripping South Korea of its ‘white list’ status under a trade control law, it could now seek an export license to countries that are suspected of using these materials in weapons-related applications. Media reports claim that some of the chemicals are finding their way into North Korea. This has prompted South Korea to not renew the military intelligence-sharing pact.

The East Asian security architecture could be in jeopardy as a result of these developments, particularly with no outcome forthcoming the US-North Korea talks. At this juncture, the Japan-South Korea rift has impacted how each country assesses its gains from the security alliances they are members of. In this light, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have different approaches in dealing with North Korea. Abe has been extremely cautious of the Trump-Kim talks, and considers Moon’s policy of reconciliation with a regime that is reluctant to relinquish its nuclear weapons as dangerous. Moon, on the other hand sees economic positives in the inter-Korean economic zone and a thawing of relations on the Korean peninsula.

Economic Slowdown

In the first quarter of 2019, the South Korean Won had already witnessed a severe drop by 8 per cent against the US dollar, making it the worst performer in Asia. This slowdown was  due to the faltering demand for semiconductors and a weakened Chinese currency. It was further affected by Japan’s export controls on chemicals.

In 2018, semiconductor sales accounted for almost 92 per cent of South Korea’s export growth, giving the country a monopoly in the supply of telecommunication parts. The trade dispute has since systematically affected semiconductor prices. Samsung and Hynix together supply 70 per cent of DRAM chips and 50 per cent of NAND flash memory chips globally. With low export volumes and material shortage, making more semiconductors leads to the possibility of price rise, which, in turn, will impact global demand and supply chains. This has induced South Korea to rethink its supply chains, and look for supplier alternatives like Israel.

Just like South Korea, Japan may also experience a hit on product demand. Japanese products are currently preferred for their superior quality, but could be replaced by US or Chinese-made components if the bilateral tensions with South Korea continue. This will make it difficult for Japan to restrict exports for an extended period. In an interdependent economy, the Japan-South Korea dispute is a stark reminder of what resource monopolisation can lead to in the long-term.

Japan's export control policy has alarmed many corporate houses but has been largely supported by its conservative administration. While this is the first time the country has taken action against South Korea as a response, it will have severe economic consequences even if it fares well within domestic politics. 

For its part, South Korea has begun producing etching gas domestically. In September, Samsung announced its decision to use domestically-produced etching gas in the chip-making process to address the dependence on Japanese suppliers. The news of localised production came in August with a government proposal to increase the R&D budget by 17.3 per cent in 2020 to "strengthen the indigenous production in material sector." With South Korea as the largest buyer of Japan's technology-related chemicals, pushing Seoul to look elsewhere, or inward, will inevitably tilt Tokyo's export pattern as well.   

The Japanese restriction on imports will force South Korea to either stop production or pay much higher prices to secure crucial materials, which will impact China as well. The Japan-South Korea trade dispute, if not stemmed quickly and effectively, will have far-reaching negative implications for the global technology market.

Government of Turkey Success Scholarships (Bachelors, Masters, PhD) 2020/2021 for International Students

Application Deadline: 31st October 2019

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Turkey

Eligible Field of Study: All

Type: Undergraduate, Masters and PhD

About the Award: A specific number of international students will be granted Success Scholarships provided that they receive education in Turkey and meet the necessary requirements.
Students must apply to Success Scholarships online between October 15 – 31, 2019. Applicants must first open an account on Turkey Scholarships Application System (https://tbbs.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr) and enter their “Personal Information, Educational Background, Social Activities, etc.” in order to apply to Success Scholarship.
Students must provide all requested data for application; scan and upload requested documents to the system in a supported format (pdf, jpeg, etc.). Otherwise, applications will be considered invalid.
In case any error or mistake is detected in the information and documents submitted by students, their applications will be considered invalid. And in case such a mistake or error is detected after granting the scholarship, the total amount of scholarship paid to students will be collected as per the relevant legislations.

Eligibility:

• Students must have a foreign citizenship. In case students hold dual citizenship, one of their nationality being the Republic of Turkey, they cannot apply to the Success Scholarship Program (Exchange students are not eligible).
• Students must complete at least one academic year (2 semesters) in undergraduate, graduate or PhD degrees in Turkey (including scientific preparation classes), and undergraduate students must have at least 3.00 (out of 4) GPA (Grade Point Average), while PhD students must score at least 3.5 (out of 4) in order to be eligible.
• Undergraduate students in Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy as an exception must have at least 2.50 (out of 4) GPA in order to be eligible.
• Students who will apply to the Success Scholarship Program must not be previously granted or currently benefiting from any other scholarship granted as per Turkey Scholarships (including State, Government Scholarships, and cancelled scholarships).
• Also, students must not be currently benefiting from a scholarship granted by any institution or organization.

Number of Scholarships: Not specified

***Since there is a limited quota reserved for the Success Scholarship, in determining the winning ones; it will be fairly allocated by country, university, department and levels***

Value of Scholarships: Applicants eligible to Success Scholarship will receive the following monthly payments:

• ₺ 450 for undergraduate students,
• ₺ 600 for graduate students,
• ₺ 900 for PhD students.

Duration of Scholarships: Success Scholarships cover only monthly scholarship payments for an academic year and these payments are made only in months (9 months) students continue their education. 


How to Apply: 

• Student Certificate with signature and seal received from registrar’s office after October 1, 2019 (Mandatory)
• Transcript with signature and seal received from registrar’s office after October 1, 2019 (Mandatory)
• Copy of a valid ID or Passport (Mandatory)

You can send your questions and suggestions to basari@turkiyeburslari.gov.tr
Wish you success.

Visit Scholarships Webpage for details

Award Provider: Türkiye Buslari Committee

French Agency for Development (AFD) Digital Challenge Innovation 2020 for African Entrepreneurs

Application Deadline: 18th November 2019

Eligible Countries: Francophone and Anglophone African countries

To be Taken at: France

About the Award: For this new edition, the AFD Digital Challenge wanted to combine the challenge of digital transition with that of sustainable cities, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG).

“Creating sustainable cities and communities” is a major challenge in view of the phenomenon of massive urbanization that affects the African continent. Indeed, the vulnerabilities related to the centralization of populations are numerous and more particularly in a global context of climatic instability.

The sustainable city is a city that must first meet the basic needs of its population and that as economic engine of the country integrates the various environmental, social and cultural issues related to its development.

Digital is a powerful lever for the development of a sustainable, resilient, modern city in which its population actively participates in public decisions. However, the rise of digital technology must remain inclusive, accessible to all so as not to increase the inequalities of the continent.

Your startup, association, or research center is developing a digital solution that promotes the development of inclusive and sustainable cities in Africa and falls under one of the categories below? So you can apply !
Categories:

• CREATION OF QUALITY URBAN SERVICES
• URBAN PLANNING FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE
• STIMULATION OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• ​IMPROVING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CITIZENS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: Eligible projects for the AFD Digital Challenge Innovation are those that take into account the specific constraints and issues of women, and facilitate the access to:

• education, vocational training, mentoring and tutoring services.
• health services (including sexual health and reproduction),
• employment and professional opportunities, including women’s participation in sectors that traditionally employ men,
• financial services and other markets
• information about rights and access to judicial services
• mobility and transport

Will also be considered projects that contribute to:

• the deconstruction of gender stereotypes (eg media)
• the fight against gender-based violence
• the development of practices that do not discriminate against women (eg in the professional world, at school, etc.).

The challenge will be open to all entrepreneurs who have developed innovative solutions for Africa on this topic.

Number of Awards: 5 startups

Value of Award: 

• 20 000 €
• International Visibility
• A  tailor-made support program “Acceleration pack”

How to Apply: apply here

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Award Provider: French Agency for Development

Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships 2020/2021 for Sub-Saharan African Countries

Application Deadline: 10^th January 2020

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Citizens of and reside in a sub-Saharan African country while holding a current faculty position at an accredited college or university in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Field of Study: The fellowships support dissertations and research on peace, security and development topics.

About the Fellowships: The programme, launched in June 2011, responds to a shortage of experienced faculty in African higher education. The Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program provides fellowships to nurture the intellectual development and increase retention of early-career faculties in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The fellowships are:

• Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship
• Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship
• Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation research fellowship supports 6-12 months of dissertation research costs of up to US$15,000 on a topic related to peace, security, and development.

Proposal development fellowships are intended to support doctoral students working on developing a doctoral dissertation research proposal as well as students who recently completed a master’s degree and seek to enroll in a PhD program.

The doctoral dissertation completion fellowship supports a one-year leave from teaching responsibilities and a stipend up to US$15,000 to permit the completion of a dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development topics.
The programme assists fellows to develop research opportunities and skills, obtain doctoral degrees, and participate in robust research communities. Toward this end, the project features a thematic focus in order to renew basic research agendas addressing peace, security, and development topics as well as strengthen interdisciplinary social science research capacity on these issues.

Offered Since: June 2011

Type: Research, Fellowship .

Selection Criteria: Strong proposals will offer clear and concise descriptions of the project and its significance. Proposals should display a thorough knowledge of the relevant social science literature that applicants will engage and the methodologies relevant to the project. In addition, applicants must demonstrate that all proposed activities are feasible and can be completed in a timely manner. All proposals will be evaluated for these criteria by an independent, international committee of leading scholars from a range of social science disciplines.
Fellows must be willing to attend two workshops sponsored by the SSRC each year that are intended to help early-career faculty produce scholarly publications. We anticipate awarding as many as 45 fellowships in total across all categories each year.

Eligibility: All candidates must:

• be citizens of and reside in a sub-Saharan African country
• hold a master’s degree
• be enrolled in a PhD program at an accredited university in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda
• have an approved dissertation research proposal

The program seeks to promote diversity and encourages women to apply.

Number of Fellowships: 45 fellowships are awarded each year.

Value of Fellowships: 

• The doctoral dissertation research fellowship supports research costs of up to US$15,000 on a topic related to peace, security, and development.
• The doctoral dissertation proposal fellowship supports short-term research costs of up to US$3,000 to develop a doctoral dissertation proposal.
• The doctoral dissertation completion fellowship supports a one-year leave from teaching responsibilities and a stipend up to US$15,000 to permit the completion of a dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development topics.

Duration of Fellowship: Fellowships are offered each year. The doctoral dissertation research fellowship is about 6-12 months

How to Apply: 

• Apply for Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship
• Apply for Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship
• Apply for Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship

Visit Fellowship Webpage for more details

Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship (CAMFF) 2020 for African professionals

Application Deadline: 9th December 2019.

Eligible Countries: Selected fellows will be from the following Sub-Sahara African countries: Ethiopia, Burundi, Cameroon, Gambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

To be Taken at (Country): The fellowship is hosted by the University of Westminster.

About the Award: Fellows will undertake a bespoke 8-week fellowship programme titled ‘New Media for a New Africa: Freedom of Speech, Economic Prosperity and Good Governance’.  The programme will combine professional development of the values of good journalism (curiosity, rigour, challenge, storytelling, research, doing no harm, and freedom of speech) with an understanding of new opportunities to make reporting more effective and to use new ways to enhance its reach and impact.
This programme will bring together 12 leading media and information practitioners and regulators from 11 countries. The course is designed to promote vigorous exchange of ideas and experience, and constructive learning, between participants and course leaders, with both seminars and speaker talks, off-site visits and fieldwork. Fellows will be challenged to discuss evidence-based context for key policy debates, understand international positions (including appreciation of UK approaches), supply practical experience, and encourage dialogue on key issues.
Participants will be expected to participate in individual and group coursework projects, take an active role in their professional and career development, and engage actively throughout the programme and as part of the network.
The curriculum focuses on the ways in which the media are held responsible, and the wider context within which political institutions operate. The ethics of reporting are at the heart of all debates.
Fellows will participate in six intensive weeks of lectures, visits, and discussions that introduce them to key UK academics, media, and political figures in the field, followed by two weeks of fieldwork research and professional practice. This will culminate in an interactive day of news events focused on Africa and the UK.
This fellowship programme will commence in May 2020.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: To be eligible for a Chevening Africa Media Freedom Fellowship (CAMFF), you must:

• Be a citizen of Ethiopia, Burundi, Cameroon, Gambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
• Return to your country of citizenship at the end of the period of the fellowship
• Have a postgraduate level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application
• Have at least seven years’ work experience prior to applying
• Be a mid-senior level African professionals with demonstrable leadership skills in fields which may include public servants working in areas of media policy and regulatory frameworks, or media professionals such as journalists
• Be fluent in written and spoken English
• Not hold British or dual-British citizenship
• Agree to adhere to all relevant guidelines and expectations of the fellowship

Number of Awards: 12 

Duration of Award: 8 weeks. Fellows will participate in six intensive weeks of lectures, visits, and discussions that introduce them to key UK academics, media, and political figures in the field, followed by two weeks of fieldwork research and professional practice. This will culminate in an interactive day of news events focused on Africa and the UK.

Value of Award: Each fellowship includes:

• Full programme fees
• Living expenses for the duration of the fellowship
• Return economy airfare from your country of residence to the UK

How to Apply: APPLY

• For key steps and dates during the application process, please follow the placement timeline

Visit Award Webpage for Details