INTERNACIONAL
Dozens of survivors and dead pulled from abandoned South African mine as hundreds remain underground
Months after South African authorities initially cut off supplies to miners working illegally in an abandoned gold mine, rescuers brought dozens of bodies and emaciated survivors to the surface Tuesday with hundreds more still believed to be underground, many of them dead and others too weak to come out on their own.
At least 60 bodies and 92 survivors had been pulled from one of South Africa’s deepest mines since Monday in a red cagelike device lowered thousands of feet underground, police said. Police are uncertain how many miners remain inside but said it is likely in the hundreds. Another nine bodies were brought out Friday in a community-led rescue effort, according to a group representing the miners.
DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 13 IN SOUTH AFRICA MINING DISASTER
The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police, miners and members of the local community since authorities launched an operation in November to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a period of time. At the time, a Cabinet minister said the aim was to «smoke them out» and the government would not send help because they were «criminals.»
But that tactic has been fiercely criticized by civic groups and the community, and the South African government is under scrutiny for the way it has dealt with the issue at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, where more than 100 miners are believed to have died underground of starvation or dehydration, according to the group representing them.
Rescue workers assist an illegal miner who has been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months, in Stilfontein, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Authorities, who removed the ropes and pulley system miners used to enter and to lower supplies, say the survivors are able to come out but refuse to because of fear of arrest. That has been disputed by the civic groups, which won a court case to force authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent down to the miners. But they say the supplies aren’t enough and many of the miners are dying of starvation and unable to climb out because the shaft is too steep.
Residents desperately waiting for news of family members gathered at the mine Tuesday near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, some holding placards criticizing authorities for their response. One sign said there had been a «Sacrifice at Stilfontein» while some handcuffed survivors were led away in a line by police.
The community organized its own rescue operation on Friday before the official effort by authorities began Monday. They say a proper rescue operation should have been launched months ago.
«We are happy that this operation is happening, even though we believe that if it was done earlier, we wouldn’t even have one dead person,» said Mzukisi Jam, the regional chairperson of the South African National Civics Organization, an umbrella for civic and rights groups.
Authorities have grappled with informal mining for years
Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to enter them illegally in a search for leftover deposits.
Large groups of miners often go underground for months to maximize their profits, taking food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others in their group on the surface to send down more supplies.
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited the site Tuesday and said that more than 1,500 miners who resurfaced from the Buffelsfontein mine have been arrested since authorities began a larger crackdown on illegal mining in late 2023. He said the vast majority were foreign nationals from neighboring countries.
Police have also doubled down on their assertion that the miners who are still underground aren’t coming out because they are afraid of being arrested.
Activists said the only way out is for miners to make a dangerous trek to another shaft, which can take days, and crawl out there, but many are too weak or ill to climb out. The mine is 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep with multiple shafts, many levels and a maze of tunnels. The group representing the miners said there are numerous groups in various parts of the mine.
«The last time I spoke to my brother was in July, when he told us that he is going underground,» said Zinzi Tom, a sister of one of the miners who remained underground. «We had not heard anything from him, but yesterday one of the miners who surfaced said he saw him about two weeks ago. Apparently he is very sick and he is struggling to survive.»
Cellphone videos emerge from underground
The Mining Affected Communities United in Action group, which took authorities to court in December to force them to allow supplies to be sent down to the miners, released two cellphone videos that they said were from underground and showed dozens of dead bodies of miners wrapped in plastic. A spokesman for the group said «a minimum» of 100 miners had died.
The cellphone videos purportedly from the depths of the mine are filmed by a man who can be heard saying, «This is hunger. People are dying because of hunger,» as he records emaciated-looking men sitting on the damp floor of the mine. He adds: «Please help us. Bring us food or take us out.»
The rescue operation will go on for 10 days and authorities would then reassess, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said. Police also said that the survivors who had been brought to the surface will be arrested and charged with illegal mining and trespassing after receiving medical attention.
Authorities made clear their approach when South African Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters in November that the government would not help the miners, who they consider criminals.
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«We are not sending help to criminals,» she said. «We are going to smoke them out. They will come out.»
She added: «Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted.»
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El exgerente del Banco Central canadiense Mark Carney prestó juramento como el nuevo primer ministro de Canadá el viernes, y ahora intentará guiar a su país a través de una guerra comercial provocada por el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, una amenaza de anexión y unas elecciones federales esperadas.
Carney, de 59 años, reemplaza al primer ministro Justin Trudeau, quien anunció su renuncia en enero, pero permaneció en el poder hasta que el Partido Liberal eligió a un nuevo líder. Se espera ampliamente que Carney convoque a elecciones generales en los próximos días o semanas.
El Partido Liberal en el poder parecía estar preparado para una histórica derrota electoral este año hasta que Trump declaró la guerra económica y amenazó con anexar todo el país como un 51er estado de Estados Unidos. Ahora el partido y su nuevo líder podrían salir victoriosos.
Carney ha afirmado que está listo para reunirse con Trump si éste muestra “respeto por la soberanía canadiense” y está dispuesto a adoptar “un enfoque común, un enfoque mucho más integral para el comercio”.
Trump impuso aranceles del 25% al acero y aluminio canadienses y está amenazando con aranceles generales sobre todos los productos canadienses a partir del 2 de abril. Ha amenazado con coerción económica en sus amenazas de anexión y sugirió que la frontera es una línea ficticia.
La guerra comercial de Estados Unidos y los comentarios de Trump sobre convertir a Canadá en el 51er estado de Estados Unidos han enfurecido a los canadienses, quienes abuchean el himno estadounidense en los partidos de la NHL y la NBA. Algunos están cancelando viajes al sur de la frontera, y muchos evitan comprar productos estadounidenses cuando pueden.
El aumento del nacionalismo canadiense ha fortalecido las posibilidades del Partido Liberal en unas elecciones parlamentarias que se esperan en días o semanas, y los resultados del Partido Liberal han mejorado en las encuestas de opinión.
Carney, quien navegó la crisis al frente del Banco de Canadá desde 2008, y luego en 2013 cuando se convirtió en el primer no ciudadano británico en dirigir el Banco de Inglaterra —ayudando a gestionar los peores impactos del Brexit en el Reino Unido— ahora intentará guiar a Canadá a través de la guerra comercial provocada por Trump.
Carney, un exejecutivo de Goldman Sachs sin experiencia en política, se convierte en el 24to primer ministro de Canadá.
“Le irá muy bien. Es respetado internacionalmente”, dijo el ex primer ministro Jean Chrétien a los periodistas el viernes. Pero, añadió: “No hay una solución mágica. Esta no es una situación normal. Nunca hemos visto a alguien que cambia de opinión cada cinco minutos como presidente de Estados Unidos. Crea problemas en todas partes, no solo en Canadá”.
INTERNACIONAL
Israel faces new Syria challenge as it adjusts to new strategy amid regional power struggle for influence
TEL AVIV — The Israeli Air Force on Thursday struck the headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Damascus, Syria, amid ongoing instability in the country following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad by an al Qaeda-linked insurgency.
After the fall of Damascus on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel deployed troops to the demilitarized buffer zone with Syria while also launching a diplomatic offensive to shape the balance of power.
«The deployment of Israeli forces is concentrated around the Syrian [side of Mount] Hermon, the high grounds in that area and below that on the northern part of the Syrian Golan Heights — more or less along, but not beyond, the Bravo Line [marking the end of the buffer zone],» Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman and now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
EVANGELICAL LEADER SAYS US MUST PROTECT SYRIAN CHRISTIANS FROM ATTACKS BY JIHADI TERRORISTS
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, visited and conducted a situational assessment in the Area of Separation in Syria. (IDF)
He continued, «The primary threat is a ground invasion towards Israeli communities on the Golan Heights by various jihadi elements. Until the political and military situation stabilizes and Israel can have security guarantees that there is indeed a sovereign entity in control of Syria, which will limit the approach by various terror organizations, Israeli troops will be deployed.»
While many global players may be willing to turn a blind eye to the carnage in Syria in hopes of resolving the nearly 15-year crisis, analysts say Israel has no such illusions, prompting the IDF to conduct over 300 strikes in the country, including against Assad regime air force bases and suspected chemical weapons sites, in the immediate aftermath of the regime change.
On Sunday, Israel seemingly upped the ante when the new IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, held a situational assessment in the buffer zone with Syria. Zamir was the first chief of staff to have entered Syria.
«Immediately upon the fall of the regime, [Israel] devastated Syrian military capabilities to make sure some advanced capabilities and air defense [systems] would not fall into the hands of this regime and would be cleared in case Israel has any future desire to overfly [in] Syria,» said John Hannah, a Senior Fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).
Security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government ride in the back of a vehicle moving along a road in Syria’s western city of Latakia on March 9. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
«They’ve [also] set up checkpoints in certain Druze areas right on the border [and] declared their willingness to protect the Druze. Israel has a significant Druze minority of its own who are loyal and good citizens of Israel who fight in its army. So, Israel has a deep domestic concern and interest with making sure that Druze communities near its borders [in Syria] are not subject to the kinds of threats and slaughter that we saw over the weekend along the [Syrian] coast,» he added.
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Some 1,000 Alawites, a minority sect of Shiite Islam, as well as a number of Christians were murdered over the course of a few days last week in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia. The killings have laid bare concerns over the new Sunni Islamist government led by al-Sharaa, commander of the al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that deposed Assad.
A banner depicting then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading «Justice Prevails» is displayed along a highway in the Syrian capital of Damascus on March 8, 2022. (Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images)
Conricus said that the massacres have validated Israel’s strategy, emphasizing that the persecution of the Alawites, Christians, Kurds and Druze population constitutes a danger to regional stability.
«There is a lot of sectarian violence by various foreign jihadi groups, which is a threat. Until only the Syrian state controls the weapons, Israel cannot jeopardize the life of Israeli civilians,» he said.
«We know Hezbollah and Iranian factions continue to try to smuggle weapons into Syria, with Tehran still trying to operate proxies. This is compounded by Turkish imperialistic behavior, which can lead to confrontation,» he added. «I think trying to keep the borders defined by the French at the end of World War I will be a challenge for the Syrian state.»
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Ahmed al-Sharaa Hayat, former al Qaeda terrorist and current Interim President of Syria, in Idlib, Syria, on the border with Turkey on Feb. 7, 2023. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
Jonathan Spyer, director of research at the Middle East Forum who has reported from Syria, told Fox News Digital that Jerusalem’s aim is for Syria to remain decentralized and weak, rather than united under the leadership of jihadi forces.
«Turkey is the main backer of HTS, and Israel regards Ankara as a hostile country where Hamas had an active operations office. Turkey has been supportive of Hamas in the war,» he said.
«While Russia is opposed to the global bloc led by the U.S., of which Israel is a part, there is no direct clash between the two nations. Russia did not seek to impede Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran in Syria.»
Israel is reportedly pressuring the Trump administration to ensure Syria remains fragmented, by giving the Russians a green light to maintain its bases in the country to counter Turkey.
People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
In 2015, Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, setting up outposts in the Middle East for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Jerusalem and Moscow have created a deconfliction mechanism to avoid direct military encounters when the IDF strikes Iranian terror assets in Syria, along with those destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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«HTS is an organization that Israel knows well. It was there for several years prior to fall of Assad and its record shows it is a Sunni Jihadi Islamist organization supportive of [Hamas’] Oct. 7 [massacre] and opposed to Israel and Jews,» Spyer said.
«Israel’s experience prior to Oct. 7, on Oct. 7, and in the Gaza war taught Israelis not to have illusions regarding Sunni Islamists even when they say they are moderate,» he added.
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