In the United Kingdom, police close British spy investigation
A seven-year-long investigation into a British army spy known as “Stakeknife,” who was suspected of being involved in 18 murders during his time as both an executioner in the Irish Revolutionary Army and a British army spy, ended Friday. The investigation, called Operation Kenova, has cost 40 million pounds since it began in 2016 and includes over 300 interviews.
The spy, who is suspected to be Belfast resident Freddie Scappaticci, was known for identifying, torturing and eventually killing informants as a part of the IRA’s internal security unit. A few years after joining the IRA in the 1970s, the British army recruited him as a mole to pass on IRA intelligence.
Jon Boutcher, the senior police officer in charge of the investigation, told the Associated Press that despite claims that Stakeknife’s espionage saved British lives, it is “probable that this resulted in more lives being lost than saved.” Regardless, Scappaticci will not face prosecution, since he died in 2023.
Victims’ families have found comfort in the investigation, which has also sparked interest for a broader public inquiry into British espionage.
“Many of the cases investigated by Kenova do not feature Fred Scappaticci at all,” a representative for 12 families directly impacted by the report said. “He was not the only Stakeknife.”
In Australia, government stalls on climate goals
According to a new report by the Clean Energy Council, the Australian renewables sector showed an “alarming” slowdown in 2023, despite maintained growth in the use of rooftop solar panels. The finding suggests the country might struggle to meet its goal of supplying 82% of electricity by renewables in 2030.
Australian investment into renewables dropped below $1 billion in the December quarter last year, the lowest since the Council began collecting data in 2017. The country also only had 56 clean energy projects under construction at the time, down from 72 a year prior.
This slowdown was noticeable in New South Wales, Australia’s capital state and largest electricity generator. In order to meet Australia’s 2030 target, NSW would need to generate 33,600 gigawatt hours of renewable energy. It is currently on track to produce only 12,911 GWh — less than half of the desired electricity.
The slowdown suggests there could be a continued dependency on energy from coal in Australia going forward. The country is currently the top per capita carbon dioxide emitter from coal, according to energy think tank Ember. Australia also consumed twice as much energy per capita as China in the past year — four times the global average — and 48% of this energy came from coal plants.
Australia’s outsized impact on global carbon emissions makes it all the more important for it to hit its 2030 climate targets, according to Dave Jones, Ember’s global insights leader.
“As mature economies, they should be scaling up renewable electricity ambitiously and confidently enough to enable coal to be phased out by 2030,” Jones said.
In China, Tibetans protest occupation from exile in India
On Sunday, hundreds of exiled Tibetans took to the streets of New Delhi to protest the Chinese occupation of the East Asian region. The demonstration marked the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day, which honors the failed rebellion in 1959 against the Chinese Communist Party’s regime. The CCP has maintained control over Tibet since 1951, when Chinese forces occupied the territory.
More than 300 demonstrators gathered to protest, chanting, “Tibet was never a part of China” and “China should leave Tibet,” near the Indian parliament house.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, created by the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has resided in Dharamshala — an Indian city north of New Delhi — since the 1959 uprising. The Tibetan parliament-in-exile issued a public statement to acknowledge the 65th anniversary protests, which took place in cities around the world.
“It is also an occasion when we commemorate the patriotism of the heroic Tibetan men and women who have sacrificed their all, including their very lives, for the Tibetan national and religious causes,” read the Sunday statement.
The protests come amid tensions in Tibet surrounding the Chinese government’s plans to build a hydropower dam in the region. The dam, which would be a source of renewable energy, could flood several monasteries and force two nearby villages to relocate.
The protests on Sunday, in conjunction with ongoing protests in the territory, signal a broader lack of political rights for Tibetans within the Chinese state. A report released this year by the American nonprofit Freedom House gave Tibet a score of zero out of 100 for the protection of civil liberties under Chinese rule.
According to the organization, Tibetans “are denied fundamental rights, and authorities are especially rigorous in suppressing any signs of dissent” under the Chinese occupation.
Contact Anna Baird-Hassell at [email protected].
