Latest news with #Rajabi
ABC News
5 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Queensland mining data informs better understanding of underground stresses
New research into the world's tectonic plate stress patterns has led to a better understanding of how the mining and construction industry affects what goes on beneath the Earth's surface. The latest World Stress Map, released this week, revealed new earthquake trigger data and information about how stress builds in the Earth's crust as a result of underground mining activity mapped in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Mojtaba Rajabi, from University of Queensland's (UQ) School of Environment, said the latest update to the map could help make underground mining and construction activities safer by providing better insights into the Earth's stress conditions. "Digging, drilling or injecting fluids in the wrong spot can tip the underground balance and induce a seismic event. "Understanding stress helps us prevent these man-made shakes." Through UQ's collaboration with Germany's GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, the Earth's underground stress patterns have been mapped in more detail than ever before. Dr Rajabi said the latest update included more than 100,000 stress data records. "This is almost double the data from the previous release we published in 2016," he said. The new data from central Queensland's mining heartland, the Bowen Basin, has found a dramatic rotation in underground stress of more than 50 degrees within 100 kilometres. Dr Rajabi said the mining data, which was analysed remotely, would lead to pinpointing vulnerable areas that could potentially trigger earthquakes. "The direction of the tectonic force coming from the plates east of Australia change dramatically, and when these forces interact with local geological conditions they redirect stress in different ways," he said. "As a result, the safest directions for drilling and excavation can vary significantly between locations in the same region. "This gives us a really great guide on ways we can dig safer in terms of mining or reservoir analysis studies, such as in our gas exploration." The Queensland Mining and Energy Union said the new data would be a vital tool for researchers and industries working to ensure the safe use of the Earth's sub-surface. Mining health and safety representative Jason Hill said it had the potential to help coal mines with strata control — a method used to maintain the stability of the ground. "Strata control is a principal hazard and it has killed a lot of people over the years, so any data or research into the management of strata is very much welcome," he said. Mr Hill said he hoped mining operators would adopt the findings. "The most important thing now is the companies actually take a look at [the report] and use it to ensure that they are achieving an acceptable level of risk," he said. The World Stress Map has been updated every decade for more than 40 years, drawing on data from seismology centres, the energy and resources sector and civil engineering projects across the globe. Dr Rajabi said Australia's underground stress patterns were unlike any other continent. "Highly variable, full of twists and turns, and not aligned with the direction the continent is moving," he said. "With this [new] level of detail, we can now better understand how tectonic forces behave not just across regions but at the local scale too."
Days of Palestine
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Israeli Court Upholds Expulsion of Palestinian Rajabi Family from Silwan
DayofPal– An Israeli court has upheld the forced expulsion of the Rajabi family from their home in the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, located just south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. The decision, issued Sunday by the Central Court, marks the end of a years-long legal battle and the final rejection of the family's appeals against eviction efforts spearheaded by the right-wing settler organization Ateret Cohanim. The court ruled in favor of Ateret Cohanim's claim that the land in question once belonged to Yemeni Jews who settled in the area in 1881, decades before the founding of the State of Israel. The ruling affirms a previous decision by the Israeli Supreme Court, which last year upheld the legitimacy of the settler group's claim and authorized the eviction of the Rajabi family. The property at the center of the dispute comprises a three-story building housing 16 people across three apartments. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, a Palestinian media group based in Silwan, confirmed the court's ruling and warned of its broader implications for the neighborhood. In a statement, the Jerusalem Governorate condemned the expulsion as part of 'a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing' aimed at altering the demographic and cultural character of East Jerusalem. Human rights organizations and Palestinian officials say the ruling is emblematic of Israel's broader strategy to Judaize Silwan and surrounding areas through a combination of legal action, state-backed settlement activity, and intensified enforcement measures. The Rajabi family is one of dozens targeted by Ateret Cohanim, which launched a wave of lawsuits in 2015 seeking the removal of Palestinian residents from Batn Al-Hawa. The group claims ownership of the land based on 19th-century trust documents allegedly linking the properties to Jewish residents from Yemen. According to the Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood committee, more than 80 Palestinian families in the area, home to over 10,000 resident, are currently facing expulsion threats. Zohair Rajabi, head of the committee and a member of the displaced family, accused the Israeli judiciary of acting in concert with settler groups. 'This is not justice,' Rajabi said following the court's decision. 'The courts are working in full coordination with settler organizations to expel us from our homes and erase our history.' In recent months, Israeli courts have issued additional expulsion orders targeting other Palestinian families in Batn Al-Hawa, including the Odeh and Shweiki households, under similar legal arguments advanced by settler entities. Silwan, which spans approximately 5,640 dunams, is home to around 60,000 Palestinians. An estimated 3,000 Israeli settlers now reside in the neighborhood, many of whom are affiliated with groups like Ateret Cohanim and Elad, an influential settler organization founded in 1986 by former Israeli army officer David Be'eri. Backed by state institutions and aided by favorable court rulings, Elad has seized at least 87 buildings in Silwan over the past decade. Zohair Rajabi warned that an additional 87 families, representing between 700 and 800 people, remain under immediate threat of displacement. 'This is a coordinated and deliberate campaign to empty Jerusalem of its Palestinian residents,' he said. The escalation of evictions has been accompanied by an increase in demolitions, arrests, and legal pressure on Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem. Human rights advocates have called for international intervention, arguing that the policy violates international law and undermines any prospects for a future political resolution in the city. Shortlink for this post:
