- In Eswatini, an absolute monarchy ruled by King Mswati III since 1986, the year 2023 started with the brutal killing of Thulani Maseko, a prominent human rights lawyer and opposition activist. More than two years after a series of protests, there has been no accountability for the security forces’ crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. As in past elections where political parties were banned from participating, general elections were held in September with little expectation that they would bring about any meaningful change in the country. Two members of parliament, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, who were arrested in July 2021 were found guilty of all charges against them, including murder and terrorism.
- Quartz (Wikipedia)
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth’s continental crust, behind feldspar.