Sudanese Awadia Ahmed suspects that Talb, her youngest child, is blind and paralyzed in a pile of tailings near her home in a remote village in northern Sudan.
In recent years, more miners have flocked to the village of Bant in the Nile River state north of Khartoum where Ahmed lives in search of gold, turning the village into a dumping ground for their waste laden with toxic chemicals. for example, mercury, which is used to extract gold. The national or traditional gold mining sector is spread over most of Sudan, employing over two million people, producing about 80% of the total gold mined in the country.
Chemical pollution resulting from gold mining poses a health risk to miners and those who live near mining sites.
According to the World Health Organization, exposure to mercury poses a threat to the human nervous, digestive and immune systems and can be fatal. For his part, Al-Jaali Abdulaziz, a public figure in the village of Bant, said: “Five years ago, with the spread of the disease, malformations and abortions began to appear,” noting that this year there were 22 malformed children. Was born. Egypt suspends hot air balloon flights after Luxor crash
Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to suspend balloon flights pending an investigation into a hot air balloon crash yesterday morning in the tourist province of Luxor in the south of the country, which injured two people.
Sri Lanka extends state of emergency until presidential election
Three killed in shooting in Indiana, US Three people were killed and two were injured when a man opened fire at a shopping mall in the US state of Indiana, officials said. The city is located about 10 miles south of downtown Indianapolis, the state capital. Putin and Erdogan discuss dossier on Syria in Iran! AFP – Tehran
At the height of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to Tehran today to discuss with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts another possible battle that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to unleash in Syria. Russia, Iran and Turkey have played influential roles in the Syrian conflict since it began in 2011. Moscow and Tehran’s support for President Bashar al-Assad has led to a change in the balance of power on the ground in favor of his forces.
At the same time, Turkey supported opposition groups. Ibrahim Raisi will host his Russian and Turkish counterparts at the first trilateral presidential meeting since 2019 as part of the Astana peace process aimed at ending the Syrian conflict. The Kremlin confirmed when announcing this month’s summit that it would focus on the dossier of Syria.
“The timing of this summit was not determined by chance,” Vladimir Sotnikov, a Russian expert on the Middle East, told AFP.
He added: “While Russia is conducting its own operation in Ukraine, Turkey also wants to launch a special operation in Syria”, considering this “the main issue at the summit.”
Ankara fears a strong Syrian Kurdish presence on its borders, which could strengthen the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebel group, which it classifies as a terrorist organization, inside it.
On Friday, the Syrian Democratic Forces called on Moscow and Tehran to prevent Ankara from carrying out its threats.
Berlin – Paris – Follow-up
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met yesterday in Berlin with President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank Steinmeier.
Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, said the President expressed Egypt’s desire to deepen and strengthen it, especially at the economic and commercial levels, by maximizing German investment in Egypt, as Germany is considered one of the most important partners on the European continent and an excellent the opportunity to currently be present in the Egyptian market in order to take advantage of modern infrastructure and improve the business climate.
In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the strategic partnership between the two countries and all regional issues, Elysee reports.
In this context, the presidential adviser at the Elysee Palace said that one of the most important points during the visit of the President of the Emirates is the “announcement of guarantees provided by the Emirates regarding the volume of fuel supplies (only diesel) to France.” AFP – Baghdad
Oil and its revenues have once again become a point of contention between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan region, while the current tensions caused by endless political skirmishes threaten to dampen the desire of foreign investors to head to Iraq. Since the beginning of the year, tensions between the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan and Baghdad have manifested themselves in the judicial sphere.
Erbil sees the central government as seeking to seize the region’s oil wealth, while Baghdad is demanding it have a say in the management of Kurdistan’s oil resources.
Iraq is the second largest oil country in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and exports an average of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day. As for Kurdistan, it produces more than 450,000 barrels per day.
It is impossible to understand this dispute between the two sides without revisiting the political crisis that has paralyzed Iraq since the October 2021 legislative elections. Political leaders in the region, as in Baghdad, cannot agree on a name for a new prime minister. Minister and President of the Republic.
In February, the Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad ordered the Kurdistan Region to hand over its oil production to the central government, giving Baghdad the power to renegotiate and terminate oil contracts with the region.
And the Federal Court ruled that Kurdistan’s 2007 oil and gas regulation law was unconstitutional. Since then, the Iraqi government has been trying to implement this decision. Oil dispute fuels relations between Erbil and Baghdad
Arab Movement in Europe, President of Egypt in Germany and the Emirates in France
