Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up mission

Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up mission
It may be the gateway to the vast Sahara desert, but that does not mean it's free of that modern scourge of the environment -- the rubbish humanity discards. (AFP)
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Updated 25 April 2025
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Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up mission

Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up mission
  • It may be the gateway to the vast Sahara desert, but that does not mean it’s free of that modern scourge of the environment — the rubbish humanity discards

M’HAMID EL GHIZLANE:It may be the gateway to the vast Sahara desert, but that does not mean it’s free of that modern scourge of the environment — the rubbish humanity discards.
In southern Morocco, volunteers are hunting for waste embedded in the sand, and they do not have to look far.
Bottles, plastic bags — “there are all kinds,” noted one helper who has joined the initiative cleaning up the edge of a village bordering the Sahara.
The initiative marks the 20th International Nomads Festival, which is held in mid-April every year in M’Hamid El Ghizlane in Zagora province in southeast Morocco.
Around 50 people, gloved and equipped with rubbish bags, toiled away for five hours — and collected 400 to 600 kilos of waste, the organizers estimated.
“Clean-up initiatives usually focus on beaches and forests,” festival founder Noureddine Bougrab, who lives in the village of around 6,600 people, told AFP.
“But the desert also suffers from pollution.”
The campaign brings together artists, activists and foreign tourists, and is a call for the “world’s deserts to be protected,” said Bougrab, 46.
He said the clean-up began at the northern entrance of the village, “which was badly affected by pollution,” and extended through to the other end of town and the beginning of the “Great Desert.”
The rubbish is “mainly linked to the massive production of plastic products, low recycling rates and atmospheric pollutants carried by the wind,” said anthropologist Mustapha Naimi.
Morocco has a population of almost 37 million and they generate about 8.2 million tons of household waste each year, according to the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development.
“This is equivalent to 811 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower — enough to fill 2,780 Olympic swimming pools with compacted waste,” said Hassan Chouaouta, an international expert in sustainable strategic development.
Of this amount, “between six and seven percent” is recycled, he said.

Their morning alarm went off “early,” according to one volunteer, New York-based French photographer Ronan Le Floch, who said the initiative’s aim was “to show that it’s important to take care of this type of environment.”
Another helper was Ousmane Ag Oumar, a 35-year-old Malian member of Imarhan Timbuktu, a Tuareg blues group.
He called the waste a direct danger to livestock, which are essential to the subsistence of nomadic communities.
Naimi, the anthropologist, agreed. “Plastic waste harms the Saharan environment as it contaminates the land, pasture, rivers and nomadic areas,” he said.
Pastoral nomadism is a millennia-old way of life based on seasonal mobility and available pasture for livestock.
But it is on the wane in Morocco, weakened by climate change and with nomadic communities now tending to stay in one place.
The most recent official census of nomads in Morocco dates to 2014, and returned a population of 25,274 — 63 percent lower than a decade earlier in 2004.
Mohammed Mahdi, a professor of rural sociology, said the country’s nomads had “not benefited from much state support, compared to subsidies granted to agriculture, especially for products intended for export.”
“We give very little to nomadic herders, and a good number have gone bankrupt and given up,” he said.
Mohamed Oujaa, 50, is leader of The Sand Pigeons, a group that specializes in the “gnawa” music practiced in the Maghreb by the descendants of black slaves.
For him, a clean environment is vital for future generations, and he hopes the initiative will be “just the first in a series of campaigns to clean up the desert.”


Gaza rescuers say 10 killed as Israel announces new operation

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Gaza rescuers say 10 killed as Israel announces new operation

Gaza rescuers say 10 killed as Israel announces new operation
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes killed 10 people on Saturday, after the Israeli military announced the early stages of an intensified operation aimed at defeating Hamas.
The stepped-up campaign came as the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory continued to worsen, with one of its last functioning hospitals warning it was no longer able to treat seriously wounded patients due to shortages of supplies and a nearby attack that damaged the premises.
Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 10 bodies had been brought to Gaza hospitals after strikes on Saturday morning.
Three people were killed and four wounded in drone strikes east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, he said, while three others were killed and several wounded in the bombing of a house in Jabalia, in the north.
An attack on an apartment northwest of Khan Yunis killed three people, he added, while one person was killed and five wounded, "including a girl, a young woman and a pregnant woman", in a strike on a tent west of the same city.
The reports of deaths came after the Israeli army announced it had "launched extensive strikes and transferred forces to seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip".
The moves were part of the "the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war's objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas", the military said.
The operation was launched as Israel faces pressure to lift a sweeping aid blockade it imposed on Gaza in early March as negotiations faltered over next steps in a ceasefire that collapsed weeks later.
Aid organisations have warned that the blockade has created critical shortages of everything from food and clean water to fuel and medicines.
Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, said the situation there was "tragic and catastrophic after its surroundings were targeted again this morning, causing the collapse of ceilings and cracks in the walls".
"The operating rooms and intensive care units are completely full and we are unable to receive any more critical cases," he said.
He added there was "a severe shortage of blood units, medicines, medical and therapeutic supplies, and surgical procedures".
Sultan said doctors had been forced to source blood for transfusions from other patients and even from themselves "due to the impossibility of donations from citizens due to malnutrition".

Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report
Updated 57 min 2 sec ago
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Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Putin to host first Russia-Arab summit in October, Russian agencies report

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited all leaders and the secretary general of the Arab League for the first Russia-Arab summit on October 15, Russia's news agencies reported on Saturday, citing a statement from the Kremlin.
"I am confident that this meeting will contribute to the further strengthening of mutually beneficial, multifaceted cooperation between our countries and will help in finding ways to ensure peace, security, and stability in the Middle East and North Africa," Interfax agency cited Putin as saying in the statement.
The Arab League, a regional organisation of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa, has 22 member states who have pledged, among others, to cooperate on political, economic and military affairs in the region.
The reports came following a four-day trip by U.S. President Donald Trump through the Gulf region this week, during which Washington said it had secured several deals, including a $600 billion commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S., $142 billion in arms sales to the kingdom, and an AI partnership with the United Arab Emirates.


Arab League summit kicks off in Baghdad with Gaza at the top of the agenda

Arab League summit kicks off in Baghdad with Gaza at the top of the agenda
Updated 17 May 2025
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Arab League summit kicks off in Baghdad with Gaza at the top of the agenda

Arab League summit kicks off in Baghdad with Gaza at the top of the agenda

BAGHDAD: Regional leaders were to meet in Baghdad on Saturday at the annual summit of the Arab League, with the war in Gaza expected to once again loom large.
In March, at an emergency summit in Cairo, Arab leaders endorsed a proposed plan for reconstruction of the Gaza Strip without displacing its roughly 2 million residents.
Saturday’s summit comes two months after after Israel ended a ceasefire reached with the Hamas militant group in January. In recent days, Israel has launched widespread attacks in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a further escalation of force to pursue his aim of destroying Hamas.
The Baghdad meeting was upstaged by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tour in the region earlier in the week. Trump’s visit did not usher in a deal for a new ceasefire in Gaza as many had hoped, but he grabbed headlines by meeting with new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — who had once fought against U.S. forces in Iraq — and promising to remove U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria.
Al-Sharaa was not attending the summit in Baghdad, where Syria’s delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani. Iraqi Shiite militias and political factions are wary of al-Sharaa’s past as a Sunni militant and had pushed back against his invitation to the summit.
Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq.
During Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011, several Iraqi Shiite militias fought alongside the forces of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, making al-Sharaa today a particularly sensitive figure for them.
Iraq, which has strong — and sometimes conflicting — ties with both the United States and Iran, has sought to strike a difficult balance between them and to position itself as a regional mediator.
An Iraqi political official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said that Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani had paid a visit to Baghdad prior to the summit and “conveyed messages of support for the Iranian-American negotiations” for a nuclear deal and a demand for the lifting of crippling sanctions on Iran.


Israel launches ‘initial stages’ of new Gaza operation: military

Israel launches ‘initial stages’ of new Gaza operation: military
Updated 17 May 2025
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Israel launches ‘initial stages’ of new Gaza operation: military

Israel launches ‘initial stages’ of new Gaza operation: military
  • Gaza’s civil defense agency earlier said Israeli strikes on Gaza had killed 100 people on Friday

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched “extensive strikes” in the Gaza Strip over the past day as part of the “initial stages” of a fresh offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory.
The strikes were part of “the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war’s objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas,” Israel’s army said in a statement in Arabic on Telegram.
Gaza’s civil defense agency earlier said Israeli strikes on Gaza had killed 100 people on Friday.
The offensive, known as “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” comes as Israel faces pressure to lift a sweeping aid blockade in return for a US-Israeli hostage released by Hamas.
Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by an attack by the Palestinian group in October 2023.
That assault resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 2,985 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,119.
Israeli media reported on Friday that the military had stepped up its offensive in line with a plan approved by the government earlier this month, though there had not been any formal announcement of an expanded campaign.
The military said its forces had “struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” in 24 hours.


The crisis is Gaza is only growing. Here’s what to know

The crisis is Gaza is only growing. Here’s what to know
Updated 17 May 2025
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The crisis is Gaza is only growing. Here’s what to know

The crisis is Gaza is only growing. Here’s what to know

JERUSALEM: The crisis in Gaza has reached one of its darkest periods, as Israel blocks all food and supplies from entering the territory and continues an intensifying bombardment campaign.
Humanitarian officials caution that famine threatens to engulf the strip. Doctors say they are out of medicine to treat routine conditions.
Israeli leaders are threatening an even more intense ground offensive. The military is preparing for a new organization with US backing to take over aid delivery, despite alarms raised from humanitarian groups that the plans won’t meet the massive need and could place restrictions on those eligible. It’s unclear when operations would begin or who would fund them.
“This is the deadliest and most destructive phase of Israel’s war on Gaza, yet the world has turned away,” said Bushra Khalidi, policy lead for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory at the humanitarian nonprofit Oxfam. “After 19 months of horror, Gaza has become a place where international law is suspended, and humanity is abandoned.”
HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN GAZA
Casualties soar from increased Israeli bombardment
Israel ended a six-week ceasefire in mid-March and resumed its attacks in Gaza, saying military pressure against Hamas was the best way to push the militant group into freeing more hostages. But ceasefire talks remain deadlocked, and scores of civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
On Friday, Israeli airstrikes killed 108 — raising the death toll over the past three days to more than 200 Palestinians. Those numbers come from the Palestinian Health Ministry, a body directed by the Hamas government that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The strikes — often at night, as people sleep in their tents — have directly targeted hospitals, schools, medical clinics, mosques, a Thai restaurant-turned shelter. The European Hospital, the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza, was put out of service.

Israel says it targets only militants and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
But the death toll has reached the same level of intensity as the earliest days of the war, when Israel pounded Gaza with airstrikes in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, said Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, an independent group in London that tracks recent conflicts.
She says preliminary data indicate the number of incidents where at least one person was killed or injured by Israeli fire hovered around 700 in April. It’s a figure comparable only to October or December 2023 — one of the heaviest periods of bombardment.
In the last 10 days of March, UNICEF estimates that an average of 100 children were killed or maimed by Israeli airstrikes every day.
Almost 3,000 of the estimated 53,000 dead since Oct. 7, 2023, have been killed since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.
Among those killed in recent days:
A volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, killed with her family in a strike on Gaza City on May 4.
A midwife from Al Awda Health and Community Association, killed with her family in another strike on May 7.
A journalist working for Qatari television network Al Araby TV, along with 11 members of his family.
Motaz Al-Bayyok, age 1. His older brother, Yusuf, 11, screamed as a shroud was parted to expose young Motaz’s face.
Israeli officials threaten new ground operation
Israel shows no sign of slowing its operation in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised this week to use even more force against Hamas, against the objections of families of hostages begging him to agree to a deal instead.
An Israeli official said the strikes Friday were preparatory actions for a larger operation, intended to send a message to Hamas that it will begin soon if there isn’t an agreement to release hostages. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in an Oct. 7, 2023, intrusion into southern Israel. Hamas still holds 58 of the roughly 250 hostages it took during its attack, with 23 believed to still be alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three.
No food has entered Gaza for 75 days, and Palestinians go hungry
Israel has blocked food, water and supplies from reaching Gaza — where the UN says the entire population is reliant on aid — for more than two months. Most community kitchens have shut down. The main food providers inside Gaza — the UN’s World Food Program and World Central Kitchen — say they are out of food. Vegetables and meat are inaccessible or unaffordable. Palestinians queue for hours for a small scoop of rice.
Food security experts said in a stark warning Monday that Gaza would likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign.
Nearly half a million Palestinians face possible starvation — living in “catastrophic” levels of hunger — and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.
Israel is preparing south Gaza for a new aid program
Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press show what appear to be Israeli preparations for a new aid distribution program in Gaza, one that has come under heavy criticism from aid workers.
Satellite photos from May 10 show four bases in southern Gaza — two that are newly built in the last month and two that have been enhanced.
One, at the southwestern corner of Gaza, has been fortified with new walls. A new road connects the base to a sandy expanse of newly bulldozed land.
Another base, in the center of Gaza, appears to have been fortified with new defensive sand berms. Adjacent is a newly bulldozed lot.
The photos appear to correspond to a new aid distribution program being developed by a new group supported by the US.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — made up of American security contractors, former government officials, ex-military officers and humanitarian officials — says it would initially set up four distribution sites, guarded by private security firms. Each would serve 300,000 people, covering only about half of Gaza’s population.
The GHF proposal said subcontractors will use armored vehicles to transport supplies from the Gaza border to distribution sites, where they will also provide security. It said the aim is to deter criminal gangs or militants from redirecting aid.