BAMAKO, Mali: A landslide engulfed a group of mainly women gold miners in Mali, killing several of them, the governor’s office of the Koulikoro region in the West African country said Thursday.
In a statement broadcast on Mali’s national television, Koulikoro’s governor, Col. Lamine Kapory Sanogo, said “the women (gold miners) were numerous at an excavation in search of gold, and the excavation was surrounded by a dike that gave way and water entered with mud and engulfed the women.”
The office of the governor said the landslide at the artisanal gold mine in southern Mali happened on Wednesday. It said several of the miners were killed but did not provide a number.
This is not the first time such accidents have occurred at a gold mine in Mali, which is known as one of the three gold producing countries in Africa. In January last year, an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, killing more than 70 people near the capital Bamako.
In recent years, there have been concerns that profits from unregulated mining in northern Mali could benefit extremists active in that part of the country.
The region of this latest collapse, however, is far to the south of that and closer to Bamako.
“Gold is by far Mali’s most important export, comprising more than 80 percent of total exports in 2021,” according to the International Trade Administration with the US Department of Commerce. It says more than 2 million people, or more than 10 percent of Mali’s population, depend on the mining sector for income.
Artisanal gold mining is estimated to produce around 30 tons of gold a year and represents 6 percent of Mali’s annual gold production.
Multiple artisanal gold miners, mostly women, buried in landslide in southern Mali
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Multiple artisanal gold miners, mostly women, buried in landslide in southern Mali
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- Several miners were killed, the governor of Koulikoro region announced on TV, without providing a number
- In January last year, an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, killing more than 70 people near the capital Bamako.
UN adopts resolution demanding Russia immediately withdraw troops from Ukraine
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- European-backed resolution was approved ahead of vote on dueling US proposal
NEW YORK: The UN General Assembly approved a Ukrainian resolution Monday demanding an immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine on the third anniversary of the invasion.
The vote in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion, was 93-18 with 65 abstentions. That's lower than previous resolutions, which saw over 140 nations condemn Russia's aggression and demand a reversal of its annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
The European-backed Ukrainian resolution was approved ahead of a vote on a dueling US proposal that calls for a swift end to the war but never mentions Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Daughter calls for UK to help British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban
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- Britain’s Foreign Office said on Monday it was “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” without providing further detail
LONDON: A British couple in their 70s who ran education programs in Afghanistan have been detained by the Taliban administration, their daughter said, urging the British government to do everything possible to secure their release.
Barbie and Peter Reynolds, 75 and 79, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on February 1, their daughter Sarah Entwistle, who lives in central England, said.
Speaking to Times Radio on Monday, Entwistle said her parents had initially kept in touch via text messages following their detention — assuring their four children that they were fine — before losing all contact three days later.
“Our parents have always sought to honor the Taliban, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to explain their reasons for this detention. However, after more than three weeks of silence, we can no longer wait,” she said.
“We’re now urgently calling on the British consulate to do everything in their power to get us answers and to put as much pressure as they can on the Taliban for their release,” Entwistle added.
Britain’s Foreign Office said on Monday it was “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” without providing further detail.
The BBC, citing official Taliban sources, reported on Sunday that two British nationals believed to be working for a non-governmental organization in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan had been arrested. It cited one official as saying they had been arrested about 20 days ago after using a plane without informing local authorities.
Afghan authorities arrested four individuals — two British nationals, one Chinese-American and their interpreter, Abdul Mateen, a spokesman for the interior ministry, told Reuters.
The couple were arrested alongside a Chinese-American friend, Faye Hall, and a translator from their training business, Britain’s PA news agency reported.
Western countries including Britain and the United States shut their embassies and withdrew their diplomats as the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.
Britain advises its nationals against any travel to Afghanistan, warning of the risks of being detained there.
The British couple had been running projects in schools in Afghanistan for 18 years, deciding to stay even after the Taliban seized power, the Sunday Times said.
Putin thanks Russia’s grand mufti for role in promoting interfaith unity
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- Talgat Tadzhuddin, other leaders acknowledged for strengthening religious accord
- Although secular, Russia recognizes role of religious institutions in society
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked Grand Mufti of Russia Talgat Tadzhuddin for his efforts in fostering interfaith unity and harmony among the country’s diverse religious communities.
During a meeting at the Kremlin, Putin acknowledged the contributions of Tadzhuddin and other Muslim leaders in strengthening religious accord across the country, state news agency TASS reported.
“I would like to personally thank you and all Muslim leaders for the contribution you and other spiritual leaders are making to interreligious unity and accord between the peoples of Russia,” the president said.
Although a secular state under its constitution, Russia recognizes the role of religious institutions in society. The law guarantees freedom of religion, with all religious associations operating separately from the state while enjoying equal status.
Christianity remains the dominant faith in Russia, with Orthodox Christianity as the largest denomination. Islam is the second-largest religion, with most Russian Muslims adhering to Sunni Islam.
The Russian government continues to support traditional religions by restoring historic religious sites damaged during the Soviet era and facilitating the establishment of spiritual education institutions, TASS said.
Philippines, Japan agree to boost military ties in ‘increasingly severe’ security environment
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- Manila, Tokyo signed landmark defense pact last July, allowing troop deployment on each other’s soil
- Both countries to increase operational cooperation, promoting collaboration in defense equipment, tech
MANILA: The Philippines and Japan have agreed to deepen defense cooperation in an “increasingly severe” security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, their defense chiefs said on Monday.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani was on an official visit to Manila, where he held a meeting with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, to discuss regional security issues, including the maritime situation in the East and South China Seas.
“We are not only to enhance existing alliances in terms of the scale of mutually cooperative activities, but also to the scope of these arrangements by also inviting like-minded partners potentially to join these alliances,” Teodoro said at a joint press conference.
“We share also the common cause of resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape the global order without the consent of the participants of this global order and the attempt to reshape international law by force. And this endeavor we will resist.”
The Philippines, China and several other countries have overlapping claims in the disputed South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars of goods pass each year.
Beijing has maintained its expansive claims of the area, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that China’s historical assertion to it had no basis.
Security ties between Manila and Tokyo — both US allies — have strengthened in the past two years over shared concerns in the region, with the two countries signing a landmark military pact in 2024, allowing the deployment of their forces on each other's soil for joint military drills. It was Japan’s first such pact in Asia.
Japan has a long-standing territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, while Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships have been involved in a series of tense incidents in the South China Sea.
During their talks on Monday, Nakatani and Teodoro agreed to strengthen operational cooperation by establishing a strategic dialogue mechanism, enhanced people-to-people exchange and by promoting collaboration in defense equipment and technology.
“In today's Japan-Philippines defense meeting, first of all, Secretary Teodoro and I firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe,” Nakatani said through a translator.
“It is necessary for the two countries as strategic partners to further enhance defense cooperation and collaboration in order to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific amid such a situation.”
Prof. Renato De Castro, an international studies expert and professor at De La Salle University in Manila, said defense cooperation with Japan is closely linked with the Philippines-US security ties.
“Now Japan is a very vibrant and reliable security partner … You cannot actually separate it from the security relationship with the United States. It’s also the enhancement of what I call the base of the US-Japan-Philippines security partnership that was formed last year,” De Castro told Arab News, referring to a summit of the three countries’ leaders last April.
“It’s really very important in terms of enhancing the capabilities of the three parties to conduct maritime cooperative activities primarily in the South China Sea, and also as preparation for possible contingency in Taiwan.”
Saudi, Indonesian officials agree on closer cooperation to improve health workforce
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- Kingdom’s Health Minister Fahad Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel is on 2-day visit to Indonesia
- Saudi doctors been training Indonesian colleagues in child heart surgery since last year
JAKARTA: Saudi Arabia and Indonesia signed on Monday a new agreement on the training and exchange of medical workers, as the Southeast Asian nation seeks closer partnership with the Kingdom to improve its healthcare system.
The Kingdom’s Health Minister Fahad Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel is on a two-day visit to Indonesia, leading a high-level delegation of officials.
As a part of the visit, Al-Jalajel and his Indonesian counterpart, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, held talks in Jakarta and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on health workforce cooperation between their countries.
“The MoU covered various areas of cooperation, including collaboration for Saudi doctors to practice in Indonesia, and for Indonesian doctors to study in Saudi Arabia,” the Indonesian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The deal also covers nursing scholarships, a fellowship program and exchange of health workers, it added.
“Through the exchange of health workforce, we hope to increase the standard of education and health services, while also strengthening the capacity of our human resources here in Indonesia,” Sadikin said after the bilateral meeting.
Saudi Arabia-Indonesia ties in the healthcare sector have been growing over the years.
Last year, Saudi doctors trained their Indonesian health colleagues in child heart surgery and helped expand access to pediatric cardiac care in the country, through programs sponsored by KSrelief, the Kingdom’s aid agency.
Sadikin hopes more Saudi doctors will come to Indonesia for child heart surgeries, as only half of an estimated 12,000 Indonesian children who are born with cardiac disease get treatment.
“Around 6,000 among them are uncared for and die as a result. I hope more doctors from KSrelief will come and help increase the number of cardiac surgeries in Indonesia,” he said.
The Saudi Arabia delegation also signed several agreements with Indonesia universities to train medical workers from the two countries.
“This cooperation will cover training in both countries, with the hopes that it will create a better and improved health workforce,” Al-Jalajel said.