Hello everyone,
Good to be back from my break.
Barry.
Gaza
Israel’s ongoing clearance of rubble in Gaza left behind by its destruction of the Palestinian enclave over the last three years could cover up “atrocity crimes” and prevent the recovery of bodies, a U.N. expert said. Sixty-one million tonnes of debris now litter Gaza, and 82 percent of all structures have been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s onslaught. It is estimated it will take seven years to clear. "In devastated Gaza, rubble is not just construction waste. It is part of a crime scene, a graveyard, and the material record of what happened during a brutal and senseless bombing campaign that lasted two years,” Francesca Albanese said.
More from Reuters here.
DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is tightening control over its geological data, with competition between China and the U.S. for a slice of its multibillion-dollar critical mineral supplies market intensifying. The government has signed a $180 million contract with Spanish company Xcalibur, a global leader in geodata mapping, to digitize historical geological records and build a national database of critical mineral resources. It will then charge for access to the data, according to reports, arguing that geological information is strategic national infrastructure. Despite holding massive deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium, tantalum and gold, DRC is one of the world’s least-explored major mining nations.
More from Africa News here.
North Korea
North Korea and Russia have called the opening of a road bridge between the two a symbol of friendship as the Western-sanctioned nations continue to strengthen diplomatic and military ties that have grown in recent years. The neighbors already had direct rail and air routes, but some 300 vehicles a day will be able to cross the new bridge, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and it will link directly to Russia’s federal road network. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been increasingly successful at deepening ties with Russia and China in the face of frosty relations with South Korea and the U.S. Pyongyang has sent an estimated 14,000 troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces there.
More from EuroNews here.