Egypt unveiled a major discovery of 250 mummies and 150 bronze statues dating back 2,500 years at the famed necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo.

In a statement, Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the find includes 150 bronze statues of different sizes of various ancient Egyptian deities such as Anubis, Amun-Min and Osiris as well as bronze vessels used in rituals of Isis, the fertility goddess in the Egyptian methodology.

According to the local Sada Al-Balad TV channel, archaeologists also found a collection of 250 painted wooden coffins with well-preserved mummies inside, along with a 9-meter-long papyrus that is believed to contain verses of the Book of the Dead.

Monday’s discovery was the largest of its kind in Saqqara since 2018./aa

While tobacco use kills over 8 million people around the world, tobacco farming also destroys nearly 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) of area annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Along with damage to human health, the "tobacco life cycle" also causes severe harm to the environment, as growing tobacco also contributes to the deforestation of 200,000 hectares of area each year along with soil degradation.

The world marks World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31 annually to raise awareness about the health and environmental impacts.

This year's campaign is focusing on the environment that is affected by the entire tobacco cycle, from its cultivation, production, and distribution to the toxic waste it generates, with the theme of Tobacco: Threat to our environment.

"The campaign will also aim to expose the tobacco industry’s effort to greenwash its reputation and to make its products more appealing by marketing them as environmentally friendly," WHO said in a statement.

Also, a total of 4.5 trillion cigarette butts that are not disposed of properly, generate 1.69 billion pounds of toxic waste and release thousands of chemicals into the air, water, and soil.

'Greenwashing'

In a recent report in May, jointly conducted with the global tobacco watchdog STOP, the WHO accused tobacco companies of "greenwashing."

The term greenwashing is defined as "the disinformation disseminated by an organization as to present an environmentally responsible image," according to Oxford English Dictionary.

The report, titled Talking Trash: Behind the Tobacco Industry’s “Green” Public Relations, noted that "sustainability awards," used by these industries are an example of greenwashing.

"It could be argued that the tobacco industry has attempted to greenwash its reputation and products through programs such as beach clean-ups, and funding environmental and disaster-relief organizations," it added.

Meanwhile, the report showed that tobacco companies have accelerated their efforts to "rehabilitate their image," as the data showed that greenwashing activities and promotion, as well as the amount of money allocated during the process, are on the rise.

Tobacco kills 8M annually

According to the WHO figures, tobacco kills over 8 million people each year, while more than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use.

Of this, around 1.2 million are non-smokers that were exposed to secondhand smoke.

More than 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries and 12% of deaths of people aged 30 and over are due to smoking.

To prevent more fatalities and harm caused by tobacco use or production, the WHO urges stronger policies against tobacco use.

"The WNTD 2022 campaign calls on governments and policy-makers to step up legislation, including implementing and strengthening existing schemes to make producers responsible for the environmental and economic costs of dealing with tobacco waste products," it added.

Tobacco use by age, sex, region

According to a WHO report published in November on trends in the prevalence of tobacco use 2000–2025, smoking is dropping worldwide except for Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions.

Some 22.3% of the global population used tobacco products in 2020, according to the report.

It also noted that currently 36.7% of men and 7.8% of women worldwide use tobacco products.

"There has been a steady decline in any tobacco use for both males and females in each age group over the observed period 2000–2020," the report added.

For those aged 15 and older, tobacco use was recorded the most in Europe with 25.3%, with 32.9% males and 17.7% females.

Meanwhile, 24.6% of the population in the Western Pacific, 18.6% in Eastern Mediterranean, 16.3% in North and South America, 29% in South East Asia, and 10.3% in Africa were recorded as tobacco users in 2020, according to the data.

Containing 7,000 chemicals

WHO also warns that around 65,000 children die annually due to illnesses related to secondhand smoke.

Smoking is responsible for two-thirds of deaths related to lung cancer.

Non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%.

People who quit smoking are less likely to have lung cancer after 10 years, compared to smokers.

Smoking is known to be the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is particularly seen among those who start smoking at a young age and seriously prevents the healthy development of the lungs.

Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia./aa

Serbia expects the European Union to provide constructive support for dialogue with its neighbor Kosovo to find compromise solutions, said President Aleksandar Vucic on Monday.

The statement followed a meeting in the capital Belgrade between Vucic and European Parliament member Viola von Cramon on the economy, Serbia's European integration, problems in dialogue with Kosovo, the regional situation, and initiatives to connect the Western Balkans.

A statement from the presidential office said Vucic expects constructive support for dialogue and finding compromise solutions, including the application of existing agreements, and above all the Community of Serbian Municipalities, a planned self-governing association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.

"The conversation is the only right way to resolve open issues, as well as reach a sustainable agreement," said Vucic.

Von Cramon said that respect for the rights of Serbs in Kosovo is in the interest of the European Union and European Parliament.

"In the current difficult geopolitical situation, it is necessary for both sides to be responsible and refrain from provocations," said von Cramon.

Later on Monday Vucic is also set to meet with Oliver Varhelyi, European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement.

In 2011, the EU initiated a dialogue process to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, but the process was interrupted by tensions over the last few years.

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence in 2008. Serbia has not recognized this and continues to lay claim to the territory. Kosovo also aims to achieve full EU membership.

Serbia, Russia, and China are among the countries which have yet to recognize Kosovo's independence.

Separately, top diplomats of the EU gathered in Brussels to discuss a number of issues, including the bloc’s support for Western Balkan countries.

The foreign ministers of the Western Balkans countries – Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina – joined their EU counterparts for a separate session.

The discussions will focus on how the EU can help its “partners to be more resilient and to deal with the Russian aggression in Ukraine” that heavily affects their economy and security, a senior EU official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told journalists./aa

Rockets were fired at the US-controlled Al-Omar oil field in eastern Syria early on Monday.

The oil field in Deir ez-Zour province is Syria’s largest and has a presence of US personnel and the YPG/PKK terror group.

The rockets, fired from regions where Iran-backed foreign terror groups are known to be operational, did not hit the oil field and fell nearby.

There have been no reports of damage or casualties so far, according to Anadolu Agency correspondents in the area.

US forces carried out retaliatory artillery and rocket strikes, they added.

Last month, four US soldiers were wounded in an attack on a base in eastern Syria.

The Al-Omar oil field was occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group in October 2017.

Parts of Deir ez-Zour to the east of the Euphrates River are occupied by the US-backed terrorist organization, while the city center and areas in the east and west of Deir ez-Zour are controlled by the Assad regime and Iran-backed groups.

US forces continue to support to the YPG/PKK terror group from more than 10 bases and military points in regions occupied by the terrorists, including in the provinces of Hasakah, Raqqah and Deir ez-Zour./aa

More than 15,500 children became victims of sexual abuse last year in Germany, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said on Monday.

Authorities reported more than 15,500 child sexual abuse cases last year, up 6.3% from 2020, BKA President Holger Muench told a news conference in Berlin.

He said the number of offenses related to making, possessing or distributing images of child sexual abuse hit 39,000, with an increase of 108.8% compared to the year before.

Muench called on people to remain vigilant and to report any suspected abuse of minors immediately.

“We are doing everything we can to identify and prevent child abuse at an early state,” he said, adding that the BKA will reinforce its technical and human resources to combat child abuse./aa

Moscow-backed officials in Kherson, Ukraine have begun exporting grain to Russia amid a global food shortage.

Kiril Stremousov, Moscow's representative in the southern port city, told Russian news agency TASS that the winter harvest in the region has begun.

Stremousov stated that there is surplus grain in the city.

“We have a place to store grain, but there is a large amount of grain. People are now starting to export grain to buyers in Russia,” said Stremousov.

He added that the administration will also transport sunflower seeds from the region to processing facilities in Russia.

Western and Russian officials are warning of the global food crisis due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions.

Russia and Ukraine, as significant major grain exporters globally, had a share of approximately 30% in world wheat exports last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready for unhindered grain exports, including the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, but this requires the lifting of relevant sanctions against Russia./aa

Two Wagner paramilitaries were killed in an ambush by armed rebels in northern parts of the Central African Republic, local media reported on Monday.

The paramilitaries from the Russian private military company the Wagner Group were killed in an ambush by suspected fighters from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) in the Ouham-Pende region's Bossemptele province, according to media.

The Central African authorities recognize military agreements with Russia and the presence of Russian instructors to train the national army but do not acknowledge any deal with the Russian private security company.

Mercenaries from the Wagner Group summarily beat up and executed civilians from February 2019 to November 2021 in the country, according to a report released in early May by Human Rights Watch (HRW)./aa

A Turkish NGO is providing free eyecare services to thousands of people in in northern Syria displaced by years of conflict.

In less than a year, the Alliance of International Doctors' (AID) Ophthalmology Center in Idlib has performed hundreds of cataract operations and examined 7,000 people with eye diseases.

Due to mass migration related to the civil war and terrorism in Syria, more than 4 million people are living in Idlib, an area near the Turkish border outside the control of the Assad regime, many of them in tents.

Samer Alkhalil, an ophthalmologist at the center, said the facility sees all kinds of patients with vision problems, retinal diseases, cataracts, and corneal problems.

"We prescribe the required medicine or surgery, if it’s required," he said. "If the surgery is related to cataracts or similar cases of intraocular lens implantation or anterior vitreous cut, we schedule an appointment with the patient and perform the operation within weeks after the examination."

The center does about 100 operations and 900 examinations each month, he said, with refraction or poor vision making up most of the cases.

Alkhalil said there are a significant number of cataract patients in Idlib. "The reason for the high number of cases here, more than other places in the world, is the gap in or lack of (healthcare) services in recent years," he said.

He added that the center is currently working on a large number of cataract operations, besides eye exams and distributing medicines and glasses.

Other services

The center is also active in training new doctors, he said.

"We train new doctors who work for the purpose of the specialty – we call them residents or assistant doctors," said Alkhalil. "We provide educational services to them, whether in the clinic or in the operations so that there will not later become a gap in the community caused by a lack of doctors."

He said the center provides support to other institutions by providing free ophthalmology services.

"We try to support them by providing supplies, sometimes scientific support, medical support in any respect."

The group, with contributions by partner institutions, has also been active in various places in Idlib and other places such as neighboring Turkiye and Africa by providing prostheses, cataract operations, and educational operations./aa

Turkish security forces "neutralized" six PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the country’s National Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The terrorists were “neutralized” in the Operation Claw-Lock region, the ministry said on Twitter.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock last month to target PKK hideouts in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions. It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle, which were launched in 2020 to root out terrorists who hide in northern Iraq and plot cross-border attacks in Turkiye.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa

A father of a child who was wounded in a terror attack last week in northern Iraq told Anadolu Agency that the PKK terrorist organization targets only civilians.

The PKK attack on Amedi town's Bamarni district in the Duhok province killed at least two civilians, according to local authorities.

"My child was injured in the attack organized by the PKK. ... The PKK targets only civilians," Farhad Narvayi said, adding that he expects Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government to put an end to PKK attacks in Amedi.

Narvayi said they were in their village in Bamarni at around 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) when three mortar shells fired by the PKK terrorists dropped nearby.

"Two children died in the attack and my child was injured," he said.

"Everyone knows very well that the PKK is behind this. Security forces arrived on the scene and it was known that the PKK made the attack.

"The Kurdish Regional Government (in Iraq) must act seriously to stop the PKK's attacks. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last," he stressed.

Narvayi also underlined that the PKK is constantly targeting the people of the Amedi town and the stability of the region.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa