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A30 world news
Diaranson 16 Maart 2022

Red-orange Sahara dust coats Spain, makes it hard to breathe

find a layer of red-orange lands in the Mediterranean.
dust covering their terraces,
streets and cars. The sky in The weather service said
the capital and other cities the mass of hot air from Af-
had a gritty tinge. Visibility in rica, which was brought in
Madrid and cities like Grana- by a storm that delivered
da and Leon was reduced to some much-needed rain
2.5 miles (four kilometers), for drought-hit Spain, also
the weather service said. pushed temperatures in some
areas up to 20 degrees Celsius
In Málaga, on the southern (68 F).
coast, the dust mixed with
rain in the air before coming Rubén del Campo, a spokes-
down. man for Spain’s weather ser-
vice, said while it was unclear
“It is like it was raining mud,” if climate change had a direct
said Álvaro López, a student link to this episode, the ex-
at the University of Málaga. pansion of the Sahara Des-
“I was in the car this morn- ert over the past century has
ing and mud was literally fall- increased the potential for
ing.” larger dust storms in Europe.

Emergency authorities in the He also said the increasingly
worst areas recommended turbulent weather patterns
that residents use face masks, linked to climate change
(AP) — Hot air from the listed the capital and large weather service forecast that which are still widely in use could play a part.
Sahara Desert has swirled parts of the southeast coast as the dust will continue to ac- from the pandemic, if they
over the Mediterranean “extremely unfavorable” — cumulate through Wednes- go outside and avoid outdoor “There are many concerns
Sea and coated Spain with its worst rating. day and could reach as far exercise. regarding the impact that
red-orange dust, prompt- north as the Netherlands and climate change is having on
ing authorities to issue Spain’s weather service de- northwestern Germany. The wave of hot air has also the patterns of the frequency
extremely bad air quality scribed the dust storm from affected the air quality north and intensity of the storms
warnings Tuesday for Ma- the Sahara as “extraordinary On Tuesday, the dust storm of Madrid, as far west as that favor the arrival of dust
drid and a large swath of and very intense,” while spilled over into neighboring Spain’s Canary Islands in the to our country,” Del Campo
the country. adding that it was unclear if Portugal. Atlantic Ocean, where these said.
it was the worst episode of events are more frequent,
The national air quality index its kind on record. Spain’s Many Spaniards awoke to and in Spain’s Balearic Is-

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank clashes

(AP) — Israeli forces killed two It said the forces opened fire to dis- estinian Authority, which administers
Palestinians and wounded sev- perse the demonstrators. There were parts of the occupied West Bank and Israeli and Palestinian officials have
eral others during separate raids no reports of any injuries among the coordinates with Israel on security held meetings in recent days aimed
in the occupied West Bank, the Israelis. matters, condemned the raids. at reducing tensions ahead of Ra-
Palestinian Health Ministry said madan, which is expected to begin
Tuesday. Israel captured the West Bank in the Israel says its military and police op- in early April. Last year, the Muslim
1967 Mideast war, and the Palestin- erations are aimed at combating ter- holy month was marred by protests
Israel’s paramilitary Border Police ians want it to form the main part of rorism, while the Palestinians view and clashes in Jerusalem that helped
said its forces came under attack their future state. them as a means of maintaining a ignite an 11-day Gaza war.
while arresting suspected militants. nearly 55-year military occupation
The internationally recognized Pal- that shows no sign of ending.
The health ministry said 16-year-old
Nader Rayan was shot and killed, and
three other Palestinians were wound-
ed, in a raid in the Balata refugee
camp in the northern West Bank city
of Nablus.

Another Palestinian, Alaa Shiham,
who was in his 20s, was killed in
Qalandia refugee camp, just outside
of Jerusalem. The ministry said six
other Palestinians were wounded in
Qalandia and taken to a hospital.

The Border Police said forces entered
Balata to arrest a suspect who had an
M-16 assault rifle in his possession.
As they left, a group of Palestinians
hurled stones and firebombs at them.
The Border Police said forces “neu-
tralized” a Palestinian who opened
fire on them.

The Border Police said it arrested two
wanted men in Qalandia before com-
ing under attack by residents who
hurled heavy objects from rooftops.