our era of empire is just. the. i know i'm maryam namazie in london with a quick look at our main stories often only half a century the united kingdom has formally left the european union so far britain's departure from the e.u. single market customs union has been fairly smooth movement of trucks and ferries between the u.k. and the e.u. has continued without major delays but the coronavirus pandemic and a long weekend holiday meant that traffic would be like to the usual in all the top stories 20000000 people in the u.s. of now tested positive for the corona virus that's almost a quarter of the world of the wealth cases in just one country it's doubled its

number of infections in less than 2 months the u.s. has also experienced more than 340000 deaths there is andy gallacher has more. 2021 was the year that sugar brought people of hope vaccinations of being made and approved in record time they are being distributed but look at where we are now 20000000 cases and according to reports i've been reading almost half of those have come since the beginning of november but this century what is happening here is an abject failure on part of operation walk speed the trumpet ministrations plan to get $20000000.00 people and of course those people are over 60 five's and front line health care workers vaccinated by the end of 2020 that figure is closer to 3000000 and there were reports coming in from states across the nation that they just don't have the infrastructure to deal with this president trump was tweeting out on yesterday that the governors need to get

a move on but essentially what you're asking these workers to do in these hospitals and vaccination centers is get organized when they've been dealing with the coronavirus for the past 10 months and people are tired they don't have the money because they've all been dealing with and now you have reports in here in florida colorado and california of this new variant that was 1st reported in the united kingdom dr anthony fauci saying that's nothing to be worried about the vaccinations will treat that but the point is and the fact is people aren't getting vaccinated nearly fast enough and there were some reports saying at the current pace it would take 10 years to meet the goals set out by the trumpet ministration in other developments the united states senate has voted to override president trump's veto of the annual defense bill that's a major defeat for president trump just 20 days before he leaves office senate chiva 2 thirds majority were crying with many republican members voting against him for the 1st time initially refused to sign the $740000000000.00 defense act into

law alan fisher has more from the white house. it's essentially going to be the law one of the last things that this congress does and what they're doing is handing donald trump a defeat both houses of congress supported by 2 thirds majority to overturn the presidential veto they needed the senate vote after the house fought on monday that has no gone through don't trump has already attacked those republicans in the house who voted to overturn the veto he will do the same in the senate he attacked the leadership in the house as weak he will no don't do the same in the senate of course the republicans can defend themselves by saying look this bill actually contains a very important things for the military clearly the rises and money for various schemes therefore we had to make sure it went through as clean as possible health experts in india met to review the safety of the oxford astra zeneca vaccine

reports suggest it could be close to clearing its last hurdle countries yet to greenlight any vaccine for rollout despite recording more than $10000000.00 covered $1000.00 cases which is the world's 2nd highest caseload the african free trade agreement has come into effect after months of delays being implemented in very 3 countries that have officially ratified it while bank says it will lift millions of people out of extreme policy on the video tariffs on 90 percent of goods will be eliminated and many hong kong residents have packing up to avoid tough new security laws written is offering refuge to those who no longer feel safe from the end of the month they can move to the u.k. for up to 5 years and apply for residency south africa toxics says he is next looking at the country's mining industry.

at 1st glance they could be the remains of an ancient civilization. or an eye catching natural phenomenon. these strange hills surround john is. the largest city in south africa. but their beauty is deceptive and toxic. in fact the dunes are made up of mining waste. from. the leftovers of south africa's most profitable industries. and within the life some disturbing secrets. now it seems that 100 journalists must time to do has uncovered to the shocking truth of exactly what's in these mind tapes and just how deadly they may be.

sunrise america river basin. one of south africa's largest freshwater reserves. bridget corrigan is a botanist. and a specialist in the region's biodiversity. this is a very special catchment for a lot of reasons if it's a unique but a very city from not just the tourist trail but also the 1st one of our diversity is very special it's got about 14 species of fish and a lot of really endemic species of invertebrates and quite insects that contribute

to the health of the sort of this river system. there are about $200.00 tree species in america. that's 17 of them. and about $400.00 in the bed spaces. it is a national treasure and the north west doesn't have a lot of these river systems a lot of the systems in this province are heavily degraded. the crown jewel of this not true treasure lies just a few paddle strokes upstream. a sanctuary hidden at the heart of the resort. this is america i we're at the top of america. and the water bubbles up from the underground what to kevin's at that point of the day the water is clear is anything very low conduct 70 which means there's no salt is no

pollutants in this in the system it's really very very pure. the water is crystal clear but it might not stay that way. recently the mining industry has become interested in the area subsoil which is full of precious minerals regarded as a 10 mining payments for things like. cup a silver gold in the region so does pose a risk yeah this place is different at risk and it's you know we would like to see those places as an absolute no guy for mining if you pollute this this area this this underground aquifer. you can't just get that back it's not going to come back . so could the marco river basin one day resemble the of the desolate landscapes left behind by the south african mining industry. like these flat lands dyed red by chemicals. or these mine tailings

in the midst of south africa's pornstar and. some of them date back to 886 when gold was 1st discovered under a small town called johannes but. from that point on the mining industry began to deposit its to breed all around the city and more and more waste piles appeared. often only a few dozen meters. from residents home. some of the may look as innocent as sunday but they are mine tailings the slag heaps of years of extraction and digging for gold. over there but. it's. the day he considers he had to do something different from his book the day i . suppose i was out to disable the p.c.'s which. depreciate 170

i don't even 1st question just. drop something for the 3 cats he wants to drop his water from the course was a disaster and retrieve it. so what does it mean for those living next to these dunes. like here that's me. so does the wind come from the mine 38 it flows this side of a rose this side or this side just a tiny dylan mimi is a mother of 5 she spent all her life in the shadow of one of the largest mining dumps in the country its residue is everywhere all right. so the neighborhood has become one huge sound and it needs your. 2050 you'll call from the coughing and sometimes yes your eyes become sick if she's ok this is not right if you go to detaining temp this is some make some chemical in need so i'm

advising you to ok not to go to mine because it's very dangerous to only baby it's unhealthy at the same time to go you must think it or. leave it or go 'd to. a few months ago tiny dylan mimi wanted to find out how many people in her neighborhood of over a 1000 residents were unwell so she knew. on almost every duel this house that is keith coffee this house here the model the owner of this house is just full of this when you come here wolf in here each and every man will we mentally child out around here is coughing has a pulpit of coughing is appropriate each his skin some of them up only to. the men who. said that he the moment it does to me a question i will bind them up with a. question that needs. over one and

a half 1000000 south africans live in townships like this. at the foot of mine tailings mountains. that's the south of it gets into off one week this past week think this that so that is why i thought many people here this is the silent heat. this dust doesn't just make people vomit or cough several children in the neighborhood suffer from severe neurological disorders. or who i believe you know i think for years you know if you let. you know i learned that if. you returned this 6 years old. she suffers from a paralyzing brain disease are you doing well lately however her family saying the tondo was born perfectly healthy the problems arose soon after the roof of the

house was under repair at the time and the dust from the mine heaps cotton this does you pull your good and the people that before you sleep you must face. that and everyone kids oh yeah a few weeks later the 1st signs of illness appeared in the years since the tundra has been unable to. communicate with her. when she she was to be changed. yeah and then she she kicks it is ok arrow maybe when she wants you to go i say ricci she kisses him and she screams all. day you know she has to go out say you want to. poverty has always prevented the family from being able to prove a link between attenders illness and the mind dust but they are no doubt if there are other peers like under her own was the same symptoms same health issues yeah

i do know in days there is a danger to them is going to be their only problem is that they are ashamed of their kids all and here they don't want anybody knowing up idea kids in this situation there's 2 of them over the tellers is in the in the sense 3 children 2 of them or many of them you know personally personally strange is something they paid me you only find in here this is actually centered it in my angel today my 2 detailing tend to do today they don't think so but if you go of any distance from here in leave you me will never find the key. to find out whether the just from the nearby mine tailings really is the cause of peace illnesses. must climb snake park hill. it has been abandoned ever since the mine was closed. access is supposedly forbidden there's nobody guarding the site

which extends over 4 square kilometers while i'm out of the all for about 6 years being run from a soldier's each. day so then do me a turn the dishes. was similar. to. take 500 grams of the sun. the dust that's blowing over the village but no. on the way down he finds a green lake at the foot of the slope. it's used mostly to area gate adjacent farmland or residents also give it to their livestock sometimes their children even bay the net of this will. ok or if i can put in will do. measure

for the. killer. was it on the screen you have put it. frankly linda is professor of environmental studies at northwestern university in south africa can see me. linda is also an expert on mining illusion the government the world health organization who writes with his help has developed a scientific her took a test kit for different wood to pollutants yes so i'm at the bottom of the mine turnings there's some water all around i was wondering which parameters fish do you think i should analyze 1st in the water finding. tricks translate to. elevate. ok. i. thought it would be recently gone by. so going to. be done by.

missouri. i think we just. put it back. so i think it's likely. that your son communicate just so you know it was example of what that says all the. new data to continue to pose for then. it's impossible to analyze everything there and then so must takes another sample to check for more pollutants later. but the tests have already thrown out some serious questions. after some convincing one of the

country's top 3 gold produces agrees to a meeting. of the total. gold fields 8750 kilograms of gold was mined at the site last year. the team can't go underground into the mine itself and the company will only allow them to film surface operations we get all from from the stuff. but at night you'll see on the front end there's some. business right including we are doing a plus minus $5500.00 tons. a day i mean we have reaching out on 3 on a tons valid depends on a lot of viability and how many grams of coal is there. so there or that you see on the still fall is what i mean at the plus minus 5 days but done that's always good i got into the. only 5 grams of gold each tonne of all mind that's

a remarkable ratio. and it means a huge amount of residue to be disposed of. the precious metal is separated from the rest of the and then heated in these killings. i think to make goes there we used to i'm i sit in the sun that's still pretty nice i can make those you know prices they know the order mega nice in sydney got. the concession that c.t.r. so you add all of these together with these with the call. the last stage is the cost at $800.00 degrees celsius for 40 minutes.

the end result gold falls. at 84 percent purity each weighs in at just over 16 kilograms and is worth around $538000.00. goldfields makes 5 of these gold balls a week. producing 16200 tons of residue you equivalent to the weight of 2 of france's eiffel towers. the company has wasted human lives here on this he said constantly 24 hours a day by these pipelines connected to the factory. within a few years this hail will become another steep mountain of debris reaching up to 70 meters high. andrew passons and stephen joseph are its grand architects. what's in there. what is it's. well it's it's what's left over from there from the extraction process it's the rock that. held the gold. and what's left behind off

the gold has been removed so it's silica and and other materials it's a sand. in. metals but in many silica is there any other metals for example there. would be trace amounts but but very small concentrations of some olds and some of the gold ores there is uranium sauced deep has very little uranium minutes or so. there's very little uranium and in this in the stomach you. can really. not offhand i think the numbers around about 40 to 50 grams a ton 50 annually south african mining companies extract 10 times more uranium than gold the uranium is then abandoned leaving behind radioactive mined tailings so the kind of control you do the samples you are talking about is on daily basis the gold

from the ok but the radiation 50 would probably be. ok or. over time the waste produced by south africa's gold industry has formed increasingly large radioactive heaps dumped outside in the open air. according to official estimates the mine tailings surrounding johannesburg now contain an astounding 600000 tons of uranium the quantities are so high that in reality the mountains of waste should be classified by the state as nuclear installations they should be confined and secured and kept at least 500 meters away from any residential area but those rules are routinely ignored as here into the shaft a township with over 20000 residents. forced into. the sea for. the purpose of oil bruno sherry ron is an engineer in nuclear

physics and an expert from korea ratched a research association in radioactivity when i was i was government only. going to . go through. that commercial school shaken too much was. it would be a little bit. also paul nordstrom's on the wall the office all the moves you want to focal take to suddenly you know i'm a quidditch sort of group on television i mean to depict it. i know my point of view the scene i just shot there young man get him up it even to be able. to do is if you did your in you do risk or deployed in your she thought of us of a young mom and she's. going to join in our community i don't is wrong but you don't want your little girl does when this point 30000000 because you.

and you cannot see all gounder. on a cell with a country that's real funny as for. just one. and only because you want to force the daughter to try. and they said. to you to find us. do think it was only. 4. 100 would be too close only let it go to the. master has discovered that radioactivity levels here are close to those in the exclusion zone around the site of the $96.00 nuclear disaster he follows the grazing animals to eric from

gomez nearby farm. eric keeps around 40 goats and a few sheep none of which seem to live very long lead them up about is the last week that's week. one month 11 months of all yeah well yeah and do you do you have a lot of baby though most because of your. writings show then said as for success this is a. eric wants to show us the most common symptom amongst his flock. they want to. know as well and. have a muslim but a muslim know what it must be. and this is the fungible one it is. mine so. i want to learn. it. and i met. so when you see these every day what do you think. was the motion and.

i would doubt about it but it's just the bins. it seems as though eric's goats have radiation sickness but evidence is needed. we are close to the mine tailings farm. look really sick i mean according to you do you own or do you think we should do some hairs on both of the animals. takes 5 samples from 2 goats intended to be used for meat consumption including one who is blind. i come up with the result of the trauma factor or the instructor thanks for you but

i. must turn takes the samples to be tested at south africa's council the scientific and industrial research. here's the water from the sailings just across the the taters it is used as a recursive water jesus us immigration and also for almost a drink we also live in some more full sun bowls train job is done with a store was contaminated as low made competitors and so what can you what can you look for years almost all day then the man goes by did had it encoded in windows like you know you by now on the old lead you know was in the gui shop and in talks and can basically when you. need an expert to get them in order once we get them then that reason on the group. as he waits for the analysis must time returns to

the investigation in part 2. as the shocking results come in he shares the news with some of those affected and comes face to face with an industry insider what i found particularly scandals to take the worst possible material which is your rainy i'm grinding into dust comparable to flour and make a hill out of it and put it into place where people live pity is a colossal bad idea. one of the last remaining ancient forests in southeast asia is a lifeline to hundreds of lumberjacks and drive as. we follow that treacherous journey as they walk through extreme conditions. together and transport this dangerous but precious cargo risking it all.

on al-jazeera. it is only a change because some people believe in a purpose that is bigger than their. rallying well a fundamental political muscle you know your arms they run the senate they put themselves out to make the changes something that. we should have taken this. name has got to learn we have a disco church to slosh or to create new areas we have to change this culture i am one of the fortunate ones who can leave an establishment but all the people and on that majority of the legal research talk about just good hardworking people that want to live the american dream like our ancestors these are going to refugees are terrified that they may be forced to return to be a more. the

with the. hello i'm maryam namazie and on the now top stories this hour after nearly half a century the united kingdom has formally left the european union so far britain's departure from the e.u. single market and customs union has been fairly smooth movement of trucks and ferries between the u.k. and the e.u. has continued without any major delays but the coronavirus pandemic and a weekend holiday meant traffic was light of unusual. in our other headlines 20000000 people in the u.s. have now tested positive for the corona virus that's almost a quarter of the world's cases concentrated in just one country it's doubled its number of infections in less than 2 months the u.s.

has also experienced more than 340000 deaths there is an economic one has more $20000000.00 cases and according to reports i've been reading almost half of those of cocaine since the beginning of november but this century what is happening here is an abject failure on part of operation walk speed the trumpet ministration supply and to get 20000000 people and of course those people are over 60 five's and front line health care workers vaccinated by the end of 2020 that figure is closer to 3000000 and there were reports coming in from states across the nation that they just don't have the infrastructure to deal with this meanwhile the united states senate has voted to override president donald trump's veto of the annual defense bill a major defeat for trump just 20 days before he leaves office senate cheve the 2000 majority required with many republican members voting against the president for the 1st time john refused to sign the $740000000000.00 defense act into law saying it's

ain't giving the reason that it retained legal protection for technology companies . the african free trade agreement has come into effect after months of delay $54.00 nations have signed up to this and now it's being implemented in the $33.00 to $33.00 countries that have officially ratified it the world bank says it will lift millions of people out of extreme poverty under the deal tariffs on 90 percent of goods will be eliminated and many hong kong residents of packing up to avoid tough new security laws are seen is offering refuge to those who no longer feel safe from the end of the month they can move to the u.k. for up to 5 years and apply for residency. i'll see for the news hour 2100 g.m.t. in half an hour's time.

hundreds of strange mounds lie scattered around johannesburg south africa's most populous city but they aren't a natural phenomenon they are mine tailings waste heaps left over from south africa's hugely profitable gold industry. many are also said to be dangerously toxic awash with heavy metals and poisons and radioactive debris. with expert help french journalist must time to do is getting that content scientifically analyzed. but one night while he waits for the results he gets a mysterious voicemail message hello i heard that your interest. money where your around. in a month well i would go to a mental geologist me up for a while and i would really much appreciate you you know you're going to come around again i will work about it thank you very much. the message is from

a geologist and eagle club chick after a 20 year career in the mining industry has now left it disgusted by the industry's failure to have his warnings about dealing with its waste i'll tell you what i found particularly scandals to take the worst possible material which is you radio grind into dust comparable to flour and make a hill out of it and put it into place where people live that is a cause colossally bad idea when you when you said what was the only way you doing reports where you listened at that time i have written lots of reports i must have some sort of a record in emails probably over the over 100 so after a while you know i was explaining look what you are proposing costs money i mean 1st of all you have to decode the contaminate. the land that is number one number 2 you can actually pump tailings all the way back where you got them from grapes them

with up just a few percent of cement and you can get rid of tailings this way is a basic you put it to normal you put it back to where it was how does it make you feel when you see it is local communities complaining about that or their health problem doesn't make you fear makes you feel like a murderer. what we have done like i said we have created an enormous and we're mental disaster if we were you know growing potatoes and we made and what a mental disaster along the side it would be different we would fail we are feeding the nation why did gold mining industry do it in reached a small percentage of people so we have produced gold which is the most useless thing you know whole world it feeds human greed it has no uses and yet we have made and probably one of the biggest and one mental disasters in the world. so yes i do i do feel like a like a murderer as eagles disturbing were using hand. start heads back to sea from

everett from goma. his current century possible signs of radioactive poisoning now the test results for the animals are being delivered in person by frank bender. the janice but professor of studies also one of the vote we're joined by name is frank frank and. the professor has come to see eric's livestock for himself. the test results a clear material from the nearby mine tailings has contaminated erik's foam and uranium isn't the only problem. for example manganese would be quite significantly elevated in your and you'll want to sample over 2 cells times what would what one would find in natural water sources we do have we do have an eco being elevated to solving times of authentic this elevated 50 and zinc as well solvent 500 ok the

most let's say indicative metal for mining impacts and that is you are a new in those tailings that is about 10 times what you would see in a natural environment 10 times as much so what you what you analyzed in your water you did about 100 times more than one would find in unproduced didn't actually pristine waters off of. a farm surrounded by pollution and changed. its animal's badly contaminated and. it's disturbing news. the health of your goat yeah shows the highest levels of war so. you see uranium is 60 times for elevated but all the lead is that elevated to 80 times meaning almost $100.00 times above what's normal that's the same was cobalt that's the same was also in a 3 and a 600 times for

a nickel but maybe you didn't know if you know it is going to says ok all right i can have all of the yes you can it's all yours but soldiers. for nailing him down for you fly me. my lifestyle died prematurely townships which children have neurological disorders and suffer from terrible coughing fits. all the medical links between poor health and mining and so clear cut. stoff at the screen open health clinic might have some odd sense. among their patients is. it's the 3rd time this month that my youngest son has taken an l. . ok .

all right there is no. need to let him use. too much of this stuff was it was a lesson by. not to let you go to the last physical and live with because of them don't know. so how he's going to yours. their baby has called brocade she's. i was just they introduced clint will sense sometimes we see worst so you get a child with a cough like the one that i just saw. she was having chest in drawings of the dust because of the dust this is something that you will see on daily average yes you have been here you've got number of clues is not really there

should be a study like you're mentioning is that everybody who are living lives through their minds if we get a lot of those patients i think definitely we have to do realize that. astonishingly the south african state has never conducted a study to understand the impact of mine tailings on the population. but can. he catches up with the again. back and a township at the foot of the mine down and out connecting with. ok was go oh it's. very so you have to do this every day. this is your house ok tunisia's the small shack with her 4 children. in langley. but as. it is again as

a single i live by the bible is a. claim and i'm up on the corner quinola is it a corner quinola feel good telepictures and they were this tiny cabin provide some shelter from the rain but not from the pollution. and her children live only a few doesn't need to is from the mine dump where earlier had measured radioactivity levels 28 times higher than the norm. she agrees to provide has samples to test what level of contamination but the reason is to. agree that a new. von song pinay director of the institute for research and scientific expertise in stride comes online. to mean you know. his cover will come on tell you come and then he's commotions to pull. it in yeah if you blow it was he killed you gale norton i'm just you know me. i'm still me i

don't. know she. is one of the sort. of want to put in a bit will he see what i'm going to do yes you could fall and then there is this food kind of love. you put in culture get your lucky breaks yourself. lester sure. hope they don't pay you well. all right if you turn. it all right that should be more than enough. to more than you would put in. we have said you must consult me did you like this i want to. go next.

or a perfect. master has also taken to has song from the time to whom we mad. a little girl suffering from year old to suit us. look. this is one of a lot of thinking so dumb as to. use to look beautiful. ah. and then we'll 10 in total from other residents living near the mine tailings and sent them via express mail to professor pinay in france. once again they'll be a few days of waiting for the results. in the meantime looking for gold. some of south africa's most profitable export is used in the electronics industry some of it is used for investment but most of it ends up as true free yet to the

websites of the world's major luxury brands a curiously silent about the sources of the gold. on the boat you know jennifer was full of those that are. nor are any of them keen to respond to questions show that there's one of them called just how do you know much of the green zone all do that inflow of their lives in for the joy of business from them on this one is of utmost importance ships are going to communicate by leaving don't you know from the mother was one time was a good moment when the mongia federal police each of them to come from the city to indeed not one jewelry brand agrees to provide details of whether gold comes from. medicare and then who can you call doesn't question the reason long italian brand is the 3rd largest jeweler in the world and it certainly seems to be using a lot of gold. it's time to go shopping. to grease headquarters and. johannesburg located in sun city among some of the most expensive

real estate on the african continent in a luxurious shopping mall made by the company displays one of its finest pieces a gold and diamond necklace costing almost 70 $8700.00. but again no one hand seems to know where that gold had been sourced and we wanted to know whether it was here in the national gallery you knew where the gold comes from if you can talk about it it's a call to gold yeah the gold you use in your jewelry. or you know i you know the idea that are ok don't you think it is kind of a surprising that you don't know where to go comes from the directors of the material believe me to tell you you know ok i've heard of the. of the consequences of my own mines i forgot that for example the mind savings this is what you learned in your is better environment to learn

a job and that's just are is a major step by product of the 1st word where you know. it's her thank you very much for you i'll come. back in a world overshadowed by the waste dumps of south africa's a vast gold mining industry. people are gathering in a church hall. tiny the activist has come to see or to exist by their drugs on people with you. so to have all the children whose has something smashed on has taken for testing.

what has spread and even the national media present. everyone wants to know what the scientists have concluded. or think you so much again for being here today i really appreciate the fact that you've come a long way to be here must our runs through the results gleaned from soil and guts samples and then he cools off on some inane and stress pad been in charge of analyzing the levels of heavy metal scroungers in the human head that's been gathered lucas i want to live. don't go and i was born with a huge tree of a go to guy bill so you need to be sure who. was a very good as your dodo. oh it was a. fluke if you will. always little blue should tell you who. was a shill to. do it don't do. those who.

don't. set some injustice don't do this for so forth when you would expose your post and go this was on when you were exposed to it with people who are sure that god loves it and don't go and no one is exempt as an opinion i don't think it is the least was rule yet it really all was vague ya know these findings could help south african doctors give me a tandem better diagnosis for her disease. or yours i'll be able to husband question. people which. i don't. and all those who are you with of course fill your ass if you need. more talk you need was still there and you don't need ok taken together the result a deeply disturbing. the soil gathered by much from the mine tailings is full of

heavy metals the level of all snake for example is $330.00 times higher than the norm the water is full of uranium $100.00 times the international limit the goats are infected their fur contains 83 times more lead than those living far away from the mine tailings and as for the residents some of the children show 64 times more exposure to lead 5 times more exposure to your opinion and 4 times more exposure to us nic than the average french person we eat much essentially easy to mean we eat is dangerous for you. and can cause. what can we do i don't. know it. looks a. lot but usually we don't. even miss

you know you can feel. them in that. moment the. moment. you. know. i think you know it. is this one moment and this is not all those people that really. blows miles apart still the scientists who can be sent to the state we've had enough of this man's exposing us all so we are appealing to everybody once again to make sure that you're saying good position there was a good case you know we've lost because of insufficient evidence but now we're dead documented in the like do we know it louise the universe be able to know what

they've been. doing very much once again. as residents begin planning their next move. including a possible legal claim against the mining companies. obtains an interview with the chamber of mines. the industry's association for some of south africa's most powerful mining concerns. and here are some pretty pretty don't seem to see national demeanor look at them in an effort just to someone just can't. soumitra element eckstein to put on you some 20. almost 120 years later stuff in a mood runs that we're going to is ations anti-pollution department altering for those issues because the gold producing families do not want to address

individually regarding the environmental impact of the mining industry. do you think it's it's going in the right truck on the goodwill. yes there is significant good progress achieved this far in terms of my mean companies dealing effectively with environmental impediments how's the chamber of mine ever conducted human health impact assessment regarding the tellings the mine tunings is not it's not that i'm well ok so we don't some some some smashed and then shows the same scientific analysis that he has shared with the residents back in the township we never heard about that and i don't know ok. what does that make you think now it's quite concerning for me and i think something should be done do you think that the mining industry that you represent have

a responsibility in this numbers. i think it is with our member companies mind he is we do have the responsibility. do you leave close to the mind. why not even me. i'm in most of the it's i mean most of the i mean those guys they follow the table as not the other way around they choose to go and stay there thing the people that live around the table this trainings this huge paintings are on drugs producing they're saying they're not safe. at all there's a lot of. environmental risks as well a safety of risks and why do you think you've been clean over all these years of yes to something should be done for the tailings that our own but when you when you say something do you think it's something where what is it about eating the media and of they have been tahsin of those should get rid of the yes i think we need an

all vote all management strategy as the industry and obviously in putting up with government. so what does the government have to say. south africa's environment minister declines to be interviewed. and his office says that the subject is not his area of expertise. but the ministry of health on the other hand is very interested. in the evil. ficus thing is director of the national institute for occupational health 1000. fundamentally this is of great importance to demonstrate that the levels are so

much higher and that there would be negative health effects on the children and really one of the real tragedies that the study said and why the money has not been prioritized we need to make sure that mines and other workplaces don't could. new to contaminate the living embodiment for communities and so on. would you like a copy we would absolutely love to have a copy because you see we don't have this we don't have it in and then we can go in with our medical teams and perhaps have a sample of those who have got high levels. of these different heavy metals and you raney and and go in more physical examination do blood tests do unit tests and monitor there. the south african government will soon begin

a major study on the health impacts of mining pollution. but time is of the essence in 2017 mining companies extracted 130 tons of gold from south african soil. producing 27000000 600000 tonnes of supplementary waste. more ways to be produced next year and the next one and the one after that. there are still 35 years remaining of exportable gold reserves in south africa. how many move it dims will have to be in that time before people realise that life is more precious than gold.

this is such a contrast to a year ago there's an awful lot of time and rain around the we're talking about summary weather supposedly in australia as a track record low possibly get worse than that in the gulf of carpentaria so significant rain here why is fred showers and thunderstorms in new south wales bits of queens and not as much as it was admittedly that victoria and moving into south australia and although it's warmer in perth the clouds increasing here as well with one or 2 showers this is a particularly un summary look to things in victoria in new south wales i have to say new zealand to see some of that rain as well proper winter was showing itself in the fall and also china and in the form of snow throughout most of japan at

least northern home should hawk-eye the less so in the korean peninsula some stars fall short 1st on the ground there the high temperature in the minus 2 in so things are slowly warming up further south the rain showers returning to taiwan and hong kong reaches about 19 sunny degrees equal the cold has come out a little bit in punjab and temperatures i think will rise a little in new delhi in the hole by night because it was still nearer we got showers around which will improve their quality but will change the tenor of the weather to some degree. what has been doing with the money that it's for we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in argentina's congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich support families hit hard by the damage counting the cost on al-jazeera. for many young

adults a coming of age brings greater responsibility. for this young man the responsibility of 800 years of family tradition weighs heavy on his shoulders. the choice to students but the decision must be made soon. part of the viewfinder asia series on al-jazeera. joggers in new delhi take advantage of the relatively clean air after weeks of toxic small stopped people from venturing outside institutions including harvard say air pollution is leading to more severe cases of the coronavirus and more deaths from it and nowhere in india is the situation worse than in daddy the number of queues daughter and record where a desperate situation of the indian government set up a new commission to monitor sources of pollution across 5 north indian states

health experts and by mental said been wanting for months that the easing of the lockdown would lead to an increase in pollution and the impact that would have on those as the cause of 19. this is al-jazeera. a low i maryam namazie you're watching the news our life. london coming up in the next 60 minutes traffic between britain and europe appears to be flowing smoothly as the u.k. completes its historic exit from. a devastating toll corona virus infections in the u.s. past 20000000 making up almost a quarter of the world's code that 19 cases. the u.s. senate delivers a final to donald.