Dwellers of storied Mumbai slum await the bulldozers

The Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a temporary truce, as shown on the front page of Sudan Tribune. The group has been fighting with the Sudanese military for the past two years. The truce comes after the RSF seized the last military stronghold of El-Fasher, in northern Darfur, a week ago. For the moment, the army has not agreed to the truce – it wants the paramilitary group to disarm and withdraw from civilian areas. The conflict in Sudan has been called one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world: as well as the hundreds of thousands of people killed, 12 million have been displaced and 21 million face acute food shortages. The Conversation, an Australian academic website, reminds us that in the early 2000s, celebrities like George Clooney helped put the Darfur war on the map and global outrage led to the indictment of Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court. That same level of outrage is noticeably absent today as fears of another genocide grow. The Conversation wonders: will the world do anything to stop it?

Meanwhile, in the South African daily The Mercury, an academic pens a strongly-worded opinion piece. Ali Ridha Khan blames the Emirates for facilitating the war in Sudan. Sudan is not a crisis, he writes. "It’s a mirror that no one wants to look into, showing us what the world becomes when power sheds its old costumes and violence finds new investors." The "Emirates' fingerprints are all over Sudan’s agony", he explains, "through shipments, bank transfers and mercenary flows." He accuses Sudanese gold of being pulled through Dubai, while RSF fighters are trained and paid as proxy muscle and Sudan's generals are perfect puppets of "that Gulf patronage".

Elsewhere, French paper Libération is looking at the scourge of "PFAS" pollutants. The so-called forever chemicals are in everything from cuisine to cosmetics and fashion. Libé goes with one figure: "60,000" – in reference to 60,000 French people deprived of drinking water because of PFAS contamination. The chemicals can cause cancers, disrupt hormonal systems and weaken immunity. Certain districts are now stocking spring water reserves while waiting for the costly process of decontaminating tap water in what has become a major public health concern here in France.

Turning to India, the Guardian reports on the planned bulldozing of one of Mumbai's biggest slums for redevelopment purposes. The Dharavi slum is one of the largest and most storied slums of Mumbai. Under a multimillion-dollar project, it and its longtime residents could be no more. The Adani group is planning to bulldoze the slum and – according to activists' fears – plans to turn the prime real estate into a playground for the rich. The Dharavi slum is home to one million residents living in a 2.2 km² area. Generations of families have lived there and built businesses that sustain the Dharavi community. One man, for instance, makes leather coats sold in high-end shops in Mumbai and abroad. Residents are concerned they will be displaced. They say attempts to speak out about the redevelopment plan have been met with intimidation, threats and harassment by the Adani group itself.

Finally, a decades-long mystery has been cracked: who purchased a solid gold toilet that goes up for auction later this month? The New York Times reports that the golden throne is 100kg of solid gold that even works if you call a plumber! The owner of the toilet is Steven Cohen, the billionaire owner of the New York Mets. The toilet was designed in 2017 by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who also was behind the duct-taped banana artwork that sold for millions. On November 18, the toilet will go up for auction at Sotheby's with a starting price of $10 million. You could say it’s a commode-ity of very high value!

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