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Sudan Plans to Benefit from its Full Share of Nile Water

Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas takes part in a trilateral meeting to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Khartoum, Sudan on Dec. 21, 2019. (AFP)
Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas takes part in a trilateral meeting to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Khartoum, Sudan on Dec. 21, 2019. (AFP)
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Sudan Plans to Benefit from its Full Share of Nile Water

Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas takes part in a trilateral meeting to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Khartoum, Sudan on Dec. 21, 2019. (AFP)
Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas takes part in a trilateral meeting to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, in Khartoum, Sudan on Dec. 21, 2019. (AFP)

Sudan's Water Minister Yasser Abbas said on Friday that his country was barely using 6 billion cubic meters of water from its 18.5 billion share from the Nile River, stressing the need to revise the laws regulating water projects in a way to allow Khartoum benefit from its full share.

“Sudan is not using more than 6 billion cubic meters of water from its 18.5 billion share, listed in the 1959 agreement,” he said.

The agreement with Britain increased Egypt’s share of the Nile water to 55.5 billion, while Sudan received 18.5 billion.

The deal has governed the use of Cairo’s water to date and it allowed Egypt the right to veto any construction projects that would impede the flow of water into the Nile.

During the first meeting of the advisory council tasked with placing the ministry’s policies and programs during the transitional phase in Sudan, Abbas said that the isolated system of the water harvesting program in Sudan was used for political and not service purposes, adding that this program was not implemented in the best ways.

He said that the principle challenges that the ministry was currently facing are to build water harvest facilities and to manage them in a sustainable manner.

“We rely on the advisory council to discuss and draw new policies and programs to allow the implementation of such projects,” he said.

The minister mentioned the lack of water engineers working at the ministry. “We are working to restructure the ministry during the upcoming phase to attract young engineers,” he said.

Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile began in 2012, but since then Egypt has sounded the alarm that the project would severely reduce its water supplies.

In November, the foreign ministers and water resources ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia met in Washington to discuss issues related to the dam and they agreed to hold four technical meetings to follow up and assess the progress.

The first meeting was held in Ethiopia in November and the second meeting was held in Cairo in December.

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Arab World

Flash Floods Kill Five in Syria

A displaced Syrian girl sweeps rainwater from the floor of her family's tent following a rainstorm at the al-Talae displacement camp in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on October 29, 2026 [Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo]
A displaced Syrian girl sweeps rainwater from the floor of her family's tent following a rainstorm at the al-Talae displacement camp in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on October 29, 2026 [Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo]
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Flash Floods Kill Five in Syria

A displaced Syrian girl sweeps rainwater from the floor of her family's tent following a rainstorm at the al-Talae displacement camp in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on October 29, 2026 [Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo]
A displaced Syrian girl sweeps rainwater from the floor of her family's tent following a rainstorm at the al-Talae displacement camp in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on October 29, 2026 [Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo]

Flash flooding and heavy rains in northern and eastern Syria killed five people, including four children, authorities said Thursday.

Four children died by drowning in the governorates of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, the ministry of emergency and disaster management said in a statement.

Another man died in an accident at a bridge in Raqqa.

State news agency SANA said the heavy downpours and subsequent flooding caused a bridge to collapse in Raqqa, closing a road linking the region to neighboring Aleppo.

Five more people are missing in the storms that have been drenching the country since Wednesday, according to the ministry.

Areas across northern and eastern Syria have seen heavy rainfall and strong winds, inundating homes, displacing residents and closing roads, according to local authorities and official media.

Climate change has led to a drop in rainfall in Syria, while remaining downpours are intense, sporadic and less predictable, according to experts.

Arab World

Syrian Sentenced to 42 Months in US Prison for Pro-Assad Hacking

Reports indicated the images came from hacking attacks targeting social media accounts, as well as cases of online enticement (Reuters).
Reports indicated the images came from hacking attacks targeting social media accounts, as well as cases of online enticement (Reuters).
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Syrian Sentenced to 42 Months in US Prison for Pro-Assad Hacking

Reports indicated the images came from hacking attacks targeting social media accounts, as well as cases of online enticement (Reuters).
Reports indicated the images came from hacking attacks targeting social media accounts, as well as cases of online enticement (Reuters).

A Syrian man was sentenced to 42 months in prison on Thursday for his role in computer hacking on behalf of the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the US Justice Department said.

Ahmad Umar Agha, 32, and co-conspirators hacked Western media outlets, businesses, non-governmental organizations and US and allied government entities "to spread the former Syrian government's propaganda," the department said in a statement.

The hacking group known as the Syrian Electronic Army was led by members of Assad's inner circle, it said.

"Agha deployed his hacking skills in the service of Assad's regime to silence reporting on the regime's atrocities, intimidate its opponents, and incite US servicemembers to refuse their orders," Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said.

The group's most notorious hack was of a US new agency's Twitter account, resulting in a false 2013 tweet saying then-president Barack Obama had been injured after two blasts at the White House, said AFP.

"Agha's actions caused a flash crash in the US stock market, resulting in a temporary $136 billion loss in the value of stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average," the Justice Department said.

Agha, also known as Th3Pro, was indicted along with an alleged co-conspirator, Firas Dardar, who remains a fugitive.

A third Syrian charged in the case, Peter Romar, was extradited to the United States and pleaded guilty in September 2016 to hacking charges.

Arab World

Dodging Fuel Price Hikes, Damascus Drivers Turn to Electric Cars

Ahmed Al-Lahham, a driver for ride-hailing application "Yalla Go!", charges his plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in Damascus. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Ahmed Al-Lahham, a driver for ride-hailing application "Yalla Go!", charges his plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in Damascus. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
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Dodging Fuel Price Hikes, Damascus Drivers Turn to Electric Cars

Ahmed Al-Lahham, a driver for ride-hailing application "Yalla Go!", charges his plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in Damascus. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Ahmed Al-Lahham, a driver for ride-hailing application "Yalla Go!", charges his plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in Damascus. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Taxi driver Mohammed Kanaan drives his shiny new electric car around Damascus's rundown streets, hoping for higher profits as spiking petrol prices made his old car too expensive to run.

He is among some in the Syrian capital who are steering towards electric cars -- mostly Chinese-made -- after repeated fuel shortages during the country's civil war and petrol price hikes, most recently due to the Middle East war.

"I used to have a car that ran on petrol but lately fuel quality has been low and prices have gone up," said Kanaan, 42, who had barely been covering his operating costs.

"In the end, I decided to buy an electric car and set up a charging point," he told AFP.

Before the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad nearly two years ago, it was rare to see modern cars in Damascus, particularly after civil war erupted in 2011.

The economy tanked, and imports of new vehicles screeched to a halt due to Western sanctions, which have largely been lifted since the new authorities took power.

When the new authorities came to power and reduced tariffs, some 100,000 cars were imported, before they halted imports of used cars due to concerns over quality.

Not all Syrians can afford to make the switch to electric, with the percentage remaining negligible as most still live in poverty.