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UN: Over 30 million in need of aid in war-torn Sudan

UN: Over 30 million in need of aid in war-torn Sudan
For much of the conflict, the UN has struggled to raise even a quarter of the funds it has targeted for its humanitarian response in the impoverished northeast African country. (AFP)
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Updated 06 January 2025

UN: Over 30 million in need of aid in war-torn Sudan

UN: Over 30 million in need of aid in war-torn Sudan
  • Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than eight million internally displaced
  • Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: More than 30 million people, over half of them children, are in need of aid in Sudan after twenty months of war, the United Nations said on Monday.
The UN has launched a $4.2 billion call for funds, targeting 20.9 million people across Sudan from a total of 30.4 million people it said are in need in what it called “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
Sudan has been torn apart and pushed to the brink of famine by the war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than eight million internally displaced, which, in addition to 2.7 million displaced before the war, has made Sudan the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.
A further 3.3 million people have fled across Sudan’s borders to escape the war, which means over a quarter of the country’s pre-war population, estimated at around 50 million, are now uprooted.
Famine has already been declared in five areas in Sudan and is expected to take hold of five more areas by May, with 8.1 million people currently on the brink of mass starvation.
Sudan’s army-aligned government has denied there is famine, while aid agencies complain that access is blocked by bureaucratic hurdles and ongoing violence.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.
For much of the conflict, the UN has struggled to raise even a quarter of the funds it has targeted for its humanitarian response in the impoverished northeast African country.
Sudan has often been called the world’s “forgotten” war, overshadowed by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine despite the scale of the horrors inflicted upon civilians.


Gaza civil defense says 450,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City

Updated 23 sec ago

Gaza civil defense says 450,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City

Gaza civil defense says 450,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City
The Israeli military said it estimated “approximately 480,000” people had fled the city

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Friday that 450,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel began its offensive to seize the territory’s largest urban center.
“The number of citizens displaced from Gaza to the south has reached 450,000 people since the start of the military operation on Gaza City in August,” said Mohamed Al-Mughayir, an official of the rescue force, which operates under Hamas authority
The Israeli military, which has called on residents to evacuate as it presses its ground assault, had told AFP that it estimated “approximately 480,000” people had fled the city.

Civilians make up vast majority of Gaza deaths since March, report finds

Civilians make up vast majority of Gaza deaths since March, report finds
Updated 54 min 35 sec ago

Civilians make up vast majority of Gaza deaths since March, report finds

Civilians make up vast majority of Gaza deaths since March, report finds
  • Israeli advance into Gaza City raises risk of more large-scale casualties

LONDON: Nearly 94 percent of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since March have been civilians, according to data released on Friday from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data organization.

The figure is among the highest recorded during the conflict and comes as Israeli forces advance into Gaza City, forcing up to a million people to evacuate and raising the risk of further large-scale civilian casualties.

among Hamas and allied groups using reports from the Israeli military, local and international media, and statements from Hamas over a six-month period.

The report said: “Since March 18, Israel claims it killed more than 2,100 operatives, though ACLED data indicates that the number is closer to 1,100, and includes Hamas’ political figures, as well as fighters from other groups.”

More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in March, according to UN statistics, equal to 15 out of every 16 deaths.

The report highlighted a sharp rise in building demolitions, with 500 incidents recorded in the six months since March, compared with 698 in the preceding 15 months.

A senior Israeli officer there is “a tension” between protecting civilians and the “demands of fast-moving military operations,” adding: “We are fighting a very different war from any previous conflict anyone has fought anywhere in the world … We are now fighting in Gaza to ensure that Hamas is not ruling Gaza.”

ACLED noted that Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 40 senior Hamas commanders since March.

Ameneh Mehvar, ACLED’s senior analyst for the Middle East, said: “Hamas has been weakened undoubtedly and does not think they can now stop or defeat Israel and push them out of Gaza through military force.

“At this point Hamas is trying to preserve what is left of the movement.”

The group now largely operates in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah, relying on booby-trapped buildings and roadside bombs to inflict casualties.

The report also said there is no evidence of Hamas systematically stealing UN aid, though some smaller nongovernmental organization assistance may have been diverted.

“Israel has created conditions of chaos and violence around aid distribution,” ACLED said, warning that the long-term Israeli strategy appears aimed at degrading Hamas while pushing Gaza toward unlivable conditions and obstructing Palestinian sovereignty.


French Daesh suspects transferred from Syria to be tried in Iraq

French Daesh suspects transferred from Syria to be tried in Iraq
Updated 19 September 2025

French Daesh suspects transferred from Syria to be tried in Iraq

French Daesh suspects transferred from Syria to be tried in Iraq
  • Security services also had documentary evidence and testimonies from Iraqi suspects
  • “They will be tried under Iraqi law,” the official said

BAGHDAD: Iraqi intelligence services are questioning 47 French nationals, recently transferred from Syrian Kurdish custody, over their alleged involvement in crimes committed in Iraq by the Daesh group, officials said Friday.
“Iraq received 47 French nationals over a month ago from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and they are currently under investigation,” an Iraqi security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to brief the media.
“They belong to Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The official said the security services also had documentary evidence and testimonies from Iraqi suspects that implicated the French nationals in “crimes against Iraqis.”
“They will be tried under Iraqi law,” the official said.
Iraq’s National Intelligence Service confirmed that the French nationals would face trial in Iraq.
It said the suspects were “wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for their involvement in terrorist crimes committed in Iraq” after the group captured swathes of the country in 2014.
Some of them were involved “in activities that threatened Iraqi national security from outside the country,” it added.
Iraqi courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life prison terms to people convicted of “terrorism” in trials some human rights groups have denounced as rushed.
Iraqi courts sentenced 11 French nationals to death in 2019, all of whom remain on death row.


Jordanian crown prince, Princess Rajwa attend dinner hosted by US Vice President

Jordanian crown prince, Princess Rajwa attend dinner hosted by US Vice President
Updated 19 September 2025

Jordanian crown prince, Princess Rajwa attend dinner hosted by US Vice President

Jordanian crown prince, Princess Rajwa attend dinner hosted by US Vice President
  • During their dinner, they reviewed efforts to restore stability and promote peace in the Middle East

AMMAN: Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II and his wife Princess Rajwa Al-Hussein attended a dinner in Washington on Thursday, hosted by US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance as part of their official visit to the US.

During the dinner, the crown prince and Vance discussed the close ties between Jordan and the US and explored ways to strengthen cooperation, the Jordan News Agency reported. 

They also reviewed efforts to restore stability and promote peace in the Middle East.


Japan and Bahrain eye greater business cooperation

Japan and Bahrain eye greater business cooperation
Updated 19 September 2025

Japan and Bahrain eye greater business cooperation

Japan and Bahrain eye greater business cooperation
  • Bahrain PM holds discussions with counterparts in Tokyo
  • Palestine on agenda, commitment to ‘two-state solution’

TOKYO: Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Bahrain’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa held talks here on Friday to boost business cooperation.

Iwaya highlighted frameworks for such cooperation including the Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, Tokyo’s Foreign Ministry reported.

Iwaya and his Bahraini counterpart Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani held the first meeting under this agreement earlier this month.

Iwaya noted the nearly 100-year friendship between the two countries.

He said the relationship has expanded beyond the energy sector to politics, security, the environment, information and communication technology, space, and culture.

In their meeting in Tokyo on Friday, Iwaya and the crown prince also discussed the situation in the Middle East, including Israel’s war on Gaza.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of realizing a “two-state solution” for Palestine and resolving conflicts through dialogue.

They also reaffirmed the critical importance of maritime security and agreed to continue close coordination in this area.

The crown prince said he was pleased that concrete projects are developing between the public and private sectors.

Later in the day, he had a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the latter’s office. There was an honor guard ceremony before the signing of agreements and a dinner hosted by Ishiba.