DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Surrounded by Fighters and Haunted by Famine, Sudan City Fears Worst
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fears of renewed ethnic slaughter in the Sudanese region of Darfur, where genocidal violence killed as many as 300,000 people two decades ago, have soared in recent days, with a looming assault on an embattled city that is already threatened by famine. The contest for control of El Fasher, the last city held by Sudan’s military in Darfur, has prompted alarmed warnings from American and United Nations officials who fear that mass bloodshed may be imminent. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, told reporters on Monday that the city was “on the precipice of a large-scale massacre.”El Fasher is the latest flashpoint in a year-old civil war between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group that the military once nurtured and is now its bitter rival for power. The conflict has devastated one of Africa’s largest countries and created a vast humanitarian crisis that U.N. officials say is one of the biggest in decades. The crisis also brings a sharp focus on the role of foreign powers accused of fueling the fight, especially the United Arab Emirates.

Persons: El Fasher, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, ” El Fasher Organizations: United Nations, Rapid Support Forces, United Locations: Sudanese, Darfur, U.S, “, United Arab Emirates

☆ Gaza Is Biden’s War Now - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Darfur and Gaza are very different, of course, but I recall the senator’s compassion and urgency — and I wonder, where has that Joe Biden gone? Gaza has become the albatross around Biden’s neck. Consider just one example of America’s fingerprints on this war under Biden’s leadership. The International Rescue Committee says that the near-fatal strike was caused by a 1,000-pound American-made bomb, dropped from an American-made F-16 fighter jet. And when an American-made aircraft drops an American-made bomb on an American aid group in an American-supported war, how can that not come back to Biden?

Persons: Joe Biden, George W, Bush, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Organizations: International Rescue, Committee Locations: Darfur, China, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, United States, American

☆ The Long, Strange Decline of One of America's Most Influential Brands
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Amanda Chicago Lewis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

What followed was hundreds of sequels and spinoffs, everything from "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul" to "Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul" to the bestseller I read cover to cover, several times, in sixth grade: "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul." By 2003, research found that more young readers seeking solace turned to the Chicken Soup series than to the Bible. What began as Chicken Soup for the Soul board games and calendars turned into Chicken Soup for the Soul chocolates and Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food. He pointed out that the cover of the original Chicken Soup book "ripped off" Campbell's Soup, to trigger "nourishing and comforting and warming" feelings. He started suggesting outrageous directions Chicken Soup could go in next: "The Chicken Soup pistol!

Persons: I'd, I've, who'd, John Wayne, Jack Canfield, Canfield, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Soprano's, Russ Kamalski, Laurel, Hardy, Tyler Le, Americus Reed, hadn't, he'd, Johnny Nunez, Getty, Clement Stone, Stone, Napoleon Hill's, Norman Vincent Peale's, Mark Victor Hansen, Hansen, Bennett Raglin, let's, Mark Twain, They're, they'd, Kamalski, Preteen's, Christian Woman's, Mother's, —, Wayne Booth, Booth, Barbara Ehrenreich, David Gray, Amy Poehler, Kenan Thompson's, Patty Aubery, I'm, I, blurbing, Bill Rouhana, Amy Newmark, Newmark, Rouhana, Winstar, Ashton Kutcher, Isaac Brekken, Kevin, Reddit, Chicken, Redbox, You've, We're, Kevin fumed, hicken, orth, ince, eason, rance, ike, osses, ives, ake Organizations: John, Hyatt Regency, Soul Entertainment, Nasdaq, Americus, Wharton, Hyatt, Harvard, Triple, Beverly, Hotel, Canfield, University of Chicago, Oklahoma State, Washington Post, Wall, Company, Connecticut —, NASCAR, Hollywood, Consumer Federation of America, CSSE, Hindenburg Research, Sony Pictures Television, GameStop, YouTube, Soup, ust, anfield Locations: Newport Beach , California, Indonesian, Crackle, Canfield, Nigeria, Japan, France, Ohio, West Virginia, Mali, New York, Anaheim, Florida, ,, Teacher's, Baltimore, China, Australian, Darfur, Southern California, Greenwich , Connecticut, Connecticut, Zillow, Canadian, Wells Fargo's, Redbox, ife

☆ The Long, Strange Decline of Iconic Chicken Soup for the Soul Brand
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Amanda Chicago Lewis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

What followed was hundreds of sequels and spinoffs, everything from "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul" to "Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul" to the bestseller I read cover to cover, several times, in sixth grade: "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul." What began as Chicken Soup for the Soul board games and calendars turned into Chicken Soup for the Soul chocolates and Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food. What began as Chicken Soup for the Soul board games and calendars turned into pet food, barbecue sauce, and — yes — soup. He pointed out that the cover of the original Chicken Soup book "ripped off" Campbell's Soup, to trigger "nourishing and comforting and warming" feelings. He started suggesting outrageous directions Chicken Soup could go in next: "The Chicken Soup pistol!

☆ UN Chief to Visit Gaza Border in New Plea for Truce
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

CAIRO (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Egypt's border with Gaza on Saturday to renew pleas for a ceasefire that could bring relief to a territory devastated by more than five months of war between Israel and Hamas. His trip comes as Israel threatens to launch a major military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, just over the border from Egypt, despite international appeals against such an attack. He is expected to visit a hospital in Al Arish and meet U.N. humanitarian workers in Rafah. More than 32,000 people have been killed by Israel's military campaign in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to local health authorities. Guterres, who made one previous trip to Egypt's border with Gaza shortly after the war broke out, is visiting Egypt and Jordan as part of an annual "solidarity trip" to Muslim countries during Ramadan.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, Guterres, Jordan, Aidan Lewis, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: United Nations, Hamas, Palestinian Locations: CAIRO, Egypt's, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Egypt, Arish, Sinai, Al Arish, United States, Cairo, Sudan, Darfur

Video shows RSF soldiers humiliating men from a village in Jazira state. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF told him they would only return his car if he worked for them, Farouk recalled. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF’s violent advances in Jazira state, their targeted destruction of warehouses, Sudan’s gene bank and irrigation systems will inevitably further exacerbate Sudan’s massive food shortages,” she said.

Persons: CNN —, “, Sudan’s, ”, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Badawi, Luis Tato, Sidiq Farouk, Farouk, ” Farouk, hasn’t, ‘, ’, Hala Al, Al Karib, Tomoya Obokata, Leni Kinzli, ” Kinzli, Omar Marzoug, geolocated, Waal, Médecins, Anette Hoffmann, You’re, ” CNN’s Benjamin Brown Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, United Nations, Peace Foundation, African Center for Justice, Peace Studies, Getty, Food Programme, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Hala, Initiative, Women, UNICEF, WFP, “, ” CNN, ”, Farmers ’ Alliance, Clingendael Institute, Agriculture Organization Locations: Al Jazira, Sudan’s, Darfur, Jazira, Sudan’s breadbasket Jazira, Sudan, Khartoum, of, Sudanese, Renk, South Sudan, AFP, Chad, Gedaref, Hala Al Karib, Horn of Africa, Omdurman, Al, of Africa

☆ Food Aid for Sudanese Refugees in Chad Could End Next Month, WFP Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

GENEVA (Reuters) - Food aid for hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad, some of whom are close to starvation, will be suspended next month without more funding, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. But the WFP says it is struggling to feed them all and many are already skipping meals. Nearly half of Sudanese refugee children under five-years-old are suffering from severe anemia. A supply route from Chad into Sudan's Darfur, where hunger is worsening, is also at risk due to funding shortages, WFP said. With more resources, WFP would be able to position food stocks ahead of the rainy season when some refugee populations in Chad get cut off from supplies by muddy rivers.

Persons: Pierre Honnorat, Emma Farge, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Food Programme, WFP's Locations: GENEVA, Chad, Sudan, Chad into Sudan's Darfur

CNN —The war in Sudan is “triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis,” with more than 25 million people “trapped in a spiral” of food insecurity, a United Nations agency has warned. The war, which has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the UN, has left 18 million people “acutely food insecure” in Sudan and millions more in neighboring South Sudan and Chad. “Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world’s largest hunger crisis, and the world rallied to respond. Nearly a year into a war that has sent Sudan to the verge of collapse, the vast majority of its people are going hungry, the UN's World Food Programme says. Armed transfers that must stop,” she said, remarking that the international community “is not doing nearly enough” to address the crisis.

Persons: “, ”, Cindy McCain, –, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, EBRAHIM HAMID, United Nations Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Thomas Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Food Program, UN, Sudan’s Armed Forces, SAF, Rapid Support Forces, WFP “, WFP, Getty, Thomas, West Darfur “ Locations: Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Darfur, East, Sudan’s, Gedaref, AFP, West Darfur

☆ UN Security Council Considering Call for Ramadan Truce in Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Michelle NicholsUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is considering calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities ahead of Ramadan in the nearly year-long war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, diplomats said. The 15-member council is negotiating a British-drafted resolution that diplomats said could be put to a vote on Friday. Since war erupted on April 15, 2023, the council has only issued three press statements condemning the violence and expressing concern. The draft U.N. Security Council resolution urges all countries "to refrain from external interference which seeks to foment conflict and instability and instead to support efforts for a durable peace." A Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, Britain, China or France to be adopted.

Persons: Michelle Nichols UNITED, Ramadan, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Michelle Nichols, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Reuters, United Nations Security, Rapid Support Forces, The, U.S, United Arab Emirates, Security Locations: British, The United States, Sudan's West Darfur, UAE, United States, Russia, Britain, China, France

☆ Atrocities Mount in Sudan as War Spirals, U.N. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Nick Cumming-Bruce | Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bombs that struck houses, markets, and bus stations across Sudan, often killing dozens of civilians at once. Ethnic rampages, accompanied by rape and looting, that killed thousands in the western region of Darfur. And a video clip, verified by United Nations officials, that shows Sudanese soldiers parading through the streets of a major city, triumphantly brandishing the decapitated heads of students who were killed on the basis of their ethnicity. The horrors of Sudan’s spiraling civil war are laid out in graphic detail in a new United Nations report that draws on photos, videos and interviews with over 300 victims and witnesses, to present the stark human toll from 10 months of fighting. Many probable war crimes have occurred as part of the grinding battle for control of Sudan, one of the largest countries in Africa, which started with clashes between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, the report by the U.N.’s human rights body found.

Organizations: United Nations, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Darfur, Africa

☆ Hillary Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg decry sexual violence as a war tactic
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Hillary Clinton, Sheryl Sandberg and a coalition of scholars, government officials and legal experts discussed Friday how to prevent sexual violence as a weapon of war. Israeli authorities have accused Hamas militants of committing widespread, systemic sexual violence as part of their attack. Despite mounting evidence from Israeli investigators and eyewitness sources, Hamas has repeatedly denied allegations that its fighters committed sexual violence during the attack. Matviichuk said sexual violence during the war in Ukraine is violence that “is directed to the whole Ukrainian society.”“The survivors of sexual violence feel shame because it happens with them,” Matviichuk said. “It is about understanding deeply, the very real ways that women and girls are impacted differently by global challenges including this challenge of conflict-related sexual violence,” Clinton said.

Persons: Hillary Clinton, Sheryl Sandberg, ” Clinton, Clinton, Obama, Sandberg, ” Sandberg, Jeffrey Gettleman, Hala, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs Sandberg, Matviichuk, ”, ” Matviichuk, “, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs Clinton’s, Columbia University –, ” Linda Thomas, we’re, ” Thomas Organizations: New, New York CNN, Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics, Georgetown Institute for Women, Security, State, Facebook, Lean, UN, Columbia University, Global, New York Times, Strategic Initiative, Women, Center for Civil Liberties, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia Locations: New York, Sudan, Darfur, Ukraine, Israel, Africa, Horn of Africa, Palestine

☆ Sudan: Internet blackout nationwide as UN appeals for $4.1 billion to ease ‘epic suffering’ caused by war
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Nimi Princewill | Ingrid Formanek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Internet connectivity was shut down in Sudan amid ongoing clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that have left thousands killed and millions displaced in nearly 10 months of fighting. Internet monitoring firm, Netblocks confirmed the outage Wednesday, saying that all three of the major network operators in the warring North African nation were out of service. The RSF has yet to publicly deny responsibility for the blackout. The UN appealed for $4.1 billion to meet the “most urgent humanitarian needs” amidst “epic suffering” in Sudan, adding that half of its population - some 25 million people need support and protection, with millions hungry and displaced by the war. Some 19 million children not attending school, continued widespread human rights violations, and gender-based violence are among the challenges cited in the UN’s funding appeal.

Persons: Netblocks, ”, Martin Griffiths, RSF Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, UN, Humanitarian Affairs, UN’s Refugee Agency, UNHCR, Sudan’s Locations: Sudan, “, Sudan’s, Darfur

“I’m still waiting to see when that happens,” Griffiths said. Photos You Should See View All 21 ImagesSudan plunged into chaos last April with street battles between the generals’ rival forces in the capital, Khartoum, that spread to other areas. Western Darfur, which was wracked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003, has been an epicenter of the current conflict, an arena of ethnic violence where paramilitary troops and allied Arab militias have been attacking African ethnic groups. Secretary-General Guterres urged support for the ICC, saying its role in prosecuting those involved in “atrocities” in Darfur “is absolutely essential.”Humanitarian chief Griffith and U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi appealed for $4.1 billion in international support for embattled civilians in Sudan amid signs that some may be dying of starvation after nearly a year of war. The agencies said that half of Sudan’s population, or around 25 million people, requires support and protection, and that the requested funds would go to help millions of civilians in Sudan and others who have fled abroad.

Persons: António Guterres, “, ” Guterres, —, Abdel Fattah Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo —, Guterres, ”, Martin Griffiths, “ I’m, ” Griffiths, Karim Khan, ” Khan, General Guterres, Griffith, Filippo Grandi Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, Rapid Support Forces, African Union, Arab League, International Criminal Court, ICC Locations: Sudan, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Geneva, Switzerland, Khartoum, Darfur, Rome, Chad

☆ Sudanese RSF Brings Down Telecoms Networks Across Sudan - Sources
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The RSF did not comment, while an RSF source said the paramilitary had nothing to do with the outages. The two telecoms sector sources said the RSF was able to shut down the networks without causing permanent damage. The RSF has also forced Sudan's third main provider, Kuwaiti-owned Zain Sudan, to stop service in River Nile state and Port Sudan city, both controlled by the army, the sources and SUNA said. "MTN Sudan is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders to minimise the duration of this interruption," it said. The war has made Sudan the world's biggest internal displacement crisis and both sides have been accused of war crimes.

Persons: Nafisa Eltahir, SUNA, Sudani, Sudan's, Zain, Aidan Lewis, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Communications, Rapid Support Forces, MTN Sudan, MTN, Facebook, MTN Group, Reuters, Medical Locations: Nafisa Eltahir CAIRO, Darfur, Khartoum, Kuwaiti, Zain Sudan, Nile, Port Sudan, Sudan, Zamzam

CAIRO (AP) — The U.N. food agency said Friday it has received reports of people dying from starvation in Sudan, where raging fighting between rival generals is hampering the distribution of aid and food supplies to those most hungry. The conflict erupted last April in the capital, Khartoum, and quickly spread to other areas of the country, after months of simmering tensions between the two forces. World Food Program said that some 18 million people across Sudan currently face acute hunger, with the most desperate trapped behind the front lines of the conflict. Photos You Should See View All 45 Images"Life-saving assistance is not reaching those who need it the most, and we are already receiving reports of people dying of starvation,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP's director for Sudan. Burhan and Dagalo are yet to meet in person since the conflict began.

Persons: Abdel Fattah Burhan, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, ”, Eddie Rowe, Burhan Organizations: Sudanese, Rapid Support Forces, Food Program, The United Nations Locations: CAIRO, Sudan, Africa, Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, Gezira, Sudan’s, Saudi Arabia, United States

☆ US Treasury Imposes Sanctions on Businesses Owned by Sudanese Warring Parties
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

The businesses sanctioned are Alkhaleej Bank and Al-Fakher Advanced Works, controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and Zadna International, controlled by the Sudanese army, according to a U.S. Treasury Department statement. The Rapid Support Forces are accused by the U.S. of participating in an ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur, along with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, Zadna International was described as a "top revenue-earner" for the Sudanese army. The U.S. Treasury Department said it continued to provide funding and was used for money-laundering. The sanctions were imposed under a U.S. executive order authorizing sanctions on individuals who are destabilizing Sudan and undermining the country's democratic transition, the Treasury Department said.

Persons: Brian E, Nelson, Daphne Psaledakis, Rami Ayyub, Peter Graff Organizations: Alkhaleej Bank, Al, Rapid Support Forces, Zadna, U.S . Treasury, U.S, Treasury, Terrorism, Financial, Alkhaleej, Sudanese Central Bank, Treasury Department, U.S . Treasury Department, U.S . Locations: WASHINGTON, CAIRO, United States, Sudan, Sudanese, U.S, West Darfur

A key part of that lofty aspiration was the drafting of a convention that codified and committed nations to prevent and punish a new crime, sometimes called the crime of crimes: genocide. Now, in response to Israel's devastating military offensive in Gaza that was triggered by murders and atrocities perpetrated by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, South Africa has gone to the International Court of Justice and accused Israel of genocide. The ICC prosecutes individuals and is separate to the International Court of Justice, which rules in disputes between nations. At public hearings earlier this month and in its detailed written submission to the ICJ, South Africa cited comments by Israeli officials that it claimed demonstrate intent. Both Gambia and South Africa have filed ICJ cases in conflicts they are not directly involved in.

Persons: Reich, Mary Ellen O’Connell, Notre Dame University's, Israel, “, Joan E, Donoghue, ”, Marieke de Hoon, Said O’Connell, Malcolm Shaw, Serbia “, —, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, Jean Paul Akayesu, Omar al, Bashir, Danica Kirka Organizations: —, United Nations, Nazi, Notre Dame, Notre Dame University's Kroc, International Court of, Criminal, ICC, International Court of Justice, University of Amsterdam, of Islamic Cooperation, Rwanda —, Yugoslav, Bosnian, Associated Locations: HAGUE, Netherlands, Nazi Germany, Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia, Gaza, South Africa, Israel, Pretoria, Africa, ”, Rome, Serbia, Srebrenica, Bosnian, Moscow, Ukraine, Gambia, Myanmar, That's, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Arusha, Tanzania, Darfur, Cambodia, Khmer Rouge, London

☆ Ethnic Killings in One Sudan City Left up to 15,000 Dead - UN Report
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing the RSF war effort. The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometers south of Amdjarass. The monitors' report included similar accounts. They said that between 14-17 June, some 12,000 people fled El Geneina on foot for Adre in Chad. The Masalit were the majority in El Geneina until the attacks forced their mass exodus.

Persons: Michelle Nichols, Maggie Michael UNITED, El Geneina, RSF, Madani, Maggie Michael, Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, United, Reuters, . Security, United Arab Emirates, United Nations, Security Locations: CAIRO, Sudan's West Darfur, United Nations, El, Sudan, Amdjarass, Chad, UAE, West Darfur, Geneina, El Geneina, Adre, Darfur, Libya, South Sudan, Egypt, States

☆ Fresh From Battles Won With U.A.E. Arms, Sudanese General Takes Victory Lap
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, the leader of a notorious paramilitary force fighting for supremacy in Sudan’s civil war, is not the president of his country. Yet on a recent whirlwind tour of six African nations, he was treated just like one. Some of the continent’s most powerful leaders rolled out the red carpet for General Hamdan after he arrived on a luxury jet for meetings in late December and early January, having swapped his military fatigues for business suits. And in Rwanda, General Hamdan posed solemnly at a memorial to victims of the 1994 genocide — even though his own troops have faced accusations of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. The surprise tour was a remarkable comeback for a commander often rumored dead or wounded since Sudan plunged into war in April.

Persons: Mohamed Hamdan, Hamdan, Cyril Ramaphosa, General Hamdan, General Hamdan’s Organizations: General, General Hamdan’s Rapid Support Forces, United Arab, United Nations Locations: Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Sudan’s Darfur, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Persian, Horn of Africa

☆ Agencies Consider New Aid Route Into Sudan as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Aidan Lewis(Reuters) - Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Monday, nine months into a war that has caused a major humanitarian crisis. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising. Aid agencies lost access to Wad Madani, a former aid hub in the important El Gezira agricultural region southeast of Khartoum, after the RSF seized it from the army last month. Diplomats and aid workers say that the army and officials aligned with it have hampered humanitarian access as both sides pursue their military campaigns. They say the RSF does little to protect aid supplies and workers, and that its troops have been implicated in cases of looting.

Persons: Aidan Lewis, Rick Brennan, Madani, Brennan, We've, Martin Griffiths, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Rapid Support Forces, World Health Organization, WHO, ., Diplomats Locations: Sudan, South Sudan, Port Sudan, Cairo, Khartoum, El Gezira, South Kordofan, Chad, Darfur, Kordofan

☆ A slew of new conflicts could erupt in 2024, analysts say — while the world is watching Gaza and Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

- | Afp | Getty ImagesWith the eyes of the world on the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, an unprecedented number of potentially "catastrophic" conflicts are going under the radar, analysts have warned. The U.N. estimated in October that more than 114 million people were displaced by war and conflict worldwide. There is good reason for that — it is currently the most dangerous place in the world to be a civilian." The political turbulence comes amid ongoing armed conflict in eastern DRC and widespread poverty, and precedes further regional elections early next year. If you look at Myanmar, of course you've got this huge population in Bangladesh of displaced Rohingyas, and also displaced within Myanmar itself," she said.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, David Miliband, Miliband, Isabelle Arradon, Rapid Support Forces —, Gen, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, Khalifa Haftar —, Arradon, Félix Tshisekedi, U.N, Antonio Guterres, you've, We've, It's Organizations: Afp, Getty, Rescue, Crisis, CNBC, Rapid Support Forces, UAE, IOM, UN's, Organization for Migration, Sudanese Armed Forces, Democratic, Government Locations: Red Sea, Port Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libyan, Khartoum, Darfur, METEMA, Ethiopia, Metema, AFP, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of, Congo, DRC, Goma, North Kivu, Kigali, Kinshasa, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Shan, Sagaing, Kayah, Rakhine State, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal

There’s a genocide in the making in Darfur, Sudan — for the second time in 20 years. This time, the violence is happening on President Biden’s watch, and he and his administration have not done enough to stop it. In recent weeks, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a mercenary-commercial enterprise, has overrun four of the five main cities in Darfur, a region in western Sudan. After the Rapid Support Forces seized the town of Ardamata on Nov. 4, some 1,500 people were slaughtered, according to a Darfur human rights group. The paramilitaries are mobile and ferocious, and their adversaries in the regular army, the Sudan Armed Forces in Darfur are demoralized and outgunned.

Persons: Sudan —, Biden’s, Biden, El Fasher, Omar al, Bashir, Darfuri Organizations: Kenyan, Sudan’s, Rapid Support Forces, Sudan Armed Forces Locations: Darfur, Sudan, Ardamata, North Darfur, El

☆ 2023 through the lens of Reuters photographers
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Reuters Photographers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters photographers were on the ground to capture it all as it unfolded - and much more. 649 photographers125 countries1.3 million photosOn Oct. 7, Hamas rampaged through southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. While this war and other stories took the spotlight off Ukraine, the conflict raged on in the country’s east. Amid the death and despair that marked 2023, humans still found ways to remember and to celebrate - and Reuters photographers looked for those stories, too. A Reuters photographer took a picture of an object drifting down to the coast in South Carolina after it was shot down, just one moment among many that made up the world in 2023.

Persons: Abdulalim Muaini, Donald Trump, Sam Bankman, Fried, King Charles III Organizations: U.S ., Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, Europe, Canada, America, California, Congo, Darfur, Sudan, Haiti, U.S, rickety, Gaza, United States, Mexico, South Carolina

☆ Sudanese women describe being gang-raped in attacks by Arab forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( On The Chad-Sudan Border | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Young women from the ethnic-African Masalit tribe say they were sexually assaulted at gunpoint by RSF paramilitary and Arab militia forces during attacks on the city of El Geneina in West Darfur. In early November, the RSF and Arab militia fighters waged another wave of ethnically targeted attacks in the city, Reuters recently reported. Source: Natural EarthThis report details the accounts of other Masalit women who say they were raped. Taken together with reports of rape cited by international organizations, their allegations point to the specific targeting of Masalit women for sexual assault by the RSF and allied Arab forces in El Geneina. All 11 women interviewed for this story said the men who attacked them wore either RSF military uniforms, or robes and turbans commonly worn by Arab militiamen.

Persons: ’, – Organizations: RSF, Reuters, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Young, El Geneina, West Darfur, Arab, Sudan’s West Darfur, Chadian, Adre

Survivors recounted executions and looting in Ardamata, which they said were carried out by RSF and allied Arab militias. The RSF developed from Arab militias known as the Janjaweed that helped Sudan's army crush a rebellion in Darfur in the 2000s. Atta said the UAE had funnelled unspecified supplies to the RSF through Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad. Sudan's army, Chad and the CAR did not immediately respond to requests for comment. While the UAE backed Sudan's aborted political transition after the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, it has remained publicly quiet on the war.

Persons: El Tayeb, Yassir al, Atta, RSF, General Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Omar al, Bashir, Nafisa Eltahir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Maha El, Elias Biryabarema, Aidan Lewis, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Sudanese, United, Rapid Support Forces, Army, UAE, General Intelligence Service, Reuters, Central African Republic, Wagner Group, CAR, Thomson Locations: West Darfur, Adre, Chad, Ardamata, Arab, El, Rights CAIRO, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Darfur, Omdurman, Sudan, Chadian, Amdjarass, Uganda, Chad's, Ndjamena, Russia, Khartoum, Maha El Dahan, Dubai, Kampala

Search resuls for: "Darfur"

25 mentions found