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"The internal dynamic of this war is a bit beyond what an external actor can really influence". After the latest 24-hour truce expired on Sunday, residents in Khartoum and capital area reported fresh artillery fire and clashes. The United States and Saudi Arabia, which lies across the Red Sea from Sudan, have sponsored talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. EXODUSThe failure of talks has put the nation, which was already reliant on aid, in a perilous humanitarian state. It could take generations to try to put back together," said Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa Director for Crisis Group.

Persons: Magdi El, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Mokhtar, Hemedti, Mokhtar, Omar al, Bashir, Mahasin Ibrahim, Alan Boswell, Horn, Aidan Lewis, Khalid Abdelaziz, Daphne Psaledakis, Nafisa, Edmund Blair, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Rapid Response Forces, United Arab Emirates, Valley Institute, U.S . State Department, Reuters, Crisis, Thomson Locations: Jeddah, Khartoum, CAIRO, truces, United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi, UAE, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, African Union, KHARTOUM, Omdurman, Bahri, Darfur, North Kordofan, Port Sudan, El Geneina, Chad, Sudanese, Africa, East, Europe, Dubai, Washington

☆ Three British tourists missing after fire on boat in Red Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Plumes of smoke erupt from a yacht on fire in Marsa Alam, Egypt, June 11, 2023 in this screengrab taken from a handout video. Mohamed Al-Saif/Handout via REUTERSCAIRO, June 11 (Reuters) - Three British tourists were missing and 12 had been rescued after a motor boat caught fire on Sunday off the Egyptian Red Sea coast, Egyptian officials and security sources said. The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit on the boat, which was named Hurricane and had been on a trip since June 6 in an area just north of Marsa Alam, the statement said. Images posted on social media showed a white motor yacht with the same name on fire at sea, with thick smoke billowing into the sky. "We saw smoke from the boat, it was around 9km from the beach," said Ahmed Maher, a diving manager at Marsa Shagra village.

Persons: Mohamed Al, Saif, Handout, Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Ahmed Hassan, Farah Saafan, Kylie MacLellan, Aidan Lewis, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: REUTERS, Red Sea, Thomson Locations: Marsa Alam, Egypt, REUTERS CAIRO, Marsa Shagra

Just after the ceasefire expired at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) witnesses said clashes and artillery fire resumed in the north of Omdurman. "The truce made us relax a bit, but the war and fear are returning today," said Musab Saleh, a 38-year-old resident of southern Khartoum. Fighting has been concentrated in the capital, much of which has become a war zone plagued by looting and clashes. 'LOOTING EVERYWHERE'Another affected city is El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan State southwest of Khartoum and on a major route to Darfur. The 24-hour ceasefire that began on Saturday morning was negotiated at talks led by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah.

Persons: Witnesses, Haj Youssef, Musab Saleh, Mohamed Salman, Khalid Abdelaziz, Mohamed Nureldin, Aidan Lewis, William Mallard, Jason Neely, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Darfur Bar Association, Thomson Locations: Khartoum, Egypt, KHARTOUM, Sudan's, Sunday, Haj, Bahri, Omdurman, Shambat, Darfur, El Geneina, Chad, El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Kordofan, Sudanese, Saudi Arabia, United States, Jeddah, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo

☆ Sudan factions agree day's truce designed to 'break cycle of violence'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The conflict has displaced more than 1.9 million people, some 400,000 of whom have crossed into neighbouring countries. "There are heavy strikes near us and bullets from every direction in Al-Thawra neighbourhood in Omdurman," said Sanaa Ahmed, a 24-year-old resident. The army confirmed in a statement that it had agreed to the 24-hour ceasefire while asserting "its right to respond to any violations". The conflict in Sudan derailed the launch of a transition towards civilian rule four years after a popular uprising ousted strongman President Omar al-Bashir. Sudan's army and the RSF fell out over the chain of command and military restructuring plans under the transition.

Persons: Sanaa Ahmed, Omar al, Bashir, Sudan's, Khalid Abdelaziz Ahmed Elimam, Jana Choukeir, Adam Makary, Aidan Lewis, Jon Boyle, Nick Zieminski, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Artillery, Rapid Support Forces, Medical, MSF, U.S, U.S . State Department's Bureau, African Affairs, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Food, El Obeid, DUBAI, Saudi, Sudan's, Khartoum, Darfur, Omdurman, Bahri, Al, Thawra, El, North Kordofan State, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Jeddah ., Jeddah, Sudan, U.S ., Dubai, Cairo

☆ Massive fire as Sudanese factions battle for control of arms factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in the eighth week of a power struggle with the army, attacked the Yarmouk complex on Tuesday, witnesses said. Due to the proximity of fuel and gas depots, "any explosion could destroy residents and the whole area", he said. Residents in Omdurman and Bahri reported towering flames were visible after nightfall at Yarmouk as clashes continued there. The RSF quickly seized swathes of the capital after war erupted in Khartoum on April 15. The army and RSF, which together staged a coup in 2021, fell out over the chain of command and military restructuring plans under the transition.

Persons: RSF, Nader Youssef, Omar al, Bashir, Bahri, Khalid Abdelaziz, Nafisa, Aidan Lewis, Mark Heinrich, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Reuters, Residents, Army, UNICEF, International Organization for Migration, United, Saudi TV, Al, United Arab Emirates, European Union, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum, Darfur KHARTOUM, Yarmouk, Bahri, Omdurman, Darfur, Khartoum's Mygoma, Sudan, El Geneina, West Darfur, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, United States, Al Arabiya

☆ Analysis: Egypt faces external debt reckoning after borrowing spree
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Patrick Werr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Amid a foreign currency crunch, Egypt has drawn down net foreign assets in the banking system by more than $40 billion in two years, partly used to prop up the pound. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsFINDING FOREIGN FUNDSTwo of Egypt's main foreign currency streams, tourism and Suez Canal transit fees, have edged up. The hard currency squeeze has raised concerns about Egypt's ability to repay foreign debt. Those repayments to the IMF and foreign bond holders alone, worth about $4.5 billion, amount to more than half the annual $8 billion Egypt earns from the Suez Canal. Egypt's external loans leapt to $162.9 billion by December 2022 from under $40 billion in 2015, central bank data showed.

Persons: snubbing, Monica Malik, Moustafa Madbouly, Moody's, politican Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Farouk Soussa, Goldman Sachs, Patrick Werr, Sumanta Sen, Aidan Lewis, Edmund Blair Organizations: Investors, International Monetary Fund, Finance, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Reasssured, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Egypt, snubbing Egypt, Ukraine, Abu Dhabi, Suez, Cairo, Stockholm

☆ Shelling, looting in Sudan's capital as military factions battle for eighth week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Late on Sunday, residents reported intense fighting across the three cities that make up the nation's wider capital - Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri - and smoke could be seen rising from several areas early on Monday. In Khartoum East district, RSF troops who have spread out in neighbourhoods across the capital were in full control and were looting extensively, said Waleed Adam, a resident of the area. Residents have also reported widespread looting and insecurity in the area. There was no immediate comment from the army, which had denied on Sunday that the RSF had taken the town. In El Obeid, a city 360 km (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum and on a key route from the capital to Darfur, residents reported large deployments of RSF forces and the closure of some roads.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Mohamed Saleh, Waleed Adam, El, Khalid Abdelaziz, Adam Makary, Aidan Lewis, Sriraj Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, U.S, Reuters, North Darfur State, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, Sudan Khartoum, Darfur, DUBAI, Khartoum, Saudi Arabia, Omdurman, Bahri, Khartoum East district, DARFUR, Sudan's, Kutum, North Darfur, El Obeid, Dubai, Cairo

☆ Fighting escalates in Khartoum after ceasefire expires
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, June 4 (Reuters) - Residents of Sudan's capital Khartoum reported a sharp escalation of clashes in several areas of the capital on Sunday after the expiry of a ceasefire deal between rival military factions brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States. It had led to some decrease in the intensity of fighting and limited humanitarian access, but like previous truce deals it was repeatedly violated. Among the areas where fighting was reported on Sunday were central and southern Khartoum, and Bahri, across the Blue Nile to the north. "In southern Khartoum we are living in terror of violent bombardment, the sound of anti-aircraft guns and power cuts. Beyond the capital, deadly fighting has also broken out in the remote western region of Darfur, already scarred by a long-running conflict and huge humanitarian challenges.

Persons: Witnesses, Sara Hassan, Khalid Abdelaziz, Ahmed Tolba, Hatem Maher, Aidan Lewis, Frances Kerry Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Sudan's, Khartoum, Saudi Arabia, United States, Omdurman, U.S, Jeddah, Bahri, Darfur, Dubai, Cairo

☆ Fighting escalates in Sudan's capital after ceasefire expires
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The ceasefire between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had started on May 22 and expired on Saturday evening. Beyond the capital, deadly fighting has also broken out in Darfur in the far west of Sudan, already grappling with long-running unrest and huge humanitarian challenges. There was no comment from the army, which has been using war planes to target the RSF spread out across the capital. Fighting in the capital has led to widespread damage and looting, a collapse in health services, power and water cuts, and dwindling food supplies. Hemedti's whereabouts are unclear though he appeared in video footage with his troops in central Khartoum earlier in the fighting.

Persons: Sara Hassan, Witnesses, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Khalid Abdelaziz, Ahmed Tolba, Hatem Maher, Omar Abdel, Aidan Lewis, Frances Kerry, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rapid Support Forces, Darfur Bar Association, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, Khartoum, Darfur, Saudi, U.S, DUBAI, Sudan's, North Darfur, Saudi Arabia, United States, Bahri, Omdurman, Jeddah, Dubai, Razek, Cairo

☆ US imposes sanctions on companies tied to Sudan forces as fighting rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. Sudan's army and the RSF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. said late on Thursday they were suspending the talks, a day after Sudan's army announced it was halting its participation. They target Sudan's largest defence enterprise, Defence Industries System, which the Treasury said generates an estimated $2 billion in revenue and manufactures arms and other equipment for Sudan's army. The companies, all key to the business and procurement activities of both forces, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Nadir Ahmed, Joe Biden, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Antony Blinken, Omar al, Bashir, El, Cindy McCain, Cameron Hudson, Hudson, Khalid Abdelaziz, Tala, Nafisa Eltahir, Simon Lewis, Rami Ayyub, Daphne Psaledakis, Gladwys, Aidan Lewis, Christina Fincher, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, Darfur Saudi, U.S . Treasury Department, Residents, U.S, Defence Industries System, Treasury, Technology, United Nations, Food, Army, Centre, Strategic, International Studies, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, Khartoum, Darfur, Jeddah, KHARTOUM, WASHINGTON, United States, U.S, Nile, Omdurman, Bahri, Thawra, Saudi Arabia, Washington, El, Zalingei, Port Sudan, El Obeid, Russia, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo, Oslo

☆ US questions Sudan parties' commitment to truce as clashes continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. In El Obeid, a regional hub to the southwest of Khartoum that has seen clashes, the World Food Programme said food and assets were being looted. REGIONAL CLASHESOutside Khartoum, clashes have flared in major cities in the western region of Darfur. The calm Red Sea coast city Port Sudan has served as a base for the United Nations, aid groups, and diplomats as well as some government officials. "The army is carrying out strict security procedures in the city, in particular at night," said resident Salah Mohamed.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, El, Cindy McCain, Nadir Ahmed, Salah Mohamed, Khalid Abdelaziz, Tala, Nafisa Eltahir, Daphne Psaledakis, Aidan Lewis, Christina Fincher Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, U.S, Food, U.S . State Department, UN, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, KHARTOUM, Washington, Khartoum, Saudi Arabia, United States, El Obeid, Saudi, Jeddah, U.S, Bahri, Omdurman, Thawra, Darfur, El, Zalingei, Port Sudan, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo

☆ Sudan's war scatters country's emergent art scene
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Adam Makary | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Abdullah is a member of a youthful art scene that gained momentum from the popular uprising against autocrat Omar al-Bashir and finds itself scattered by war four years later. "We've always been repressed, especially during Bashir's time," said 28-year-old Rahiem Shadad, who co-founded Downtown Gallery in Sudan's capital in 2019. Shadad's gallery has raised just over $8,500 of a $30,000 target to support artists financially during the war. Painter and retired art professor Salah Abdelhay fled to Egypt with his wife and two daughters. Reporting by Adam Makary and Fatma Fahmy Editing by Aidan Lewis and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Rahiem Shadad, Omar al, Bashir, Yasmeen Abdullah, I'd, Abdullah, autocrat Omar al, We've, Shadad, Muhammed Yusuf, Yusuf, Khalid Abdelrahman, Painter, Salah Abdelhay, Adam Makary, Aidan Lewis, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Downtown, Thomson Locations: Khartoum, Sudan, Cairo, Egypt, CAIRO, Sudan's, Shendi, Omdurman, Wadi Halfa

☆ Special Report: Dozens of babies die in orphanage as Sudan war takes grim toll on Khartoum
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Maggie Michael | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

[1/7] A view from inside an orphanage in Khartoum, Sudan, in this handout image released April 20, 2023. There was no one there,” said Abdullah, speaking by phone from the orphanage, the cries of wailing babies audible in the background. Frini and the director of the orphanage, Zeinab Jouda, referred questions about the total death toll to Abdullah, Mygoma’s medical chief. ABANDONED CHILDRENOfficially called The Orphan's Care Centre, Mygoma, the orphanage is housed in a three-storey building in central Khartoum. She said that a day earlier, two babies who died were instead buried in a city square close to the orphanage.

☆ Heavy clashes in Sudan's capital as truce set to expire
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, May 29 (Reuters) - Heavy and sustained clashes could be heard on Monday in parts of Sudan's capital, residents said, hours before the expiry of a shaky ceasefire deal that had brought some respite from a six-week-old conflict but little humanitarian access. Fighting continued from Sunday into Monday in the south and west of Omdurman, one of three adjoining cities that make up Sudan's greater capital. Across the River Nile in southern Khartoum residents also reported clashes late on Sunday. Saudi Arabia and the United States said on Sunday that both the army and the RSF had repeatedly violated the truce and had impeded the delivery of humanitarian access and restoration of essential services. Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S., Saudi Arabia call for extended ceasefire in Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A week-long ceasefire brokered in Saudi and U.S.-led talks in Jeddah is due to run until Monday evening. "While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people," Saudi Arabia and the U.S. said in a joint statement. There was no statement on the possible renewal of the ceasefire from the army. In recent days there has also been fighting in El Fashir, capital of North Darfur State. One El Fashir hospital had recorded three deaths and 26 injuries on Saturday, including children, according to the Darfur Bar Association, an activist group.

☆ Air strikes, artillery fire escalate as factions battle in Sudan capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, May 16 (Reuters) - Air strikes and artillery fire intensified sharply across Sudan's capital early on Tuesday, residents said, as the army sought to defend key bases from paramilitary rivals it has been fighting for more than a month. The air strikes, explosions and clashes could be heard in the south of Khartoum, and there was heavy shelling across the River Nile in parts of the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, witnesses said. The fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered unrest in other areas of Sudan, especially in the western region of Darfur, but is concentrated in Khartoum. "We don't know what the citizens did to deserve a war in the middle of the houses." Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"I am moving freely around my forces, I am present in Bahri, I am present in Omdurman, I am present in Khartoum, I am present in Sharq al-Nil," Hemedti said. "They are spreading rumours that Mohamed Hamdan has been killed, and these are all lies that show that they are being defeated ... 'FALLING APART'Residents report a rise in looting and lawlessness after police vanished from the streets at the outset of the conflict. On Monday an employee of Sharq el-Nil hospital said the southern part of the facility had been hit by an air strike. On Sunday Burhan froze the bank accounts of the RSF and affiliated firms, and replaced the central bank governor.

☆ Battles shake Sudan's capital as power struggle escalates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Army and RSF delegations have been meeting since the end of last week in talks sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah. It has also sparked unrest in Sudan's western Darfur region. Conflicts are not new to Sudan, a country that sits at a strategic crossroads between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the volatile Sahel region. This time intense fighting in Khartoum, one of Africa's biggest cities, has made the conflict far more alarming for Sudanese. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai and Mohamed Noureldin in Khartoum; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Now, according to an internal U.N. estimate obtained by Reuters, 5 million additional people in Sudan will require emergency assistance, half of them children. Even before the latest crisis, U.N. humanitarian appeals for Africa faced a $17-billion funding gap this year, risking leaving millions without lifesaving assistance. Last year, it spent a third of its overseas aid budget housing refugees inside the UK, a British aid watchdog said in March. Sudan was hosting over 1 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Syria, before the outbreak of fighting last month. Aid workers have been killed, food aid looted, and WFP says it's running out of stocks.

☆ Sudan's well-off stuck in limbo at border town en route to Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Maggie Michael | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

While women, children and the elderly can enter Egypt freely, though often after waiting days in testing conditions at a packed border, Sudanese men aged 16-50 must apply for visas. When she got to Wadi Halfa the bus driver, who had promised to take her to Egypt, dropped her off with her family and demanded more money. He returned to Wadi Halfa to apply for his visa but was told to wait, so he sent his elderly parents to Egypt alone. Half the group continued on to Egypt while the rest settled in a school in Wadi Halfa, sleeping in a classroom with three other families. The school gave him and others a warning that they needed the classrooms back this week for end of year exams.

☆ Arab League set to readmit Syria as relations with Assad normalise
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, May 7 (Reuters) - The Arab League is expected to readmit Syria at a meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday, a spokesperson for the League said, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad. The decision was expected to be adopted at a closed meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo, said Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League's secretary general. Syria's membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after a bloody crackdown on street protests against Assad that led to a devastating civil war, and many Arab states pulled their envoys out of Damascus. Recently, several Arab states including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have re-engaged with Syria in high-level visits and meetings, though some, including Qatar, remain opposed to full normalisation without a political solution to Syria's conflict. Arab states have been trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to an Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh to discuss the pace of normalising ties and on what terms Syria could be allowed back.

[1/6] A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters, to discuss the Sudan and Syrian situations, in Cairo, Egypt May 7, 2023. It was taken at a closed meeting of foreign ministers at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo, said Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League's secretary general. While Arab states including the United Arab Emirates have pushed for Syria and Assad's rehabilitation, others, including Qatar, have remained opposed to full normalisation without a political solution to the Syrian conflict. Syria's membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after a crackdown on street protests against Assad that led to a devastating civil war, and many Arab states pulled their envoys out of Damascus. Recently, Arab states have been trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to an Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh to discuss the pace of normalising ties and on what terms Syria could be allowed back.

During the current fighting Egypt has joined calls for an effective ceasefire while saying they consider the conflict an internal matter for Sudan. The most important regional ally for Hemedti before the conflict was the United Arab Emirates. Hemedti said he advised Sudan to cut ties to Wagner after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the private military contractor. Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Burhan and Hemedti, both of whom sent troops to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Israel, which had been hoping to move forward in normalising ties with Sudan, has also offered to host talks.

☆ Egypt launches national dialogue amid ongoing security crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Farah Saafan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CAIRO, May 3 (Reuters) - Egypt launched a national political dialogue on Wednesday that authorities said was meant to generate debate around the country's future, though the chair of the event said several areas of discussion would be off limits. It is one of several steps aimed at countering criticism of Egypt's human rights record. Other measures include a five-year human rights strategy and a presidential amnesty committee that is considering thousands of requests to free some of those jailed under Sisi's rule. The dialogue's chairperson, Diaa Rashwan, said all sessions would be open to the media but discussions around the constitution, foreign policy and "strategic national security" would be off limits. Critics say recent steps on human rights are cosmetic, pointing to continuing detentions and arrests of dissidents, and say they doubt the dialogue signals real change.

☆ Cradle of Sudan's uprising becomes transit point for those fleeing war
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] A view of downtown Atbara, a northern Sudanese city where thousands have moved fleeing war in the capital Khartoum, Sudan April 30, 2023. Some of those who arrived in the city, a colonial-era railway hub about 350 km (220 miles) northeast of Khartoum, have sought accommodation in the city. Others are passing through on their way to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast or Sudan's northern border with Egypt. "We came to Atbara looking for safety after the war in Khartoum. "The impact of the war isn't just felt in Khartoum, all of Sudan is now struggling economically," said Iman Elrifaei, a local lawyer, citing rising prices and flour shortages.

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