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☆ Outbound inspections resume under Black Sea grain deal - UN
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Reuters) - The United Nations said inspections resumed on Tuesday of outbound vessels under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, which Moscow has threatened to quit on May 18 over obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer exports. The U.N. and Turkey brokered the Black Sea export agreement in July to help tackle a global food crisis that has been worsened by Moscow's war in Ukraine. Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the deal. "The JCC has confirmed that inspections have resumed today on outbound vessels," Deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said. To help convince Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports, a three-year pact was also struck in July in which the U.N. agreed to help Moscow facilitate those shipments.

☆ Heavy fighting in Khartoum as power struggle rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KHARTOUM, May 4 (Reuters) - Fierce fighting could be heard in central Khartoum on Thursday as the army tried to push back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from areas around the presidential palace and army headquarters, with a lasting ceasefire appearing elusive. Heavy bombardments also rang out in the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri. "Since yesterday evening, and this morning, there are air strikes and the sounds of clashes," said Al-Sadiq Ahmed, a 49-year-old engineer speaking from Khartoum. The United Nations has warned that fighting between the army and RSF, which erupted on April 15, risks causing a humanitarian catastrophe that could spill into other countries. The RSF accused the army of breaching a ceasefire and attacking forces since dawn.

☆ UN says aid trucks looted in 'volatile' Sudan, urges safe passage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Mohamed Nureldin Nafisa Eltahir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Summary Aid trucks looted, says United Nations aid chiefViolence undermining chance of lasting truceGuterres says situation 'unacceptable'UN aid chief Griffiths arrives in Port SudanImproving humanitarian access is a priority -UNKHARTOUM, May 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Wednesday it was seeking assurances from Sudan's warring factions on the safe delivery of aid after six trucks of humanitarian supplies were looted and air strikes in Khartoum undermined a new ceasefire. The conflict has created a humanitarian crisis, with about 100,000 people forced to flee with little food or water to neighbouring countries, the United Nations said. Aid deliveries have been held up in a nation of 46 million people where about one-third had already relied on humanitarian assistance. A broader disaster could be in the making as Sudan's impoverished neighbours grapple with the influx of refugees. Caught between army air strikes overhead and RSF soldiers on the ground, many citizens feel forced to take sides.

☆ Sudan military faction chiefs agree May 4-11 truce in princple -South Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Mohamed Noureldin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The credibility of the reported May 4-11 deal ceasefire deal between Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support forces (RSF) leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was unclear, given the rampant violations that undermined previous agreements running from 24 to 72 hours. "The entire region could be affected," he said in an interview with a Japanese newspaper on Tuesday as an envoy from Sudan's army chief, who leads one of the warring sides, met Egyptian officials in Cairo. United Nations officials had said U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths aimed to visit Sudan on Tuesday but the timing was still to be confirmed. "The risk is that this is not just going to be a Sudan crisis, it's going to be a regional crisis," said Michael Dunford, the WFP's East Africa director. That has raised the spectre of a prolonged conflict that could draw in outside powers.

[1/2] A view shows a damaged car at Martyr Muhammad Hashem Matar Street in Bahri, Khartoum North, Sudan, April 30, 2023, in this still image taken from video obtained by Reuters. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded since a long-simmering power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into conflict on April 15. Violence has rocked the capital Khartoum and risks reawakening war in the vast Western region of Darfur scarred by a two-decade old conflict, despite numerous ceasefire pledges. We are extremely concerned by the immediate as well as long-term impact on all people in Sudan and the broader region," he said. In Khartoum, the army has been battling RSF forces entrenched in residential areas.

The regular army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) issued statements accusing each other of failing to respect the ceasefire. "We have not received any indications here that there's been a halt in the fighting," United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing in New York. The fighting has triggered what the United Nations has described as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system. Fighting also raged in the west of the country, the United Nations said. [1/7] Satellite image shows a closer view of a burning building at the Merowe Airbase, Sudan, April 18, 2023.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Biden says Putin war crime charges justified
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PUTIN WARRANT* U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin has clearly committed war crimes and the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for him was justified. * The ICC move obligates the court's 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory. * It provoked a furious reaction in Moscow, ranging from dismissal of the court's jurisdiction to vows to protect Putin from arrest. FIGHTING, POLITICS* In eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's forces continued to withstand Russian assaults on the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut. * A commander of Ukrainian ground forces said Russian forces were trying to break through Ukrainian defences in several directions in an attempt to fully encircle Bakhmut.

☆ UN says it is doing everything possible to continue Ukraine grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations is "doing everything possible" to make sure a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports continues, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Friday, a day before the pact is due to expire. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow had notified Turkey and Ukraine on Monday that it would extend the Black Sea export deal for 60 days, until May 18. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the Security Council. Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations. Russia and Ukraine are leading suppliers of food commodities and Russia is also a top exporter of fertilizer.

☆ Talks underway on Black Sea grain deal extension in Geneva
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, March 13 (Reuters) - Negotiations began on Monday between U.N. officials and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on a possible extension to a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva said. The deal, which was extended for 120 days in November, is up for renewal on March 18. Two sources involved with the talks said they were initially scheduled to last just one day but could be extended as needed. "Wheat and corn markets are weaker today as the talks start about extending the safe shipping agreement for Ukraine’s exports," said Matt Ammermann, StoneX commodity risk manager. "As such a large wheat and corn exporter, Ukraine’s supplies are vital to world markets."

The senior source familiar with Syrian government thinking said that the UAE role in persuading Assad should not be underestimated. A Syrian source close to the Gulf said the UAE had used its "soft power" on Assad and a Turkish official also said the UAE had played a part in persuading him. Moscow has tussled with Western states repeatedly at the Security Council over cross-border aid into Syria, arguing it violates Syria's sovereignty. Other Arab states, including U.S. allies, have also moved to normalise ties with Assad. The UAE official said there was an "urgent need to strengthen the Arab role in Syria".

☆ Syria's White Helmets are famous for rescuing people from bombed buildings. When the earthquake struck, they knew what to do.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Syria's White Helmets have been searching for survivors and corpses following the earthquake. And after over a decade of civil war, the volunteer White Helmets group, which gained international prominence for their work rescuing people from bombed buildings, was well-prepared to quickly respond to the earthquake. While aid has now started to arrive in northwest Syria, Alabdullah said that the delays likely cost countless lives. 'The White Helmets are no strangers to digging people out of the rubble'The White Helmets have received widespread praise for their work during the civil war, even being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. "The White Helmets are no strangers to digging people out of the rubble," he said.

☆ Syrian rescue group criticises UN over Assad say on aid deliveries
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Syrian Presidency/Handout via REUTERSAMMAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The head of a Syrian opposition-run rescue group on Tuesday denounced a U.N. decision to give Syrian President Bashar al Assad authorisation over aid deliveries through border crossings with Turkey, saying it gave him "free political gain". U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday Assad had agreed to allow U.N. aid deliveries to opposition-held northwest Syria through two crossings on the border with Turkey for three months. Rescuers and aid groups have complained about the slow delivery of aid after the earthquake. U.N. officials have acknowledged aid was slow initially but said they were stepping up deliveries, including getting supplies from Turkey. Large deliveries of aid from Saudi Arabia and Qatar have begun arriving in the rebel-held enclave ahead of U.N. deliveries, Saleh said.

☆ UN chief says Syria's Assad agrees to expand UN aid access from Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Assad agreed to open the crossings of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra'ee, Guterres said in a statement after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths met with the Syrian president in Damascus on Monday. Griffiths told the UN Security Council of Assad's decision during a closed-door meeting, diplomats earlier told Reuters. "Opening these crossing points - along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs - will allow more aid to go in, faster," he added. A devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria a week ago, killing more than 37,000 people. The Syrian government had opposed the aid deliveries across its border, describing it as a violation of its sovereignty.

☆ Explainer: How Syria's war has hindered earthquake relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A White Helmet volunteer stands among rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Harem, Idlib, Syria February 10, 2023. Relief efforts have been hampered by a civil war that has splintered the country and divided regional and global powers. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, who was visiting Syria on Monday, is lobbying at the United Nations to open additional crossings from Turkey to bring earthquake relief. A few efforts to deliver humanitarian aid across Syria's internal front lines since the earthquake struck have shown how fraught and difficult the process is. Italian medical aid arrived in Damascus on Sunday, the first European earthquake help to arrive to government zones.

☆ 'A crane, for God's sake': Inside the struggles of Turkey's earthquake response
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Many in Turkey say more people could have survived the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the south of the country and neighboring Syria a week ago if the emergency response had been faster and better organized. Two experts consulted by Reuters partly blamed the delays on the centralisation of emergency response under AFAD by President Tayyip Erdogan's government. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, speaking in Kahramanmaras on Saturday, called Turkey's disaster response "extraordinary" given the quake's historic size. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said he commissioned the report precisely to improve Turkey's disaster response. But they have generally seen the state's emergency response as effective.

☆ UN aid chief: quake rescue phase 'coming to a close'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ALEPPO, Syria, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The phase of the rescue after the major earthquake struck Turkey and Syria a week ago is "coming to a close" with urgency now switching to shelter, food, schooling and psychosocial care, the U.N. aid chief said during a visit to Syria on Monday. The Feb. 6 earthquake struck a swathe of northwest Syria, a region partitioned by the 11-year-long war, including insurgent-held territory at the Turkish border and government areas controlled by President Bashar al-Assad. Griffiths said the United Nations would have aid moving from government-held regions to the rebel-held northwest, a front line across which aid has seldom passed during the conflict. The United Nations said more than 4,300 had been reported killed in the northwest, and more than 7,600 injured. Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Timour Azhari/Tom Perry, Writing by Clauda Tanios; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Excavators start removing debris in Turkish region hit by earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HATAY PROVINCE, Turkey, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Excavators began removing debris from an urban area in Turkey's southern Hatay province that was devastated by last week's massive earthquake, drone footage showed on Monday, as the operation to find survivors started drawing to a close. Several large hydraulic excavators, near the city of Antakya, scraped at piles of masonry or knocked down the tops of teetering concrete buildings, footage showed, with clouds of dust rising from the rubble as slabs of concrete fell. Extractors remove debris from demolished buildings, following the deadly earthquake in Iskenderun, Turkey, February 11, 2023. Some onlookers sat on broken sofas and armchairs from buildings that were opened up by Monday's huge quake, which shattered a swathe of southern Turkey and northwest Syria. Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

8-year-old Ridvan Cakiroglu rescued by Israeli search and rescue team from rubble of collapsed building 116 hours after earthquakes, on February 10, 2023 in Turkey's Kahramanmaras. As the human death toll topped 28,000, the desperation mounted with each hour that passed for those who hoped to find their relatives alive in the rubble days after two earthquakes devastated Turkey and Syria. While local media reported more people had been pulled from the rubble Saturday, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, warned that the death toll was likely to rise. The first of Monday's devastating quakes struck Turkey and neighboring Syria in the early hours and registered at magnitude- 7.8. More than 3,500 have died in Syria, where death tolls have not been updated since Friday.

[1/8] Seho Uyan, who survived a deadly earthquake, but lost his four relatives, sits in front of a collapsed building in Adiyaman, Turkey February 11, 2023. Turkey said about 80,000 people were in hospital, with more than 1 million in temporary shelters. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths described the earthquake as the region's worst event in 100 years, predicting the death toll would at least double. He praised Turkey's response, saying his experience was that disaster victims were always disappointed by early relief efforts. It has killed 24,617 inside Turkey, and more than 3,500 in Syria, where tolls have not been updated since Friday.

☆ U.S. urges U.N. vote to approve more aid access to Syria via Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Since 2014 the U.N. has been able to deliver aid to millions of people in need in the northwest part of war-torn Syria through Turkey under a Security Council mandate. 'FAILED'On the 15-member Security Council, Brazil and Switzerland take the lead on negotiating any action related to the Syria humanitarian aid access issue. The death toll from the earthquake last week in Turkey and Syria passed 33,000 on Sunday. The ambassadors of Brazil and Switzerland said on Friday they wanted Griffiths to brief the Security Council before any action was discussed. "We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria," Griffiths said in a post on Twitter.

☆ UN aid chief says earthquake is region's 'worst event in 100 years'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 11 (Reuters) - UN aid chief Martin Griffiths described on Saturday the devastating earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria as the "worst event in 100 years in this region". Speaking during a news briefing in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras, Griffiths also lauded Turkey's response to the disaster as "extraordinary". He also told Reuters he hoped in Syria aid would go to both government and opposition-held areas, but that things with this regard were "not clear yet". Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Writing by Hatem Maher Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Frustration at UN ahead of likely row with Russia on Syria aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

With the death toll in Turkey and Syria passing 23,000, some diplomats expressed frustration on Friday that the 15-member council has been slow to act after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pressed for more access to northwest Syria via Turkey. The UN Security Council needs to step up and get it done," said a UN diplomat familiar with discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity. Since 2014 the United Nations has been able to deliver aid to millions of people in need in the northwest of war-torn Syria through Turkey under a Security Council mandate. The United Nations has long said that challenges to increasing aid deliveries across frontlines include receiving timely security guarantees and approvals and a lack of funding. UN aid via Turkey reached 2.7 million people a month in northwest Syria last year, compared with 43,500 people a month who received aid from routes within Syria since August 2021.

☆ Some UN Afghan aid delivered by men only, donors voice alarm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

PRECEDENT TO REGRETAny potential change to the U.N. approach to food aid following the ban has alarmed some donor nations and aid groups. Ambassador to the United Nations, Lisa Carty, said on Wednesday during a briefing by Griffiths to U.N. member states. Griffiths stressed that Afghan women need to work in food aid distribution to ensure supplies reached the most vulnerable - women and girls. The United Nations has appealed for $4.6 billion to fund the aid operation in Afghanistan in 2023. Griffiths and the heads of some international aid groups met Taliban officials last week to push for more, including in the areas of cash and food aid distribution.

☆ More than 160 Afghans die in bitterly cold weather
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"162 people have died due to cold weather since January 10 until now," said Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Minister of Disaster Management. Nearby, 30-year-old shopkeeper Ashour Ali lives with his family in a concrete basement, where his five children shiver from cold. "This year, the weather is extremely cold and we couldn't buy coal for ourselves," he said, adding the small amount he makes from his shop was no longer enough for fuel. "The children wake up from the cold and cry at night until the morning. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.N. aid chief asks Taliban authorities for more exemptions to female NGO worker ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. aid chief said on Wednesday the humanitarian community was speaking with Taliban officials to try and gain further exemptions and written guidelines to allow some female aid workers to operate despite a ban on women NGO staff. Taliban authorities ordered NGOs, many of whom carry out operations for the United Nations, to stop most female staff working last month. Griffiths said some exemptions to the ban had been granted in health and education and they were hearing signs of a possible exemption in agriculture. A spokesperson for the Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its plans over guidelines. "It's very important to engage with the Taliban movement as a whole, that includes ... Kandahar, and also with Taliban at the provincial levels," he said.

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