Sudan’s army says it has recaptured Khartoum’s airport as it seeks to liberate capital

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan gestures to soldiers inside the presidential palace after the Sudanese army said it had taken control of the building, in Khartoum, Sudan March 26, 2025. (Reuters)
Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan gestures to soldiers inside the presidential palace after the Sudanese army said it had taken control of the building, in Khartoum, Sudan March 26, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 26 March 2025
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Sudan’s army says it has recaptured Khartoum’s airport as it seeks to liberate capital

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan gestures to soldiers inside the presidential palace.
  • Military announced seizure of the airport on social media, saying Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan had landed there and inspected troops
  • RSF had held the palace, the airport and large parts of the capital since the war began in April 2023

CAIRO: Sudan’s army said Wednesday it had recaptured Khartoum’s international airport and a key base of the rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, bringing it closer to regaining full control of the capital for the first time in nearly two years of war.
The military announced the seizure of the airport on social media, saying Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan had landed there and inspected troops. It posted a video showing a smiling Burhan in a military helicopter descending to the tarmac, where some traces of wreckage were visible.
Troops also recaptured the RSF’s last stronghold in Khartoum, the Teiba Al-Hasnab camp, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah Ali said on social media.
There was no immediate RSF comment.
Sudan’s military on Friday retook the Republican Palace, the seat of the prewar government. The RSF had held the palace, the airport and large parts of the capital since the war began in April 2023.
“This is a pivotal and decisive moment in the history of Sudan,” Information Minister Khalid Aleiser, spokesman of the military-controlled government, declared on social media. “Khartoum is free, as it should be.”
Military control of the airport, along with calm in Khartoum, could allow aid groups to fly more supplies into the country where the fighting has driven some 14 million people from their homes and pushed some areas into famine.
At least 28,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely far higher.
The RSF is still believed to hold scattered positions in Khartoum. But liberating the capital doesn’t end the conflict, as the RSF still controls parts of the western Darfur region and other areas.
The war erupted when the military and the RSF turned against each other in a struggle for power. Their battles around Khartoum quickly spread across much of the country.
For most of the war, Burhan and the government have been based in the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan.


EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats
Updated 12 sec ago
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EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria: diplomats

Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says
Updated 9 min 25 sec ago
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Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says

Malnutrition in Gaza could rise exponentially, UNRWA official says
  • Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade
  • Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza

GENEVA: Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during a more than 11-week Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on Tuesday.

“I have data until end of April and it shows malnutrition on the rise,” Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health, told a Geneva press briefing.

“And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control.”

Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing although aid workers said just five entered.


Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets

Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets
Updated 35 min 37 sec ago
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Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets

Israel’s Elbit Systems posts profit jump on Gaza war, rising defense budgets
  • More than 32 percent of Elbit’s revenue came from Israel, where the country has been fighting Hamas

TEL AVIV: Israel’s largest defense firm Elbit Systems reported higher first-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by sales to Israel’s military during its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza and as global defense spending rises.
Elbit said it earned $2.57 per diluted share excluding one-time items in the first quarter of 2025, up from $1.81 a year earlier.
The results were boosted by a 20 percent increase in aerospace sales, largely of precision guided munitions from which revenue rose 22 percent to $1.9 billion.
More than 32 percent of Elbit’s revenue came from Israel, where the country has been fighting Hamas since October 7, 2023. The company has supplied munitions, drones, guided rocket systems, reconnaissance capabilities and other systems.
As numerous global conflicts boosted national defense budgets, Elbit’s backlog of orders reached $23.1 billion. Some 66 percent of the backlog is from outside Israel, while 51 percent of the orders are scheduled to be fulfilled during 2025 and 2026.
“Elbit is well positioned to capture and benefit from the opportunities of increasing defense budgets globally and particularly in Europe,” said CEO Bezhalel Machlis. “We are continuing to invest in increasing our production capacity and optimizing our supply chains in order to address our backlog and the high demand for our products.”
Elbit said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 60 cents a share, the same as in the fourth quarter.


Iran reviewing proposal for 5th round of nuclear talks

Iran reviewing proposal for 5th round of nuclear talks
Updated 56 min 50 sec ago
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Iran reviewing proposal for 5th round of nuclear talks

Iran reviewing proposal for 5th round of nuclear talks
  • Trump said last week that a new nuclear deal with Tehran was getting very close
  • An Iranian official told Reuters that the next round of talks could take place over the weekend in Rome, although this remains to be confirmed

DUBAI: Iran received and is reviewing a proposal for a fifth round of nuclear talks with the United States, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday, according to state media.
US President Donald Trump said last week that a new nuclear deal with Tehran was getting very close as the latter was provided with a proposal, adding that Iranians need to “move quickly or something bad is going to happen.”
The US president has repeatedly warned Iran it would be bombed and face severe sanctions if it did not reach a compromise to resolve its disputed nuclear program.
An Iranian official told Reuters that the next round of talks could take place over the weekend in Rome, although this remains to be confirmed.
Although a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tehran would continue negotiations, talks remain on shaky ground as both Iran and the US have clashed on the issue of nuclear enrichment.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi, another Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Monday that talks would fail if Washington insists that Tehran refrains from enrichment, which the US says is a possible pathway to developing nuclear bombs.
Tehran says its nuclear energy program has entirely peaceful purposes.
During his first, 2017-21 term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s enrichment activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Trump, who branded the 2015 accord one-sided in Iran’s favor, also reimposed sweeping US sanctions on Iran. The Islamic Republic responded by escalating enrichment.


Gaza rescuers say 60 killed in new Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say 60 killed in new Israeli strikes
Updated 42 min 55 sec ago
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Gaza rescuers say 60 killed in new Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say 60 killed in new Israeli strikes
  • Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza on Saturday, saying it was aimed at “the defeat of Hamas”

DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli strikes overnight and into Tuesday have killed at least 60 people across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has launched another major offensive in the territory in recent days, saying it aims to return dozens of hostages held by Hamas and destroy the militant group.

“Civil defense teams have transferred (to hospitals) at least 44 dead, mostly children and women, as well as dozens of wounded, following new massacres committed by the occupation” across Gaza since 1:00 am (2200 GMT Monday), agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal said eight were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City and 12 in a strike on a house in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Another 15 were killed in a strike on a gas station near the Nuseirat refugee camp and nine in a strike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp.

There was no immediate comment on the strikes from the Israeli military.

Israel stepped up its military offensive in Gaza on Saturday, saying it was aimed at “the defeat of Hamas” — the Islamist group that runs the Palestinian territory.

It launched what it called “extensive ground operations” across Gaza the following day.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry said Monday at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,486.