Sudan’s army drives paramilitaries out of Omdurman

Sudan’s army drives paramilitaries out of Omdurman
destroyed combat vehicles lying in khartoum’s sharg elnil area, which was recently liberated by the sudanese national army. (Reuters)
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Updated 21 May 2025
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Sudan’s army drives paramilitaries out of Omdurman

Sudan’s army drives paramilitaries out of Omdurman
  • Regular forces now control all of Khartoum state in biggest victory of two-year war

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s regular army has driven rival paramilitaries from Omdurman, part of the Sudanese capital, securing all of Khartoum state nearly two months after recapturing the capital’s center.
“Khartoum state is completely free of rebels,” military spokesman Nabil Abdallah said on Tuesday.

The army has been locked in a brutal conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023. In its biggest victory of the war, the army recaptured central Khartoum in March, forcing the paramilitaries to retreat to Salha, south of Omdurman, and Ombada to the west.
The army attacked on Monday to push the paramilitaries out of both, and there were explosions from the clashes across the city. Control of Khartoum state cements army control over central Sudan, pushing the paramilitaries back toward their stronghold in the vast western region of Darfur.

The conflict has killed up to 150,000 people, displaced 13 million and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army holding the center, north and east while the Rapid Support Forces control Darfur and the south.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Kenya’ by Charles Hornsby

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Kenya’ by Charles Hornsby
Updated 5 min 11 sec ago
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Kenya’ by Charles Hornsby

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Kenya’ by Charles Hornsby

Since independence in 1963, Kenya has survived decades as a functioning nation-state, with regular elections, its borders intact, and without experiencing war or military rule. 

However, the country failed to transcend its colonial past. The political elite’s endless struggle for access to state resources has damaged Kenya’s economy.

In this definitive new history, Charles Hornsby demonstrates how independent Kenya’s politics have been dominated by a struggle to deliver security, impartiality, efficiency and growth, but how the legacies of the past have undermined their achievement, making the long-term future of Kenya far from certain.


Car ramming leaves injured as Liverpool fans celebrate football triumph

Car ramming leaves injured as Liverpool fans celebrate football triumph
Updated 1 min ago
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Car ramming leaves injured as Liverpool fans celebrate football triumph

Car ramming leaves injured as Liverpool fans celebrate football triumph
  • Merseyside Police called for calm and said the arrested man was ‘a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area’
  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes in Liverpool ‘appalling. My thoughts are with all those injured or affected’

LIVERPOOL: A car plowed into football fans celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League title victory on Monday injuring several people while police said a 53-year-old man had been detained.

Witnesses reported people being knocked over as a dark-colored people carrier swerved through huge crowds among tens of thousands who turned out to see the English team’s victory parade.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw at least four people taken away on stretchers.

“It was extremely fast,” said Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, near Birmingham, central England, to see Liverpool players parade the trophy through the city in an open-topped bus.

“Initially we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of the car,” he told reporters.

“It was horrible and you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”

Other eye-witnesses reported hearing screams and seeing an angry crowd surround the vehicle before police arrived.

Merseyside Police called for calm and said the arrested man was “a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area.”

“Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision,” a spokesperson added.

Cordons were put in place and a fire engine was also at the scene.

North West Ambulance Service said its crews were “assessing the situation” with other emergency services.

“Our priority is to ensure people receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible,” a statement read.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes in Liverpool “appalling.”

“My thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” he wrote on X.

“I want to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident,” he added.

“I’m being kept updated on developments and ask that we give the police the space they need to investigate.”

Liverpool’s football history has been marked by tragedy.

In 1989, 97 Liverpool fans died in a stadium crush at a game in Sheffield.

In 1985, 39 mainly Italian fans were killed when a wall collapsed amidst disturbances between Liverpool and Juventus fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.


Philippines open to more deals with China to keep peace in S. China Sea

Philippines open to more deals with China to keep peace in S. China Sea
Updated 7 min 33 sec ago
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Philippines open to more deals with China to keep peace in S. China Sea

Philippines open to more deals with China to keep peace in S. China Sea

KUALA LUMPUR: The Philippines is open to any additional agreements with Beijing that can help maintain peace in the South China Sea, its top diplomat said, amid unabated confrontations between them over disputed features.

The South China Sea, a conduit for about $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, remains a source of tension between China and US ally the Philippines, with ties at their worst in years amid frequent standoffs that have sparked regional concerns they could spiral into conflict.

The Philippines is vexed by the constant presence of China’s coast guard in its exclusive economic zone, where both countries claim sovereignty over disputed features, including uninhabited sandbars, an atoll rich in fish stocks and a reef where Manila has troops stationed on a grounded navy ship.

“I’m not saying they (arrangements) will necessarily take place, but anything within the scope of diplomatic means or peaceful means or cooperation is certainly within our template,” Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo told journalists on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.


German chancellor ups pressure on Israel over ‘goal’ in Gaza

German chancellor ups pressure on Israel over ‘goal’ in Gaza
Updated 14 min 31 sec ago
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German chancellor ups pressure on Israel over ‘goal’ in Gaza

German chancellor ups pressure on Israel over ‘goal’ in Gaza
  • Merz issues stern warning to Netanyahu’s government as army ramps up military campaign

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a stern warning to Israel on Monday, said he now “no longer understands” its objective in war-ravaged Gaza.

The unusually strong comments from Berlin heighten pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the army ramps up its military campaign in what it says is a renewed effort to destroy Hamas.

“Honestly speaking, I no longer understand what the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, with what goal,” Merz told public broadcaster WDR.

“The way in which the civilian population has been affected, as has been increasingly the case in recent days, can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism.”

He said Germany, like “no other country on earth,” must be sparing in its public advice to Israel, a reference to Germany’s dark history of World War II.

“The question is: How clearly do we voice criticism now, and for historical reasons I am more reserved,” Merz said, but added that “we need to say this a little more clearly now.”

The chancellor, who took office early this month, said that “when limits are crossed, when international humanitarian law is being violated ... then the German chancellor must speak out too.”

Merz said he wanted Germany to remain “Israel’s most important partner in Europe.”

“But the Israeli government must not do anything that its best friends are no longer willing to accept,” he said.

Israel has stepped up a renewed offensive to destroy Hamas, drawing international condemnation as aid trickles in following a nearly three-month blockade that has sparked severe food and medical shortages.

Rescuers said devastating Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 52 people on Monday, 33 of them in a school turned shelter.

The civil defense agency said many of the casualties at the school in Gaza City were children, while the Israeli military said the site was housing “key terrorists.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, during a visit to Spain, stressed that Germany stands by Israel, including through arms supplies, but also voiced concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“As a country that understands Israel’s security and existence as a core principle, Germany is always obliged to assist Israel in guaranteeing its security,” he said. “That naturally includes being willing to supply weapons in the future.”

Germany had a special responsibility toward Israel, he said, adding that there must nevertheless be an improvement in Gaza’s “intolerable” humanitarian situation.

“We clearly stand by Israel’s side, but we must not ignore the fate of the people in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“There must be no expulsion from the Gaza Strip, there must be no policy of starvation, and there must be the active supply of aid and humanitarian goods.”


Jordan, Norway urge immediate ceasefire and renew push for two-state solution

Jordan, Norway urge immediate ceasefire and renew push for two-state solution
Updated 8 min 54 sec ago
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Jordan, Norway urge immediate ceasefire and renew push for two-state solution

Jordan, Norway urge immediate ceasefire and renew push for two-state solution
  • In separate meeting, FM Safadi and Eide stressed urgency of ending humanitarian crisis in Gaza

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II met Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide in Amman on Monday, with the two sides calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and renewed efforts toward a two-state solution.

The meeting was also attended by Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, the Jordan News Agency reported.

King Abdullah highlighted the need to end the war on Gaza, ensure the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid, and work toward a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state framework.

Discussions also covered rising tensions in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as developments in the Syrian Arab Republic.

In a separate meeting, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Eide stressed the urgency of ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, warning that failure to act risks further destabilizing the region.

Safadi and Eide also both condemned Israeli military actions and settler incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling them violations of international law. (Jordan News Agency)

Both ministers condemned Israeli military actions and settler incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling them violations of international law.

Safadi praised Norway’s leadership in supporting Palestinian statehood and economic development, particularly through its role in the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee.

He also welcomed Norway’s stance at the recent Madrid Group meeting, where it reaffirmed support for a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The two ministers discussed broader regional issues, including the need for a political resolution in Syria, and voiced support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ UN80 reform initiative aimed at strengthening global multilateralism.

At a joint press conference, Safadi condemned the use of starvation as a weapon in Gaza, calling it a “war crime,” and warned of the destabilizing impact of Israeli policies aimed at displacing Palestinians.

Eide echoed these concerns and called the situation in Gaza a stark reminder of the need to implement the two-state solution.

Both sides pledged to continue working together and with international partners to advance peace, uphold international law and support Palestinian rights.