Ramallah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | US President Donald Trump has invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House “soon”, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Friday. During their first phone call since Trump’s inauguration in January, the US president invited Abbas “to visit the White …
Read More »Sudan’s Bashir pardons 259 rebels
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pardoned 259 rebels captured in fighting with government forces, including dozens who had been sentenced to death, the presidency said. Bashir’s order came three days after a prominent insurgent group freed dozens of prisoners, mostly soldiers, it had captured in …
Read More »Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners after Uganda mediation
Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners captured in fighting Entebbe, Uganda | AFP | Sudanese rebels on Sunday released at least 125 prisoners they had captured in fighting with government forces, most of them soldiers, an AFP journalist said. Their release was secured thanks to mediation from Uganda, while the International …
Read More »Netanyahu says will not allow street to be named for Arafat
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday not to allow a street in an Arab Israeli town to be named after late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, promising new legislation if needed. The small Arab Israeli town of Jatt recently inaugurated Yasser Arafat Street in honour …
Read More »UN chief to visit East Africa as famine threatens region
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Kenya on Sunday for talks with leaders on regional issues, his spokesman said Friday, as South Sudan and Somalia face famine. Somalia is facing the threat of a famine while parts of northern South Sudan are …
Read More »Russian jets mistakenly bomb US-backed forces in Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State forces were in the area, a US general said Wednesday. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages to the …
Read More »Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria sanctions
United Nations, United States | AFP | Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a Western-backed UN resolution that would have imposed sanctions on Syria over chemical weapons use, in the first clash at the Security Council since US President Donald Trump took office. The twin vetoes came as peace talks …
Read More »Hiding in swamps, South Sudanese eat little more than lilies
Leer, South Sudan | AFP | Thousands of people at the epicentre of a man-made famine in South Sudan emerged from the safety of the swamps this past weekend hoping to receive emergency deliveries of food. For months now Bol Mol, a 45-year-old former oil field security officer, has struggled …
Read More »2,000 South Sudanese already entered Sudan in 2017
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | About 32,000 South Sudanese have entered Sudan since the start of the year, with tens of thousands more expected to arrive fleeing a famine in their country, the UN refugee agency said Sunday. On Monday, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation formed after splitting from …
Read More »Syria attack deals fresh blow to faltering peace talks
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A suicide assault which killed dozens in Syria Saturday dealt a further blow to already sputtering UN efforts to launch a new round of talks to end the six-year conflict. The Damascus regime vowed retaliation for the assault in Syria’s third city Homs — and …
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