KHARTOUM: A group that is spearheading anti-government protests across Sudan on Saturday said it plans to launch more nationwide rallies over the next few days, including a march on parliament.
Protests have rocked Sudan since December 19, when the government raised the price of bread, and since then have escalated into rallies against President Omar Al-Bashir’s three-decade rule.
The Sudanese Professionals Association, an umbrella group of trade unions, in a statement called for a march on parliament Sunday to submit to lawmakers a memorandum calling for Bashir to step aside.
“We are calling for a march to parliament in Omdurman on Sunday,” it said referring to Khartoum’s twin city where parliament is located.
“The protesters will submit to parliament a memorandum calling on President Bashir to step down,” added the association, which represents the unions of doctors, teachers and engineers.
Over the past month, protesters have staged several demonstrations in Omdurman, on the west bank of the Nile.
Officials say at least 26 people, including two security personnel, have died during a month of protests, while rights group Amnesty International last week put the death toll at more than 40.
The group spearheading the protests said there will also be rallies in Khartoum on Sunday, to be followed by night-time demonstrations on Tuesday in the capital and in Omdurman.
“And on Thursday there will be rallies across all towns and cities of Sudan,” the statement added.
On Friday, hundreds of mourners leaving the funeral of a protester had staged a spontaneous demonstration in the capital’s Burri district, while crowds of Muslim worshippers had launched another rally in a mosque in Omdurman, witnesses said.
Protesters chanting “freedom, peace, justice” have been confronted by riot police with tear gas at several rallies since the first protest erupted in the eastern town of Atbara on December 19 after the rise of bread price.
The government’s tough response has sparked international criticism, while Bashir has blamed the violence on unidentified “conspirators.”
Analysts say the protests have emerged as the biggest challenge to the veteran leader’s rule who swept to power in 1989 in an Islamist-backed coup.
The protests come as Sudan suffers from an economic crisis driven by an acute shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation that has more than doubled the price of food and medicines.
Sudan protesters plan march on parliament, more demos
Sudan protesters plan march on parliament, more demos
Tanker seized by Finland over ripped cables won’t face cargo sanctions probe
Police have said nine crew members are suspects in a criminal investigation
HELSINKI: The Eagle S tanker seized by Finnish authorities on suspicion of ripping up subsea cables will not face a separate criminal investigation into whether its fuel cargo violates sanctions imposed on Russia, the Customs Office said on Thursday.
Police seized the tanker last month on suspicion of damaging a Finnish-Estonian power line and four telecoms cables.
The Customs Office believes the Eagle S is part of a shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil, and has impounded its cargo of unleaded petrol and diesel.
“The cargo of the ship will remain detained by Finnish Customs for the time being,” it said in a statement.
Police have said nine crew members are suspects in a criminal investigation into possible sabotage of the subsea cables.
The ship’s cargo is subject to sanctions imposed against Russia by the European Union, and thus barred from importation into Finland. But because the vessel entered Finnish territorial waters at the request of Finnish authorities, the crew cannot be considered to have intentionally violated those sanctions, the Customs Office said.
A lawyer representing the ship’s owner, Caravela LLC FZ, has said the ship’s alleged damage to undersea equipment happened outside of Finland’s territorial waters and therefore Helsinki lacked jurisdiction to intervene.
Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The NATO military alliance in response plans to boost its presence in the region.
Ukraine confirms attack on oil depot in western Russia
- The attack is the latest aerial assault by Ukraine to target Russian energy sites
- “Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Liskinska oil depot,” the Ukrainian General Staff said
KYIV: Ukraine confirmed Thursday that its forces had struck an oil depot in western Russia, where officials had said earlier that Kyiv’s drones had sparked a blaze in the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine.
The attack is the latest aerial assault by Ukraine to target Russian energy sites and military facilities in a campaign that has escalated this week.
“Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Liskinska oil depot,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement, claiming that “a large-scale fire broke out at the facility.”
It added that three drones had struck the storage facilities, which it claimed was used by the Russian army.
The governor of the Voronezh region had said earlier that several drones “sparked a fire at an oil depot.”
Governor Alexander Gusev said Voronezh was attacked by more than 10 drones, with most striking a depot in the Liskinsky district.
He said that there were no casualties and that reinforcement firefighters had been dispatched to put out the blaze.
Videos posted by witnesses showed a substantial blaze.
Kyiv said earlier this week that it had carried out its largest aerial attack of the war on Russian army factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometers from the front line.
Russia responded with a mass missile and drone attack that primarily targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in the west of the country.
India succeeds in historic space docking mission
- Only the US, Russia, and China have docked in space before
- India approves setting up of third launchpad for space missions
NEW DELHI: India became on Thursday the fourth country to achieve docking in space by joining two small aircraft, a feat that cements its place as a global space power.
Space docking is the connecting of two spacecraft in orbit. It requires precise navigation and control and is crucial for space missions that involve transferring astronauts or cargo, conducting repairs, or refueling.
The Indian Space Research Organization launched its docking mission on Dec. 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota island off the Bay of Bengal.
Codenamed the Space Docking Experiment, or SpaDeX, the mission involved deploying two small spacecraft, each weighing about 220 kg, into an orbit approximately 470 km above Earth.
The ISRO announced the program’s success on Thursday morning.
“A historic moment ... Docking initiated with precision, leading to successful spacecraft capture. Retraction completed smoothly, followed by rigidisation for stability. Docking successfully completed,” it said on X.
“India became the 4th country to achieve successful space docking.”
Only the US, Russia and China have previously docked in space. The US marked its first successful docking with the Gemini 8 mission performed by astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott in 1966. Russia joined the race with the success of its Soyuz 11 mission in 1969, and China with Shenzhou 8 in 2011.
Joining the exclusive group brings India closer to its plan to build a modular space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, by 2035.
“If you want to have a research station in orbit, or if you want to go to the moon, land, and come back, you need to have a mechanism by which one entity is revolving and another entity can come and attach to it in orbit. That is called docking,” said Syed Maqbool Ahmed, a former ISRO scientist who was part of the Chandrayaan program — the Indian Lunar Exploration Program.
“Docking is so highly complex, extremely complex ... you are trying to very precisely manage going to an object which is there in the orbit and your speed is 25,000 kph. The other object is also going at the same speed.”
SpaDeX was a crucial step toward establishing a space station and also keeping up with India’s key rival, China.
“China has already put up its hardware. China’s space station is all active, working. Their astronauts are going to the space station and coming back. India would love to do the same thing,” Ahmed told Arab News.
“So much of talent is there in India ... The ambition of building a space station is always there and I think the project is going with full steam. This is a simple stepping stone for that mission. It is just great. A lot of hurdles are overcome.”
Space docking adds to India’s exploration status, following the successful launch of Aditya-L1 in 2023 — the country’s first solar observation mission, and the world’s second after the US Parker Solar Probe in 2021.
Also in 2023, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 moon rover made history by landing on the lunar surface, making India the first country to land near the south pole and the fourth to land on the planet — after the US, the Soviet Union, and China.
The projects are key features of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to establish India as a superpower.
For the past few years the government has been creating the environment and long-term investment for the industry to flourish and involve the private sector as well. In October, it approved a $116 million venture capital fund to support space sector-focused startups.
As Modi congratulated the ISRO on the successful SpaDeX mission, he said on X it was a “significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come.”
Hours later, the Indian government approved the construction of a third launchpad in Satish Dhawan Space Center to be completed in four years at a cost of $460 million.
“The Project will boost the Indian Space ecosystem by enabling higher launch frequencies and the national capacity to undertake human spaceflight & space exploration missions,” the Cabinet said in a statement.
“It will be realized with maximum industry participation fully utilizing ISRO’s experience in establishing the earlier launch pads and maximally sharing the existing launch complex facilities.”
UN agencies tremble as Trump term nears
- With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time
GENEVA: With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time.
During Trump's first term in office, Washington slashed its contributions to United Nations operations and agencies, stormed out of the UN Human Rights Council, exited the Paris climate accord and the education agency UNESCO, and began withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
But while Trump's first administration did not get to the harshest measures until later in the term, experts warn things could move faster this time.
"I don't think Trump is going to hang about so long this time," Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
"He's likely to walk away from those UN mechanisms and arrangements that he boycotted before without much ceremony."
The United States remains the largest donor to the UN, which is already facing significant budget pressures, spurring palpable anxiety over the prospect of funding cuts.
UN officials have scrambled to emphasise the value of US partnership.
"The cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is a critical pillar of international relations, and the UN system," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told AFP.
But the love is not always mutual.
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to become his UN ambassador, has described the organisation as "a corrupt, defunct and paralysed institution".
And fears abound that Republicans in Congress could push ahead with a bill calling to defund the organisation completely.
Jussi Hanhimaki, an international history professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, played down that threat.
"The total exit is unlikely," he told AFP, suggesting that Washington would not want to cede the leverage it has within the UN system.
"The best argument against the US wholesale withdrawal is (that) China will... become more and more influential," he said.
During Trump's first term, China and its allies clearly expanded their influence in the bodies he left in Geneva, like the Human Rights Council.
Outgoing US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sheba Crocker, highlighted that "some of our strategic rivals are heavily invested in promoting their interests in Geneva".
That, she told AFP in an email, "is why I believe the United States will remain engaged, and why I believe it is in our interest to do so".
The exiting administration of Joe Biden has protected against another high-profile walk-out from the Human Rights Council, by opting not to re-apply for membership.
Hanhimaki suggested that the World Trade Organization might face "the most challenging times" to start with, pointing to Trump's focus on imposing tariffs on traditional foes and allies alike.
There is particular concern about funding for reproductive rights-linked programmes.
During Trump's first term, Washington cut funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which works to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide.
"We're very worried," said Rachel Moynihan, deputy director of UNFPA's Washington office.
But the agency, which says US contributions allowed it to prevent 3,800 likely deaths during pregnancy in 2023 alone, is accustomed to seeing its funding cut during Republican administrations.
"We are a resilient agency," Moynihan told AFP.
Other agencies may be less prepared, with UN Women expected to be in the firing line, as was the UN rights office.
And word on the street in Geneva is that the new Trump administration aims to withdraw from the WHO on day one.
Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, said that would be a mistake.
"Having a well-functioning, impartial WHO is very much in the US national interest," she told AFP.
Another withdrawal would certainly leave Washington with "a less influential voice", she warned.
The WHO has been seeking to broaden its funding base since the last debacle, but Washington remains its largest donor.
Asked last month about the threat, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters he believed the new administration would "do the right thing".
Moon said the WHO could clearly survive a US withdrawal.
"But it would be painful... The real question is, which priorities get downgraded, which programmes?"
And "what do other countries do on the finances?"
Last time Trump was in power, European countries rallied to keep targeted UN agencies afloat.
But the Europeans now have "made it clear that they do not have spare cash lying around... to ride to the rescue of the UN", said Gowan, of the International Crisis Group.
Agencies likely to see funding slashed are already mulling alternatives and cost cuts, observers say.
Hanhimaki said reflections on alternative sources of funding were healthy.
"It's quite foolhardy to rely upon a country that is politically volatile as your long-term source of funding."
UK’s Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelensky days before Trump is sworn in
- The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv
KYIV: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine Thursday with a pledge to help guarantee the country’s security for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.
The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defense, science, energy and trade.
Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelensky in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister.
One of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, the UK has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
But the UK’s role is dwarfed by that of the United States, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of American support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of US aid to Kyiv, says he wants to bring the war to a swift end and is planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration.
Kyiv’s allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible before Trump’s inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war.
Zelensky has said that in any peace negotiation, Ukraine would need assurances about its future protection from its much bigger neighbor.
Britain says its 100-year pledge is part of that assurance, and will help ensure Ukraine is “never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia,” which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defense — especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Batlic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov — and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said ahead of the visit.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”
Zelensky says he and Starmer also will discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would see troops from France and other Western countries stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement.
Zelensky has said any such proposal should go alongside a timeline for Ukraine to join NATO. The alliance’s 32 member countries say that Ukraine will join one day, but not until after the war. Trump has appeared to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.
As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.
Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties, along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages at Ukraine’s energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.
