CAIRO: Egypt is attempting to mediate between Sudan’s warring factions, hosting a regional summit on Thursday, the latest in a series of international efforts to prevent the outbreak of civil war and the deepening of a humanitarian crisis.
Fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in the capital Khartoum in April, and has spread westward to the fragile Darfur and Kordofan regions.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and 3 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations, which warns of a growing hunger crisis.
The United States and Saudi Arabia had negotiated a series of cease-fires, but suspended talks after violations. Earlier this week, Ethiopia hosted a regional East African summit, but the army boycotted, claiming Kenya, the lead sponsor, was biased.
Egypt, which has historically close ties with the Sudanese army, invited Sudan’s neighbors to the Thursday summit.
The aims of the summit are to stave off foreign interference and influence in the fighting, two Egyptian security sources said, and to ultimately launch a process to achieve a peaceful agreement to stop the fighting.
That plan aims to achieve a three-month cease-fire and open aid pathways amid a series of meetings with military and tribal leaders, the sources said.
Previous one-day and multi-day cease-fires were quickly violated, and were described by the UN special envoy Volker Perthes as an opportunity for the forces to re-position.
Speaking on Wednesday, he described mediation attempts as “emergency diplomacy.”
“The two warring parties still think they can win the war so they accept diplomatic initiatives when they think it can help their aims,” he said.
Among the African leaders attending is Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, whose country has clashed with Egypt over its construction of a giant dam on the Blue Nile.
He met Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday, after last week saying the fourth filling of the dam this summer would be delayed and would ensure Sudan and Egypt would receive enough water, a conciliatory move after years of tension.
Egypt to launch fresh Sudan mediation attempt during summit
https://arab.news/zjnrt
Egypt to launch fresh Sudan mediation attempt during summit
- More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and 3 million people have been displaced due to the fighting
- Saudi Arabia and the US had negotiated a series of cease-fires, but suspended talks after violations
Saudi firm Halo AI closes $6m seed round
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s focus on artificial intelligence is starting to take shape after local firm Halo AI secured $6 million in seed funding.
The funding round, led by Saudi-based Raed Ventures and UAE’s Shorooq Partners, also garnered interest from former C-level executives from Snapchat, as well as leaders from Microsoft, Airbnb, Amazon, and investors behind gaming unicorns, according to a press release.
This investment aligns with the Kingdom’s efforts in AI as it pursues its ambitious initiatives to position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in the field.
The National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2020, is a cornerstone of these efforts, seeking to attract $20 billion in investments by 2030 and cultivate a workforce of 20,000 AI and data specialists.
Halo AI, which specializes in using the tech to enhance collaborations between brands and creators, is gearing up to move beyond its successful launch in the Kingdom to new markets, including Dubai and Kuwait, with further expansion across the Middle East and North Africa, and into Europe as well as North America.
“After decades of building ad products at Meta and Snapchat, we recognized that traditional approaches couldn’t solve the fundamental inefficiencies in creator marketing,” said Vito Strokov, co-founder and CEO of Halo AI.
“Our agentic AI operates as an intelligent partner in the collaboration process, making autonomous decisions about creator-brand matches, optimizing campaign performance in real-time, and consistently delivering breakthrough results,” Strokov added, stating that the platform reduces manual work by 85 percent while delivering performance metrics that exceed industry standards.
The investment, announced during the 1 Billion Pitches competition at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in UAE, will support Halo AI’s global expansion plans.
The creative economy is a sector set to be significantly impacted by AI. According to Halo, its technology is designed to automate and optimize creator-brand partnerships, claiming to achieve a 97 percent campaign completion rate compared to the industry average of 65 percent.
Additionally, campaigns can be launched within 48 hours, while creators are guaranteed payment within 72 hours — claims that underscore Halo AI’s potential to develop the market.
The company claims it has already secured partnerships with brands such as Kitopi, ToYou, 1/2M, and Syarah.
Tina Daher, principal at Shorooq Partners, highlighted the platform’s impact on the creator economy.
“Halo AI’s pioneering technology is a game-changer, bringing unmatched precision, scalability, and efficiency to this space. At Shorooq, we’re excited to support Halo AI’s vision to redefine how brands and creators connect, enabling them to unlock unprecedented value and impact across the region and globally,” Daher said.
Raed Ventures also underscored the company’s significance in a rapidly growing sector.
“The creator economy is booming, and brands are seeking authentic connections with their audiences,” said Wael Nafee, general partner at Raed Ventures.
“Halo AI’s innovative AI-powered platform is transforming how creator-brand partnerships are formed and executed. We’re proud to lead their fundraising round and confident Halo AI will become a definitive platform in this rapidly growing market,” he added.
Sovereign fund ADIA invests $500m in US power firm AlphaGen
LONDON: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is investing $500 million in Alpha Generation, a US power infrastructure company owned by private equity, the companies told Reuters on Monday, as the race to invest in power generation assets intensifies.
Formed a year ago by ArcLight Capital Partners to manage and operate the buyout firm’s power infrastructure investments, AlphaGen constitutes one of the largest portfolios of independent power assets in the US, with more than 11 gigawatts of generation capacity spread across six states.
“This investment, and the partnership between ourselves and ADIA, will help catalyze both the future growth of, and the value of, this strategic portfolio of assets,” Angelo Acconcia, partner at ArcLight, told Reuters in an interview.
ADIA’s $500 million is for a minority stake in AlphaGen, according to a joint statement from the parties. Acconcia declined to comment on the size of the minority stake or the valuation at which the ADIA investment valued AlphaGen.
The move by the sovereign wealth fund comes amid a frenzy of deals activity in the US power industry, as the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers, as well as electrification efforts in manufacturing and transportation, is driving power demand to record levels, with further growth projected through the rest of the decade and beyond.
This is making investments into the US power sector, whether for generation assets, transmission infrastructure, energy storage or associated companies, increasingly attractive both for money managers and existing industry players.
On Friday, in the largest US power acquisition in nearly two decades, Constellation Energy agreed a $16.4 billion deal to purchase Calpine from the investors which owned the independent power producer.
Unlike utilities, independent producers — such as the plants operated by AlphaGen — can sell power at market prices, allowing them to profit more when demand rises.
ArcLight, an energy-focused private equity firm founded in 2001, has owned, controlled, or operated more than 65 GW of generation assets and 47,000 miles of transmission infrastructure, according to the statement.
The ADIA investment into AlphaGen is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2025, the statement added.
Trump look-alike sings to sell pudding in Pakistan
- Bagga, 53, sports distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism that makes him resemble Trump
- Residents of eastern Sahiwal say they take selfies with Bagga, tell people they met US president-elect
SAHIWAL, Pakistan, In a bustling market in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, a food vendor who locals say bears an uncanny resemblance to US President-elect Donald Trump gets more business — and attention — than others.
“We feel as if Trump has come here to sell kheer (pudding),” said Mohammad Yaseen, a local resident who prefers to buy the dessert from Saleem Bagga, the look-alike vendor who also sings to draw customers.
“When he sings to sell kheer, we come down to him,” Yaseen said.
Bagga, 53, pushes his colorful wooden cart along the road delivering the milky pudding, a black jacket over his beige shalwar kameez tunic to keep out the winter cold.
A crowd gathers as Bagga, who sports a distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism, sings the lyrics to a Punjabi song: “Now you come down to me my love, don’t delay, my eyes are tired of waiting.”
Local resident Imran Ashraf takes a selfie with Bagga. “His kheer is really delicious ... we talk to him and we take selfies with him and we tell our friends that we have taken these pictures with Trump,” Ashraf said.
Bagga is unfazed by the stream of attention and cameras that follow him throughout the market and even in his home neighborhood in the district of Sahiwal.
“My face resembles Donald Trump, that is why people take selfies with me...I feel very good,” he said, before extending an invitation.
“Donald Trump sahib (sir), you have won the election, now visit here and eat my kheer, you will really enjoy it,” he said.
EU says irregular crossings into bloc last year lowest since 2021
WARSAW: The number of irregular crossings into the European Union recorded in 2024 fell to the lowest level since 2021, the bloc's border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.
Warsaw-based Frontex, which regularly publishes statistics on irregular entries into the EU, said last year's preliminary data revealed "a significant 38-percent drop" in crossings.
The agency said in a statement the numbers were at "the lowest level since 2021, when migration was still affected by the COVID pandemic".
Frontex said the decrease in undocumented asylum seekers was mainly driven by a plunge in arrivals through the Central Mediterranean and the Western Balkans routes.
"Despite persistent migration pressure, intensified EU and partner cooperation against smuggling networks has significantly reduced crossings at Europe's external borders," Frontex said.
Overall, in 2024 the agency saw over 239,000 irregular entries into the EU.
The biggest fall was registered along the route through the Western Balkans, a 78-percent drop that Frontex attributed to "strong efforts by regional countries to stem the flow".
Irregular entries detected via the Central Mediterranean fell by 59 percent due to "fewer departures from Tunisia and Libya", Frontex said.
Despite the decrease, the route still accounted for about 67,000 crossings, the second highest among all routes after the Eastern Mediterranean route, it added.
Other routes used by undocumented asylum seekers, however, saw sharp increases.
The Canary Islands registering an 18-percent rise in arrivals to almost 47,000, the highest figure since Frontex began collecting data in 2009.
This was "fuelled by departures from Mauritania", Frontex said, adding that "flows from other departure points declined".
Spain has moved to the forefront of the European Union's migration flow as tighter controls in the Mediterranean push more asylum seekers to attempt the perilous trip from West Africa to the Canaries.
The agency also said a "threefold" rise in detections was registered at the EU's eastern land borders, including at Poland's border with Belarus.
EU states along the bloc's eastern edge have accused Russia and its ally Belarus of pushing thousands of migrants over their borders in recent years as part of a campaign to destabilise Europe.
In December, the EU said that member states bordering Russia and Belarus could limit the right to asylum for migrants in the event of their "weaponisation" by Moscow and Minsk.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last month the right to asylum "is being used today -- especially on the border with Belarus -- by Poland's enemies".
Commenting on the latest figures, Frontex's executive director Hans Leijtens said that 2024 "highlighted emerging risks and shifting dynamics".
The agency said these involve smuggling networks adapting to new circumstances and rapidly shifting migration flows.
It also warned against "increasing violence" by smugglers along the Western Balkans route.
Sudan rescuers say more than 120 killed by shelling around capital
- Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated in recent weeks after more than 20 months of war in Sudan
Port Sudan: Sudanese volunteer rescuers said shelling of an area of Omdurman, the capital Khartoum’s twin city just across the Nile River, killed more than 120 people.
The “random shelling” on Monday in western Omdurman resulted in the deaths of 120 civilians, said the Ombada Emergency Response Room, part of a network of volunteer rescuers across the war-torn country.
The network described the toll as preliminary and did not specify who was behind the attack.
The rescuers said medical supplies were in critically short supply as health workers struggled to treat “a large number of wounded people suffering from varying degrees of injuries.”
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated in recent weeks after more than 20 months of war in Sudan.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war which has left the country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of targeting civilians, including health workers, and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
Most of Omdurman is under army control while the RSF holds the capital and part of the greater Khartoum area.
Residents on both sides of the Nile have reported shelling across the river, with bombs and shrapnel regularly striking homes and civilians.
