Port Sudan, Sudan: The ongoing civil war in Sudan has provoked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in decades, the international chief of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Thursday.
War has raged for more than a year between the regular military under army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
“Sudan is one of the worst crises the world has seen for decades... yet the humanitarian response is profoundly inadequate,” Christos Christou, international president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said on social media platform X.
“There are extreme levels of suffering across the country, and the needs are growing by the day,” he added.
The conflict, which began in April 2023 has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displaced more than nine million people, according to the United Nations.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid, despite warnings that millions are on the brink of starvation.
Rights groups and the United States have also accused the paramilitaries of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Sudan one of world’s ‘worst crises’ in decades: medical charity
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Sudan one of world’s ‘worst crises’ in decades: medical charity
- War has raged for more than a year between the regular military under army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
- Both sides have been accused of war crimes including deliberately targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid
Oil Updates — prices ease as traders assess US tariffs, OPEC+ output hike
- OPEC+ to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day for August
- Trump’s tariffs create uncertainty about global economy
SINGAPORE: Oil prices retreated on Tuesday after rising almost 2 percent in the previous session as investors assessed new developments on US tariffs and a higher-than-expected OPEC+ output hike for August.
Brent crude futures dipped 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $69.36 a barrel by 8:30 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 27 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $67.66 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump on Monday began telling trade partners, which included major suppliers South Korea and Japan as well as smaller US exporters like Serbia, Thailand and Tunisia, that sharply higher US tariffs will start Aug. 1, though he later said that deadline was not 100 percent firm.
Trump’s tariffs have prompted uncertainty across the market and concerns they could have a negative effect on the global economy and, consequently, on oil demand.
However, there are some signs current demand remains strong, particularly in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, which has supported prices.
A record 72.2 million Americans were projected to travel more than 50 miles (80 km) for Fourth of July vacations, data from travel group AAA showed last week.
Investors were bullish heading into the holiday period with data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Monday showing money managers raised their net-long futures and options positions in crude oil contracts in the week up to July 1.
“Prompt demand remains healthy on the back of seasonal factors. The question remains if forward demand will maintain to absorb the larger-than-expected supply from OPEC+,” said Emril Jamil, a senior analyst at LSEG Oil Research.
Other signs of higher demand were seen in India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, with government data reporting fuel consumption in June was 1.9 percent higher than a year ago.
On Saturday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, exceeding the 411,000-bpd hikes they made for the prior three months.
The decision removes nearly all of the 2.2 million-bpd of voluntary cuts the group enacted. They are set to approve an increase of about 550,000 bpd for September when it meets on Aug. 3, according to five sources familiar with the matter, which would unwind all of the cuts.
However, actual output increases have been smaller than the announced levels so far and most of the supply has been from Saudi Arabia, analysts said.
China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues
- The Dalai Lama is acqused of engaging in anti-China separatist activities
BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the United States was in “no position” to point fingers at the country on Tibet-related issues, urging Washington to fully recognize the “sensitivity” of the issues.
Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks when asked to comment on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.
Mao said at a regular press conference that the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” and has “no right” to represent the Tibetan people.
In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer
- Volunteers still descend on Okinawa from all over Japan for excavations
- While many remains were unearthed in the decades following the war, witness accounts suggested there were more burial grounds
NINOSHIMA: Dozens of times a year, Rebun Kayo takes a ferry to a small island across from the port of Hiroshima in search of the remains of those killed by the atomic bomb 80 years ago.
For the 47-year-old researcher, unearthing even the tiniest fragments on Ninoshima Island is a sobering reminder that the war is a reality that persists — buried, forgotten and unresolved.
“When we die, we are interred in places like temples or churches and bid farewell in a ceremony. That’s the dignified way of being sent off,” said Kayo, a researcher at Hiroshima University’s Center for Peace who spends his own time and money on the solo excavations.
After the United States dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, instantly killing about 78,000 people and injuring far more, Ninoshima, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from the hypocenter, became a field hospital. Within weeks, some 10,000 victims, both dead and alive, were ferried across the water. Many perished soon after, and when cremations could not keep up, people were buried in mass graves.
While many remains were unearthed in the decades following the war, witness accounts suggested there were more burial grounds. The son of a resident informed Kayo about one area on the island’s northwestern coast in 2014 and from there, he saved up funds and began digging four years later.
NO CLOSURE
In searing heat last weekend, Kayo cut through overgrown brush to return to the spot where he had left off three weeks before. After an hour and a half of digging, he carefully picked out two thumbnail-sized bone fragments from the dirt — additions to the roughly 100 he has unearthed so far.
Every discovery brings home to him the cruelty of war. The pain was never as raw as when Kayo found pieces of a young child’s jaw and tooth earlier this year, he said.
“That hit me really hard,” he said, his white, long-sleeve shirt soaked through with sweat. “That child was killed by the bomb, knowing nothing about the world ... I couldn’t come to terms with it for a while, and that feeling still lingers.”
One day, he plans to take all the fragments to a Buddhist temple, where they can be enshrined.
Kayo’s drive for repeating the gruelling task year after year is partly personal.
Born in Okinawa, where some of the bloodiest battles during World War Two were fought, Kayo himself has three relatives whose remains were never found.
Volunteers still descend on Okinawa from all over Japan for excavations, and because the poison ivy in the forests there is prohibitive for him, Kayo returns the favor on Ninoshima instead.
As long as traces of the dead keep turning up, the war’s proximity is palpable for Kayo.
“People today who don’t know about the war focus only on the recovery, and they move the conversation forward while forgetting about these people here,” he said.
“And in the end, you’ll have people saying, ‘even if you drop an atomic bomb, you can recover’ ... There will always be people who try to justify it in a way that suits them.”
HM Alchahine storms to victory at the UAE President’s Cup in Hamburg
- Race marks leg 7 of the prestigious UAE President’s Cup series, now in its 32nd edition
ABU DHABI: HM Alchahine (France), a 4-year-old Purebred Arabian gelding owned by Helal Alalawi (France), stormed to victory in The UAE President’s Cup over 1,600 meters at Hamburg’s Horner Rennbahn on Sunday.
The race marked the seventh leg of the prestigious UAE President’s Cup series, now in its 32nd edition.
It was held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, vice president of the UAE, deputy prime minister, and chairman of the presidential court.
The series highlights the UAE’s continued commitment to preserving and promoting the global stature of Purebred Arabian horses, a key pillar of Emirati heritage, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Staged in conjunction with the 156th edition of the historic German Derby, the UAE President’s Cup drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators and featured a record prize purse of almost $293,500, making it the richest Arabian race in German history.
Trained by Jean-Francois Bernard and brilliantly ridden by Cristian Demuro, HM Alchahine powered home to claim his second UAE President’s Cup win, following his earlier triumph in the Italian leg.
He crossed the finish line decisively, clocking a winning time of 1 minute, 45.42 seconds, further cementing his reputation on the European circuit.
Finishing second was Al-Wakrah (France), owned by Al-Shaqab Racing, trained by Jean-Loup de Mieulle and ridden by Olivier d’Andigne. Al-Zeer (France), owned by Mohamed Fahad A.H. Al-Attiyah, finished third under trainer Francois Rohaut and jockey Adrie de Vries.
Also in the field were Papillion T (Holland), representing the Netherlands and trained and owned by Gerard Th. Zoetelief; Al-Zwair (France), also owned by Al-Shaqab Racing; and Djafar (France), owned by Abubaker S.A. Kadoura, with both horses showcasing competitive spirit.
The race and prize ceremony were attended by Dr. Peter Tschentscher, first mayor of Hamburg, Ahmed Al-Attar, UAE ambassador to Germany, Faisal Al-Rahmani, general secretary of the Higher Organizing Committee for the UAE President’s Cup, and Ahmed Al-Samarrai, president of the German Arabian Horse Association.
The winning trophy was presented to Nasser Hilal Al-Alawi, a representative of the owner, in the presence of the trainer and jockey, amid a celebratory crowd.
Speaking on the occasion, Al-Rahmani congratulated the winning team and said they were “extremely proud of the success achieved in Hamburg.
“The outstanding organization, strong participation, and warm reception all reflect the UAE’s growing impact on the global Arabian horse racing scene, a vision driven forward by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed.”
He added: “These results reaffirm the strength of UAE-owned horses in international racing.
“The UAE President’s Cup continues to act as a cultural bridge, introducing European and global audiences to the history, values, and noble legacy of Purebred Arabian horses.”
Rescuers on horseback, with dogs search for Texas flood victims
- About 30 volunteers on horseback joined mounted police from Austin to support rescue efforts in four towns along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County
HUNT: Volunteers on horseback and others with rescue dogs are combing riverbanks alongside authorities in central Texas, searching for victims of catastrophic floods that have killed more than 100 people.
Rescuers in inflatable motorboats also searched Monday for bodies near Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp, where 27 campers and counselors died after being swept away by floodwaters.
Another team collected the children’s belongings from flooded cabins marked by mud lines exceeding five feet (1.5 meters) high.
About 30 volunteers on horseback, many wearing cowboy hats, joined mounted police from Austin to support rescue efforts in four towns along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County.
Michael Duncan, 55, rode Ranger, his dark brown horse, along the river, supporting rescue efforts that have deployed hundreds of searchers along several miles of the waterway.
“Obviously (on horseback)... we can gain more ground. We can get to some areas where people can’t get to as easy,” Duncan told AFP.
The horses easily navigate the hilly terrain, undergrowth and debris left behind after the rain-swollen floodwaters receded.
Perched atop Ranger, Duncan said that the “height advantage” allowed him to scan across the mounds of debris.
Volunteers on foot also scoured the area, detecting foul odours from undergrowth that could indicate decomposing animals or human remains.
They dug through earth piled near trees, using pointed sticks to probe mounds for any signs of bodies.
During their search, they found children’s swimming goggles and a football.
Tom Olson, a rescue dog trainer, deployed his eight-year-old Belgian Malinois, Abby, to assist the search.
Olson, 55, compared the dog’s search abilities to a useful tool, “just like underwater sonar boats, drone, aircraft.”
“The dog will be able to rapidly find a potential victim... lowering the risk to the people that are out here actually trying to do the search and rescue,” he told AFP.
Olson said the work to recover victims’ bodies involved “a mental debt” and “emotional debt” but was necessary to bring “closure to the families that lost (people), as well as closure for the rescuers.”
Electric company crews also worked to restore power poles and cables destroyed by the floods as the Guadalupe River receded to its normal course.
Duncan, the mounted volunteer, said the searches filled him with “a lot of sadness” but added: “It’s also great to see how many people come out... and most everybody is doing this for free.
“That’s pretty inspiring to see.”
