Sudan army chief Burhan appoints former UN official Kamil Idris as prime minister
DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan appointed Kamil Idris, a former UN official and ex-presidential candidate, as prime minister of Sudan's military-led government on Monday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
UK will not officially recognise Palestine at UN conference
It was previously understood that the UK Government was in talks to officially recognise a Palestinian state at the planned conference later this month, alongside France. However, the UN conference, set to be held between June 17 and 20 in New York, has now weakened its goal and will instead look to agree on steps towards recognition, rather than making a formal declaration. READ MORE: Israeli forces kill six Palestinians near Gaza aid site While French president Emmanuel Macron – co-sponsor of the three-day event, alongside Saudi Arabia – has said that the recognition of Palestine is "a moral duty and political requirement", French officials briefing their Israeli counterparts reportedly assured them that a formal recognition will not take place at the conference. French officials met both Israeli officials and the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, earlier this week. Israeli newspaper Ynet has reported the French officials as saying: 'We want this framework to include elements that support Israel's future. This isn't about isolating or condemning Israel – it's about paving a way to end the war in Gaza. "The recognition of a Palestinian state remains on the table, but not as a product of the conference. This will remain a bilateral subject between states." The official added that the conference will instead focus on ensuring a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, an end to Hamas's rule in Gaza, reforms of the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of a two-state solution. According to the Guardian, France and Saudia Arabia have set up eight working groups at the conference. The UK is set to oversee the humanitarian working party, with other groups focusing on the economic viability of a Palestinian state, promoting respect for international law, and the benefits to both sides from a peaceful settlement. It is widely thought that Israel and the US will boycott the conference after both countries attended meetings in the run-up to the event. The UK Government is under increasing pressure to formally recognise Palestine as a state, with more than 70 Labour parliamentarians writing to Prime Minister Keir Starmer last month urging him to make the move with France at the June conference. David Lammy (Image: PA) The Foreign Secretary (above) previously confirmed the UK is "in discussion" with France over a possible recognition process at the conference, but that recognition would only take place at a time when it would help the peace process. He told the Lords international relations select committee last month: 'No one has a veto on when the UK recognises that Palestinian state … We have always said that recognition is not an end in of itself and we will prefer recognition as a part of a process to two states. READ MORE: Owen Jones: The UK media has ignored this hugely revealing scandal in Israel 'President Macron has had a lot to say about that, most recently, alongside the Saudis, and of course we are in discussion with them at this time.' The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
The National
4 hours ago
- The National
Israeli forces kill six Palestinians near Gaza aid site
Sources at Nasser Medical Complex have told Al Jazeera that at least six Palestinians were killed and others wounded by Israeli fire in al-Akhawah, near Rafah in southern Gaza. It comes despite the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) saying on Friday that it had closed all its centres until further notice following incidents of deadly violence near the sites in which Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid. READ MORE: Owen Jones: The UK media has ignored this hugely revealing scandal in Israel The Gaza government's media office has published a list of the casualty numbers near aid distribution points since the GHF began operating. The list, which has not been updated to reflect Saturday's casualties, states that 109 people have been killed since the aid sites opened: May 27: 3 killed, 46 wounded, 7 missing in Rafah May 28: 10 killed, 62 wounded in Rafah June 1: 35 killed, 200 wounded in Rafah; 1 killed and 32 wounded, 2 missing at the Gaza Valley Bridge June 2: 26 killed, 92 wounded in Rafah June 3: 27 killed, 90 wounded in Rafah June 6: 8 killed, 61 wounded in Rafah. Since dawn, at least 34 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, including seven people who were killed in an Israeli raid on a house sheltering displaced people west of Gaza city. Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its brutal bombardment of Gaza since October 7 2023, primarily women and children. The assault has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly two million Palestinians. READ MORE: Several Glasgow city centre roads closed due to emergency After blocking all food and aid from entering Gaza for more than two months, Israel began allowing a trickle of supplies to enter for the UN several weeks ago. But the UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because of Israeli military restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘The US was our El Dorado': Africans on Trump's travel bans and taxes
When Essi Farida Geraldo, a Lomé-based architect, heard about partial restrictions on travel to the US from Togo as part of the travel bans announced by Donald Trump on Thursday, she lamented losing access to what many young Togolese consider to be a land of better opportunities. 'The United States was the Togolese's El Dorado,' Geraldo said. 'Many people go to work in the US to save money and support their families or projects in Africa … This will force the country to really develop stronger partnerships that exclude the US.' Trump's order, which is to come into effect on Monday, prohibits people from seven African countries – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan – from entering the US, making Africa the worst-affected continent. People from another three African countries – Burundi, Sierra Leone and Togo – will be subject to partial restrictions, meaning they will not be able to travel to the US on certain visas. For Geraldo, an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders programme instituted by the Obama administration, the new restrictions compound the harm from Trump's foreign aid cuts, which made it harder for her to access funding for social projects in the tiny west African state. Mikhail Nyamweya, a political and foreign affairs analyst, said the new travel bans and restrictions would 'bring about a pattern of exclusion' and 'may also institutionalise a perception of Africans as outsiders in the global order'. 'In the short term, they will restrict access to education, innovation and professional mobility. In the long-term, they risk alienating African partners,' he said. The White House deputy press secretary, Abigail Jackson, said the countries on the list 'lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates or fail to share identity and threat information'. 'President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,' she said on X, adding that the restrictions were 'commonsense'. This interpretation was firmly rejected by Abby Maxman, the president and CEO of Oxfam America, who said the ban 'deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes and religious intolerance'. She said: 'This policy is not about national security. It is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the US.' The policy has deepened a cloud of uncertainty in the affected countries, especially after the US government announced in May that visa appointments for students wishing to study in its universities had been suspended pending expanded social media vetting. There is also fear across Africa about a proposed tax on remittances under Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is under parliamentary review. If passed into law, the 3.5% tax could severely dent the GDP of many nations, for whom diaspora remittances are a huge contribution. Geoffrey Gichohi, a 34-year-old nurse working in Minnesota, recently sent money to his mother in Kenya – which is not covered by the travel ban – via an app to pay for a concrete wall and a metal gate at their home. Like many Africans abroad, he regularly sends money to his family members back home who rely on it for school fees, healthcare and other basic needs. A new tax – on top of sending and withdrawal fees – would make it more difficult, he said. 'The parents back at home in Kenya are the ones who will suffer because they'll have limited resources,' he said. 'Personally, I hope the bill doesn't get passed.' Human rights activists have criticised the restrictions and planned tax, saying they unfairly target citizens of countries in the global south. Other experts say the moves could further damage US-Africa ties in an era of rising anti-western sentiments on the continent. Feelings of despair are not universal, however. According to Jalel Harchaoui, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, many people in Libya will be unbothered by the new policies as the US is not a major travel destination for them. 'It's not good, but it's not noticed as something catastrophic,' he said. 'People are barely paying attention to [the travel ban] or the [proposed] remittance tax … if the same thing had happened to the UK it would be a major event, but not for the US.' Authorities in many of the affected countries are yet to respond. However, on Thursday afternoon the president of Chad, Mahamat Idriss Déby, suspended the issuance of visas to US citizens, citing the need for reciprocal action. 'Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give, but Chad has his dignity and pride,' he said in a Facebook post, referencing Qatar's controversial gift to the Trump administration. Over the last year, US and French troops have been forced to withdraw from military bases in Chad, which was previously a key ally in the Sahel for many western nations. The reaction from Sierra Leone, another US ally in west Africa, was much mellower. 'We have taken note of this proclamation,' said the information minister, Chernor Bah. 'Our understanding is that the decision is based exclusively on visa overstay rates and that it does not reflect the broader state of US-Sierra Leone relations, which remain from our perspective strong and productive.'
