Sudan's army chief appoints the first prime minister since war began in 2023
Sudan's army chief on Monday appointed the first country's prime minister since it plunged into civil war two years ago and following months of steady advances by the military against its paramilitary rival.
Kamil al-Taib Idris will be tasked with forming the country's transitional government, a move long touted by military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, particularly after the army regained control of Khartoum in March and ousted the Rapid Support Forces from the capital.
The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 when the military and the RSF turned against each other in a struggle for power. Their battles spread from Khartoum to around the country.
At least 20,000 people have been killed, but the real toll is probably far higher. Nearly 13 million people have fled their homes, 4 million of them streaming into neighboring countries. Half the population of 50 million faces hunger.
The last prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, resigned in 2022 during a political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests.
Journalist and political analyst Osman Mirghani said that appointing Idris marks an important step toward restoring civilian-led rule and addressing Sudan's political crisis.'His chances of being accepted by various communities of the Sudanese society seems higher, even among those who support the RSF, because he has no political affiliations,' he said. The RSF and its allies signed a charter in February in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to establish a parallel government.
The charter calls for 'a secular, democratic and decentralized state,' in a nod to growing calls by Sudan's many communities for autonomy from Khartoum. Idris had previously worked as Sudan's legal adviser at its UN mission and is a member of the UN International Law Commission, according to his social media profile.
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Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India's population touches 1.46 billion, fertility drops below replacement rate: UN report
New Delhi, India's population is estimated to reach 1.46 billion in 2025, continuing to be the highest in the world, according to a new UN demographic report, which also revealed the country's total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate. UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population Report, The Real Fertility Crisis, calls for a shift from panic over falling fertility to addressing unmet reproductive goals. Millions of people are not able to realise their real fertility goals, it asserts. This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation, and the answer lies in greater reproductive agency - a person's ability to make free and informed 150 per cent choices about sex, contraception and starting a family, it says. The report also reveals key shifts in population composition, fertility, and life expectancy, signalling a major demographic transition. The report found that India's total fertility rate has declined to 1.9 births per woman, falling below the replacement level of 2.1. This means that, on average, Indian women are having fewer children than needed to maintain the population size from one generation to the next, without migration. Despite the slowing birth rate, India's youth population remains significant, with 24 per cent in the age bracket of 0-14, 17 per cent in 10-19, and 26 per cent in 10-24. The country's 68 per cent of the population is of working age , providing a potential demographic dividend, if matched by adequate employment and policy support. The elderly population currently stands at seven per cent, a figure that is expected to rise in the coming decades as life expectancy improves. As of 2025, life expectancy at birth is projected to be 71 years for men and 74 years for women. According to the UN estimates, India's population at present stands at 1,463.9 million. India is now the world's most populous nation, with nearly 1.5 billion people – a number expected to grow to about 1.7 billion before it begins to fall, around 40 years from now, the report said. Behind these numbers are the stories of millions of couples who decided to start or expand their families, as well as the stories of women who had few choices about whether, when or how often they became pregnant, the report said. In 1960, when India's population was about 436 million, the average woman had nearly six children. Back then, women had less control over their bodies and lives than they do today. Fewer than 1 in 4 used some form of contraception, and fewer than 1 in 2 attended primary school , the report said. But in the coming decades, educational attainment increased, access to reproductive healthcare improved, and more women gained a voice in the decisions that affected their lives. The average woman in India now has about two children. While women in India, and every other country, have more rights and choices today than their mothers or grandmothers did, they still have a long way to go before they are empowered to have the number of children they want, if any, when they want them. The UN report placed India in a group of middle-income countries undergoing rapid demographic change, with population doubling time now estimated at 79 years. "India has made significant progress in lowering fertility rates – from nearly five children per woman in 1970 to about two today, thanks to improved education and access to reproductive healthcare," said Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative. "This has led to major reductions in maternal mortality, meaning million more mothers are alive today, raising children and building communities. Yet, deep inequalities persist across states, castes, and income groups. "The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together," she said.
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First Post
30 minutes ago
- First Post
FATF can salvage its counter-terrorism credentials by cracking down on Pakistan
With the second meeting of the FATF scheduled to commence today, countries interested in the fight against terrorism and its financing need to re-evaluate Pakistan's role in failing to crack down on terrorism from its soil read more Should the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) take a sharper and closer look at Pakistan's counter-terrorism reality? With the second meeting of the FATF scheduled to commence on 10 June 2025, like-minded countries invested in the fight against terrorism and its financing need to re-evaluate Pakistan's role in failing to crack down on terrorism from its soil. Pakistan has thrice been listed on FATF's Grey List in the past, from 2008-2010, 2012-2015 and 2018-2022. The third time around, it landed on the list after the motion was initiated by the United States and supported by the United Kingdom, France and Germany due to Pakistan's glaring deficiencies in counter-terrorist financing (CFT). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The recent events around the conduct of Operation Sindoor are a stark reality check on the complicity of the Pakistani state in supporting, funding and participating in terrorism. If the world needed any further proof, Pakistan did not hesitate to provide it in full glare of the world media. Shortly after the successful precision strikes, senior military commanders stood in solidarity at the funeral prayer meeting, led by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist commander Hafiz Abdul Rauf. Pakistani military personnel went a step further by carrying the coffins of terrorists to reinforce their support and backing for UN-proscribed terrorist groups and their leaders. Terrorist leaders from the LeT and JuD have since been seen openly galvanising support for terrorism from Pakistan and collecting funds to provide an impetus to their 'jihad'. The Pakistani 'establishment' and terrorist handlers are confident that, having escaped the FATF clutches, they can continue to support terrorism as a state policy. Pakistan has been at pains to highlight Kashmir as the point of contention with India. On the contrary, it is Pakistan's employment of terrorism as an instrument of hybrid war that should remain the focus of attention of world capitals. And the best way to curb Pakistani adventurism is to retain strict control over the proliferation of terrorism by organisations like the FATF. There is no better way to ensure stability in the region and restrict the export from the terrorism factory of the world, and curbing its funding. The FATF is a 40-member, inter-governmental, multinational body that acts as a 'watchdog' against money laundering and terrorist financing. India is a member of the grouping. The FATF sets standards to fight terrorist finance and, along with its affiliated bodies, evaluates member countries for their compliance with its guidelines. This includes technical compliance, such as the absence of or inadequacy of laws. More importantly, its focus on the effectiveness of implementation highlights weaknesses or, worse, wilful defiance of countries like Pakistan in fighting terrorism. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's last evaluation by the FATF was done in 2019. Its report was a national embarrassment for the country, at the very least. If Pakistan's evaluation is compared to a student's school report card, then, of the 11 effectiveness parameters, Pakistan failed in 10 and got a compartment in one! The rowdy kid's abysmal report card was not a sign of inability or a lack of resources to study. It came from the confidence to successfully fool not only the class teacher but the entire school faculty. This does not come as a surprise, given the country's record of nurturing and sheltering UN proscribed terrorist groups and their commanders. The evaluation report noted that 'Several UN-listed organisations continue to operate openly in Pakistan, including holding fundraising events.' Pakistan has mastered the art of obfuscating reality and window dressing the true face of its parallel terror economy. The appeasement of major powers by handing over selective terrorist leaders and promising to safeguard economic interests like the CPEC corridor is not a guarantee against the spread of the contagion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD If the FATF does intend to expose Pakistan's age-old strategy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds, then its record of fighting terrorism deserves closer scrutiny. Member countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany that have been victims of Pakistan's terror factories should support India's attempt at stabilising the region by curbing the funding of terrorism in Pakistan. The international community must realise that the Pakistani establishment's repeated claims of being a victim of terrorism are inherently flawed. It is not the West that is responsible for Pakistan's terror woes, unlike Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's repeated assertions. It is Pakistan's strategy of promoting extremist thought and sowing jihadi ideology that is hollowing its social fabric. Pakistan has been fooling the world by selectively fighting terrorism and equally selectively sharing figures of terrorists prosecuted and acted against. If this continues, little change can be expected. It is time to reintroduce the motion in the FATF to at least place Pakistan on the Grey List. This is despite the reality of mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the blackest of them all? Pakistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Col Vivek Chadha (Retd) is a Senior Fellow at Manohar Parrikar IDSA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
The Hindu
34 minutes ago
- The Hindu
India's population touches 1.46 billion, fertility drops below replacement rate: UN report
India's population is estimated to reach 1.46 billion in 2025, continuing to be the highest in the world, according to a new UN demographic report, which also revealed the country's total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate. UNFPA's 2025 State of World Population (SOWP) Report, The Real Fertility Crisis, calls for a shift from panic over falling fertility to addressing unmet reproductive goals. Millions of people are not able to realise their real fertility goals, it asserts. This is the real crisis, not underpopulation or overpopulation, and the answer lies in greater reproductive agency— a person's ability to make free and informed 150% choices about sex, contraception and starting a family, it says. The report also reveals key shifts in population composition, fertility, and life expectancy, signalling a major demographic transition. The report found that India's total fertility rate has declined to 1.9 births per woman, falling below the replacement level of 2.1. This means that, on average, Indian women are having fewer children than needed to maintain the population size from one generation to the next, without migration. Despite the slowing birth rate, India's youth population remains significant, with 24% in the age bracket of 0-14, 17% in 10-19, and 26 per cent% in 10-24. The country's 68% of the population is of working age (15-64), providing a potential demographic dividend, if matched by adequate employment and policy support. The elderly population (65 and older) currently stands at seven per cent, a figure that is expected to rise in the coming decades as life expectancy improves. As of 2025, life expectancy at birth is projected to be 71 years for men and 74 years for women. According to the UN estimates, India's population at present stands at 1,463.9 million. India is now the world's most populous nation, with nearly 1.5 billion people– a number expected to grow to about 1.7 billion before it begins to fall, around 40 years from now, the report said. Behind these numbers are the stories of millions of couples who decided to start or expand their families, as well as the stories of women who had few choices about whether, when or how often they became pregnant, the report said. In 1960, when India's population was about 436 million, the average woman had nearly six children. Back then, women had less control over their bodies and lives than they do today. Fewer than 1 in 4 used some form of contraception, and fewer than 1 in 2 attended primary school (World Bank Data, 2020), the report said. But in the coming decades, educational attainment increased, access to reproductive healthcare improved, and more women gained a voice in the decisions that affected their lives. The average woman in India now has about two children. While women in India, and every other country, have more rights and choices today than their mothers or grandmothers did, they still have a long way to go before they are empowered to have the number of children they want, if any, when they want them. The UN report placed India in a group of middle-income countries undergoing rapid demographic change, with population doubling time now estimated at 79 years. "India has made significant progress in lowering fertility rates – from nearly five children per woman in 1970 to about two today, thanks to improved education and access to reproductive healthcare," said Andrea M. Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative. "This has led to major reductions in maternal mortality, meaning million more mothers are alive today, raising children and building communities. Yet, deep inequalities persist across states, castes, and income groups. "The real demographic dividend comes when everyone has the freedom and means to make informed reproductive choices. India has a unique opportunity to show how reproductive rights and economic prosperity can advance together," she said.
