UN Says 4 Million People Have Fled Sudan's Civil War Since 2023
Four million people have fled Sudan since civil war broke out in 2023, the UN refugee agency said, warning that the influx of refugees was straining neighboring countries and posed a risk to regional and global security.
The emergency response to the crisis remains 'dangerously underfunded,' the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement Tuesday. It said only 14% of needs are being met and tens of thousands of people are left exposed to extreme weather and insecurity.
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News24
an hour ago
- News24
Edgar Lungu, former Zambian president, dies at 68
Zambia's former president Edgar Lungu, who held power for almost seven years until 2021, died on Thursday in a hospital in South Africa at the age of 68, his party and family announced. Lungu had been receiving specialised medical treatment in a clinic in Pretoria, the Patriotic Front, his political party, said in a statement. 'My father had been under medical supervision in recent weeks,' his daughter Tasila Lungu-Mwansa announced in a video shared on social media. 'His condition was managed with dignity and privacy with support from all well-wishers,' she said, without providing details of the cause of his death. Lungu had suffered from recurring achalasia, a condition caused by the narrowing of the oesophagus, for which he had been treated in South Africa. Lungu, a trained military officer and lawyer, stepped down from the presidency in 2021 when veteran opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, the current president, won elections by a landslide. He had said he planned to run for president again in the 2026 elections. He came to power in 2015 after the death in office of his predecessor, Michael Sata, and described himself as an 'ordinary Zambian of humble beginnings.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Afghan women UN staff forced to work from home after threats
Afghan women working for the United Nations in Kabul have been threatened by unidentified men because of their jobs, the organisation and several women told AFP on Thursday. Multiple women working for various UN agencies told AFP on condition of anonymity they had been threatened on the street and over the phone by men warning them to "stay home". UN staffer Huda -- not her real name -- said that for weeks she has been bombarded with messages abusing her for "working with foreigners". "The messages keep coming and they are always harassing us... saying, 'Don't let me see you again, or else'," the young woman told AFP. She said her office had advised her to work from home until further notice. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that UN staff had been threatened. "Several United Nations female national staff members in the Afghan capital Kabul have been subjected to threats by unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN," it said in a statement. Considering the threats "extremely serious", the UN has taken "interim" measures "to ensure the safety and security of staff members", it added. The Taliban government, accused by the UN of imposing a "gender apartheid" against women since returning to power in 2021, has denied any involvement. Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said such threats were a "crime" and that police would take action. UNAMA said the authorities had opened an investigation. - 'You are not allowed' - Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have severely restricted Afghan women from working and it is the only country in the world where women are banned from education beyond primary school. The government in 2022 banned women from working for domestic and international NGOs, which was extended to include the UN's offices in the country the following year. The policy has some exceptions including for women working in healthcare and education, and has not been consistently enforced. The UN has previously called the policy "deeply discriminatory". Selsela, in her 30s, said while returning from the office last week she was approached by unknown men who told her she should be "ashamed" and that she must "stay home". "They said, 'We told you nicely this time, but next time you'll have another thing coming'," she told AFP. "I was very scared," she said, explaining how she struggles to work efficiently from home in a country where electricity and internet are unreliable. "The situation for women is getting worse every day." Another woman, Rahila, said she and two other women colleagues were stopped by men while travelling home in a UN vehicle and told not to go to the office anymore. "They said, 'Don't you know that you are not allowed?'," Rahila said, adding that she has also received threatening messages from unknown numbers. "I am very worried, I need my job and my salary," she said. Three-quarters of Afghanistan's population of some 45 million people struggle to meet their daily needs, according to the UN, with the country facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. bur-sw/ecl/rsc
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Starmer steps up call for aid to flow into Gaza after US vetoes UN resolution
Aid needs to reach the people of Gaza 'at speed and at volume', Sir Keir Starmer has said, describing the current situation as 'utterly intolerable'. The UK backed a UN Security Council resolution calling for Israel to lift restrictions on aid, but the move was vetoed by Donald Trump's US. The Prime Minister called for the restoration of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of the remaining hostages being held by the group. At the UN late on Wednesday, the US vetoed the proposed resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza because it was not linked to the release of hostages. The UK voted for today's resolution because Israel's block on aid into Gaza needs to end. Israel's new system is not working. Palestinians have been killed as they try to reach the very few aid sites that Israel has permitted. It is inhumane. Israel must let the @UN save lives. — UK at the UN 🇬🇧🇺🇳 (@UKUN_NewYork) June 4, 2025 It also did not condemn Hamas over the October 7 2023 atrocities or insist that the militant group must disarm and withdraw from Gaza — two other demands from the Trump administration. The UK was among the 14 other members of the 15-nation council to vote in favour of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as 'catastrophic' and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory. Sir Keir told reporters during a visit to a school in Harlow: 'In relation to what's happening in Gaza, we've been absolutely clear that it is intolerable and we need to get back to a ceasefire urgently and that is our constant work with other allies to get us to that position. 'We need those hostages to come out, many of them have been held for a very long time. 'And of course, humanitarian aid needs to get in at speed and at volume, but that can only happen if we get back to a ceasefire so I'm absolutely clear that the situation as it is is utterly intolerable, and that's why we've taken measures like the trading talks have been stood down, the sanctions we've put in and we're working with allies to see what else we can do.' The IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA) confirm that the bodies of two hostages – Judy Weinstein-Haggai (70) and Gadi Haggai (72) – were recovered from Gaza overnight. The couple was kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the 7th October and brutally murdered by… — Israel in the UK 🇮🇱🤝🇬🇧 (@IsraelinUK) June 5, 2025 In a briefing in Westminster, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to agree to and facilitate humanitarian aid. 'The unimpeded entry of assistance at scale to meet the needs in Gaza must be restored. 'We made that clear through the UN Security Council yesterday as well and that's why we're working with allies at pace to to achieve that.' Israel said it had recovered the bodies of two hostages taken in the October 7 attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai had been recovered.
