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Arab Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab Times
Divided UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan as fears of renewed civil war grow
UNITED NATIONS, May 31, (AP): A divided UN Security Council voted Friday to extend an arms embargo on South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have led the U.N. to warn that the country could again plunge into civil war. A US-sponsored resolution to extend the embargo and other sanctions was approved by the narrowest margin - the minimum nine "yes' votes required. Six countries abstained - Russia, China, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Pakistan. The arms embargo, and travel bans and asset freezes on South Sudanese on the UN sanctions blacklist, were extended for a year until May 31, 2026. There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world's newest nation. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal that brought Machar into the government as first vice-president has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Last month, the UN envoy to South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, warned that the escalating rivalry between Kiir and Machar had degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties and led to Machar's arrest. A campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech is "fueling political and ethnic tensions - particularly on social media,' he warned. And "these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.' US Minister Counselor John Kelley thanked the council after the vote, saying the arms embargo "remains necessary to stem the unfettered flow of weapons into a region that remains awash with guns.' "Escalating violence in recent months has brought South Sudan to the brink of civil war,' he said, urging the country's leaders to restore peace. Russia's deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered by saying the easing of Security Council sanctions on South Sudan is long overdue. She said the arms embargo and other sanctions are restricting implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.
Kuwait Times
26-05-2025
- General
- Kuwait Times
Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation
CAIRO/GAZA: Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday - save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste. 'I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children,' Hijazi told Reuters from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. 'I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger.' Six-year-old Zaha can't sleep because of the Zionist entity's bombardment. 'She wakes up terrified, shaking, and then remembers she didn't eat and is hungry. I put her back to sleep, promising her food in the morning. Of course I lie.' Hijazi, 38, recounted a terrible week. Sunday, May 18: Her family was given about half a kilo of cooked lentils from a community kitchen run by a charity, half the amount she would normally use for a single meal. Monday: A local aid group was distributing some vegetables in the camp but there wasn't enough to go round and Hijazi's family didn't get any. Her 14-year-old daughter Menna went to the community kitchen and came back with a meagre amount of cooked potato. Everyone was hungry so they filled up by drinking water. Tuesday: The family received about half a kilo of cooked pasta from the kitchen. One daughter was also given some falafel by an uncle who lived nearby. Wednesday: A good day, relatively. They received a bowl of rice with lentils at the community kitchen. It wasn't nearly enough, but Menna went back and pleaded with them and they eventually gave her two other small dishes. 'She is tough and keeps crying at them until they give her.' Thursday: the kitchen was closed, the family couldn't find out why. They had nothing to eat except for the peanut sachet for 11-month-old Lama, received from a clinic as a nutritional supplement because baby milk formula has all but disappeared. 'I don't have enough milk in my breasts to feed her because I hardly eat myself,' said Hijazi, whose husband was killed early in the war as he cycled to get food from a charity kitchen. The Hijazis' plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. A global hunger monitor warned this month half a million people face starvation while famine looms. This week the Zionist entity started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new US-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centers in areas controlled by Zionist troops, a plan the UN and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was five kilos when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. Hunger makes them all listless, Hijazi said, and they often lack enough energy even to clean their tent. When Reuters visited, some of the children lay sprawled silent on the floor. But they still have jobs to do. Menna is often sent to queue at the food kitchen. She arrives more than an hour before it opens, knowing that otherwise she would stand no chance of getting food and often waits another hour before she is served, Hijazi said. On days when a tanker does not bring water to their part of the camp, Mustafa, 15, and Ali, 13, have to walk to a standpipe in another district and lug heavy plastic jerrycans back to the tent - a chore made harder by their hunger. Everyone remembers life before the war and they talk about the meals they used to enjoy. Mohammed Hijazi was a plumber and earned a good wage. 'People used to envy us for the variety of food we had,' his wife said, recalling breakfasts of eggs, beans, falafel, cheese, yoghurt and bread, and lunches and dinners of meat, rice, chicken and vegetables. Her 16-year-old daughter Malak talked about burgers, chocolate and Coca-Cola. 'We are civilians. We have no say in this war. All we want is for the war to end,' Hijazi said. 'We want to go back to live in homes - real homes. We want to sleep with full stomachs and in peace, not scared of dying while we sleep.' — Reuters
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli military says it will take over 75% of Gaza as inhabitants face increasing famine risk
Israel's military said it would capture 75% of Gaza in two months, as part of a major new ground offensive against Hamas. Israel has escalated airstrikes in recent days, and will aim to confine Gaza's 2 million population into an area amounting to 25% of the strip, The Times of Israel reported. The territory's population is at risk of famine, humanitarian groups have warned, with many criticizing a new US-sponsored aid delivery system run by private contractors 'with obscure histories and unknown financial backers,' The New York Times wrote. The United Nations' chief said Israel is now letting in a 'teaspoon of aid': One woman told Reuters that she and her nine children had just a single meal a day to share last week.
Observer
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Gazans descend toward famine amid aid shortage
GAZA: Israel has been bombarding and besieging Gaza since the territory's ruling group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli border communities on October 7, 2023. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, while Gazan authorities say the ensuing Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people. Israeli authorities have repeatedly said there is enough food in Gaza to feed the population and accuse Hamas of stealing aid in order to feed its fighters and to maintain control over the territory, an accusation the group denies. This week Israel started allowing some food to enter the territory for the first time since March 2, including flour and baby food but it says a new US-sponsored system run by private contractors will begin operating soon. The plan will involve distribution centres in areas controlled by Israeli troops, a plan the U.N. and aid agencies have attacked, saying it will lead to further displacement of the population and that aid should flow through existing networks. Mervat Hijazi said her family had seen no sign yet of the new aid and she is consumed by worry for her baby, Lama, who was 5 kg when weighed last week. That's about half the average for a healthy one-year-old girl according to World Health Organization charts. This week the family have had, at most, a single meal a day to share, the mother added. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said this week that the amount of aid Israel was proposing to allow into Gaza was "a drop in the ocean" of what was needed. The tent shared by Hijazi and her children is large and rectangular with a portrait of their dead husband and father Mohammed hanging on one side above a thin mattress and some mostly empty jars and stacked plastic bowls. The family is from the Sabra district of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, where Israel's first assault was concentrated. They decided to flee the district on the day Mohammed was killed - November 17, 2023. They went south to the central Gazan area of Deir al Balah, first staying with family and then moving to an encampment for the displaced. Israeli air strikes killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters, Hamas officials said, as the head of the United Nations warned that only a "teaspoon" of aid was getting in following Israel's 11-week-long blockade. The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday, for a total of 305 since Monday when the blockade was relaxed. But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and UN officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day. So far, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said, 119 aid trucks have got past the Kerem Shalom crossing point and into Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday in the face of an international outcry. The UN World Food Programme said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted, which it said reflected the dire conditions facing Gazans. "Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," it said in a statement. A Hamas official said six members of a security team tasked with guarding the shipments were killed. Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters. With most of Gaza's 2 million population squeezed into an ever narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around the southern city of Khan Yunis by Israel's military operation, international pressure to get aid in quickly has ratcheted up. "Without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die - and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. — Reuters
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Civic elections in Maharashtra are likely to be delayed, says Girish Mahajan
Nashik: During his visit to Nashik city on Sunday evening for a wedding ceremony, state water resources minister Girish Mahajan indicated that Maharashtra civic polls might face delays of several months, given the current national confirmed all Mahayuti members would contest the civic elections took issue with statements made by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP) politician Jitendra Awhad regarding the India-Pakistan conflict . He suggested these opposition politicians were making unfounded claims due to a lack of meaningful to Sanjay Raut's Sunday morning criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's acceptance of the US-sponsored ceasefire instead of confronting Pakistan, Mahajan defended the Prime Minister's actions. He stated India had already delivered an appropriate response to Pakistan through military action, while acknowledging the necessity of considering international diplomatic relations. Operation Sindoor 'Our job is to hit target, not to count body bags': Air Marshal Bharti on Op Sindoor Precautionary blackout imposed across parts of Rajasthan, Punjab 'Indian Navy was in position to strike Karachi': Vice Admiral on Operation Sindoor "Our country is developing, and the economy needs to be strengthened. Everyone is watching what is happening in Pakistan. We are progressing rapidly, and people have faith in our army and PM Modi," said Mahajan, dismissing Raut and Awhad's criticisms as the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, Mahajan confirmed cabinet approval of funds and assured that all related works would be completed within the two-year timeframe before the religious gathering During his visit to Nashik city on Sunday evening for a wedding ceremony, state water resources minister Girish Mahajan indicated that Maharashtra civic polls might face delays of several months, given the current national confirmed all Mahayuti members would contest the civic elections took issue with statements made by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP) politician Jitendra Awhad regarding the India-Pakistan conflict. He suggested these opposition politicians were making unfounded claims due to a lack of meaningful to Sanjay Raut's Sunday morning criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's acceptance of the US-sponsored ceasefire instead of confronting Pakistan, Mahajan defended the Prime Minister's actions. He stated India had already delivered an appropriate response to Pakistan through military action, while acknowledging the necessity of considering international diplomatic relations."Our country is developing, and the economy needs to be strengthened. Everyone is watching what is happening in Pakistan. We are progressing rapidly, and people have faith in our army and PM Modi," said Mahajan, dismissing Raut and Awhad's criticisms as the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, Mahajan confirmed cabinet approval of funds and assured that all related works would be completed within the two-year timeframe before the religious gathering commences. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Mother's Day wishes , messages , and quotes !
