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Drone Strike on Besieged Sudan Mosque Kills Dozens Amid Escalating Darfur Siege

  At least 70 worshippers were killed and dozens more injured when a drone strike hit a mosque during Friday prayers in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur region, according to medical and aid sources. The attack, blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reduced the mosque to rubble, with rescuers still pulling bodies from the debris. El Fasher — home to more than 260,000 civilians — has been under siege for over a year as the RSF battles Sudan’s army for control of the city, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur. Satellite imagery shows RSF advances into key military and humanitarian sites, including the nearby Abu Shouk displacement camp, which shelters hundreds of thousands. The United Nations condemned the strike as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, warning of the “increasing ethnicisation” of the conflict. Since fighting erupted in April 2023, Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and pushed vast s...
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High-Stakes Court Clash Over Ruby Liu’s Hudson’s Bay Lease Ambitions

 

                            Billionaire Ruby Liu tours a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store.


A tense legal battle is unfolding in Ontario Superior Court over B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu’s bid to acquire 25 former Hudson’s Bay store leases for $69.1 million. Liu, who already owns three Bay leases in malls she controls, plans to launch a new department store chain under her own name, backed by a proposed $400 million investment.

However, landlords — including major property owners like KingSett Capital, Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties, and Ivanhoé Cambridge — argue her plan is financially unrealistic and operationally flawed. KingSett’s lawyer, Matthew Gottlieb, told the court the $400 million Liu cites is “non-existent,” noting she has refused to personally guarantee the funds and that much of her capital is tied up in companies without binding commitments to support the venture.

Landlords also point to significant losses at Liu’s existing malls and claim her renovation budgets and timelines underestimate the work needed to revive the shuttered spaces. The court-appointed monitor, Alvarez & Marsal, has recommended rejecting the deal, citing concerns over the viability of her business plan.

Hudson’s Bay, which is under creditor protection, supports the sale, arguing Liu was the highest bidder in a court-supervised process and that the deal could return up to $50 million to senior creditors. The outcome could set a precedent for future lease transfers in insolvency cases.

The hearing continues, with both sides framing the decision as pivotal — either a bold retail revival or a costly misstep.

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