Skip to main content

Featured

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

article

Labels

US Blocks Abbas from UN Amid Rising Global Recognition of Palestinian Statehood

 

The United States has announced it will deny and revoke visas for several senior members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ahead of next month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. The move is expected to prevent Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from delivering his customary address at the annual gathering.

The State Department cited the PA and PLO’s alleged failure to repudiate terrorism and their pursuit of unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood as reasons for the restrictions. However, the Palestinian mission to the UN — staffed by diplomats permanently based in New York — will be exempt from the ban, in line with the UN headquarters agreement.

The decision comes as several key US allies, including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada, have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state during the summit. These recognition moves reflect growing frustration with Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis it has triggered, and continued settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Abbas’ office condemned the US action, calling it a violation of international agreements governing access to the UN, and vowed to respond diplomatically. The restrictions could significantly reduce the Palestinian presence at a high-profile moment in the global debate over statehood and peace in the Middle East.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment