Headline
Sudan: Battles Rage On As UN Warns Of ‘Catastrophe’
Published
12 months agoon
By
EditorFierce fighting between rival generals raged on in Sudan Tuesday despite the latest truce, as warnings multiplied of the potential for a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Bloodshed has gripped Sudan since April 15 when tensions erupted into armed exchanges between regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival, Mohamed Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded as air strikes and artillery exchanges have gripped swathes of greater Khartoum sparking the exodus of thousands of Sudanese to neighbouring countries.
Many more cannot afford the arduous journey to Sudan’s borders, and have been forced to hole up inside the city of five million people with dwindling supplies of food, water and electricity.
“We are hearing some sporadic gunfire, the roaring of a warplane and the anti-aircraft fire at it,” said one resident of south Khartoum.
READ ALSO: Sudan Crisis: 1,519 Nigerian Students Leave Khartoum For Port Sudan – FG
In a Monday briefing, the top United Nations aid official in Sudan, Abdou Dieng, warned that the situation was turning into “a full-blown catastrophe”.
Kenyan President William Ruto said the conflict had reached “catastrophic levels” with the warring generals declining “to heed the calls by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the international community to cease fire.”
In a virtual meeting with senior UN officials, Ruto said it was imperative to find ways to provide humanitarian relief “with or without a ceasefire”.
Burhan and Daglo, who fell out after carrying out a 2021 military coup which derailed Sudan’s transition to elective civilian rule, have flouted multiple ceasefires, the latest a 72-hour extension agreed late on Sunday.
Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens. Over the past 10 days, thousands of foreigners have been brought to safety by air or sea in operations that are now winding down.
READ ALSO: Sudan Crisis: FG Accused Of ‘Fake’ Evacuation Of Nigerian Students
Russia’s armed forces said on Tuesday they were evacuating more than 200 people from Sudan on four military transport planes.
Nearly 500 people arrived in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday aboard two vessels, one a US Navy ship, the other Saudi.
– Relief trickles in –
Top UN humanitarian official Martin Griffiths arrived in Nairobi on Monday on a mission to find ways to bring relief to the millions of civilians trapped inside Sudan.
“The situation unfolding there (in Sudan) since April 15 is catastrophic,” he said on Twitter.
UN warns Sudan at ‘breaking point’ as fresh clashes break out
Sudan’s turmoil has seen hospitals shelled, humanitarian facilities looted and foreign aid groups forced to suspend most of their operations.
READ ALSO: Deadly Fighting Between Army, Paramilitaries In Sudan Capital
At least 528 have been killed and some 4,600 wounded in the violence, according to the health ministry.
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, said it was bracing for “the possibility that over 800,000 people may flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries”.
The World Health Organization warned that the fighting was pushing Sudan’s already ailing health sector toward “disaster” with only 16 percent of health facilities in Khartoum still functioning.
The WHO said that it had delivered six containers of medical equipment to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, including supplies for treating trauma injuries and severe acute malnutrition. It had also distributed scarce fuel to hospitals which rely on generators for power.
– Darfur chaos –
Beyond Khartoum, lawlessness has engulfed the West Darfur state capital, El Geneina, where at least 96 people have been reported killed since the start of the fighting, according to UN figures.
READ ALSO: Khartoum, Sudan Sees Lull In Fighting On First Day Of Eid
More than 330,000 people have been displaced, over 70 percent of them in West and South Darfur states, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“The health system has completely collapsed in Geneina,” the doctors’ union said, adding that looting of clinics and camps for the displaced had forced several agencies to carry out “emergency evacuations” for their teams.
On Friday, Doctors Without Borders said the fighting had forced it to halt “almost all activities in West Darfur”.
The Darfur region is still scarred by a war that erupted in 2003 when then hardline president Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, against ethnic-minority rebels.
The scorched-earth campaign left at least 300,000 people dead and close to 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.
The Janjaweed — which rights groups have accused of atrocities in Darfur — later evolved into the RSF, which was formally created in 2013.
AFP
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Headline
Group Of Top Male Footballers ‘Planning To Come Out As Gay Next Month
Published
45 mins agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorA group of top male footballers ‘are planning to come out as gay on May 17.
German outlet Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung claims a group of professionals across the country will declare publicly their sexual orientation.
The date in question is of particular reference as it is the International Day Against Homophobia.
It is believed that all of the clubs the reported players are aware of the planned proposals.
READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia Opens First Alcohol Store, Nigerian Muslims React
However, Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung adds that some players still have reservations about revealing their homosexuality and could still make a U-turn in doing so.
Marcus Urban is a former footballer in Germany who came out as gay in 2007, 16 years after quitting the sport. Urban, now 52, is the co-founder of Diversero, a global community for diversity, and hopes next month’s plans do come to fruition.
‘I think they are respected and celebrated for that. Not by everyone, that’s clear. But hate speech cannot be a criterion for a life,
‘May 17 is an offer,’ he told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). ‘A date that you could use as a guide and get together as a group.
READ ALSO: 243 Passengers Cheat Death As Air Peace Plane Makes Emergency Landing At Lagos Airport
‘There is controversy there. Do I still want to wait until the world of football becomes the way I want it to be? Why should I wait? An interesting dynamic has come into play, you can see that people’s minds are starting to move and are thinking about whether it really makes sense to continue to hide and deny themselves.
Urban went on to reveal that there are gay couples playing in the Bundesliga too – declaring it would be ‘liberating’ if they came out.
‘There are also gay Bundesliga couples who are in hiding,’ he continued.
‘That would be so liberating. What’s wrong with it.’
Headline
Saudi Arabia Opens First Alcohol Store, Nigerian Muslims React
Published
55 mins agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorNigerian Muslims have gone on X to express outrage after it was announced that Saudi Arabia has opened its first alcohol store in Riyadh.
Alcohol consumption is against the teachings of Islam and Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, has always obeyed to this law by forbidding the operation of alcohol stores in the country.
However, for the first time, the country opened its first alcohol store in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh.
READ ALSO: UK Slams Fresh Sanctions On Iran After Israel Attack
After it was announced on X, Nigerian Muslims took to the platform to express their displeasure.
“Disgraceful,” one Nigerian Muslim wrote on X. “They’re slowly turning Saudi Arabia into Las Vegas and it’s making me mad. At the rate they’re going , very soon they’ll legalize prostitution and same sex marriage in our most sacred city.”
Nigerian Muslims read the riot act after Saudi Arabia opened its first alcohol store.
READ ALSO: UK Varsity Offers Nigerians N44m Scholarships
Another said: “It’s baffling and disgusting to see that Saudi Arabia has opened the first alcohol store in Riyadh.
“I wonder why the current crown prince is going against the teachings of the holy prophet by accommodating western cultures in a country like Saudi Arabia where the two most holy mosque are situated.
“This is an insult to the religion of peace and the entire Muslim ummah. It’s disgraceful.”
Headline
VIDEO: Meet Nigerian Pastor Who Predicted World Will End April 25
Published
3 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorAn unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed that God informed him of the end of the world during a prayer session.
The pastor emphasised that he clearly saw the date and that God mentioned it to him twice.
READ ALSO: UK Slams Fresh Sanctions On Iran After Israel Attack
He said, “By the 25th of April, the world is going to end. If you like take this serious, if you don’t like don’t take it serious.
“But this is real, rapture is coming, on the 25th of April 2024, I saw it very clear, do you understand? I saw the date very clear and the lord ministered to me. He mentioned it twice, it has happened twice.”
Watch video below:
VIDEO: Nigerian Pastor Claims World Will End April 25th
An unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed… pic.twitter.com/9xFXAtVCNl
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) April 25, 2024
Source: PUNCH
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