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Forced Displacement In Sudans North Darfur Overwhelming Aid Operations: UN

Access to el-Fasher and nearby camps ‘dangerously restricted’, with up to 450,000 people estimated to be on the move. Aid organisations are struggling to respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s North Darfur, being driven by attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the United Nations has warned. The UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said in a statement released late on Sunday that access for humanitarian aid remains “dangerously restricted” in the capital city of el-Fasher and surrounding areas, where the RSF has launched multiple attacks over recent weeks. Those attacks have triggered a mass exodus from Zamzam, Abu Shouk and other refugee camps, a situation which is “increasingly fluid” and “unpredictable” amid fears that the RSF is preparing a broader offensive. Two years into its conflict with Sudan’s military government, the RSF attacked Zamzam – said to have sheltered up to 1 million people – and Abu Shouk camps just more than a week ago, killing at least 300 people and forcing up to 400,000 residents to flee 60km (37 miles) across the desert to the town of Tawila. In her statement, Nkweta-Salami said that up to 450,000 displaced people are being “increasingly cut off from supply chains and assistance, placing them at heightened risk of epidemic outbreaks, malnutrition and famine”. She called for UN and NGO actors to be granted “immediate and sustained access to these areas to ensure life-saving support can be delivered safely and at scale”. Late last week, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical charity said that displaced people in Tawila were “facing an absolutely catastrophic situation”. “There is no water source, no sanitation facilities and no food,” said the MSF’s Thibault Hendler. Project coordinator Marion Ramstein said the NGO had seen more than 170 people with gunshot and blast injuries, 40 percent of them women and girls. New arrivals in Tawila told the AFP news agency that they had been robbed of their possessions by the paramilitaries, with several women reporting that they had been raped on the road. Tawila is controlled by an armed group that has kept out of the conflict between the RSF and the regular army, which broke out in April 2023. The conflict has divided Sudan in two, with the army holding sway in the north and east, while the RSF controls most of Darfur and parts of the south. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million, and created what the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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China Warns Countries Not To Strike Trade Deals With US At Its Expense

China’s Ministry of Commerce says appeasing the Trump administration ‘cannot bring peace’. China has warned countries seeking exemptions from United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs not to strike deals at its expense. Beijing’s warning comes as dozens of US trade partners are scrambling to negotiate relief from Trump’s trade salvoes, including steep “reciprocal” tariffs that have been paused until July. “Appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise will not earn respect,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. “Sacrificing others’ interests to obtain so-called exemptions for temporary selfish gains is akin to negotiating with a tiger; it ultimately leads to failure for both parties and harms everyone involved.” While China respects countries’ efforts to resolve their trade disputes with the US, they should also “stand on the side of fairness and justice” and “on the correct side of history”, the ministry said. “It is particularly important to emphasise that China firmly opposes any party achieving deals at the expense of Chinese interests,” the spokesperson said. “Should such a situation arise, China will not accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures.” The ministry issued the statement after Bloomberg News last week reported that the Trump administration intends to push countries seeking relief from tariffs to reduce their trade with China. US officials are discussing plans to pressure trade partners to stop importing excess goods from China and impose duties on imports from specific countries with close ties to the Asian giant, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. While Trump announced a 90-day pause on his “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, his administration has ramped up its trade war with Beijing by hiking import taxes on Chinese exports to as high as 145 percent. China, which has pledged to “fight to the end” if Washington continues to escalate the trade spat, has hit back by imposing duties of 125 percent on US exports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that more than 70 countries have reached out to express interest in negotiating trade deals. Japanese officials last week visited Washington to begin talks aimed at securing relief for key exports, including cars and steel, while officials from South Korea are due to kick off ministerial-level negotiations on Thursday. Despite escalating his trade salvoes against China, Trump said last week that he expects to ultimately seal a “very good” trade deal with Beijing. In its statement on Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce accused the Trump administration of engaging in “hegemonic politics” and “unilateral bullying” under the pretence of “reciprocity”. “If international trade reverts to the ‘law of the jungle’, all countries will become victims,” the spokesperson said. “China is willing to strengthen solidarity and coordination with all parties, jointly resist unilateral bullying, safeguard legitimate rights and interests, and defend international fairness and justice.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Pope Francis Has Died: A Step-by-step Guide To What Happens In Next Days

Unlike pontiffs before him, Pope Francis wishes to be buried in a single coffin in Santa Maria Maggiore. Pope Francis has died aged 88, the Vatican announced on April 21, 2025. His death came one day after a brief appearance to thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Sunday mass. Here is more about Pope Francis, and what happens now: Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936. He later chose Francis as his name to honour Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was declared pope on March 13, 2013, becoming the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics after his predecessor, Benedict XVI, became the first pope to resign in 600 years. Francis challenged the conventions followed by pontiffs before him. He pushed for a more transparent Vatican, connected to the concerns of common people and engaged with other faiths. During Christmas address in 2024, Francis denounced the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying: “May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war”. He would repeat his message of concern for Gaza in his address at the Easter mass, a day before his death. Briefly appearing on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, he condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” caused by Israel’s 18-month war on the Palestinian territory. Francis also assembled an advisory council of cardinals and launched a probe into the Vatican Bank, which was accused of money laundering and corruption. He promised to investigate church abuses, establishing the first papal commission to look into that. He also launched a global system for Catholics to report cases of abuse and cover-ups. But critics accused the pontiff of opposing reforms that would have addressed the problem of sexual abuse by clerics. Pope Francis suffered severe complications in recent weeks after a bout of double pneumonia for which he spent five weeks in hospital. He was admitted to hospital in Rome on February 14 for bronchitis, which he had been diagnosed with eight days prior but he continued to preside over general audiences and an outdoor mass. He was released on March 23, with expectations that he would resume his duties gradually. The pope’s passing marks the beginning of nine days of mourning called the Novendiale. His body is dressed in papal vestments and placed in St Peter’s Basilica for public viewing. Hundreds and thousands of people line up to pay their respects. Here is what typically happens after a pope passes away. The funeral will likely take place in St Peter’s Square, with a service led by the dean of the College of Cardinals. The current dean is Giovanni Battista Re, 91. Dignitaries from all over the world attend the funeral mass for the pontiffs. Pope John Paul II died in April 2005, his funeral becoming one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in history. The attendees included four kings, five queens and about 70 presidents and prime ministers. In total, approximately four million people attended the funeral. Daily prayer services and requiem masses will be held in Catholic churches worldwide and at St Peter’s Basilica. The burial typically takes place four to six days after the death. Previous popes have been buried in three coffins, cypress, lead and elm, placed one inside the other. However, Francis wishes to be buried in one coffin made of wood and zinc. Francis’s predecessor was also buried with a paper scroll, or a rogito, which retells their life and papacy. Popes are traditionally buried in the Vatican Grottoes on the lower level of Saint Peter’s Basilica. While not all popes are buried there, nearly 100 are, including Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, who passed away in 2022. However, Francis told an interview in 2023 that he wants to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino. Only seven popes have been buried here, the last one being Clement IX in 1669. After the death of a pope, the Vatican enters a transitional period called the sede vacante or interregnum, where power is handed over to the College of Cardinals, but no major decisions are made until the papacy is filled. About 15-20 days after the pope’s death, cardinals under the age of 80 convene at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, which is sealed off, to elect the new pontiff through a secret ballot. Voting takes place in up to four rounds a day until a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote. If there is no decision after 33 rounds of voting, the top two candidates face off in a run-off vote. Ballots are burned, and for every unsuccessful vote, black smoke is released from the Sistine Chapel. Once the next pope is successfully elected, white smoke emerges from the chapel. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Russia Resumes Strikes On Ukraine As Easter Ceasefire Ends

Swift return to major hostilities and violations of truce appear to bode ill for efforts to secure longer-term ceasefire. Russia unleashed a barrage of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine as a short-lived Easter ceasefire expired. Russian forces launched 96 drones and three missiles on eastern and southern Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force reported on Monday. The swift return to major hostilities following a pause declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin comes as the United States struggles to persuade Moscow to agree on a longer-term ceasefire. The overnight assault targeted Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions, the Air Force wrote on Telegram. Air defence units intercepted 42 drones and redirected another 47. No casualties or major damage were immediately reported, although officials in the southern port city of Mykolaiv confirmed missile strikes. Putin declared an “Easter truce” based on “humanitarian considerations” on Saturday evening, which he said would run for 30 hours until midnight on Sunday. The announcement came a day after United States President Donald Trump said that Washington would “take a pass” on trying to broker an end to the war should sealing an agreement be delayed much longer. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the ceasefire declaration as “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives” and countered with an appeal for a longer ceasefire. “This will show Russia’s true intentions, because 30 hours is enough for headlines, but not for real confidence-building measures. Thirty days can give peace a chance,” he said. The US Department of State said on Sunday that it would welcome an extension of the temporary pause. However, by that time, the Kremlin had already said that no such order would be given. The drone and missile barrage followed shortly after the expiration of the truce. The US administration will gain little encouragement for its bid to broker a sustainable ceasefire from the short truce. Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused one another of numerous violations. Although no air raid sirens were heard on Sunday, Ukraine reported nearly 3,000 breaches of Russia’s own truce commitment, with the Pokrovsk front seeing the most intense shelling. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian forces fired on Russian positions 444 times during the ceasefire period and launched more than 900 drone attacks. It also reported civilian casualties, although those claims remain unverified. Regardless, Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that a peace deal could be agreed upon “this week”. Follow Al Jazeera English:...