US peacekeeping cuts could limit UN ability to protect civilians, says UN

September 3, 2025 11:15 AM

US peacekeeping cuts could limit UN ability to protect civilians, says UN

United Nations peacekeeping missions are under severe financial pressure and U.S. cuts could limit their ability to protect civilians in places like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. peacekeeping spokesperson said on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump last week unilaterally canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid authorized by Congress. This includes some $800 million in peacekeeping funding appropriated for 2024 and 2025, according to a Trump administration message to Con...

More than 1,000 killed as landslide wipes out Sudanese village

September 2, 2025 3:13 PM

More than 1,000 killed as landslide wipes out Sudanese village

At least 1,000 people were killed in a landslide that destroyed a village in the mountainousJebel Marra area in the Darfur region of Sudan, leaving only one survivor, the armed group that controls the area said early on Tuesday. The landslide struckTarseen village on August 31 after a week of heavy rainfall, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army led by Abdelwahid Mohamed Nour said in a statement. SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the U...

Rape used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan, UN agency warns

April 15, 2025 4:09 PM

Rape used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan, UN agency warns

Rape is being used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan, a UN agency warned on Tuesday, as the conflict marks its second year.   "We have seen a 288% increase in demand for life saving support for rape and sexual violence survivors. We are beginning to see the systematic use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war," Anna Mutavati, the regional director of UN Women, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Port Sudan.   "Women's bodies have turned into a battleground," she ...

Sudanese army seizes full control of presidential palace in Khartoum

March 21, 2025 1:44 PM

Sudanese army seizes full control of presidential palace in Khartoum

The Sudanese army seized full control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum on Friday, Sudan state TV and military sources said, in one of the most significant advances in a two-year-old conflict threatening to fracture the country. The army was conducting search operations in areas around the palace in pursuit of members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the sources said. The RSF were not immediately available for comment. Intermittent gunfire was heard in some central areas o...

Nearly 600 confirmed cholera cases in Sudan since last month, says health minister

August 22, 2024 6:31 PM

Nearly 600 confirmed cholera cases in Sudan since last month, says health minister

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has exacerbated cholera infections with the war-stricken country recording almost 600 cases since July. Sudanese Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said on Wednesday (August 21) that the country has recorded 593 cases and 28 deaths since announcing the epidemic in July 23. WHO and UNICEF have cooperated with the Sudanese health ministry to spray chlorine and open treatment and isolation centers in locations that are heavily affected by the disease, he add...

UN-brokered Sudan ceasefire talks begin with one party no-show

July 12, 2024 1:38 PM

UN-brokered Sudan ceasefire talks begin with one party no-show

Sudan's warring parties are in Switzerland for U.N.-led talks aimed at brokering possible local ceasefires to facilitate aid and protect civilians, but only one side showed up for the start of discussions on Thursday, the United Nations said. War erupted in April last year between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over the integration of the forces in a transition to free elections. The war has sparked waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RS...

More than 136,000 displaced by spread of war in southeast Sudan, UN says

July 4, 2024 5:14 PM

More than 136,000 displaced by spread of war in southeast Sudan, UN says

More than 136,000 people have fled Sudan's southeastern Sennar state since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began a series of attacks on towns, the United Nations said on Wednesday, the latest wave of displacement caused by Sudan's almost 15-month long war. They join nearly 10 million people driven from their homes since war broke out between the RSF and the regular army. The war has sparked accusations of "ethnic cleansing" and warnings of famine, mainly in RSF-controlled areas across the...