Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
July 18, 2023
Saturday marked three months of brutal violence in Sudan that has cost an estimated 2,000 lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of innocent people and threatened turmoil in the wider East African region. It also saw fresh conversations about the possibility of bringing the belligerents – the Sudanese army and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia group – back together for peace talks.
Diplomats from several of Sudan’s regional neighbours and the US have worked hard in recent weeks to convince the army and the RSF to end their feud. Thus far, they have had limited success. Peace talks led by Saudi Arabia and the US in Jeddah last month were abruptly suspended because of ceasefire violations.
At the start of the weekend, unnamed Sudanese government officials caused a stir when they told international news agencies army representatives had arrived in Jeddah to participate in a new round of talks, although the army itself had not announced any such plans. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the US, moreover, confirmed the resumption of talks. The RSF accused the army of “misinformation”, claiming representatives of the latter had never left Jeddah in the first place since the June negotiations broke down.
The resumption of talks would be a positive development, but the atmosphere of confusion over the weekend suggests getting to that point remains a very delicate affair.
Peace talks led by Saudi Arabia and the US in Jeddah last month were abruptly suspended because of ceasefire violations
A sign of hope came on Thursday from Cairo, where Egypt’s government hosted a summit of Sudan’s neighbours to “develop effective mechanisms” to resolve the conflict peacefully. The eight-point plan announced by the summit’s attendees is largely concerned with facilitating humanitarian aid to the Sudanese, as well as the creation of a “ministerial mechanism” comprised of the countries’ foreign ministers to press Sudan’s various sides further towards a resolution. The fact that it was welcomed by both the army and the RSF is in itself an accomplishment, given the circumstances.
Now, it will be for the army and the RSF to show that they are just as desirous of peace in Sudan as the country’s neighbours. The past three months of fighting has not only turned the country’s fragile governing arrangements into battlegrounds, but it has also exacerbated ethnic and tribal divisions in a country where those issues have a very dark past.
The cost of Sudan’s conflict dragging on much further is extremely high – in risk to Sudanese civilians’ lives and livelihoods, in damage to the country’s infrastructure and in the worsening of the region’s migration crisis. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did not mince his words last week, when he said Sudan was on the brink of a “full-scale civil war”.
Of course, for the thousands of civilians and refugees whose lives have already been turned upside down, the distinction between a civil war and what is already happening will seem trivial. The important thing is to make the fighting stop, and to allow Sudan to return to the process of transitioning to orderly civilian rule. Every step towards the negotiating table is a step in the right direction.
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
