Senior UN aid envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday to discuss the worsening Sudan crisis which experts fear could leave 2.5 million people without enough food and spark a wave of mass migration of nearly one million people.
Mr Griffiths, under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, was in Jeddah “to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan”, UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said.
Saudi Arabia has been working with the US and allies to secure a ceasefire since fighting began in Sudan on April 15, but rival generals Mohammed Dagalo and Abdel Fattah Al Burhan have shown little desire for compromise as the war enters its fourth week.
Riyadh and Washington have supported the “pre-negotiation talks” and urged the rivals to “get actively involved”.
A ceasefire is vital for safely moving aid into the country where health, water and electricity services have collapsed.
Mr Griffith’s visit came as the kingdom announced more than $100 million in additional aid for Sudan.
At least 700 have been killed by fighting, the majority civilians, but the actual death toll is probably far higher as fighting spreads to remote parts of the country and hospitals shut down.
In Port Sudan last week, Mr Griffiths said he had been informed by the UN's World Food Programme that six lorries bringing aid to the Darfur region had been “looted en route” on Wednesday, “despite assurances of safety and security”.
He called for security guarantees “clearly given by militaries, to protect humanitarian systems to deliver”.
Several truce deals have been declared without effect since fighting erupted on April 15 between the army and paramilitary forces in the poverty-stricken country, which has a history of political instability.
More than 100,000 people have already fled the country.
In the capital Khartoum, warplanes have bombed positions as terrified residents stay barricaded indoors trying to cope with acute shortages of water, food and medicine.
Even before the war began about one-third of Sudan's people required humanitarian assistance, the UN said.
Aid workers have been killed since the fighting began, health facilities attacked, and the UN projects that the number of “acutely food insecure people” in Sudan could increase by between two and 2.5 million if the war is prolonged.
In Jeddah, Sudanese army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdalla said talks were on how a truce “can be correctly implemented to serve the humanitarian side”, while Gen Daglo, who heads the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries, only said on Twitter that he welcomed the technical discussions.
US intelligence chief Avril Haines has warned of a “protracted” conflict that could “create a greater potential for spillover challenges in the region”.
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
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In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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