The UN’s new special envoy to Sudan arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday to begin a role that will include helping the country’s transition to democracy.
Volker Perthes will lead the UN's Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan, which will advise authorities on the country's transition to democracy after dictator Omar Al Bashir was overthrown in 2019.
The mission will also rally and co-ordinate international support for Sudan's efforts to reform its battered economy and boost efforts to bring peace to a country that is home to more than 40 million people.
The mission was formed in June last year and has a year-long mandate from the UN Security Council.
Mr Perthes' arrival could help ease Sudan's bumpy shift to democracy at a time when relations between the military and civilian components of its transitional government are tense.
His appointment came after UN experts on Monday urged Sudan to do more to protect civilians, including the hundreds of thousands who fled violence in two areas of Darfur last month.
At least 235 people were killed, nearly 300 wounded and at least 50,000 displaced as a result of the violence, according to the Darfur branch of the country's doctors' union.
"Justice, accountability and reparation to victims are essential to address insecurity, prevent further violence and displacement, and support durable solutions for internally displaced persons," the UN Human Rights Office said.
The violence in Darfur, the worst in years, pitted nomadic Arab tribesmen against ethnic African farmers.
Relations between the two sides have been fraught for decades, mostly over control of grazing lands or the incursion of cattle herds into farmland.
That enmity was exacerbated by an anti-government rebellion in the 2000s by mostly ethnic Africans who demanded equality and an end to what they considered the monopoly of power by a small clique of Arabised Muslims in northern Sudan.
The rebellion was crushed by Al Bashir's government, which deepened Darfur's ethnic schism by allowing Arabs a free hand to fight the rebels and turning a blind eye to atrocities against civilians.
About 300,000 people were killed in that conflict and more than two million were displaced.
Sudan said it intended to hand Al Bashir to the International Criminal Court to stand trial after his indictment a decade ago for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
He is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for corruption and is being tried on charges of overthrowing an elected government in 1989 and ordering the deaths of protesters in the months before he was overthrown.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
RESULTS
ATP China Open
G Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt R Bautista Agut (ESP x5)
7-6, 4-6, 6-2
R Nadal (ESP x1) bt J Isner (USA x6)
6-4, 7-6
WTA China Open
S Halep (ROU x2) bt D Kasatkina (RUS)
6-2, 6-1
J Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt S Cirstea (ROU)
6-4, 6-4
ATP Japan Open
D Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt S Johnson (USA)
6-0, 7-5
D Goffin (BEL x4) bt R Gasquet (FRA)
7-5, 6-2
M Cilic (CRO x1) bt R Harrison (USA)
6-2, 6-0
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
