New light shed on el-Fasher horror as survivors arrive in Sudan’s Tawila
Streets littered with corpses, families separated by violence and survivors travelling for days without food or water. These are the accounts emerging from people who have fled the western Sudanese city of el-Fasher after it fell to paramilitary forces a week ago following an asphyxiating 18-month siege. Fatima Yahya has arrived in Tawila, a town west of el-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur State that is controlled by a neutral force in the conflict. She was still traumatised from the three days she went hungry before finally escaping. Her husband and uncle are missing. The memories of what happened in el-Fasher were difficult for her to put into words. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The dead bodies were everywhere – in the streets, inside houses and at the gates of many houses,” Yahya told Al Jazeera. “Wherever you are in el-Fasher, you will see dead bodies scattered.” Her testimony is one of several accounts from people who fled North Darfur’s capital after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s regular army, captured the city on October 26. The RSF’s takeover gave the group control of the last major city in Darfur to have been held by the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), solidifying its grip across the vast western region. Since the fall of el-Fasher, a city that was home to more than 1 million people before the war, reports have mounted of mass executions, sexual violence and widespread looting. Satellite imagery analysed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab has identified at least 31 locations where objects consistent with human bodies have appeared since the city’s capture, accompanied by what researchers describe as reddish ground discolouration. Families separated in the chaos For those who fled, injuries from the initial fighting made their journey even more gruelling. Farhat Said left el-Fasher with her daughter despite both suffering injuries in artillery fire before the RSF’s final assault on the city. Her husband, who had suffered a severe hip fracture as a result of the bombardment, she said, had to be left behind. Advertisement “We had to stay for six to seven months under siege and the shelling and bombardment,” she told Al Jazeera. “It was difficult to move him at all,” she added. “When the fighting was too much and the shelling was unbearable, my son, who is 11 years old, asked me to run away from home to save our lives,” she said. Her son stayed behind with his father – the couple feared that even though he is a child, as a male, it would be too dangerous for him to cross RSF lines. The two-day journey on foot, which would have been impossible for Said’s husband, involved “walking and even running under the heavy shelling out of el-Fasher” and brought them through RSF checkpoints. The mother and daughter arrived in Tawila, roughly 65km (40 miles) west of el-Fasher, without money or possessions. Her daughter still requires medical treatment for her injuries, Said told Al Jazeera. Khadiga Abdalla, 46, experienced similar trauma. She lost her husband to the RSF bombardment a year ago and was herself wounded. The siege conditions had forced residents to survive on whatever they could find. “We did not get our usual food, the sorghum, for six months,” she told Al Jazeera. Abdalla said she was forced to eat ambaz, a residue left over from pressed oilseeds that are normally fed to livestock because there was no other food available in el-Fasher. After three days on the road without eating, Abdalla reached Tawila with her two children. One was immediately admitted to hospital, suffering from severe psychological trauma after witnessing the violence. Her brother’s children remain unaccounted for while an uncle was killed in the shelling. These accounts align with wider evidence of systematic violence. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that at least 460 patients were killed in RSF attacks on the Saudi maternity hospital in el-Fasher. Health workers were also taken during the initial assault, according to WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. Those reaching safety face severe health challenges. Medical teams from Doctors Without Borders working in Tawila have screened arriving children and said malnutrition was affecting all those under the age of five. Survivors bear physical evidence of their ordeal, including torture and bullet wounds from their escapes and digestive problems caused by months of eating food meant for livestock. Far fewer arrivals than expected The International Organization for Migration estimated that more than 70,000 people have been displaced from el-Fasher and the surrounding areas since October 26. However, humanitarian workers in Tawila, which already shelters more than 652,000 displaced people, reported that the arrivals there have been far smaller than el-Fasher’s population would suggest. Advertisement Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab noted that unlike previous RSF takeovers across Darfur, such as the assault on the Zamzam displacement camp in April, there were no visible signs of a mass exodus from el-Fasher in recent imagery. When Zamzam’s estimated 500,000 inhabitants fled, researchers were able to identify hundreds of people and donkey carts on roads heading away from the camp. But with el-Fasher, “The majority of civilians are dead, captured or in hiding,” the Yale researchers concluded. International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric described the situation as “horrific” and warned that tens of thousands of people may be trapped without access to food, water or medical assistance. International calls for accountability Pope Leo XIV on Sunday joined growing international condemnation of the death and destruction in el-Fasher, denouncing “indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians and serious obstacles to humanitarian action”. He called for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors. United States senators from both parties have demanded stronger action. Republican Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for the RSF to be formally designated as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, describing the violence as intentional rather than accidental. The RSF announced it has arrested several fighters, including a commander
Humanitarian disaster worsens across Sudan after RSF takes over el-Fasher
Many people remain unaccounted for while camps and towns surrounding el-Fasher are overwhelmed too. Millions of people across war-ravaged Sudan, particularly its western parts, remain in dire need of humanitarian aid as key generals show no intention of ending the civil war amid ongoing violence and killings in North Darfur’s el-Fasher. International aid agencies called on Sunday on the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to facilitate increased entry of aid while a roadmap by mediators has failed to produce a ceasefire so far. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list A week after the paramilitary force seized el-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, after an 18-month siege and starvation campaign, the situation remains catastrophic. Tens of thousands of civilians are still believed to be trapped in the final major city in the western region of Darfur to fall to the RSF while thousands more are unaccounted for after fleeing el-Fasher. Only a fraction of those who fled on foot from el-Fasher have made it to Tawila, a town roughly 50km (30 miles) away. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tawila, an official with a France-based aid agency said only a few hundred more people have turned up in the town over the past few days. “Those are very small numbers considering the number of people who were stuck in el-Fasher. We keep hearing feedback that people are stuck on the roads and in different villages that are unfortunately still inaccessible due to security reasons,” said Caroline Bouvard, Sudan country director for Solidarites International. Bouvard said there is a “complete blackout” in terms of information coming out of el-Fasher after the RSF takeover and aid agencies are getting their information from surrounding areas where up to 15,000 people are believed to be stuck. Advertisement “There’s a strong request for advocacy with the different parties to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach these people or that at least we can send in trucks to bring them back to Tawila.” Many of the people who have managed to survive numerous RSF checkpoints and patrols to reach Tawila have reported seeing mass executions, torture, beatings and sexual violence. Some were abducted by armed men and forced to pay a ransom on pain of death. Many more have been forcibly displaced to the al-Dabbah refugee camp in Sudan’s Northern State. Some have been there for weeks. Reporting from the camp, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said over the past few days, more displaced people have poured in from el-Fasher, exacerbating the humanitarian situation. People are in need of food, clean water, medication and shelter as many are sleeping out in the open. Thousands more could turn to the camp as well as other surrounding areas over the coming days as people flee the slaughter by RSF fighters. The United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as mediators, have all condemned the mass killings and called for increased humanitarian assistance. “The RSF must stop engaging in retribution and ethnic violence; the tragedy in El Geneina must not be repeated,” the US Department of State said in a statement on Saturday in reference to the massacre of Masalit people in West Darfur’s capital. “There isn’t a viable military solution, and external military support only prolongs the conflict. The United States urges both parties to pursue a negotiated path to end the suffering of the Sudanese people,” it said in a post on X. US lawmakers have also called for action from Washington in the aftermath of the el-Fasher takeover by the RSF. Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Friday called for the US to officially designate the RSF as a “foreign terrorist organisation”. Adblock test (Why?)
Canada, Philippines sign defence pact to deter Beijing in South China Sea
China has frequently accused the Philippines of acting as a ‘troublemaker’ and ‘saboteur of regional stability’. By The Associated Press Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The Philippines and Canada have signed a defence pact to expand joint military drills and deepen security cooperation in a move widely seen as a response to China’s growing assertiveness in the region, most notably in the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr and Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty inked the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) on Sunday after a closed-door meeting in Manila. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list McGuinty said the deal would strengthen joint training, information sharing, and coordination during humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Teodoro described the pact as vital for upholding what he called a rules-based international order in the Asia-Pacific, where he accused China of expansionism. “Who is hegemonic? Who wants to expand their territory in the world? China,” he told reporters. The agreement provides the legal framework for Canadian troops to take part in military exercises in the Philippines and vice versa. It mirrors similar accords Manila has signed with the United States, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. China has not yet commented on the deal, but it has frequently accused the Philippines of being a “troublemaker” and “saboteur of regional stability” after joint patrols and military exercises with its Western allies in the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, a vital global shipping lane, thereby ignoring a 2016 international tribunal ruling that dismissed its territorial claims as unlawful. Chinese coastguard vessels have repeatedly used water cannon and blocking tactics against Philippine ships, leading to collisions and injuries. Advertisement Teodoro used a regional defence ministers meeting in Malaysia over the weekend to condemn China’s declaration of a “nature reserve” around the contested Scarborough Shoal, which Manila also claims. “This, to us, is a veiled attempt to wield military might and the threat of force, undermining the rights of smaller countries and their citizens who rely on the bounty of these waters,” he said. Talks are under way by the Philippines for similar defence agreements with France, Singapore, Britain, Germany and India as Manila continues to fortify its defence partnerships amid rising tensions with Beijing. Adblock test (Why?)
Who killed Shireen?
An investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing reveals new evidence and cover-ups by Israeli and US governments. This major investigative documentary examines the facts surrounding the murder of Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, as she was reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, in May 2022. It sets out to discover who killed her – and after months of painstaking research, succeeds in identifying the Israeli sniper who pulled the trigger. It gets through the smokescreens of both the Israeli and US governments and reveals how the close political relationship between them frustrated efforts to obtain justice at the time. Through interviews with an Israeli former national security adviser, a former deputy assistant US secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Israeli soldiers and Shireen’s colleagues and family, the film challenges official versions of events – and, in doing so, highlights issues of accountability, press freedom and the geopolitical dynamics surrounding the case, particularly in the light of the Israeli killing of Anas al-Sharif and four of his Al Jazeera colleagues in Gaza in August 2025. Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
US military kills three in another strike on Caribbean vessel
BREAKINGBREAKING, Defence secretary says the strike was carried out on Trump’s orders and targeted ‘narco-terrorists’. Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says that US troops have carried out another strike on a ship in the Caribbean, killing at least three men on board the vessel. In a post on X late on Saturday, Hegseth said the attack was carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump and targeted a vessel that “was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling”. He said no US forces were harmed in the strike. Adblock test (Why?)
US, China agree to set up military-to-military channels, Hegseth says
The United States and China have agreed to set up military-to-military channels to “deconflict and deescalate any problems” following the “historic” meeting between the countries’ leaders, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to the US defence secretary. In a statement on X on Saturday, Pete Hegseth said he and his Chinese counterpart, Minister of National Defence Dong Jun, made the decision following a phone call the night before. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list There was no immediate comment from Beijing. Hegseth said the pair, who also met in Malaysia following the Trump-Xi summit in South Korea, “agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best part for our two great and strong countries”. “Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise,” he added. Experts have long advocated direct military contacts between the two superpowers, whose navies operate extensively in the Asia Pacific, saying the hotlines were the best way to avoid unintentional escalation. However, such contacts have remained irregular as tensions between the two nations ebb and rise. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US-based think tank, said in May that most of the more than 90 communications channels between the US and Chinese governments went dormant during Trump’s first term as US president, from 2017 to 2021. China went on to cut the few links with the US military in 2022, under the administration of the US’s then-president, Joe Biden, when the then-speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its province. Advertisement The development was followed by a series of close encounters between the Chinese and US militaries in the contested South China Sea as well as in the Taiwan Strait. These included the US military accusing a Chinese fighter jet of crossing in front of a US surveillance flight over the South China Sea in May 2023, in what it called an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver”. Days later, in June that year, the US military said a Chinese Navy destroyer sailed across the path of a US destroyer in another “unsafe” manoeuvre. Beijing, at the time, said the US was to blame, and accused its rival of deliberately “provoking risk” by sending vessels near its shores. The tensions eased following a meeting between Biden and Xi in November 2023, with the two leaders also agreeing to resume high-level military-to-military communications. The CSIS said in May that such communications have been “limited” since Trump’s return to office in January this year. It also noted that the US and China have no crisis management channels, further increasing the risk of escalation, as Trump also ratcheted up a trade war against Beijing. Trump and Xi, in their meeting in South Korea on October 30, took several steps to lower the temperature, including the US president easing the tariff rate on Chinese goods from 57 percent to 47 percent. Trump also said that China had agreed to keep the supply of rare earth metals flowing. However, no deal was announced on the sale of TikTok to US investors or on possible plans to sell Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor chips. Trump also announced that he would travel to China in April, and said Xi would come to the US soon after. Hegseth met Dong, the Chinese defence minister, the day after the Trump-Xi summit, on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia. “I highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and emphasized U.S. concerns about China’s activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan, and towards U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” he said in a post on X following the meeting. The “United States does not seek conflict, it will continue to stoutly defend its interests and ensure it has the capabilities in the region to do so”, he added. The Chinese Ministry of National Defence said that Dong had told Hegseth that the reunification of China and Taiwan is an “unstoppable historical trend” and urged the US to exercise caution in both words and actions on the Taiwan issue. Advertisement It quoted Dong as saying that China was committed to peaceful development while resolutely safeguarding its national security interests. “It possesses the full capability to respond calmly to any infringements or provocations,” the statement added. Adblock test (Why?)
Messi, Inter Miami beaten as Nashville level MLS Cup playoffs
Nashville snapped a two-and-a-half-year winless streak against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and forced a decisive Game 3. By News Agencies Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share An 89th-minute goal from Lionel Messi was too little, too late as Nashville SC defeated Inter Miami 2-1 on Saturday to stay alive in their Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup round one playoff series. It was Nashville’s first win over Inter Miami since May 2023, snapping a 10-match winless streak. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list First-half goals from Sam Surridge and Josh Bauer put Nashville in control at a rainy Geodis Park in Tennessee, and the Miami side, led by Argentinian superstar Messi, could not find a way to respond. Surridge converted a penalty in the ninth minute to put the hosts on top, slotting a low shot to the right of diving Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo. Nashville were awarded the spot kick after Rios Novo hesitated coming off his line against a charging Surridge. Bauer put Nashville up 2-0 on the stroke of half-time, sliding in a left-footed shot off a corner floated in by Hany Mukhtar. Miami opened the second half in determined style, but Luis Suarez’s close-range shot in the 66th minute was parried by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis. Miami regained control of the ball, but Ian Fray’s quick attempt from inside the area was blocked. Messi stepped it up in the waning minutes, his awkwardly angled shot from the right in the 85th minute blocked, and a blast from the centre of the box saved in the 86th before he found the back of the net in the 89th. Rodrigo De Paul found Messi at the top right corner of the box, and the newly crowned MLS Golden Boot winner wrong-footed his defender and fired a left-footed shot into the top right corner to cut the deficit to one. Advertisement Miami had seized control of the series with a 3-1 Game 1 win, fuelled by a Messi brace, but now they will have to host a decisive third game in Florida on Saturday. It is an unwelcome reminder of last year, when Miami went into the playoffs, having posted the best record in the regular season, and won their opening game against Atlanta United, only for Atlanta to win the next two and send them packing. The winner of the series will play either Columbus or Cincinnati. Cincinnati take a 1-0 series lead into their Game 2 on Sunday. Nashville forward Sam Surridge, left, scores a goal on a penalty kick in the ninth minute of Game 2 against Inter Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo [George Walker IV/AP] Adblock test (Why?)
Video: Tanzania president declared winner amid deadly election unrest
NewsFeed Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of the country’s presidential elections amid deadly unrest which the opposition say has left hundreds of protesters dead. Published On 1 Nov 20251 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Canada’s Carney says he apologised to Trump over Reagan anti-tariff ad
Canadian PM says anti-tariff ad featuring Ronald Reagan ‘offended’ Trump, who has since cut off trade talks with Canada. Published On 1 Nov 20251 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says he apologised to Donald Trump over an anti-tariff advertisement that has drawn the United States president’s ire and disrupted trade talks between the two countries. During a news conference in South Korea at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Saturday, Carney stressed that he is responsible for negotiating Canada’s ties with its largest trading partner. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” the prime minister said of the advertisement, which was produced by the Canadian province of Ontario. “I’m the one who’s responsible, in my role as prime minister, for our relationship with the president of the United States, and the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the US government,” Carney added. “So, things happen – we take the good with the bad – and I apologised.” The US-Canada relationship has deteriorated over the past year amid Trump’s global tariffs push, which saw him impose steep duties on his country’s northern neighbour. Ontario’s commercial, which featured a 1980s speech by former US President Ronald Reagan in which Reagan said tariffs can lead to “fierce trade wars” and unemployment, worsened that already tense situation. The Trump administration suspended trade talks with Canada over the advertisement, which Washington has claimed misrepresented Reagan’s views and sought to unfairly influence a looming US Supreme Court decision on Trump’s tariff policy. Advertisement Last weekend, the US government also announced an additional 10 percent levy on Canadian goods after the commercial was not immediately pulled from broadcasts in the US. On Friday, Trump told reporters that he did not plan to resume trade negotiations with Canada despite getting an apology from Carney. “I have a very good relationship, I like him a lot – but you know, what they did was wrong,” the US president said. “He [Carney] was very nice, he apologised for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial. It was the exact opposite; Ronald Reagan loved tariffs and they tried to make it look the other way.” The Ontario commercial used real excerpts of Reagan’s speech, but the statements were presented in a different order than how they were originally delivered. The US and Canada, which share the world’s longest land border, traded $761.8bn worth of goods last year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. Adblock test (Why?)
Why has the Israeli army’s top lawyer resigned after leaking rape evidence?
The Israeli military’s top lawyer, Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, has resigned after admitting to leaking footage showing the gang rape of a prisoner at the Sde Temain prison facility in August last year. The video of the rape had originally been leaked to the press in early August in the midst of a right-wing backlash following the arrest of a number of soldiers for the rape of a Palestinian prisoner. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list In her resignation statement on Friday, Tomer-Yerushalmi blamed pressure from the right-wing on her rape investigation for her decision to leak the footage, claiming that she was countering “false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities”. In the leaked footage, soldiers can be seen grabbing and leading away a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner before surrounding him with riot shields to obscure the rape. “For 15 minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stomped on him, stood on his body, hit him and pushed him all over his body, including with clubs, dragged his body along the ground, and used a taser gun on him, including on his head,” the original indictment stated. According to medical information obtained by the Israeli daily Haaretz, the victim suffered a ruptured bowel, severe anal and lung injuries, and broken ribs as a result of the assault. He later required surgery. What happened to the soldiers? At least nine soldiers were detained in connection with the man’s rape. All but five were released relatively quickly. In February, the remaining soldiers were indicted for “severely abusing” the detainee, but not raping him. The trial is ongoing. Advertisement A United Nations commission, reviewing the change of indictment and other instances of Israel’s use of sexual and gender-based violence, determined that the decision to downgrade the indictments, despite the evidence, “will inevitably result in a more lenient punishment” if there is a conviction. Why weren’t Israeli politicians calling for accountability? Because they determined that doing so was somehow unpatriotic. A number of Israel’s far-right politicians, including Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, were among those who stormed the Sde Teiman prison in protest at the arrest of the soldiers for rape. Israel’s hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared to address Tomer-Yerushalmi directly in July 2024, writing in Hebrew, “The Military Advocate General, take your hands off the reservists!” he said, referring to the soldiers accused of rape. Ben-Gvir’s fellow traveller on the far-right, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was equally active on social media at the time, writing that the alleged rapists should be treated like “heroes, not villains”. Israeli minister of National Security and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir called upon Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi to halt her investigation into the soldiers accused of rape ([Ahmad Gharabli/AFP] Returning to social media during the furore following the rape, Smotrich chose to ignore the credible accusations of rape and instead called for “an immediate criminal investigation to locate the leakers of the trending video that was intended to harm the reservists and that caused tremendous damage to Israel in the world, and to exhaust the full severity of the law against them”. How have the critics reacted to Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation? Many of the loudest voices in defending the alleged rapists were equally vocal in welcoming the resignation of the woman responsible for sharing evidence of that rape. Writing on social media hours after Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation, Smotrich accused her and much of Israel’s judicial system of rank corruption, as well as launching what he called an “anti-Semitic blood libel” against their military. Ben-Gvir was no less critical of Israel’s judicial system in the leaking of the footage, writing: “All those involved in the affair must be held accountable.” Both ministers are active supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing attempts to weaken the judiciary and reduce its political oversight. Have other crimes been committed at Sde Teiman against Palestinians? At least 135 of the mutilated bodies returned to Palestinian officials in Gaza by Israel last week as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, had been held at Sde Teiman, documents that accompanied each corpse showed. Advertisement Several of the bodies had been left with blindfolds on, and some had their hands still tied behind their back. One had a rope around its neck. The same UN report that examined the reduced indictment against the soldiers also noted that detainees at Sde Teiman – including children – were regularly shackled, forced into stress positions, denied toilets and showers and beaten. Some were subjected to sexual violence, including the insertion of objects, electric shocks and rape. Adblock test (Why?)