World

Germany, Qatar, US pledge millions of dollars for Sudan aid

Published

11 months ago

June 19, 2023

Germany, Qatar, US pledge millions of dollars for Sudan aid

UN says its emergency aid programme launched after the war broke out on April 15 has received less than 16 percent of the required $2.57bn.

The United Nations is holding a meeting to raise billions of dollars for Sudan’s dire humanitarian crisis with Germany and Qatar among the first nations to pledge tens of millions of dollars.

Representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the African Union, Germany, Qatar and the European Union met in Geneva on Monday to discuss helping Sudan.

“The scale and speed of Sudan’s descent into death and destruction is unprecedented,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the conference.

“Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. I appeal to you all today to provide funding to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid and support to people living in the most difficult and dangerous conditions.”

The UN says its emergency aid programme launched after the war broke out April 15 has received less than 16 percent of the required $2.57bn.

About 24.7 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN says. An estimated 2.2 million people have fled their homes to safer areas elsewhere in Sudan or crossed into neighbouring countries.

‘Humanitarian calamity’

Germany pledged 200 million euros ($218m) of humanitarian assistance to Sudan and the region until 2024, its minister of state at the Federal Foreign Office, Katja Keul, announced.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the Gulf state is pledging $50m.

“There is no military solution to this conflict, only a peaceful resolution. With respect, we call on the parties to stop hostilities immediately, put the aspirations of the Sudanese people at the forefront and address the root causes of the conflict,” Sheikh Mohammed told the gathering.

The United States pledged an additional $171m in funding, said Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development. The UN said it is allocating an additional $22m to address priority needs.

Sudan has been rocked by fighting as the regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country.

Sudan’s health ministry says more than 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western region of Darfur.

Last week Martin Griffiths, the UN’s top humanitarian official, described the situation in West Darfur as a “humanitarian calamity”.

The worst violence

The conflict has turned the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into battlefields. The paramilitary force, commanded by General Mohammed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, has occupied people’s houses and other civilian properties, according to residents and activists.

The army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has staged repeated air strikes in densely populated civilian areas.

West Darfur has experienced some of the worst violence with tens of thousands of residents fleeing to neighbouring Chad.

“The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic. Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street,” Guterres said.

The Rapid Support Forces and affiliated Arab militias have repeatedly attacked the province’s capital, el-Geneina, targeting the non-Arab Masalit community, rights groups said.

The province’s former governor, Khamis Abdalla Abkar, a Masalit, was abducted and killed last week after he appeared in a televised interview and accused the Arab militias and the paramilitary force of attacking el-Geneina. The Rapid Support Forces denied responsibility.

On Sunday morning, the country’s warring forces began a three-day ceasefire, the ninth truce since the conflict began. Most ceasefires have foundered.

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World

John Stamos Shares Full House Reunion Photo With Olsen Twins in Honor of Bob Saget’s Birthday

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

John Stamos Shares Full House Reunion Photo With Olsen Twins in Honor of Bob Saget’s Birthday

Full House Cast Reunion With Mary-Kate, Ashley Olsen — Bob Saget Tribute

World

Climate activists glue themselves to Munich airport runway, pausing traffic

Published

3 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

Climate activists glue themselves to Munich airport runway, pausing traffic

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A group of climate protesters have been arrested in Germany after breaking into an airport and gluing themselves to the runway.

Six activists broke through security fencing at Munich airport in the German state of Bavaria on Saturday, according to the news outlet dpa.

Approximately sixty flights were canceled after the half-dozen protesters glued themselves to the tarmac, forcing officials to temporarily close the airport.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR BLOCKING AIRSTRIP IN MASSACHUSETTS

Climate activists lie on an access road for runways at the Munich airport. German officials and local media say authorities closed down Munich airport temporarily after six climate activists broke through a security fence and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways. ( (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP))

An additional fourteen flights into Munich were forced to divert to other nearby airports to avoid the disruption.

Climate protest coalition Last Generation took credit for the stunt, claiming it was intended to draw attention to the German government’s inaction on the airline industry’s environmental impact.

CLIMATE GROUP TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR US OPEN CHAOS, OFFERS WARNING: ‘NO TENNIS ON A DEAD PLANET’

Munich Germany Bavaria Airport Climate Activists Protest Glue Runway

Climate activists stuck to a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauß Airport early Saturday morning. Climate protection activists paralyzed Munich Airport after breaking into the inner area of the airport grounds. The activists from the group Last Generation were protesting flying, the most polluting form of transportation, said the German news agency dpa on Saturday. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images)

All six protesters were arrested and charged by law enforcement.

“Trespassing in the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,” German Airports Association General Manager Ralph Beisel told dpa.

Police and firefighters stand on a runway access road at Franz-Josef-Strauß Airport around climate activists who have stuck themselves there. According to their own statements, members of the so-called Last Generation had planned to enter the airport grounds in order to block at least one of the two runways. (Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images))

“Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote about the protests on social media platform X.

The Munich incident was just one of many similar protests around the world against air transportation. Last Generation has performed at least two similar airport disruptions in Germany since last year.

World

Russian court seizes two European banks’ assets amid Western sanctions

Published

4 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

Russian court seizes two European banks’ assets amid Western sanctions

Freezing hundreds of billions of dollars in lenders’ assets was part of dispute over gas project halted by sanctions.

A Russian court has ordered the seizure of the assets, accounts, property and shares of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in the country as part of a lawsuit involving the German banks, court documents showed.

The banks are among the guarantor lenders under a contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Russia with the German company Linde. The project was terminated due to Western sanctions.

European banks have largely exited Russia after Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

A court in St Petersburg ruled in favour of seizing 239 million euros ($260m) from Deutsche Bank, documents dated May 16 showed.

Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt said it had already provisioned about 260 million euros ($283m) for the case.

“We will need to see how this claim is implemented by the Russian courts and assess the immediate operational impact in Russia,” the bank added in a statement.

The court also seized the assets of Commerzbank, another German financial institution, worth 93.7 million euros ($101.85m) as well as securities and the bank’s building in central Moscow.

The bank is yet to comment on the case.

In a parallel lawsuit on Friday, the Russian court also ordered UniCredit’s assets, accounts and property, as well as shares in two subsidiaries, to be seized. The ruling covered 462.7 million euros ($503m) in assets.

UniCredit said it “has been made aware” of the decision and was “reviewing” the situation in detail. The bank was one of the most exposed European banks when Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, with a large local subsidiary operating in Russia.

It began preliminary discussions on a sale last year, but the talks have not advanced. Chief executive Andrea Orcel said UniCredit wants to leave Russia, but added that gifting an operation worth three billion euros ($3.3bn) was not a good way to respect the spirit of Western sanctions on Moscow over the conflict.

Russia has faced heavy Western sanctions, including on its banking sector, since the start of the war in Ukraine. Dozens of US and European companies have also stopped doing business in the country.