World
UN says widespread sexual violence in Sudan is 'deeply alarming' amid bloody civil war
The 18-month civil war in Africa’s third-largest country has left tens of thousands killed and millions of others displaced amid catastrophic famine and raging diseases. The dire crisis in Sudan is currently one of the worst in the world, but as global attention remains focused on the conflict in the Middle East, the African nation is seemingly being forgotten.
Adding to the bleak picture is a new 80-page report from the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, which sheds light on how militias are preying on women. The fact-finding mission accuses both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the army’s former paramilitary allies, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), of rampant sexual violence.
WORLD FORGETS ‘CATASTROPHIC’ WAR IN SUDAN AS RUSSIA, IRAN, OTHERS REPORTEDLY FEED FIGHTING WITH ARMS
The U.N. report documents the pervasive sexual violence and human rights abuses in Sudan, affecting civilians from ages 8 to 75. It details how Sudanese women and girls are being abducted for sexual slavery, accusing the RSF of being behind the “large majority” of cases. Furthermore, the mission reported credible accounts of men and boys being subject to rape and gang-rape.
Sudanese displaced people gather at the Zam Zam refugee camp outside the town of El-Fashir in the Darfour region of Sudan during a visit by U.N. officials on July 1, 2004. The U.N. humanitarian aid and refugee agencies appealed on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, for $4.1 billion in international support for embattled civilians in Sudan amid signs that some may be dying of starvation after nearly a year of war there between the forces of rival generals. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)
The situation has been exacerbated by a severe lack of medical services. The conflict has left most hospitals and clinics destroyed, depriving victims of much-needed medical treatment.
“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” mission Chair Mohamed Chande Othman said in a statement. Sudan’s state of affairs “is deeply alarming and needs urgent address,” he added.
Human rights groups have also sounded the alarm over the abuses women are suffering. Advocates report that sexual atrocities are prompting women to take their lives – either in response to the brutalities they have endured, or to escape it entirely.
SUDANESE PARAMILITARY CARRIES OUT ETHNIC CLEANSING IN DARFUR, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
Sudan’s brutal war erupted in April 2023 after a simmering power struggle between the SAF and the powerful paramilitary RSF group exploded into an all-out war. Most recently, intense clashes in east-central Sudan led to the slaying of more than 100 people. The U.N. said that the RSF shot civilians, sexually abused women and girls, and looted properties.
South Sudanese who fled from Sudan sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
“The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council earlier this week. “The suffering is growing by the day, with almost 25 million people now in need of humanitarian assistance,” he emphasized.
As Sudan nears collapse, foreign aid remains insubstantial. Only about half of the U.N.’s $2.7 billion humanitarian appeal for the Northeast African country has been funded. But even as the country faces the world’s worst famine in forty years, it remains forgotten, overshadowed by the Middle East conflict.
Investigators have ruled out that terrorism was at play after a man drove a car into crowd in the Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring eight people.
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The driver, a 31-year-old Italian man of Moroccan heritage, hit several people before crashing into a shop window, colliding head-on with a woman. Four people were in critical condition following the incident, authorities said.
The driver, an economics graduate born in 1995 who was not known to the police, went through a spell of “psychological disturbance” in 2022, city prefect Fabrizia Triolo said at a news conference on Saturday.
“He was under treatment in our mental health centres in 2022 because he had problems with schizoid illness, after which he disappeared from the radar and unfortunately reappeared in this form today in a dramatic and unfortunate way,” said the mayor of Modena, Massimo Mezzetti.
His home near Modena has been searched but sources quoted in Italian media said the investigation so far has shown no sign of the man’s radicalisation.
Several injured in critical condition
Among those injured were two foreign citizens: a German tourist on holiday in Italy and a Polish woman. The patients were transported to various hospitals in Emilia Romagna.
A 55-year-old woman, who was crushed against a shop window, is hospitalised at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna. The patient’s life is in danger and her legs were amputated.
In the same hospital, a 52-year-old man is in intensive care. A second injured man who was run over by the car also had his lower limbs amputated.
A 53-year-old woman and a 69-year-old woman were instead admitted to Baggiovara Hospital in Modena. In the same facility is a 69-year-old man, whose condition is judged to be less serious.
A 27-year-old girl, a 71-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man were hospitalised at the Policlinico di Modena: they suffered minor injuries and are not in a serious condition.
Pedestrians helped with arrest
Immediately after crashing into the shop window, the driver, identified as Salim El Koudri, abandoned the car and attempted to escape on foot.
The suspect tried to flee the scene but was chased and cornered by four passers-by, then pulled a knife and injured one of them.
Although the 31-year-old was armed with a knife with a 20-centimetre blade, the group managed to immobilise and contain him until the police arrived, to whom he was then handed over.
The Modena Public Prosecutor’s Office formalised the arrest of the attacker on heavy charges of massacre and injuries aggravated by the use of a weapon.
Prime Minister and President visit Modena
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella visited Modena on Sunday.
Meloni had quickly condemned the attack on social media and contacted the victims. She wrote on X that the incident was “extremely serious”.
“I would also like to express my thanks to the citizens who courageously intervened to detain the perpetrator, as well as to the law enforcement officers for their response,” she added.
“I trust that the person responsible will answer to the full for his actions,” Meloni added.
Some far-right politicians quickly seized on the incident as a justification for further tightening controls on immigration, even though the alleged perpetrator is an Italian citizen.
The League party, a member of Meloni’s governing coalition, said the incident showed the need for legislation to revoke residency permits for immigrants when they commit crimes.
League leader Matteo Salvini attempted to emphasise the nationality of origin of the attacker, calling the 31-year-old ‘a second-generation criminal’.
But the city’s mayor Mezzetti pointed out that two Egyptian nationals had helped stop the knife-wielding driver when he tried to run.
The city’s mayor said Modena should “unite against those who want to divide and sow hatred” and called for a gathering in the city centre later on Sunday for a “collective embrace”.
“At the moment I see so much looting on social media and elsewhere, and I want to invite you once again to reflect on the fact that foreigners are not all similar to those who committed this act, there are many honest ones who serve our community,” he added.
The imam of Ravarino, Abdelmajid Abouelala, speaking to the Gazzetta di Modena, said he had never met El Koudri.
“I do, however, know his father well. All I can say about him is that he is a good person, as is the rest of the family. A hard worker, the kind who makes home, work, home. An educated person who I have never heard bad things about”.
“We are really upset by what happened, ours is a small community, we all know each other. I have also asked friends and volunteers: no one knows Salim,” the local Islamic community contact person later said.
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By Jorge Mitssunaga
May 16, 2026
World
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Central Africa a public health emergency after 80 suspected deaths
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The World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in Central Africa an international public health emergency on Sunday after dozens of suspected deaths were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, the WHO said.
The declaration follows reports of 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases as of Saturday across at least three health zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu.
The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring a rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which left multiple passengers and crew members sick, and caused three deaths.
NEW EBOLA OUTBREAK LEAVES 65 DEAD AS OFFICIALS WARN OF CROSS-BORDER SPREAD
A health worker sprays disinfectant on a colleague after working at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, on Sept. 9, 2018. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro/AP)
As of May 13, the WHO said 11 hantavirus cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case.
In neighboring Uganda’s capital, Kampala, the WHO said two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases — including one death — were reported Friday and Saturday involving people who had traveled from the DRC.
Another laboratory-confirmed case was reported in the DRC capital of Kinshasa involving a person returning from Ituri province.
Initial tests suggested the outbreak does not involve the Ebola Zaire strain, which caused Congo’s devastating 2018–2020 epidemic that killed more than 1,000 people.
EBOLA OUTBREAK REPORTED IN AFRICAN COUNTRY — HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Health workers wearing protective suits tend to an Ebola victim in an isolation tent in Beni, Congo, on July 13, 2019. (Jerome Delay/AP)
However, unlike Ebola-Zaire strains, there are currently no approved vaccines or therapeutics for the Bundibugyo strain, which the WHO described as making the outbreak “extraordinary.”
The WHO warned the outbreak could be larger than currently reported due to the high positivity rate among initial samples and the growing number of suspected cases.
The outbreak also poses a public health risk to other countries, the WHO said, urging nations to activate emergency-management systems and implement cross-border screening measures.
‘DISEASE X’ HAS KILLED DOZENS IN THE CONGO — HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MYSTERY ILLNESS
Ambulances parked at Bunia General Referral Hospital following confirmation of an Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2026. (REUTERS/Victoire Mukenge)
Ebola is a highly contagious and often fatal disease spread through bodily fluids, including blood, vomit and semen. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and internal bleeding.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said Congo has a “strong track record” responding to Ebola outbreaks while announcing the release of $500,000 in emergency funding to support containment efforts.
The WHO said it will convene an emergency committee to review recommendations for how affected countries should respond.
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Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, on July 16, 2019. (Jerome Delay/AP)
The organization did not recommend border closures or travel restrictions.
Congo has now recorded 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Brittany Miller, along with Reuters, contributed to this report.
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