Tear gas fired at dozens of protesters in Sudan capital
At least 15 demonstrators were killed in Wednesday’s protests
Wednesday saw the deadliest crackdown on anti-coup protests since last month’s military takeover
Updated 18 November 2021
AFP
KHARTOUM: Sudanese security forces fired tear gas Thursday morning at dozens of protesters manning barricades in the capital Khartoum, a witness said.
Police have remained deployed in large numbers in north Khartoum where demonstrators kept up their protests through the night, witnesses said.
Wednesday saw the deadliest crackdown on anti-coup protests since last month’s military takeover.
At least 15 demonstrators were killed in Wednesday’s protests, most of them in north Khartoum, medics said.
Iran confirms second round of nuclear talks with the US will be in Rome
Oman’s foreign minister served as an interlocutor between the two sides at talks last weekend in Muscat
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, also arrived in Tehran on Wednesday
Updated 8 sec ago
AP
DUBAI: Iran confirmed Wednesday that the next round of nuclear talks with the United States this weekend will be held in Rome after earlier confusion over where the negotiations would be held. The announcement by Iranian state television came as Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian formally approved the resignation of one of his vice presidents who served as Tehran’s key negotiator in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also arrived in the Islamic Republic on Wednesday. His talks may include negotiations over just what access the IAEA inspectors can get under any proposed deal. The state TV announcement said Oman will again mediate the talks on Saturday in Rome. Oman’s foreign minister served as an interlocutor between the two sides at talks last weekend in Muscat, the sultanate’s capital. Officials initially on Monday identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman. American officials so far haven’t said publicly where the talks will be held, though Trump did call Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on Tuesday, while the ruler was on a trip to the Netherlands. The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. US President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Pezeshkian praises former vice president while acknowledging his resignation The former vice president, Mohammad Javad Zarif, served as a key supporter of Pezeshkian in his election last year but drew criticism from hard-liners within Iran’s Shiite theocracy, who long have alleged Zarif gave away too much in negotiations. In March, Zarif tendered his resignation to Pezeshkian. However, the president did not immediately respond to the letter. Zarif has used resignation announcements in the past in his political career as leverage, including in a dispute last year over the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet. The president had rejected that resignation. But on late Tuesday, a statement from the presidency said Pezeshkian wrote Zarif a letter praising him but accepting his resignation. “Pezeshkian emphasized that due to certain issues, his administration can no longer benefit from Zarif’s valuable knowledge and expertise,” a statement from the presidency said. The president in a decree appointed Mohsen Ismaili, 59, to be his new vice president for strategic affairs. In Iran’s political system, the president has multiple vice presidents. Ismaili is known as a political moderate and a legal expert. Grossi visit comes as Iran has restricted IAEA access Grossi arrived in Tehran for meetings with Pezeshkian and others. He met Wednesday night with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, writing on the social platform X after the meeting: “Cooperation with (the IAEA) is indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed.” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency described Araghchi as briefing Grossi on the first round of talks with the US, while also urging the IAEA to “adopt a clear and transparent stance regarding threats against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities.” Both Israel and the US have threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear sites if a deal can’t be reached to limit Tehran’s program. “As variety of spoilers are gathered to derail current negotiations, we need a Director General of Peace,” Araghchi wrote on X. “Our predisposition is to trust Grossi in mission to keep the Agency away from politics and politicization, and to retain focus on its technical mandate.” Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdraw of the US from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60 percent purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003. Any possible deal between Iran and the US likely would need to rely on the IAEA’s expertise to ensure Tehran’s compliance. And despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked. Iran’s foreign minister questions contradictory responses from US envoy Meanwhile, Araghchi on Wednesday warned the US about taking contradictory stances in the talks. That likely refers to comments from US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who this week initially suggested a deal could see Iran go back to 3.67 percent uranium enrichment — like in the 2015 deal reached by the Obama administration. Witkoff then followed up with saying “a deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.” “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” he wrote on X. “It is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.” Araghchi warned America about taking any “contradictory and opposing stances” in the talks. “What is certain is that Iran’s enrichment (program) is a real, accepted matter,” he said. “We are prepared to build trust and address any potential concerns, but the core issue of enrichment itself is not negotiable.”
Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal plunged sharply in 2024
Canal traffic has been significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels started to threaten maritime trade
Updated 17 April 2025
AP
CAIRO: Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal plunged by almost two thirds last year, officials said Wednesday, attributing the sharp drop to regional tensions and wars in the Middle East that have impacted traffic through the key waterway.
The canal is a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government, with about 10 percent of world trade flowing through the waterway in recent years.
The Suez Canal Authority, which runs the waterway, said the canal generated an annual revenue of $3.991 billion in 2024, down from a historic high of $10.25 billion in 2023, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Canal traffic has been significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels started to threaten maritime trade and targeting vessels heading to Israel through the Suez Canal to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza, which started on Oct. 7, 2023.
Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors. The rebels insisted the attacks would continue as long as the wars go on and have devastated shipping through the region.
According to the Egyptian canal authority, only 13,213 ships passed through the canal in 2024, marking a 50 percent decline compared to the number of ships in 2023, when over 26,000 ships passed through.
Still, canal authority chief Osama Rabie said that the attacks challenge the region but have not prevented Egypt from continuing to provide its navigational and maritime services in the Suez.
The International Monetary Fund reported in March 2024 that the Suez Canal trade dropped by 50 percent in the first two months of that year, compared to the previous year, citing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s government in 2015 completed a significant expansion of the Suez Canal, adding a second shipping lane and allowing it to handle some of the world’s largest vessels.
The canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red seas, was opened in 1869. It serves as a vital artery for global trade — a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. The canal authority operates a system of convoys, consisting of one northbound and one southbound per day.
Iran foreign minister says uranium enrichment ‘non-negotiable’
Remarks came after US envoy said Iran must stop its enrichment of uranium as part of any nuclear deal
Updated 17 April 2025
AFP
TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran’s enrichment of uranium as part of its nuclear program was “non-negotiable” after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff called for a halt.
“Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter. We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable,” Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
The remarks came as Araghchi and Witkoff are due to meet again in Oman on Saturday, a week after they held the highest-level talks between the longtime foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.
Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions in a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran that he has reinstated since returning to office in January.
In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging talks but warning of possible military action if they fail to produce a deal.
Both sides described Saturday’s meeting as “constructive.”
But on Tuesday, Witkoff said Iran must “stop and eliminate” its enrichment of uranium as part of any nuclear deal.
He had previously demanded only that Iran return to the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 accord between Iran and major powers that Trump withdrew from.
Araghchi condemned what he called the “contradictory and conflicting positions” coming out of the Trump administration ahead of Saturday’s talks.
“We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,” he said.
Iran’s top diplomat said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement but said that required “constructive positions” from the US.
“If we continue to (hear) contradictory and conflicting positions, we are going to have problems,” he warned.
Araghchi is set to head to Iranian ally Russia on Thursday, Iran’s ambassador in Moscow Kazem Jalili said.
Iran has said the visit was “pre-planned” but will include discussions on the Iran-US talks.
“The objective of (my) trip to Russia is to convey a written message from the supreme leader” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Araghchi said.
In readiness for the US talks, Iran has engaged with Russia and China, which were both parties to the 2015 deal.
Ahead of Saturday’s second round of talks in Muscat, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he hoped a deal could be reached with the US, the official IRNA news agency reported.
On Tuesday, Khamenei cautioned that while the talks have proceeded well in their early stages, they could still prove fruitless.
“The negotiations may or may not yield results,” he said, noting that Iran had already outlined its “red lines.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said the country’s military capabilities are off-limits in the talks.
Late on Sunday, IRNA said Iran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities — both sources of concern for Western governments — were also among its “red lines.”
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi was due in Iran later Wednesday for talks with senior officials.
The UN watchdog was tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nulear deal.
In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent.
That level far exceeds the the 3.67 percent ceiling set by the 2015 deal but still falls short of the 90 percent threshold required for a nuclear warhead.
Charity says 400,000 children in Syria risk ‘severe malnutrition’ after US cuts
More than 13 years of conflict in Syria ravaged the country, with the health system shattered and infrastructure hobbled
Updated 17 April 2025
AFP
DAMASCUS: Save the Children said on Wednesday that more than 400,000 children in the Syrian Arab Republic were at risk of “severe malnutrition” after the US suspended aid, forcing the charity to slash operations in the country.
Bujar Hoxha, Save the Children’s Syria director, in a statement called on the international community to urgently fill the funding gap, warning that needs were “higher than ever” after years of war and economic collapse.
“More than 416,000 children in Syria are now at significant risk of severe malnutrition following the sudden suspension of foreign aid,” Save the Children said in a statement, adding separately that the cuts were those of the US.
The global aid situation has grown dire since US President Donald Trump ordered the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development early this year.
His administration scrapped 83 percent of humanitarian programs funded by USAID.
The agency had an annual budget of $42.8 billion, representing 42 percent of total global humanitarian aid.
The suspension has “forced the closure of one third of Save the Children’s life-saving nutrition activities” across Syria, the charity said, halting “vital care for over 40,500 children” aged under five.
Hoxha said the closure of the charity’s nutrition centers “comes at the worst possible time” with “the needs in Syria are higher than ever.”
Its clinics that are still open are “reporting a surge in malnutrition cases while struggling to keep up with the growing demand for care,” the charity added.
More than 13 years of conflict in Syria ravaged the country, with the health system shattered and infrastructure hobbled.
In February, a United Nations Development Programme report estimated that nine out of 10 Syrians now live in poverty and face food insecurity with “malnutrition on the rise, particularly among children.”
Save the Children said more than 650,000 children under five in Syria were now “chronically malnourished,” while more than 7.5 million children nationwide needed humanitarian assistance, which it said was the highest number since the crisis began.
Hoxha urged the international community to “urgently step up” to fill the funding gap.
Syrian children “are paying the price for decisions made thousands of miles away,” Hoxha added in the statement.
How falling cases of tuberculosis in Iraq reflect a wider health system recovery
Iraq has halved its tuberculosis rate over the past decade through tech-driven diagnosis and expanded mobile health services
AI-supported X-rays and GeneXpert machines now detect TB faster, even in remote areas and among high-risk populations
Updated 17 April 2025
Sherouk Zakaria
DUBAI: Sameer Abbas Mohamed, a Syrian refugee from Qamishli who fled to Iraq in 2013, was terrified when his one-year-old son, Yusuf, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He knew the disease was life-threatening — and highly contagious.
“I have two older boys, and I was scared they would catch the disease,” said Mohamed, who lives in Qushtapa refugee camp for Syrians in Irbil, home to most of the 300,000 Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
“Yusuf was also very young and I worried about losing him.”
IOM mobile medical teams conduct TB awareness sessions and screening of presumptive cases in settlements hosting displaced and Syrian refugees as well as other hard to reach areas. (Photo: IOM/Raber Y. Aziz)
Mohamed consulted several doctors when Yusuf began coughing. Scans revealed a mass on the right anterior wall of his chest. A diagnosis was finally made when a general surgeon reported the case to Iraq’s National TB Program.
Following surgery to remove the mass, Yusuf returned home, where nurses delivered an all-oral regimen, monitored his treatment, tracked his progress, offered support, and educated the family on isolation measures to prevent the disease’s spread.
Within six months, Yusuf was cured.
An IOM medic checks a little girl at the family's rented house in Kirkuk. (Photo: Anjam Rasool/IOM Iraq, 2019)
His journey reflects the progress made in combating TB in Iraq, especially the drug-resistant variant that has emerged in the conflict-affected country — which until recently had the region’s highest prevalence of TB cases.
Iraq’s NTP, supported by the International Organization for Migration, the Global Fund, and the World Health Organization, is tracking TB among displaced communities using advanced diagnostic technologies and artificial intelligence.
Giorgi Gigauri, IOM Iraq’s chief of mission, told Arab News that TB detection and timely treatment have helped to drive a significant decline in cases in Iraq.
Lab technicians at the Chest and Respiratory Diseases in Erbil use blood samples to test TB patients' tolerance for medication. (Photo: Global Fund)
This was achieved, he said, through a tech-driven strategy, including the installation of the advanced 10-color GeneXpert detection machine across Baghdad, Basrah, Najaf and Nineveh, enabling faster diagnoses.
IOM’s mobile medical teams were also equipped with 10 AI-supported chest X-ray devices, known as CAD4-TB, which can detect the disease in seconds — even in high-burden areas such as refugee camps and prisons.
Caption
Routine screenings by these mobile units helped to increase the detection rate of drug-resistant TB from 2 percent to 19 percent, and drug-sensitive TB from 4 percent to 14 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to IOM data.
FAST FACTS
• TB is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium that primarily affects the lungs.
• It spreads through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
• Symptoms include a persistent cough, chest pain, fever, night sweats and weight loss.
• With proper treatment using antibiotics, TB is curable, though drug-resistant strains exist.
After screening, sputum samples are taken to central labs, making testing accessible for those unable to travel or living in areas with limited health care access.
Thanks to these efforts, TB cases in Iraq have fallen dramatically — from 45 to 23 cases per 100,000 people between 2013 and 2023. The current prevalence is 15 per 100,000, with an estimated mortality rate of three per 100,000.
Hussain Khader Ismael is screened for TB inside a mobile lab parked outside a home for elderly people in Mosul. (Photo: Global Fund)
In many ways, these numbers reflect Iraq’s wider public health recovery after decades of instability, including the crippling sanctions of the 1990s, the successive bouts of violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion, and the 2014 rise of Daesh.
“Despite years of instability, progress made in the detection, treatment and prevention of the spread of TB restored trust in health care services by strengthening infrastructure and extending care to vulnerable groups like prisoners and displaced populations,” Gigauri told Arab News.
“It also supports upskilling of health professions and creates sustainable systems that can support responses to other communicable diseases.
Abdi was transported to a TB center for urgent examination as soon as he showed symptoms of TB. (Photo: IOM/Raber Y. Aziz)
“Efforts made by all partners under NTP have contributed to national recovery by addressing urgent health needs and laying a foundation for timely detection of preventable and treatable diseases.”
Despite a period of relative stability, Iraq still faces considerable humanitarian pressures amid a fragile economy and an unpredictable security landscape. According to UNHCR, more than 1 million Iraqis remain internally displaced, with 115,000 living in 21 camps across the Kurdistan Region.
Roughly five million displaced people have returned to their towns and villages since Daesh’s territorial defeat in 2017. But these areas often lack basic infrastructure, increasing the risk of TB outbreaks.
Qayara Airstrip Camp, south of Mosul, was built by IOM as an emergency site to host displaced persons from Mosul. (Photo: Raber Y. Aziz/IOM Iraq, 2016)
In Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city, which endured three years under Daesh — those unable to afford housing live in overcrowded settlements, where malnutrition and exposure to the elements weaken immunity.
The mobile medical teams have been a game-changer for these vulnerable communities.
Digital X-rays equipped with CAD4-TB, powered by AI, now enable quick and accurate TB detection — a stark improvement from the three-month wait many patients once faced for CT scans.
The CAD4TB system uses AI to instantly analyze digital X-rays for signs of TB. )Photo: Global Fund)
This technology also reduces radiation exposure. A single CT scan can expose patients to the equivalent of 300 X-rays, according to Dr. Bashar Hashim Abbas, manager of the Chest and Respiratory Diseases clinic in Mosul.
Abbas said that mobile medical teams and digital X-ray devices have been vital for reaching remote communities and detainees who lack clinic access.
“The mobility of these machines helped us examine prisoners who were difficult to bring into the clinic due to complex security protocols. We discovered many cases, especially multidrug-resistant TB patients, in this way,” Abbas told Arab News.
“We conduct X-rays and take sputum samples for further lab investigations. Therefore, we take the diagnostic tools to them as much as we can, scaling up TB prevention and providing treatment.”
IOM maintains seven Mobile Medical Teams in five crisis-affected governorates with high numbers of IDPs, returnees and vulnerable host community members. (Photo: IOM/Raber Y. Aziz)
A centralized disease surveillance system, District Health Information Software 2, allows lab results to be registered and coordinated across labs, facilities, and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, improving routine TB reporting.
IOM’s TB services reached 6,398 people in 2024, with 120 drug-resistant TB cases treated. These efforts have been bolstered by $11 million in Global Fund support since 2022.
A key breakthrough has been shifting the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB from a burdensome series of injections to a simpler, all-oral regimen, which shortened recovery time from two years to six months and significantly improved outcomes.
An all-oral regimen has shortened recovery time from two years to six months and significantly improved outcomes.. (Photo: IOM/Raber Y. Aziz)
“Previously, treatments involved daily injections for at least six to eight months, which were difficult to sustain for patients and treatment outcomes were relatively poor at 50 percent,” Grania Brigden, senior TB adviser at the Global Fund, told Arab News.
“However, the innovation in treatment through the all-oral regimen has reduced treatment to six months with a 75 percent to 80 percent success rate.”
Although no new TB vaccines are currently available, researchers are optimistic about developing more effective ones in the next five years. The existing BCG vaccine offers only partial protection and is less effective for adults and adolescents, who are more prone to transmission.
The innovation in treatment through the all-oral regimen has reduced treatment to six months with a 75 percent to 80 percent success rate. (Global Fund photo)
New vaccines are vital for achieving the WHO’s End TB Strategy goals — reducing TB mortality by 95 percent and incidence by 90 percent by 2035. Brigden said ongoing investment is key to meeting these targets.
Meanwhile, the Global Fund is focused on halting TB’s spread in Iraq. “We have invested significantly in commodity security to ensure that everyone who tests positive or is notified of TB is put on treatment,” said Brigden.
Thanks to these steps, many — like young Yusuf — are alive today who might otherwise have succumbed without proper care.
WHO and partners join WHO mission to the Iraqi National TB institute in Baghdad. (Photo: WHO)
“The discussions of tuberculosis we had with the nurse who gave the medication had a positive impact on us,” said Yusuf’s father, Mohamed.
“The nurse gave us information on how to isolate him after the first two to three weeks. He reassured us that if we gave him the medication regularly and made sure there were no gaps, everything would be getting well.
