A general view of an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp on Nov. 30, 2023 in Bentiu, South Sudan. (Luke Dray/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The United States’ new special envoy for Sudan is to travel to Africa and the Middle East in a regional tour as the diplomatic push for a cease-fire in Sudan intensifies.
U.S. Special Envoy Tom Perriello is to travel to Kampala, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Cairo, Djibouti, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, meeting key partners in a push for an end to the conflict in Sudan.
“Eager to hear directly from Sudanese civilians across the region, as well as African and regional leaders and multilateral partners, as we push for an immediate end to the civil war and humanitarian crisis,” Perriello wrote on X.
Last Friday, 14 out of 15 members of the United Nations Security Council backed a U.K. resolution calling for warring parties to “seek a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue,” with the council expressing “grave concern” over the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
However, in a statement posted on telegram on Sunday on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) official channel, SAF Deputy Commander Yasser al-Atta ruled out a cease-fire, saying there will be no truce unless Rapid Support Forces (RSF) personnel leave the homes of civilians.
The official RSF spokesperson said in a media statement posted on X that the group “welcomes” the Security Council’s resolution, calling it a “crucial opportunity to initiate earnest discussions that could catalyse a political pathway.”
Sudan was plunged into chaos in April of 2023 after fighting erupted between the RSF and the SAF following weeks of tensions linked to a plans for a return to civilian rule.
As the conflict approaches its one-year anniversary in April, the U.N. estimates that at least 12,000 people have been killed, local groups saying the true toll is likely to be much higher.
The conflict has sparked the world’s “largest displacement crisis” with over eight million people — an estimated 15 percent of the Northeast African nation’s population — fleeing their homes. The U.N. warns “an unimaginable humanitarian crisis is unfolding”, the conflict threatening to trigger the “world’s largest hunger crisis.”
U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres has pleaded for the warring parties to observe a Ramadan cease-fire, saying “time is of the essence.”
“This cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country and set out a firm path towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of pro-Ukrainian fighters claimed on Tuesday to have launched an incursion with tanks and armored vehicles across the border into Russia, in what may be the largest attack over the border since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Fighters from two pro-Ukrainian Russian militant groups claimed to have crossed the border Tuesday morning into the Belgorod region that borders northeast Ukraine and to have engaged Russian forces.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense and Federal Security Service, the FSB, confirmed that dozens of fighters tried to break through into the Belgorod and Kursk region further south.
But the ministry claimed the Ukrainian fighters were “repulsed” after suffering heavy casualties and that they were unable to penetrate into the border regions.
The FSB claims “over 100 enemy personnel, six tanks, a Caesar self-propelled gun, 20 armored combat vehicles” were destroyed.
The Free Russia Legion, a group of Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine, posted a video Tuesday morning claiming to show itself moving with tanks moving over the border. It has also posted a video claiming to show a Russian armored vehicle being destroyed in a border village.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, speaks to students during a public lecture on bilateral engangement between Kenya and Haiti, at the United States International University (USIU) Africa, in Nairobi on March 1, 2024. (SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Acting Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced late Monday he would resign, saying he will cede power to a presidential council following weeks of soaring anti-government violence led by an alliance of gangs.
“The government that I am leading cannot remain indifferent to this situation. There is no sacrifice too big for our country,” Henry said in a video posted to official government channels.
He added, “My government will leave immediately after the installation of this council.”
The resignation had been earlier announced by the current chair of regional governing block Caribbean Community (CARICOM), who spoke at a press conference late Monday evening in Kingston, Jamaica.
“We acknowledge the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and the naming of an interim prime minister. I want to pause and thank Prime Minister Henry for his service to Haiti,” said Irfaan Ali, the current chair of CARICOM and president of Guyana.
The announcement came as gangs have launched an armed rebellion in Port-au-Prince this month, attacking a series of government targets over the last two weeks. Gang leadership had called for Henry to resign, leading to rampant speculation over how he would respond.
A senior U.S. State Department official said Henry first made the decision to step down on Friday but waited until Monday to communicate that with his ministers.
CARICOM members, representatives from Haiti’s political parties and civil society, as well as diplomates from the United States and the U.N. met for a series of emergency meetings on Monday to help chart a path forward for Haiti after it became clear the crisis in Port-au-Prince had spiraled out of control.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended the meeting and publicly called for the urgent creation of a presidential transition council, a sign the U.S. was ready to move past Henry.
In addition to Henry’s resignation, CARICOM leaders announced the creation of a seven-member transitional presidential council. The council will “hold relevant and possible powers of the Haitian presidency during the transition period until an elected government is established,” according to the CARICOM chair, and will operate by majority vote.
The council will appoint a new interim prime minister and council of ministers. In Haitian democracy, the prime minister answers to the president.
Henry first came to power a few weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in his official residence in July of 2021. In the absence of presidential authority, the U.S. backed Henry in a power sharing agreement that was originally supposed to lead to new elections within a matter of months.
But Henry postponed those elections after a massive earthquake in August of that year. Several more deadlines came and went for new elections to be held, with Henry citing security and logistics each time as the reason why elections shouldn’t yet be held.
He quickly became a symbol for many in Haiti of the chaos that has consumed the country in recent years — soaring gang violence, inept governance, ineffective policing, a corrupt judiciary, exploding hunger and deepening poverty.
Haitians took to the streets to protest loudly and often during his 2.5-year reign, calling for him to step down and criticizing him as an unelected autocrat desperately trying to cling to power. It was only this month, however, that it all came to a head.
Henry had just announced in late February that he would once again postpone elections until August of 2025. It sparked immediate anger, but Henry left the country for a trip to Kenya.
There he signed an agreement that he hoped would expedite the United Nations-approved deployment of some 1,000 Kenyan police officers to try and restore security to Haiti’s streets. Gangs had taken over at least 80 percent of the capital city and Henry said an international force was needed to restore a semblance of order.
But while he was gone, Haiti’s two largest gang alliances unified and attacked.
They targeted prisons, releasing thousands of criminals, as well as the National Palace, the Interior Ministry and dozens of police stations. Sustained attacks also forced the closure of Port-au-Prince ports and its international airport, effectively sealing it off from the rest of the world.
Henry was unable to return safely to Haiti and has been staying in Puerto Rico.
The gang leader behind the attacks, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, told ABC News in an interview over the weekend that his first demand was Henry’s resignation.
“If Ariel Henry resigns, I think we are going to call for a truce just to evaluate the situation, just to allow the negotiations to take place between all the sectors of society and the armed groups,” said Barbecue.
It remains to be seen whether Henry’s resignation will quell the violence that has engulfed the capital city of several million people. But any cease-fire, even if temporary, would be welcome relief after two of the most violently consequential weeks in recent Haitian history.
(LONDON) — A Gaza road being extended and expanded for use by the Israeli military now runs across the full width of the Gaza Strip from east to west, satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs shows. The expansion of the road opens the possibility that much-needed humanitarian aid could be delivered using the new infrastructure.
The images show this is the second Israeli-built road traversing the territory.
The road, which runs just south of Gaza City, may also be key to getting more humanitarian aid into northern Gaza, according to Jamie McGoldrick, United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Palestinian territories.
Before Israel’s construction activities in the last few weeks, visual analysis shows the road ran a little over a mile east-west across a central portion of the Gaza Strip.
It now cuts a straight line about 4 miles from the Mediterranean coastal road in the west to the Israeli border in the east just opposite Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel, according to an ABC News visual analysis.
In response to questions about satellite images showing the road being finished and its uses, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News on Friday the road is an “active logistical route, constantly maintained during the war,” and it’s intended to be used for the mobilization of troops and supplies.
Construction on the road is continuous and ongoing to repair “damage caused by armored military vehicles,” the IDF added.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 in February, a lieutenant colonel in an Israeli combat engineering corps identified as being involved in the construction said the road would help defend the area from enemy raids, as well as prevent movement of people from the south back to the north of the strip while the military is actively using the road. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated south from Gaza City at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
The latest portion of the road, extending it to Al-Rashid Road — which spans Gaza from north to south — on the coast, was finished between March 4 and 6, as seen in satellite imagery from those days.
Satellite imagery also shows Israel built another road that cuts a more winding path across the territory in November. It appears to currently connect IDF positions on the major north-south roads in Gaza — Al-Rashid and Salah al-Din — and runs just north of the newer road that cuts a path straight across Gaza. The two Israeli-built roads then connect and meet at the same point on the Israeli border, the satellite imagery shows.
The IDF told ABC News the second road is also a logistical route for troops and supply movement.
The new road and the newly expanded road both run along the Netzarim corridor, which historically was part of Israel’s “five-finger plan,” devised after it occupied Gaza in 1967 to divide Palestinian territory by splitting Gaza into four “blocks” and establishing Jewish settlements there, according to the IDF.
Per the IDF, the Netzarim “finger” historically separated Gaza City from the southern part of the strip, and an isolated settlement was built on its west end. A border crossing, named the Karni crossing, was opened on the east end to enable the import and export of goods between Gaza and Israel.
After Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, during which all settlements were evacuated and the IDF left the strip, the so-called “Karni-Netzarim” continued to operate, before Israel shut down the crossing in 2011 following a series of terror attacks.
The new road seen in satellite imagery that runs straight across Gaza connects to Al-Rashid Road just south of an established IDF position and checkpoint where trucks carrying humanitarian aid cross into Gaza City. The IDF and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) have posted numerous social media videos featuring the checkpoint in statements about aid arriving in northern Gaza.
Right now, trucks carrying aid have to enter Gaza through two border crossings in the south: the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Once inside Gaza, trucks have to drive through the territory on the Al-Rashid or Salah al-Din Road to the north.
A U.S. defense official said Thursday that Israel has been working in recent days to establish a third land crossing into Gaza that “will allow for aid to flow directly to the population in northern Gaza that is in dire need of assistance.” The U.S. expects the first delivery via this passage to happen over the next week, the official said at the time.
An Israeli official told ABC News on Friday that a crossing for aid trucks from Israel directly into northern Gaza may be opened “very rapidly, within days,” although it would require approval by the Israeli political echelon.
A faster and safer land route to deliver aid to northern Gaza would help alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in the area, where thousands of Palestinians are facing malnutrition and starvation, according to the World Health Organization, World Food Programme and multiple senior U.N. officials.
Hunger has reached “catastrophic levels, and especially in the north of Gaza,” McGoldrick said during a press conference Wednesday, and that the U.N. would look at using a “military road” that runs parallel to the edge of the Gaza Strip on the eastern side.
The distribution of aid in Gaza and getting it to those most in need in the north is one of the most pressing issues, according to Israeli officials from COGAT. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has previously said Israel doesn’t provide enough authorization to deliver sufficient aid and, even when it does give authorization, the fighting makes it difficult to deliver that aid. Israel has denied accusations that it isn’t letting enough aid into Gaza, with officials saying the U.N., its partners and other aid agencies have created logistical challenges, resulting in a bottleneck. The U.N. disputes these claims.
Adam Bouloukos, a UNRWA senior official, told ABC News that opening more land crossings is crucial and the only solution to the humanitarian crisis was getting aid in by road, alongside a lasting cease-fire.
McGoldrick alluded Wednesday to the imminent use of the new crossing where the road meets the border for aid deliveries. McGoldrick said the World Food Programme was in talks to use a military road on the Israeli side to drive up to a crossing point into Gaza, saying that “below Karni, there’s a place called Be’eri.”
Satellite imagery shows both the new road and the extended road across Gaza sit just below the old Karni crossing, and at about the latitude of Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel.
The IDF did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment about whether humanitarian aid could also use this newly extended road to enter directly into northern Gaza.
“Other options like airdrops, these are helpful, but these are not going to address the significant needs which can only be done by road transport. And that’s something we have to do,” McGoldrick said during the Wednesday press conference.
Israel has also blamed Hamas for the lack of aid, claiming the group is holding aid for itself and not distributing it to Gazans. Hamas denies the allegations.
(UNITED KINGDOM) — Bitcoin soared to a record high of more than $72,000 on Monday after a financial regulator in the United Kingdom gave the green light to a cryptocurrency-backed investment vehicle.
Bitcoin hit $72,166 in early trading on Monday, just days after it surpassed a previous high of nearly $69,000 from November 2021.
After crossing that threshold last week, the price of bitcoin tumbled by 10% before rebounding to its current levels.
The Financial Conduct Authority, the U.K. agency tasked with regulating financial activity, said it will “not object” to exchanges forming a U.K.-listed market segment for crypto asset-backed Exchange Traded Notes, or cETNs.
The soon-to-be available financial instruments allow traders to buy and sell assets that fluctuate in price in concert with a given cryptocurrency.
The publicly listed assets enable traders to essentially invest in cryptocurrency but without the inconvenience and technical challenge of acquiring a crypto coin itself.
Despite approving cETNs, the Financial Conduct Authority said the products will remain unavailable to retail investors and cautioned traders about risks associated with cryptocurrency investments.
“The FCA continues to remind people that cryptoassets are high risk and largely unregulated. Those who invest should be prepared to lose all their money,” the agency said in a statement.
The move follows a similar decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in January, when the agency approved Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds, or Bitcoin ETFs.
In similar fashion, a Bitcoin ETF allows investors to buy into an asset that tracks the price movement of Bitcoin without pouring funds directly into the cryptocurrency.
After the SEC approved Bitcoin ETFs, the price of bitcoin vaulted upward, drawing fuel from an inflow of fresh investment.
Soon after the SEC approved the new investing option, a slew of bitcoin ETFs became available, including offerings from legacy firms such as Fidelity and Franklin Templeton.
The new crypto alternatives unleashed billions of dollars in investment within weeks, Bryan Armour, the director of passive strategies research at financial firm Morningstar, previously told ABC News. The nine leading bitcoin ETFs received a combined $10 billion over the first seven weeks, Armour said.
Since bitcoin ETFs gained approval on Jan. 10, the price of bitcoin has jumped 54%.
Despite the breakneck pace of gains in recent weeks, bitcoin has a record of significant price volatility.
In the immediate aftermath of the bitcoin ETF approval, for instance, the price of bitcoin dropped 15% before rebounding. Over the past five years, bitcoin has plummeted more than 40% on four separate occasions, Armour previously told ABC News.
An ETF amounts to a bucket of securities that gives investors a way to bet that an underlying asset will increase in price without purchasing that asset.
For instance, an ETF for gold allows individuals and institutions to put money on the price movement of the precious metal rather than buy, lug and store the physical item.
A Bitcoin ETF, in turn, gives investors access to the cryptocurrency market without facing the technical impediments and fees associated with navigating a crypto exchange.
FILE photo — Sebastian Barros/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(SYDNEY) — A LATAM Airlines Group plane had a “technical problem” during a flight, causing what the airline described as a “a strong movement” after its departure from Sydney, Australia.
At least seven passengers and three crew members were taken to a local hospital for medical checks, but no serious injuries were reported, the airline said.
“The plane landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” the airline said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. military crews have airlifted nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel in Haiti out of harm’s way amid a surge of gang-related violence against the government, according to a statement Sunday from the U.S. Southern Command.
The U.S. military said it carried out the operation in Haiti to get some embassy personnel out of the country and bolstered security at the facility in Port-au-Prince, the capital.
“At the request of the Department of State, the U.S. military conducted an operation to augment the security of the U.S. Embassy at Port-au-Prince, allow our Embassy mission operations to continue, and enable nonessential personnel to depart,” the U.S. Southern Command said in its statement.
A state of emergency remains in effect in Haiti as skirmishes continue between armed gang members and Haitian National Police.
The U.S. military statement Sunday said no Haitians were on board the military aircraft used in the evacuation.
“Our Embassy remains focused on advancing U.S. government efforts to support the Haitian people, including mobilizing support for the Haitian National Police, expediting the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections,” the statement read.
“As announced in September 2023, the Department of Defense is postured to provide robust enabling support for the MSS, including planning assistance, information sharing, airlift, communications, and medical support,” the U.S. Southern Command added.
Haiti has been in open rebellion since the middle of last week, with Haiti’s most powerful gangs unifying and launching a series of attacks against government institutions. Haiti’s acting prime minister, Ariel Henry, was out of the country when the attacks began and has been unable to return.
The government has declared a state of emergency.
The State Department is encouraging American citizens to leave Haiti following the violence.
The U.S. Embassy evacuation comes in the wake of Haitian gangs launching a large-scale assault Friday against multiple government buildings in or near downtown Port-au-Prince, a law enforcement source who took part in the fighting told ABC News.
The source said the attack was coordinated and swift, with different groups simultaneously targeting multiple government buildings, including the Presidential Palace, the Interior Ministry and a police headquarters for Haiti’s western district, which includes Port-au-Prince. Several witnesses of the attacks described to ABC News intense gunfire and loud explosions, and hundreds of people fleeing the area as gangs engaged in fierce battles against the police.
The Presidential Palace has not been occupied by any Haitian president since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. A massive earthquake in 2010 destroyed large parts of the complex, making much of it completely unusable. However, it remains a poignant symbol of Haitian federal governance and is guarded around the clock.
(ISTANBUL) — Thousands of women took to the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, to mark International Women’s Day Friday despite a ban by the government, demanding equality and change of laws to protect women and help them gain their rights in the country and around the world.
Waving purple flags as a sign of International Women’s Day, they filled the air with slogans and rallying cries despite a ban on rallies by authorities.
“The world would shake if women were free,” “Resist for rebellion, resist for freedom,” and “Woman, Life, Freedom,” they chanted.
While the police had blocked access to the streets leading to the protest location several hours ahead, some women said they figured out their own ways to get there and participate in the protest.
“I have been here in this coffeeshop today at 1 pm to make it here at 7:30 pm,” Irem, 35, told ABC News.
“Women’s rights are basically nonexistent in Turkey right now,” she added.
Turkey was the first country to join the Istanbul Convention in March 2012 which aims at preventing gender-based violence by setting legally binding standards to protect victims and punish perpetrators. However, 9 years later, in 2021, Turkey became the first and only country that left the convention in a decision made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Islamic leaning government who believed the treaty eroded their conservative values.
Irem said the Turkish government has been backsliding in terms of women’s rights and mentioned the rising number of femicide cases across Turkey over the past 10 to15 years.
According to We Will Stop Femicide, a prominent activist group in Turkey, 338 women have been murdered since March 2023, and 248 died under suspicious circumstances.
The campaign added that 212 of these women were killed at home, 134 of them by their husbands, 47 by their boyfriends, and 36 by their ex-husbands. Two of the victims did not know their murderers at all, according to the group.
Protestors called for more unity among women and for finding ways to get out of the situation and make things better for women and members of minority groups such as the LGBTOAI community.
Yagmour, a young protestor wearing an all-purple outfit and makeup, said she has attended the 8th of March protests in different cities of Turkey over the years. Despite her disappointment with the government’s policies, she said she keeps up her hopes in women’s power from around the world to pay attention to each other and also to the situation in Turkey.
“As women, it is important that we all stay together, no matter what nationality,” she told ABC News.
