Headlines
Violence Erupts in Sudan over Struggle for Power
The power struggle between two generals in Sudan and its associated violence escalated dramatically on Saturday and Sunday, with at least dozens of civilians and soldiers killed.
It remains unclear who has the upper hand in the power struggle, according to media reports, which said fighting around the Sudanese army’s general command in the capital Khartoum had intensified.
At least 83 people have died and 1,126 others have been injured in heavy fighting in Sudan between the army and the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, the World Health Organisation said on Sunday.
A Sudanese medical organisation said on Sunday that so far at least 56 civilians and dozens of soldiers had been killed.
According to WHO, the hospitals in Khartoum, which is home to around six million people, have been overwhelmed.
Among those killed on Saturday were three employees of the UN World Food Programme, which announced on Sunday that it had stopped its aid mission due to the killings.
Two other WFP employees were injured in the clashes between the army and paramilitaries.
WFP executive director Cindy McCain said the staff had been delivering relief supplies to people in the village of Kabkabiya in North Darfur.
She called for “immediate steps” to ensure the safety of other WFP staff in Sudan.
The events triggered worldwide fears of a potential civil war in the state with about 46 million inhabitants and prompted calls from the international community for an immediate ceasefire.
As the situation escalated, two important regional organisations convened emergency meetings on Sunday. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union consulted on Sunday afternoon on the “worrying” situation in Sudan. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in East Africa also convened an extraordinary summit of heads of state and government.
The IGAD wants to discuss how best to “de-escalate the situation in Sudan and restore calm for the good of the country,” executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said on Twitter.
The clashes follow tension between Sudan’s de facto president and commander-in-chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, the leader of the RSF.
The RSF and the military have effectively held power in the country since the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
In the course of the delayed transition to a civilian government, the RSF were to be integrated into the armed forces, which led to a rift between the allies. RSF leader Daglo accused al-Burhan of clinging to power.
Fighting broke out unexpectedly on Saturday morning in Khartoum.
The RSF claimed Sudanese soldiers had entered their headquarters in the south of the city.
RSF forces attacked the airport in the north of the city and the presidential palace.
The army used fighter planes and tanks.
On Sunday, fighting continued to concentrate on the nearby army headquarters and the state radio building.
Both sides repeatedly reported combat successes that contradicted each other.
The claims of both sides could not be independently confirmed.
Fighting was also reported in other parts of the country such as Darfur and North Kordofan provinces.
Heavy fighting was also reported in the town of Merowe in the north of the country.
As the situation escalates, the UN Security Council called on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and start talks to end the crisis.
Humanitarian workers must also be given safe access and UN staff must be protected from attacks; the UN’s most powerful body demanded on Sunday.
The statement stressed the goal of the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the republic of Sudan.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock demanded a ceasefire.
The Punch
Iran’s military, on Saturday, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed again, hours after reopening it and with more than a dozen commercial ships passing through the vital waterway.
The toing and froing over the strait cast doubt on US President Donald Trump’s optimism the day before, that a peace deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very close”.
Tehran had on Friday declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open on Friday after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded, Tehran threatened to shutter the strait once more.
Then, late on Saturday morning, citing a statement from military central command, Iranian state TV reported that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous status” and “is under strict management and control of the armed forces”, blaming the continued US blockade.
The announcement came as maritime tracking sites showed several ships making a dash through the narrow waterway, hugging close to Iranian territorial waters as instructed by Tehran and, for some, broadcasting their identity as Indian or Chinese in an apparent attempt to show their neutrality.
The same sites showed that late on Friday, a number of ships began heading for the strait before suddenly turning back amid the uncertainty.
By 0900 GMT on Saturday, several ships had fully transited the strait in both directions, but at least two tankers headed eastwards from the Gulf towards India after loading in UAE ports appeared to have turned around and aborted their journeys.
There are just four days remaining before the end of the two-week ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, launched by Washington and its ally on February 28.
Nevertheless, President Trump appeared convinced that a deal could be finished shortly.
He declared Friday “GREAT AND BRILLIANT,” and made a series of social media posts praising talks mediator Pakistan.
Islamabad’s powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Saturday finished a three-day visit to Iran aimed at securing the peace deal, during which he met Iran’s top leadership.
While Munir was in Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to push the peace process.
Islamabad has emerged as the lead mediator during the conflict, hosting a marathon round of direct peace talks last weekend attended by US Vice President JD Vance.
A second round of talks is expected in the Pakistani capital this coming week, with envoys hoping to end the war that was started by the US and Israel on February 28.
The allies launched a massive wave of surprise attacks on Iran, despite Washington and Tehran being engaged in diplomatic talks, that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and numerous senior leaders.
The war rapidly spread across the region, with Iran targeting US interests in the Gulf and Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into the conflict by launching rockets at Israel.
In a sign that the two-week ceasefire remained stable, Iran’s civil aviation agency declared its airspace was open again, with international flights able to transit Iran via the east of the country.
Nevertheless, two major sticking points in the peace talks — Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the Strait of Hormuz — appeared up in the air.
Speaking by phone with AFP on Friday, Trump said “we’re very close to having a deal,” adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.
Later the same day, at an event in Arizona, the president declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its 440 or so kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to that needed for a bomb.
“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” he said.
But hours before, Iran’s foreign ministry had said its stockpile, thought to be buried deep under rubble by US bombing in last June’s 12-day war, was not going anywhere.
“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.
“Transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
Ordinary Iranians, meanwhile, remained cut off from the international internet, with monitor netblocks announcing on Saturday that the blackout implemented at the start of the war had reached its 50th day.
AFP
Veteran journalist and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has declared that a joint presidential ticket between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi represents the strongest strategy for the opposition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Momodu said the emerging ADC coalition is gaining momentum as a credible alternative to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which he accused of promoting “one-man rule” and weakening democratic institutions.
Momodu argued that an Atiku–Obi ticket offers both experience and electoral appeal, noting that both politicians already command significant national followings from previous elections. He recalled their collaboration in 2019, adding that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election provides a ready base of supporters that can be consolidated.
According to him, the coalition is further strengthened by the involvement of political heavyweights such as Rabiu Kwankwaso and Rotimi Amaechi, making it a formidable opposition alliance.
“The candidates who placed second, third, and even fourth are aligning. That naturally builds a strong challenge,” Momodu said, suggesting that this development could unsettle the APC ahead of 2027.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of centralising power and undermining democratic processes, claiming that key institutions—including the legislature and electoral system—are increasingly influenced by the executive arm of government. He warned that such a trend poses risks to Nigeria’s democracy.
Momodu further alleged that opposition parties face systemic obstacles, including difficulties in accessing venues, legal pressures, and institutional interference. He argued that these challenges have made opposition unity not just strategic, but necessary.
Dismissing concerns about possible cracks within the ADC coalition, Momodu described such fears as speculative, insisting that current political realities have effectively forced major opposition figures to work together.
The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing for April 22 in the appeal filed by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the leadership dispute in the party.
Mark’s appeal is against the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against the September 4, 2025 ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex-parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba chose the date on Tuesday after granting accelerated hearing in the appeal marked: SC/CV/180/2026.
The court ordered Mark’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) to file the appellant’s brief and serve on Wednesday.
It ordered the respondents to each file and serve on the appellant, a respondent’s brief within three days of being served with the appellant’s brief.
The appellant, according to the court, is to file a reply brief, if needs be, within one day of being served with the respondents’ briefs.
