After starting as a camel trader who led a feared militia accused of atrocities in Darfur, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan has steadily amassed influence and riches in Sudan over the past two decades as he rose toward the pinnacle of power. Even when his one-time patron, the autocratic ruler President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, was ousted […]
Month: April 2023
Russia’s Technocrats Embraced the West, Then Enabled Putin’s War
Soon after his airplane took off from Moscow last fall, a Russian energy official who had just resigned took his phone and typed up the emotions he had kept bottled inside since the invasion of Ukraine. “I am tired of feeling constant fear for myself, for my loved ones, for the future of my country […]
Zelensky Signs Law Banning Russian Place Names in Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed two laws that strictly reinforce his country’s national identity, banning Russian place names and making knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship. The moves late Friday were Ukraine’s latest steps to distance itself from a long legacy of Russian domination, an increasingly emotional subject since […]
U.S. Says It’s Unsafe to Evacuate Citizens from Sudan
An announced emergency evacuation from Sudan was thrown into confusion on Saturday when the American Embassy there said it was too dangerous to evacuate its citizens, just hours after the country’s military chief vowed to help relocate nationals of several countries including the United States. As fighting between two clashing military factions entered its second […]
Cellphones Across Britain Will Blast a ‘Loud Siren-like’ Alert This Weekend
A “loud siren-like sound” will blare from cellphones for up to 10 seconds across Britain on Sunday as part of a test for a new emergency alert system launched by the British government. Governments and institutions across the world use similar alert systems in life-threatening situations such as terror attacks and dangerous weather. The alerts, […]
Alejandro Toledo Returns to Peru Facing Charges in Corruption Case
LIMA, Peru — Two of Peru’s former presidents are behind bars, one convicted of human rights violations, the other accused of illegally trying to dissolve Congress. A third ex-president may soon join that ignominious group with all three sharing the same prison. Alejandro Toledo, who led Peru two decades ago, surrendered on Friday to law […]
U.S. Says It Will Train Ukraine on Abrams Tanks: Russia-Ukraine War News
Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol, in his office in Kyiv on Wednesday.Credit…Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times Deep inside Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine, there are already signs that a battle may be looming in the occupied city of Melitopol, according to Ivan Fedorov, the city’s exiled Ukrainian mayor. More than […]
No Reprieve in Sudan Even for Eid Holiday as General Rejects Calls for Cease-Fire
As people in Sudan marked the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Friday, forces led by the two warring generals vying for control of the country ignored calls for a cease-fire and clashed across the country for a seventh day. Sudanese civilian coalitions and international officials had called for a three-day pause in fighting […]
The Biggest, Darkest Sky in Australia
The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter based in Melbourne. This week, I went looking for darkness. For the past several days, I have been reporting for The Times in Western Australia with the […]
U.S. Positioning Troops for Evacuation of American Embassy in Sudan
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — The Pentagon is moving more troops to the African nation of Djibouti to prepare for a possible evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff in Sudan, where fierce fighting between two warring generals has led to the swift deterioration of conditions in the capital according to two officials. Senior U.S. officials acknowledged […]