Sudan army chief lambasts African Union as war deaths top 7,000

WAD MADANI, Sudan: Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said Saturday “we don’t need” the African Union to resolve the country’s nearly five-month conflict, as new figures put the death toll at over 7,000.
Diplomatic tensions have flared since the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, met last week with a political adviser to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), prompting rebuke from Burhan’s government.


Four major Libyan oil ports temporarily closed due to expected hurricane -sources

BENGHAZHI: Four major oil ports in Libya including Ras Lanuf, Zueitina, Brega and Es Sidra will be closed from Saturday evening for a period of three days due to an expected hurricane, two oil engineers told Reuters.

 



Israelis protest ahead of court hearing on legal reforms

TEL AVIV: Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday against the hard-line government’s judicial overhaul, ahead of a court hearing on a major element of the controversial reforms that have split the nation.
Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government unveiled its proposals in January, tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated weekly in what has become the largest protest movement in the country’s history.


Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank: ministry

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager Saturday at a refugee camp in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, in the latest violence to rock the occupied territory.
The ministry identified the teenager as 16-year-old Milad Munther Al-Raee, and said he was killed at the entrance to Al-Arroub refugee camp near the city of Hebron.
He was “shot in the back by the occupation (Israeli) bullets,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.


Jordan, ASEAN countries plan economic forum as investments surge

LONDON: Khalil Hajj Tawfiq, chairman of the Amman Chamber of Commerce, announced on Saturday that a Jordanian Economic Forum with several member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will take place in March 2024, Jordan News Agency reported.

The forum aims to improve trade relations and boost investment opportunities between the two sides. It will be hosted in cooperation with ASEAN member states that have embassies in Jordan, including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei.