LONDON: The UK and the Netherlands, in partnership with the UN, co-hosted an international event on Thursday to raise funds for the salvage operation to remove 1.1 million barrels of oil from the Safer, a decaying storage vessel moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen.

The conference of nations, companies and international organizations raised more than $7.5 million, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said.

BEIRUT: Raja Salameh, the brother of Lebanon’s central bank governor, on Thursday appeared before a team of European judges investigating financial crimes and international money laundering involving more than $330 million.

The judicial delegation, headed by French judge Aude Buresi, heard Salameh’s testimony at the Beirut Palace of Justice as part of investigations by European countries into financial transfers outside Lebanon and transactions conducted by Forry Associates, which Salameh owns.

CAIRO: Heavy shelling in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Thursday disrupted efforts to deliver badly needed aid to trapped civilians, after yet another fragile and frequently violated truce ran out, residents said.
Sudan has plunged into chaos since fighting erupted in mid-April between the country’s two rival top generals. There is increasing concern for those trapped and displaced by the fighting, and aid workers and civilians have said there’s a dire lack of basic services, medical care, food and water.

RIYADH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday held an emergency meeting in Jeddah to discuss the developments in Sudan, following an escalation in military clashes that killed and injured many civilians.
During the meeting, which was called for at the invitation of Saudi Arabia — the current chair of the Executive Committee, the OIC affirmed the need to resolve conflicts through peaceful means, calling for solidarity in Sudan and affirming support for the Sudanese people, Saudi Press Agency reported.

LONDON: From the beginning of the protracted conflict pitting the regime against its opponents, Syrians fled their country in droves. Some risked life and limb to smuggle themselves and their families out of Syria over land, by sea, or any other routes available to them.

Since 2014, hundreds of thousands of Syrians from diverse ethnic backgrounds have managed to escape the violence and atrocities of the civil war by moving to foreign countries.