
-
Military confrontation 'almost inevitable' if Iran nuclear talks fail: French FM
-
US stocks advance ahead of looming Trump tariffs
-
Scramble for food aid in Myanmar city near quake epicentre
-
American Neilson Powless fools Visma to win Across Flanders
-
NATO chief says alliance with US 'there to stay'
-
Myanmar junta declares quake ceasefire as survivors plead for aid
-
American Neilson Powless fools Visma to win Around Flanders
-
Tesla first quarter sales sink amid anger over Musk politics
-
World's tiniest pacemaker is smaller than grain of rice
-
Judge dismisses corruption case against NY mayor
-
Nintendo to launch Switch 2 console on June 5
-
France Le Pen eyes 2027 vote, says swift appeal 'good news'
-
Postecoglou hopes Pochettino gets Spurs return wish
-
US, European stocks fall as looming Trump tariffs raise fears
-
Nintendo says Switch 2 console to be launched on June 5
-
France's Zemmour fined 10,000 euros over claim WWII leader 'saved' Jews
-
Le Pen ally denies planned rally a 'power play' against conviction
-
Letsile Tebogo says athletics saved him from life of crime
-
Man Utd 'on right track' despite 13th Premier League defeat: Dalot
-
Israel says expanding Gaza offensive to seize 'large areas'
-
Certain foreign firms must 'self-certify' with Trump diversity rules: US embassies
-
Deutsche Bank asset manager DWS fined 25 mn euros for 'greenwashing'
-
UK drawing up new action plan to tackle rising TB
-
Nigerian president sacks board of state oil company
-
Barca never had financial room to register Olmo: La Liga
-
Spain prosecutors to appeal ruling overturning Alves' rape conviction
-
Heathrow 'warned about power supply' days before shutdown
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre 'stable' after car crash
-
Myanmar quake survivors plead for more help
-
Greece to spend 25 bn euros in 'drastic' defence overhaul: PM
-
Maresca non-committal over Sancho's future at Chelsea
-
WHO facing $2.5-bn gap even after slashing budget: report
-
Real Madrid coach Ancelotti tells tax trial did not seek to defraud
-
Chinese tourists pine for Taiwan's return as Beijing jets surround island
-
Singapore detains teenage boy allegedly planning to kill Muslims
-
What is the 'Qatargate' scandal roiling Israel?
-
AI coming for anime but Ghibli's Miyazaki irreplaceable, son says
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Hunger returns to Gaza as Israeli blockade forces bakeries shut
-
Rubio heads to Europe as transatlantic tensions soar
-
Like 'living in hell': Quake-hit Mandalay monastery clears away rubble
-
'Give me a break': Trump tariffs threaten Japan auto sector
-
US approves $5.58 bn fighter jet sale to Philippines
-
Tsunoda embracing pressure of Red Bull debut at home Japanese GP
-
'Outstanding' Hay shines as New Zealand seal Pakistan ODI series
-
El Salvador's Bukele flaunts 'iron fist' alliance with Trump
-
Stock markets mixed as uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
China probes for key target weak spots with 'paralysing' Taiwan drills
-
'Top Gun' and Batman star Val Kilmer dies aged 65: New York Times
-
US lawmakers seek to rename street for Hong Kong's jailed Jimmy Lai

Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration
The Sudanese government strongly rejected on Sunday a report backed by the United Nations which determined that famine had spread to five areas of the war-torn country.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review, which UN agencies use, follows repeated warnings from the United Nations, other aid groups and the United States about the hunger situation in the northeast African country.
IPC said last week that the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had created famine conditions for 638,000 people, with a further 8.1 million on the brink of mass starvation.
The army-aligned government "categorically rejects the IPC's description of the situation in Sudan as a famine", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement called the report "essentially speculative" and accused the IPC of procedural and transparency failings.
It said the team did not have access to updated field data and had not consulted with the government's technical team on the final version before publication.
The IPC did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. On its website, IPC says its process is "evidence-based" and ensures "a rigorous, neutral analysis."
On August 1, the IPC had already declared a famine at Zamzam camp for displaced people near El-Fasher, a city in Sudan's western Darfur region besieged by the RSF.
At a press conference in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, the government's commissioner for humanitarian aid, Salwa Adam Benya, said "the rumours of famine in Sudan are pure fabrication," Sudan's state news agency reported.
Along with representatives from the agriculture, media and foreign ministries, she said some aid agencies were using "food as a pretext" to push political agendas.
The Sudanese government, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been based in Port Sudan since the capital Khartoum became a war zone when fighting began in April 2023.
It has repeatedly been accused of hindering international efforts to assess the food security situation.
The authorities have also been accused of creating bureaucratic hurdles to humanitarian work and blocking visas for foreign teams.
- 'Only a ceasefire' -
The International Rescue Committee, a charity which has called Sudan the "biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded", said the army was "leveraging its status as the internationally recognised government (and blocking) the UN and other agencies from reaching RSF-controlled areas".
In October, experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council accused both sides of using "starvation tactics" and demanded that the army and RSF "stop immediately obstructing aid delivery in Sudan."
Last month, the World Food Programme said Sudan risks becoming the world's largest hunger crisis in recent history.
At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, announcing an additional $200 million of new funding for Sudan's humanitarian crisis, said people are forced to eat grass and peanut shells to survive in parts of the country.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million, including millions who face a worsening hunger crisis.
Across the country, more than 24.6 million people -- around half the population -- face "high levels of acute food insecurity," according to IPC, which said: "Only a ceasefire can reduce the risk of Famine spreading further".
E.Hall--AT