- Ten-man Spurs cruise in Europa League opener despite Son injury scare
- Iran shows 'willingness' to re-engage on nuclear issue: IAEA chief to AFP
- Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan accused of sexual asault
- Harris slams Ukraine 'surrender' policy as Zelensky visits White House
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Teenager seeking to halt Ohtani 50-50 ball auction
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Packers clash awaits for 'late developer' Darnold
- Israel pours cold water on US-backed call for ceasefire with Hezbollah
- Zelensky meets Biden after US unveils Ukraine military aid surge
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Eric Adams, New York's criminally charged mayor of 'swagger'
- Ten Hag says lack of goals Manchester United's biggest problem
- Emotional Almodovar wins lifetime award at San Sebastian festival
- Putin rachets up nuclear rhetoric, but is he ready to act?
- Former MVP Derrick Rose retires from NBA
- England's Hull out of Pakistan tour
- US urges pressure on Venezuela's Maduro after disputed vote
- US announces new half billion dollars for Syria aid
- Lawson to replace Ricciardo at RB F1 team for rest of season
- New York mayor charged with years of bribery, fraud
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- Myanmar junta invites armed groups to stop fighting, start talks
- Argentina change seven of team that beat Springboks for rematch
- Marsh adamant Australia have 'moved on' from Lord's row
- Monet's odes to London's 'beautiful' smog appear in city
- Pakistan braces for 'transitional pain' as IMF approves $7 bn loan
- Van Gogh painting falls short of expectations in Hong Kong auction
- Potts glad to learn from England great Anderson
- Palestinian leader calls for world to stop sending Israel weapons
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- Dyche says Everton takeover should bring 'stability'
- 'The last straw': gang-plagued Ecuador now fighting record fires
- Italy and Britain tied after Louis Vuitton Cup final day one
- Survivor of Mexican mass disappearance fights for truth
- Russia in weapon transfer talks with Yemen's Huthis: US envoy to AFP
- West Ham boss Lopetegui jokingly rules himself out after calf injury
- Kenya to complete full deployment to Haiti by January: president
- France's Jegou makes rugby training return despite rape allegation
- Melania Trump opens up about attempts on ex-president's life
- Family urges UK govt to secure release of Egyptian dissident
- Mallorca fan sentenced after racist abuse of Vinicius, Chukwueze
- Far-right lawmakers nominate Musk for top EU rights award
- Tired, traumatised Lebanese fear new Israel-Hezbollah war
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Top-ranked Sinner fights back to launch China Open title defence
- 'Catastrophic' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Ex-Harrods owner Al-Fayed presided over 'toxic culture': managing director
- Marseille Ligue 1 title hopes 'not serious' despite dream start
UN chief raises alarm over Sudan 'escalation' to army leader
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced concern Wednesday over "escalation" in Sudan's conflict to the country's army chief when they met on the sidelines of a diplomatic gathering in New York.
Sudan has been high on the agenda at the UN's centerpiece meeting this week, with the dire humanitarian situation and refugee crisis dominating discussions on the war that broke out in April last year.
The conflict between two rival generals -- the head of the army, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces -- has so far displaced more than 10 million people, a fifth of Sudan's population, both within the country and across borders.
"People in Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to grow," said the UN’s top relief official Joyce Msuya.
A UN-backed assessment has warned of the risk of widespread famine in Sudan on a scale not seen anywhere in the world in decades.
"The secretary-general expressed deep concern about the escalation of the conflict in the Sudan, which continues to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese civilians and risks a regional spillover," said a UN readout of Guterres's meeting with General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan.
The United States earlier Wednesday announced $424 million in new aid for displaced and hungry Sudanese as it urged others to ramp up efforts for one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The assistance includes $175 million with which the US will buy some 81,000 metric tons of surplus food from its own farmers to feed people in and around Sudan, American officials said.
- 'Apocalyptic' conditions -
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told a UN event that the world must scale up its efforts "massively" as she regretted that many were ignoring "a catastrophe of truly unfathomable proportions."
"As we sit here today, more than 25 million Sudanese face acute hunger. Many are in famine, some reduced to eating leaves and dirt to stave off hunger pangs -- but not starvation," she said.
Her intervention came a day after US President Joe Biden called on the world to "stop arming the generals."
"This humanitarian catastrophe is a man-made one -- brought on by a senseless war that has wrought unspeakable violence and by heartless blockades of food, water and medicine for those made victims of it," Thomas-Greenfield said.
"The rape and torture, ethnic cleansing, weaponization of hunger -- it is utterly unconscionable," she said.
She made a new appeal to let assistance into El-Fasher, which has been besieged by the RSF as the paramilitary force seeks a complete takeover of the western Darfur region.
"We must compel the warring parties to accept humanitarian pauses in El-Fasher, Khartoum and other highly vulnerable areas," she said.
The UN's refugees chief Filippo Grandi warned Wednesday that "conditions are apocalyptic" in Sudan.
"If people don't die because of bullets, they starve to death. If they manage to survive, they must face disease or floods or the threat of sexual violence and other horrifying abuse, which if perpetrated in other places would make daily headlines," he said.
Sudan plunged into a devastating war last year as the army battled the RSF.
The World Health Organization said this month at least 20,000 people have been killed. But some estimates are far higher, with the US envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, saying that up to 150,000 people may have died -- far more than in the war in Gaza.
G.Teles--PC