WAD MADANI, Sudan: In a rare televised speech on Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.

TRIPOLI: Clashes broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli late on Monday, residents said, after the reported seizure of a powerful armed faction commander by a rival force.
“We have heard gunfire for almost two hours now and we do not know what will happen. We fear for our safety,” said one of the residents in Furnaj district.
Mahmoud Hamza, head of the 444 brigade that controls much of Tripoli, was detained at Mitiga airport by the Special Deterrence Force, local media and a source in the 444 brigade said.

DUBAI: The Middle East and North Africa region is experiencing a “youth bulge,” which occurs when young people make up a disproportionately large percentage of the population.

Although the crest of the demographic wave is believed to have passed in most Arab countries, the population of young people in the region as a whole is expected to reach 65 million by the end of 2030. Whether the countries concerned will be able to harness what remains of this phenomenon, however, is an open question.

WAD MADANI, Sudan: Attacks by Sudanese paramilitaries on Sunday sent hundreds of civilians fleeing a major city in Darfur, residents said as battles against the regular army intensify in the restive western region.

Darfur as well as Sudan’s capital Khartoum have borne the brunt of nearly four months of fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF, led by rival generals vying for power.

HAIFA: Members of Israel’s Arab minority fear they will bear the brunt of the hard-right government’s judicial overhaul, but have remained largely on the margins of a raging debate over the sweeping changes.

Israelis have rallied weekly since the controversial reform package was announced in January by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, dubbed “the worst ever” by Samira Kanaan Khalaylah, 57, who lives in the northern Arab town of Majd Al-Krum.