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Sudan's humanitarian crisis worsens amid escalating violence in Kordofan and Darfur

Sudan's humanitarian crisis worsens amid escalating violence in Kordofan and Darfur

CAIRO (AP) — Fighting in Sudan's Kordofan region that has killed hundreds and ongoing violence in Darfur — the epicenters of the country's conflict — have worsened Sudan's humanitarian crisis, with aid workers warning of limited access to assistance.
The United Nations said more than 450 civilians, including at least 35 children, were killed during the weekend of July 12 in attacks in villages surrounding the town of Bara in North Kordofan province.
'The suffering in Kordofan deepens with each passing day,' Mercy Corps Country Director for Sudan,, Kadry Furany, said in a statement shared with The Associated Press. 'Communities are trapped along active and fast changing front lines, unable to flee, unable to access basic needs or lifesaving assistance.'
At least 60 killed in Bara over the last week
Sudan plunged into war after simmering tensions between the army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, escalated to fighting in April 2023. The violence has killed at least 40,000 people and created one of the world's worst displacement and hunger crises, according to humanitarian organizations. In recent months, much of the fighting has been concentrated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.
On Thursday, the U.N. human rights office confirmed that since July 10, the RSF has killed at least 60 civilians in the town of Bara, while civil society groups reported up to 300 people were killed, the office said.
A military airstrike on Thursday in Bara killed at least 11 people, all from the same family, according to the U.N. office. Meanwhile, between July 10 and 14, the army killed at least 23 civilians and injured over two dozen others after striking two villages in West Kordofan.
An aid worker with Mercy Corps said his brother was fatally shot on July 13 during an attack on the village of Um Seimima in El Obeid City in North Kordofan, Grace Wairima Ndungu, the group's communications manager told AP.
Furany said that movement between the western and eastern areas of the Kordofan region is 'practically impossible.'
The intensified fighting forced Mercy Corps to temporarily suspend operations in three out of four localities, with access beyond Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, now being in 'serious doubt,' Furany said, as a safe sustained humanitarian corridor is needed.
Fighting in Kordofan worsens displacement
Mathilde Vu, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who is often based in Port Sudan, told AP that fighting has intensified in North Kordofan and West Kordofan over the past several months.
'A large number of villages are being destroyed, burned to the ground, people being displaced,' she said. 'What is extremely worrying about the Kordofan is that there is very little information and not a lot of organizations are able to support. It is a complete war zone there.'
Marwan Taher, a project coordinator with humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, told AP that military operations in Kordofan heightened insecurity prompting scores of people to flee to Darfur, a region already in a dire humanitarian situation.
Though exact figures are yet to be confirmed, Taher estimated that hundreds were recently displaced from Kordofan to Tawila in North Darfur province. The NRC said that since April, Tawila has already received 379,000 people escaping violence in famine-hit Zamzam Camp and Al Fasher.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration recently reported that over 46,000 people were displaced from different areas in West Kordofan in May alone due to clashes between warring parties.
Taher said those fleeing Kordofan to Tawila walk long distances with barely enough clothes and little water, and sleep on the streets until they arrive at the area they want to settle in. The new wave of displacement has brought diseases, including measles, which began spreading in parts of Zalingi in West Darfur in March and April as camps received people fleeing Kordofan.
Flooding and attacks worsen Darfur's already dire situation
Aid workers also warned about ongoing fighting in Darfur. Vu said there have been 'uninterrupted campaigns of destruction' against civilians in North Darfur.
'In Darfur there's been explicit targeting of civilians. There's been explicit execution,' she said.
Shelling killed five children Wednesday in El Fasher in North Darfur, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay. Meanwhile, between July 14 and 15, heavy rains and flooding displaced over 400 people and destroyed dozens of homes in Dar As Salam, North Darfur.
With a looming rainy season, a cholera outbreak and food insecurity, the situation in Darfur is 'getting worse every day and that's what war is,' said Taher.
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Coca-Cola to release soda with cane sugar after Trump pushed for it. Is it really better than high fructose corn syrup?
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Coca-Cola to release soda with cane sugar after Trump pushed for it. Is it really better than high fructose corn syrup?

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People Are Debating Whether We Should Limit The Age Of US Presidents To 65, Considering Our Current President Is…Pretty Old
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In the United States, the past three presidents sworn into office have a combined age of 226. There's a minimum age requirement to serve as US president (35 years old), but no maximum age requirement. On the always conversational r/AskReddit, Reddit user u/CountyOpposite7622 asked fellow Americans: Would limiting the age of the President to 65 be something you'd support? Why or why not? Here are some of the answers about a topic that is more split than you'd think: 1."Yes, if there is a young age limit, then an older one is justified as well." —u/Tails6666 "Obama was the only president we've had this wave who was born after the 1940s." —u/ricosmith1986 2."I'd support age limits for all politicians. Asking someone to live a while in the world they create is a fair ask, in my opinion." —u/dkviper11 3."Politicians collecting social security have no business in Congress, the White House, etc." —u/Helpful_Finger_4854 Related: 4."Why are we letting folks who can die from a strong breeze knocking them over run the country?" —u/BooobiesANDbho 5."I think Americans need to ask themselves: Why are American politicians generally so old? Most of the world doesn't have maximum age limits either, yet older people in politics are much rarer elsewhere. Why?" —u/Divolinon "Money = Power." —u/Sad_Inspector_4780 6."Mitch McConnell has been a Kentucky senator since 1985; he's had power longer than I've been alive." —u/Ferrous31 7."Add in 20-year limits on Supreme Court and Federal judge appointments. Lifetime appointments are ridiculous. As far as an age limit on legislators, I agree for the most part, but Sanders makes me question it. He seems to grasp the moment better than many Democrats in Congress who are 30 years his junior." —u/matt_minderbinder 8."There is a minimum, so a maximum makes sense. 35-70 seems reasonable. A 70-year-old running for election would finish the term at 74, maybe 75, depending on the time of their birthday, of course. Just for discussion's sake." —u/ifitfitsitshipz 9."Considering Congress limits my profession to age 65, I'd love for that to be an age cap for ALL federal elected officials as well." —u/cbph 10."Without some sort of test for competency, it doesn't matter where you set the age limit." —u/tricksterloki "The problem with that is that there is no way we could get everyone to agree on the definition of competent in this context." —u/FreeIDecay Related: 11."Actual fossils running our government." —u/MakimaGOAT 12."We've been stuck in a generational loop with presidents." —u/kerouacrimbaud 13."The US Constitution technically has a provision to remove a mentally incompetent president from office. It's just never been used before for a whole host of reasons. An age limit would at least help." —u/PenguinQuesadilla 14."There is a minimum because the founders wanted life experience to be a factor. There's enough time for somebody to learn and understand how things work when it comes to people and management. I'm OK with the way things are. I like freedom, but I also appreciate having some structure within it. Let's say we eliminate the 35-year-old minimum, which would now allow a 10-year-old to be elected to the presidency. Probably not a smart move, but hopefully society isn't that silly." —u/ifitfitsitshipz 15."I know plenty of 70-year-olds that I think would be perfectly competent to be president, and plenty of 40-year-olds I wouldn't trust to watch paint dry." —u/OneGoodRib Related: 16."Maybe tie it in with a driver's test. If they can't be mentally or physically competent enough to make decisions while in a car, I don't want them behind the wheel of a country either." —u/ExistentialWonder 17."I think 75 by election day is fair. I work in healthcare, and people over 65 should have an opportunity to be represented because they have a drastically different set of needs than people who are 55. " —u/09232022 "F*** that. They've already been overrepresented in Congress for decades now. I'm done tolerating being ruled by ancient, technologically illiterate ghouls." —u/GreatResetBet 18."I would probably say 65 when their term starts or 70 when it ends. Doing the job right is extremely stressful, and very few older folks can sustain that. I would also put caps on Congress: 75 years old at the end of their term." —u/Freds_Bread 19."100%. We need presidents who still have enough life left to actually face the consequences of their choices in office. That way they'll have incentive to do good." —u/Its0nlyRocketScience 20."Nope. The world does not need more techbro billionaires in politics. CEOs in general make awful politicians." —u/ErikTheEngineer 21."Use cognitive tests for metrics that matter. Do not use age solely because it's correlated with older age. Person A can be sharp as a tack at 85, person B can develop early-onset dementia at 63." —u/mintmouse 22."The House, Senate, Supreme Court, and president should all top out at 50, not because of any issues of mental competency. It's because you should be forced to live in the world you built after you leave office. So many octogenarian freaks are fine with passing sociopathic legislation because they're expecting to croak in the next three or four years. If it's guaranteed that you actually have to suffer the fallout of your actions for 20 or 30 years, then you might be more likely to pass legislation that won't kill all of us in 10." —u/FoucaultsPudendum "The flaw here is that ex-presidents/senators/etc. make a fuck-ton of money after they leave office, so they'll never have to deal with things that we peons have to deal with." —u/Wuz314159 Related: 23."No, because not all old people are senile." —u/RetroBerner 24."Yes, and I would also pay a ham sandwich or five to see a Constitutional amendment limiting all federally elected officials to either two consecutive 4-year terms or a single 6-year term to ensure they aren't constantly campaigning." —u/lipstickd_tapshoes 25."I find it shocking how many people in the US government are over 70, at least at the higher level. I actually supported Biden for his polices, but not as a person because of his age. He was in his late 70s to mid-80s. WTF is he doing, trying to run for president again? Yeah, for sure, an age limit. I'd rather have someone who's mentally and physically alert and active enough to do the job. 65 is the retirement age, which should be the cutoff. Or like 67 or 68. Though older people can be mentally alert and aware, it's clear at that age that it goes down." —u/qings1 26."Absolutely. There is no reason we retire pilots flying commercially, and even in the military. The president is the Commander-in-Chief. 65 years old tops." —u/ViolettaQueso 27."I'm not really in favor of limits like this, but also, it takes an unhinged person to, at 65, say 'I'd like to run for office,' let alone for POTUS." —u/Able-Candle-2125 28."No. Different people age at different rates, so it doesn't make sense to disallow someone in their mid-60s who is still sharp from being president. Also, we the people are responsible for voting for decent candidates. It's our fault that so many of us are dumbass Trump supporters." —u/OkArmordillo 29."You can't be the president if you're under 35. Nobody seems to have a problem with that. I sure don't. A 30-year window of eligibility makes pretty good sense to me. The person leading this country should be in their prime, and not someone whose mental faculties are potentially compromised by their advanced age." —u/RilohKeen What do you think of a presidential age limit of 65? Comment below. Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Solve the daily Crossword

Canadian boycott of US spirits hurts broader alcohol sales, trade group says
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