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Sudan told the International Court of Justice Thursday that the United Arab Emirates was the “driving force” behind what it called a genocide in Darfur, a charge the UAE said “couldn’t be further from the truth”.Khartoum has dragged the UAE before the ICJ, accusing it of complicity in genocide against the Masalit community by backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battling the Sudanese army since 2023.The UAE denies supporting the rebels and has dismissed Sudan’s case as “political theatre” distracting from efforts to end the war that has killed tens of thousands.As robed lawyers wrestled over legal interpretations of jurisdiction in the panelled hall of the Peace Palace, the human cost of the conflict has continued to mount.The army and local activists said a paramilitary strike on the El-Fasher city in Darfur on Wednesday killed at least 12 people and wounded 17.Opening the case at the ICJ, Muawia Osman, Sudan’s acting justice minister, told the court that the “ongoing genocide would not be possible without the complicity of the UAE, including the shipment of arms to the RSF.”The direct logistical and other support that the UAE has provided and continues to provide to the RSF has been and continues to be the primary driving force behind the genocide now taking place, including killing, rape, forced displacement and looting,” said Osman.Sudan wants ICJ judges to force the UAE to stop its alleged support for the RSF and make “full reparations”, including compensation to victims of the war.Responding for the UAE, Reem Ketait, a top foreign ministry official, told the court: “The idea that the UAE is somehow the driver of this reprehensible conflict in Sudan could not be further from the truth.”This case is the most recent iteration of the applicant’s misuse of our international institutions as a stage from which to attack the UAE,” added Ketait.Sudan’s allegations were “at best misleading and at worst pure fabrications”, she said.The case comes a day after the United States and Saudi Arabia called on the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces to resume peace talks in the country’s conflict.- ‘Very clear case’ -Legal experts say Sudan’s case may founder on jurisdictional issues.When the UAE signed up to the Genocide Convention, it entered a “reservation” to a key clause enabling countries to drag each other before the ICJ over disputes.Sudan’s claims raise “important questions”, Michael Becker, international law expert from Trinity College Dublin, wrote in a recent piece for the Opinio Juris specialist website.”Because the UAE made a reservation to Article IX when it acceded to the Genocide Convention in 2005, the ICJ can be expected to conclude that it lacks jurisdiction over the dispute,” wrote Becker.”There is clearly no basis for the court’s jurisdiction in this case,” the UAE’s Ketait told the judges.The UAE called for the case to be thrown out and removed from the court’s list.Sudan argued in its application that the UAE’s reservation was “incompatible” with the purpose of the Genocide Convention, which emphasises global collective responsibility to prevent the world’s worst crimes.The rulings of the ICJ, which hears disputes between states, are final and binding but the court has no means to ensure compliance.Judges ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine to no avail, for example.”We have put before the court a very, very clear case,” Sudanese minister Osman told reporters outside the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits.”In our belief, if there were no support from the UAE, all these violations (of the Genocide Convention) would not be able to happen,” Osman said. 

Near front lines where they once battled each other, former fighters in Lebanon’s civil war now gather to bear the same message, half a century after the devastating conflict erupted: never again.The war killed 150,000 people, destroyed the country and left an indelible mark on the Lebanese psyche.Years after it ended in 1990, some buildings in the freewheeling capital remain riddled with bullet holes, and 17,000 people who went missing were never found.”It was a useless war,” said Georges Mazraani, a Christian who took up arms in Beirut’s working-class neighbourhood of Ain al-Remmaneh, where the conflict started.The Christian district is separated from the Muslim neighbourhood of Shiyah by just one street that went on to become a key front line.On April 13, 1975, members of the right-wing Christian Phalange militia machine-gunned a bus of Palestinians, leaving 27 dead, hours after assailants opened fire outside a nearby church, killing one of theirs.The incident that ignited the war remains seared in Lebanon’s memory.- ‘Reconciliation’ -The country had been on a knife-edge, with Palestinian fighters, and their Lebanese leftist and Muslim allies preparing for a confrontation against Christian groups, who were doing the same.For 15 years, a country once known as “the Switzerland of the Middle East” was ravaged by war along sectarian lines, with alliances shifting year after year with warlords building and breaking loyalties.And while the civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon has never recovered its former glory, remaining until 2005 under Syrian control, and with part of the country under Israeli occupation for two decades.Now grey, Mazraani was just 21 when he and other young men in his neighbourhood took up arms. He later went on to command hundreds of fighters.”I lost 17 years of my life and 14 family members,” he said, now 71 and ill.Near him plaques commemorating the “martyrs” of the Christian “resistance” adorn street corners.Today, “some people are encouraging civil war in Lebanon”, Mazraani said.”They should be quiet and open up to reconciliation, so we can be finished with this problem.” – ‘Ask for forgiveness’ -With Mazraani is Nassim Assaad, who fought for the Lebanese Communist Party, a onetime foe.”It’s the poor” on both sides “who paid the price”, not the militia leaders, said Assaad, who was 18 when the war began.He and Mazraani are now part of Fighters for Peace, which brings together former enemies for peace-building activities including community outreach and awareness-raising at schools and universities.Assaad said many people were worried about a possible return to civil war in the country still reeling from a recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.”Today, the circumstances are even more conducive for it than in 1975,” he said.The key issue dividing Lebanon today is the arsenal of Hezbollah, the only group which refused to surrender its weapons to the state after the civil war ended.In Shiyah, the fighters of old have disappeared.Israel’s 1982 invasion and siege of Beirut dislodged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his fighters, while the leftist presence was replaced by Hezbollah, created with Iranian backing that year to fight the Israeli troops.The civil war ended with the Saudi-brokered Taif agreement, which established a new power-sharing system between Lebanon’s religious sects.An amnesty for war crimes left victims and their families without justice, and the country has chosen collective amnesia in order to move on.”We must go back over our experience of war and ask for forgiveness in order to reach a real reconciliation,” said Ziad Saab, president of Fighters for Peace. The power-sharing system was meant to be temporary, but in practice has enshrined the control of some former warlords, who swapped their military fatigues for suits, or their family members.Still today, periodic violence shakes the fragile balance.- ‘Lessons of the past’ -In the town of Souk al-Gharb, overlooking Beirut, former fighters from different backgrounds walk through grass covering the old front line to an abandoned bunker.The strategic town saw ferocious battles during the Mountain War between Christians and Druze that began in the wake of the Israeli invasion.”When I walk here, I’m afraid — not of mines, but because the ground is stained with the blood of my comrades,” said Soud Bou Shebl, 60, who fought with Christian militia the Lebanese Forces.Karam al-Aridi, 63, who led Druze fighters from the Progressive Socialist Party, said “war only causes death and problems”, saying his village of Baysur alone lost 140 men.”We must learn the lessons of the past,” he said. “No party must feel stronger than another, otherwise our country will be lost.”

The EU paused plans for retaliatory tariffs on US goods Thursday after President Donald Trump abruptly suspended higher US duties on the bloc and other countries, leaving China in the crosshairs of his trade war.Trump’s about-face on Wednesday triggered a massive market rebound but Wall Street’s rally fizzled on Thursday and the dollar slumped, as …

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Liam Lawson on Thursday reflected on a “crazy” start to his first full season in Formula One.Axed after just two races by Red Bull he was demoted to their sister team RB for last weekend’s race in Japan, with Yuki Tsunoda replacing him as Max Verstappen’s teammate.”Obviously it’s been a crazy couple of weeks and months and a lot of it has been not the most enjoyable,” confessed the young New Zealander.Lawson is preparing for his second run out with the RB team he had 11 races with last season at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.With the temperature gauge at the Sakhir circuit nudging 37 degrees Celsius it was nothing like the heat he felt at Red Bull after two pointless performances in Australia and China.Mentally it’s been a tough start to his first full season in the fast lane, but the 23-year-old said he was taking solace in still being able to do his day job.”The fact that I’m racing each weekend at the moment is probably the best thing for me because it just means I can focus on driving,” he said, with the drone of helicopters arriving at the circuit overhead.He finished 17th in Suzuka last Sunday on his return to RB, with his fellow rookie teammate Isack Hadjar picking up his first ever F1 points in eighth, but vows there is better to come.”I think the weekend (in Japan) didn’t really show properly what I think we were capable of.”Unfortunately we just missed out on qualification, but in general I think I felt pretty comfortable.”Bahrain is the middle leg of a ‘triple header’, book-ended by Japan and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah.Lawson feels that hectic schedule has helped him avoid dwelling too much on what has been a tough start to 2025.”I think that’s the best thing, had it been a three week gap or something like that, you’re just sitting on it and although you don’t want to talk about it, it ends up coming up in conversation and at least this way because we are racing, I have enough to think about.”- ‘Shooting zombies’ -Lawson’s teammate Hadjar had a baptism of fire in the season-opener in Australia, crashing out on the formation lap.But the talented French rookie dusted himself down to finish 11th next time out in China, followed by last Sunday’s deeply impressive eighth spot after qualifying seventh.Whilst understandably thrilled to get his first points of his career on the board he said it came with a twist.”Of course now being rewarded with points definitely gives me a bit more confidence but it’s not like I don’t need to work anymore, you know?”I always put the pressure on me to keep delivering, so now the expectations from people are maybe a bit higher, but I keep doing what I do.”Hadjar and Lawson have been gelling as teammates off the track, with the Parisian raised to an Algerian family describing the pair’s chemistry as “really good”.”We played padel, we went to virtual Call of Duty together.”Like two days ago, we were shooting zombies together in the same team” he disclosed.Hadjar received praise after his Suzuka drive from Red Bull’s influential advisor Helmut Marko.That led to the big question – would he answer the call if and when it came to become four-time world champion Verstappen’s latest partner – a position that does not come with a lot of job security.”Honestly, now it seems like it’s really hard to be next to Max,” he reflected.”It makes me want to go even more, to find out why, what’s going on, but that’s still the main target.”Both young drivers will be out to impress in this fourth round of the season held under floodlights on Sunday evening.

As stock prices flashed across a huge screen at a bustling intersection in China’s business hub Shanghai, finance workers shared their concerns after getting front-row seats to the global market turmoil wreaked by Donald Trump this week.After equities tanked at the beginning of the week, the US president on Wednesday paused the sweeping tariffs he …

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US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will be in Oman for breakthrough talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme this weekend.Here are short profiles of the two negotiators: – Witkoff: real estate to world stage -With no prior experience in foreign policy, he landed one of the world’s biggest jobs as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, and has since led high-stakes talks on Gaza and Ukraine.Real estate magnate Steve Witkoff first stepped into the spotlight when his close friend Trump credited him with sealing a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.While the ceasefire collapsed weeks later, it did enable the release of 25 living hostages and the return of eight others’ remains.Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire and a regular golfing partner of Trump’s, later became the first US official to visit Gaza since the war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel.He defended Trump’s stunning suggestion that he wanted to “take over” the Palestinian territory and move out its two million inhabitants.”When the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable, and this is a long-range plan,” Witkoff told reporters at the White House.Witkoff has also spearheaded negotiations on Ukraine, with Trump U-turning on his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy on Russia.He was in Russia to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin when a scandal erupted over a leaked Yemen air strike chat on the Signal app that involved National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other officials.Witkoff himself has drawn criticism from Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky over his praise for Putin and for appearing to legitimise Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine.In March, he was Trump’s man in Saudi Arabia for talks on Ukraine, voicing optimism that any agreement struck could pave the way for a “full-on” ceasefire.Trump has made it a foreign policy goal to end wars that Biden could not stop, meaning that the stakes could hardly be higher for Witkoff.Ultimately, Witkoff’s win in Gaza was short-lived, with US ally Israel restarting intense strikes on March 18.On Ukraine, the Russian president has yet to accept a long-term truce.Born on March 15, 1957, in the New York borough of the Bronx, Witkoff made his fortune in real estate, first as a corporate lawyer and then at the head of big realty firms.In 1997, he founded the Witkoff Group, which describes itself as “one part developer, one part investor (and) one part landscape-changer.” His wife and a son work there.- Araghchi: Iran’s career diplomat -A career diplomat and key architect of the 2015 nuclear accord, Araghchi will be pushing the United States to lift its punishing sanctions on Iran.The 62-year-old, who hails from a family of carpet traders, is fluent in English and has a long career spanning multiple roles in Iran’s foreign ministry.With his crisp beard and salt-and-pepper hair, Araghchi is known for his calm demeanour. He typically wears a suit and a tie-less white mandarin-collared shirt, a standard look among Iranian diplomats.He holds a bachelor’s degree from the foreign ministry’s Faculty of International Relations, a master’s in political science from the Islamic Azad University, and a doctorate in political thought from the University of Kent in England.Following the 1979 Islamic revolution, Araghchi joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He served on the front lines during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s before joining the foreign ministry as an expert on international affairs.Araghchi was appointed foreign minister after President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has called for reviving talks with the West, took office in July.He was the chief negotiator at the talks that culminated in the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) fell apart after the United States, during Donald Trump’s first term, unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions.Araghchi remains a fervent supporter of the deal but said in a recent interview with Khabar Online news agency that the JCPOA “cannot be revived in its current form and text.””Our nuclear programme has advanced significantly and we can no longer return to the conditions of the JCPOA,” he said, adding that the deal “can still be a basis and a model for negotiations”.burs-ser-mz/

Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC reported Thursday a better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter on strong demand for AI technology, after tariffs slapped onto major economies by US President Donald Trump caused global uncertainty.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world’s largest contract maker of chips that are used in everything from Apple’s iPhones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge …

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