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Residents of the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli voiced disillusionment on Monday after a deal with Damascus struck a fatal blow to their long-held aspirations of autonomy, with some accusing the United States of abandoning them.Under pressure from a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Mazloum Abdi said Sunday that he had agreed to a ceasefire deal formalising plans for Kurdish integration into the state in order to avoid “civil war”.The deal stipulates that the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration immediately hand over two predominantly Arab provinces it controlled, and outlines the integration of the body’s civil institutions in its stronghold of Hasakeh.On Sunday, US envoy Tom Barrack embraced the new deal as an “inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership”, but some in Qamishli saw it as a betrayal after the Kurds’ contributions in the war against the Islamic State (IS) group.”I never felt like the Americans’ support was genuine,” said 40-year-old Kurdish activist Hevi Ahmed, who likened Washington’s “dealings with people to mere real estate brokerage”.”The agreement is a disappointment after years of hope that the Syrian constitution might contain a better future for the Kurds,” she added.Spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds say that their attempts to establish an independent state have been systematically repressed by regional and international powers throughout their history.Washington has long allied itself with the SDF, which helped lead the fight against IS. But since the fall of Assad in 2024, the US position has been more complex, with President Donald Trump broadly supporting the new government’s efforts to unify the country while sending signals he is ready to move on from the SDF partnership.- Sharaa’s ‘vision’ -Aras Mohammed, a 34-year-old employee in the Kurdish administration, also expressed a “great sense of disappointment”. With the new deal, he said, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa “imposes his vision of the state and constitution, based on the legitimacy he obtained by overthrowing al-Assad”.That vision involves a centralised government, which Sharaa argues is necessary for stability after years of war, but which flies in the face of calls from minority groups in Syria for a more federalised system that safeguards their goal of self-determination.Mohammed said he also had major concerns after past “agreements have been violated, bypassed or diluted”.Ever since clashes erupted between Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops in Aleppo city earlier this month, Kurds living in autonomous areas have been growing increasingly anxious about the future of their long-marginalised community.As the clashes extended to areas of Kurdish control in Raqa and Deir Ezzor provinces, thousands of people came to seek refuge in Kurdish-majority Qamishli, many in overcrowded shelters, according to AFP correspondents.The Kurdish administration had already agreed in principle to be integrated into the government, though its leaders continued to call for decentralised rule — a non-starter for the new authorities.A decree announced by Sharaa on Friday made Kurdish a national language, designated the Kurdish new year of Nowruz an official holiday and granted citizenship to Kurds previously deprived of it, though it did little to reassure the community.- Like ‘Sweida and the coast’ -Ahmed said she “fears reprisals from government-affiliated factions… similar to what happened in Sweida and the coast”, where outbreaks of sectarian violence against the Alawite and Druze communities killed hundreds of people last year.She also expressed concern about the potential desecration of “images and graves of martyrs” killed in battles against IS.After the SDF withdrew from parts of Raqa on Sunday, an AFP correspondent saw people destroy a statue honouring a woman who fought with Kurdish forces and was killed by IS during the battle for Raqa city.Despite their partnership in the fight against jihadists, the US sparked an outcry when it pulled its troops out of northeastern Syria in 2019, leaving Kurdish-run territory open to a Turkish offensive that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.”This is not the first time America abandons its allies, allies who fought hard and gave thousands of martyrs against barbarians and terrorists,” said jewellery shop owner Rafeh Ismail, 43.Pharmacist Mohammed Issa, 25, asked that “the international coalition and the US do not abandon the Kurds”.”Unfortunately, international decisions are determining our fate today,” he said.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is set to get much worse in 2026 as food insecurity increases and international aid evaporates, the United Nations warned on Monday.Julien Harneis, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said he feared the calamitous situation would go under the radar until the death toll mounts.The picture in Yemen is “very, very concerning”, he told reporters in Geneva.Last year, 19.5 million people in the country needed humanitarian aid — and the UN’s response plan for the country was only 28-percent financed, at $688 million.”We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026,” said Harneis, pointing out that 21 million Yemenis were now in need, and aid was drying up.He said food insecurity was increasing, particularly on the Red Sea coast, while the health system, assisted by the United Nations and the World Bank for the last 10 years, was “not going to be supported in the way it has been in the past”.He said Yemenis would be “very vulnerable to epidemics” this year.”My fear is that we won’t hear about it until the mortality and the morbidity significantly increases this next year,” he added.Under President Donald Trump, the United States has heavily slashed foreign aid and other key donor countries have been tightening their belts.Harneis said that for many years, the United States was the biggest donor to Yemen, but “that’s no longer the case”.”I am hoping that at least in parts of Yemen, the US government will come back to fund,” he said, and also that Gulf countries would step up support.”A humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a risk to the Arabian peninsula. Cholera, measles and polio cross borders,” he warned.Harneis said the UN was trying to work with NGOs to see if they could plug any of the gaps.”Children are dying — and it’s going to get worse,” he said.”For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organisations were able to improve mortality and morbidity,” he pointed out.”With the conjunction we’re seeing this year, that’s not going to be the case. That is the simple story that everybody needs to understand.”- UN response ‘hobbled’ -Yemen’s internationally recognised government is a patchwork of groups held together by their opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis, who ousted them from the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now rule much of the country’s north.The Houthis have been at war with the government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.Harneis said the lack of a solution to the conflict was driving needs.”It’s not active fighting, it’s not massive displacement, it’s not bombing,” he said.”It is the collapse of the economy,” the damage to the ports and airports and the disruption of essential services.”We can take the edge off it, we can save lives but we cannot stop the underlying dynamic which is creating all these needs,” he said.Meanwhile 73 UN staff members are being held in detention in Yemen, some since 2021.”With these detentions and the seizure of our offices, the UN does not have the conditions to be able to work,” Harneis lamented.”To see our humanitarian response so hobbled is terrifying.” 

US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter seen by AFP.The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.What exactly will it do? And who has been invited?- To what end? -The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.It is “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate. It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law”, it adds.- Who’s boss? -Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America”.”The Chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.He will pick members of an Executive Board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the Chairman”.He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace”, “adopt resolutions or other directives”.The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity”.- Who can be a member? -Member states have to be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years”, the charter says.But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force”, it adds.The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually”, and “each member State shall have one vote”.But while all decisions require “a majority of Member States present and voting”, they will also be “subject to the approval of the Chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as Chairman in the event of a tie”.- Who’s already in? -The White House has said its members will include:US President Donald Trump, chairUS Secretary of State Marco RubioSteve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiatorJared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-lawTony Blair, former UK prime ministerMarc Rowan, billionaire US financierAjay Banga, World Bank president Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council – Who’s been invited? -The list of countries and leaders who say they have been invited include, but are not limited to:Russia’s President Vladimir PutinCanada’s Prime Minister Mark CarneyEgypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-SisiArgentina’s President Javier MileiJordanBrazilParaguayIndiaPakistanGermanyFranceItalyHungaryRomaniaUzbekistanBelarus- When does it start? -The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States”.

US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1.0 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter, seen Monday by AFP. The White House has asked various world leaders to sit on the board, chaired by Trump himself, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian premier Viktor Orban and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.Member countries — represented on the board by their head of state — would be allowed to join for three years — or longer if they paid more than $1.0 billion within the first year, the charter says.”Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” the board’s draft charter says.”The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.”The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but its charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.The White House said there would be a main board, a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern devastated Gaza, and a second “executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role.”The Board of Peace is an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” the charter says.- ‘Failed institutions’ -It appears to take a swipe at international institutions such as the United Nations, saying that the board should have “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”Trump has regularly criticized the United Nations and announced this month that his country will withdraw from 66 global organizations and treaties — roughly half affiliated with the UN.Membership of the board would be “limited to States invited to participate by the Chairman,” according to the draft charter.Trump would have the power to remove member states from the board, subject to a veto by two-third of members, and choose his replacement should he leave his role as chairman.The “Board of Peace” began to take shape on Saturday when the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada were asked to join.Trump also named as members Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, senior negotiator Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.Israel has objected to the line-up of a “Gaza executive board” to operate under the body, which includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi.

The hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers has returned to Khartoum’s central market, but “it’s nothing like before”, fruit vendor Hashim Mohamed told AFP, streets away from where war first broke out nearly three years ago.On April 15, 2023, central Khartoum awoke to battles between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who had been allies since 2021, when they ousted civilians from a short-lived transitional government.Their war has since killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.In greater Khartoum alone, nearly four million people — around half the population — fled the city when the RSF took over.Hashim Mohamed did not.”I had to work discreetly, because there were regular attacks” on businesses, said the fruit seller, who has worked in the sprawling market for 50 years.Like him, those who stayed in the city reported having lived in constant fear of assaults and robberies from militiamen roaming the streets.Last March, army forces led an offensive through the capital, pushing paramilitary fighters out and revealing the vast looting and destruction left behind.”The market’s not what it used to be, but it’s much better than when the RSF was here,” said market vendor Adam Haddad, resting in the shade of an awning.In the market’s narrow, dusty alleyways, fruits and vegetables are piled high on makeshift stalls or tarps spread on the ground.- Two jobs to survive -Khartoum, where entire neighbourhoods have been damaged by the fighting, is no longer threatened by the mass starvation that stalks battlefield cities and displacement camps elsewhere in Sudan.But with the economy a shambles, a good living is still hard to provide.”People complain about prices, they say it’s too expensive. You can find everything, but the costs keep going up: supplies, labour, transportation,” said Mohamed.Sudan has known only triple-digit annual inflation for years. Figures for 2024 stood at 151 percent — down from a 2021 peak of 358 percent.The currency has also collapsed, going from trading at 570 Sudanese pounds to the US dollar before the war to 3,500 in 2026, according to the black market rate.One Sudanese teacher, who only a few years ago could provide comfortably for his two children, told AFP he could no longer pay his rent with a monthly salary of 250,000 Sudanese pounds ($71).To feed his family, pay for school and cover healthcare, he “works in the market or anywhere” on his days off.”You have to have another job to pay for the bare minimum of basic needs,” he said, asking for anonymity to protect his privacy and to avoid “problems with security services”.Beyond Khartoum, the war still rages, with the RSF in control of much of western and southern Sudan and pushing into the central Kordofan region.For Adam Haddad, the road to recovery will be a long one.”We don’t have enough resources or workers or liquidity going through the market,” he said, adding that reliable electricity was still a problem.”The government is striving to restore everything, and God willing, in the near future, the power will return and Khartoum will become what it once was.”