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Arab World

Members of Sudanese ‘Sovereign Council’

Sudanese civilians wave their national flags during celebrations of the signing of Sudan's power-sharing deal in Khartoum, Sudan, August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Sudanese civilians wave their national flags during celebrations of the signing of Sudan's power-sharing deal in Khartoum, Sudan, August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Members of Sudanese ‘Sovereign Council’

Sudanese civilians wave their national flags during celebrations of the signing of Sudan's power-sharing deal in Khartoum, Sudan, August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Sudanese civilians wave their national flags during celebrations of the signing of Sudan's power-sharing deal in Khartoum, Sudan, August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

After a 12-hour meeting and under increasing popular pressures, leaders of the Forces of the Freedom and Change (FFC) agreed on the six candidates list at the sovereignty council. The council would run the country during the transitional phase of three years and three months.

Muhammad Hassan Taayashi, residing in the UK and candidate of Sudanese Professionals Association, returned to the candidates’ list at the council after he was dismissed earlier – his dismissal sparked a debate over social media.

He was joined by Prof. Siddique Taur, Legal Expert Hassan Mohammed Sheikh Idris, Journalist Mohamed Elfaki Soliman, Dr. Aisha Musa al-Saeed and Legal Counsel Rajaa Nicolas Issa Abdul Masih.

Muhammad Hassan Taayashi

Born in 1973 in Rihed Al Birdi, Darfur, he received his high-school education at Buram then at the University of Khartoum. He joined students of National Umma Party and appeared as an experienced politician. Taayashi left the party in 2009 and moved to the UK, directing his work to the civil sector especially conflicts and wars resolution.

Rajaa Nicolas Issa Abdul Masih

The Transitional Military Council and the FFC agreed on Rajaa Nicolas Issa Abdul Masih as the 11th figure at the council. She is a Christian born in Omdurman, where she received her primary education.

Rajaa received a bachelor in law from Cairo University in 1980, and was appointed at the Ministry of Justice then promoted to become a legal counsel at the ministry.

Dr. Aisha Musa al-Saeed

Born in El-Obeid, north of Kurdufan, Aisha received Education Certificate from Teacher Training Institute in Omdurman and a Masters from the University of Manchester, a higher diploma from Leeds University and Training Teachers to Teach Languages Certificate from the US.

Journalist Mohamed Elfaki Soliman

He politically belongs to the Unionist Alliance, one of the main factions that participated in the popular movement. Elfaki is the youngest at the council, born in 1979. He studied political sciences at the University of Khartoum.

Legal Expert Hassan Mohammed Sheikh Idris

He is from Kassala, east of Sudan, and graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Khartoum in 1972. Then he got involved in state institutions.

Prof. Siddique Taur

He was chosen by the FFC as a member at the sovereign council, and is known for belonging to the Arab Socialist Baath Party.

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Arab World

9 Children Killed as Tricycle Plunges into a Canal in Egypt

A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. (Reuters)
A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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9 Children Killed as Tricycle Plunges into a Canal in Egypt

A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. (Reuters)
A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. (Reuters)

A motorized tricycle plunged into a canal in southern Egypt on Tuesday, killing nine children and injuring two others, local officials said.

The tricycle fell into the water in the area of Abu Tig in the southern province of Assiut, according to a statement the governor’s office posted on Facebook. Assiut, located 320 kilometers (199 miles) south of the capital, Cairo, is a province in Upper Egypt known for historic landmarks.

Local media reported that a steering malfunction caused the tricycle to overturn as it carried children returning home from work on nearby farms. The conditions of those injured were unclear. The bodies were taken to Abu Tig Hospital, according to the governor's office.

Local news outlet Cairo 24 said the children’s ages ranged from 10 to 17.

Photos posted by the governor’s office showed dozens of people gathered at the canal as people in divers’ gear searched the water.

Assiut Gov. Mohamed Elwan ordered authorities to implement safety measures, including the installation of concrete barriers along the sides of the canal.

Deadly traffic accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, which has a poor transportation safety record. Speeding, bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws are the main reasons for crashes. Earlier this year, a truck and a pickup truck collided on a highway, killing 18 people, officials said.

Arab World

Sudan Army Says Retakes Key Town Near Chad

A car with bullet holes on it in a square in Khartoum, Sudan, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with bullet holes on it in a square in Khartoum, Sudan, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Sudan Army Says Retakes Key Town Near Chad

A car with bullet holes on it in a square in Khartoum, Sudan, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with bullet holes on it in a square in Khartoum, Sudan, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)

The Sudanese army said it had retaken Kulbus, a strategic town near the Chadian border, in what appeared to be its biggest battlefield gain in western Darfur since the fall of el-Fashir last year.

The Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, consolidated control over most of Darfur after capturing el-Fashir, the military's final stronghold in the region.

The military and its allied Joint Forces, a coalition of armed groups, meanwhile retained pockets of control along the Chadian border.

Kulbus lies on a vital corridor near the border, roughly halfway between the army-held border town of Al-Tina in North Darfur and El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, which remains under RSF control.

In a statement late Monday, the Joint Forces said their fighters had taken "full control" of the town in West Darfur after what they described as "decisive battles", claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on RSF units and seized vehicles and weapons.

The claims could not be independently verified and the RSF has not commented.

In a separate statement, a pro-army popular resistance group accused the RSF of using Kulbus as a staging ground for "thousands of fighters crossing the border" and as a key supply hub linked to El-Geneina.

Video footage circulated by local media appeared to show men wearing Sudanese army uniforms celebrating in front of a sign reading "West Darfur State -- Kulbus Locality".

Fighting has intensified in recent months along the frontier between North and West Darfur as the army seeks to secure a strategic corridor along the border with Chad, which it accuses of being aligned with the RSF.

Al-Tina, already at risk of famine according to the UN, has come under repeated RSF attacks this year.

In recent days, the UN, several governments and aid organizations have warned of a possible RSF offensive on El-Obeid, a key city in the neighboring Kordofan region, raising fears of a repeat of the assault that led to the fall of el-Fashir.

Now in its fourth year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created the world's largest hunger crisis.

Arab World

Countries Request Urgent UN Debate on Sudan's al-Obeid

Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Countries Request Urgent UN Debate on Sudan's al-Obeid

Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese women make a wicker bowl at the al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the South Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

The UN Human Rights Council has received a request for an urgent debate on the situation in Sudan's al-Obeid city, a spokesperson said on ⁠Tuesday.

"That will most ⁠likely take place on Friday," Pascal Sim, a spokesperson for the ⁠council, told a press briefing in Geneva.

The request was submitted by countries including Britain and Germany.

The UN has warned of "substantial" Rapid Support Forces troop movements around the city ahead of a possible ground assault, raising fears of a repeat of the atrocities seen in El-Fasher, the Darfur city which fell to the RSF last October in an attack the UN said bore "the hallmarks of genocide.”

After breaking a prolonged siege in February last year, the Sudanese army has struggled to stop the RSF from reimposing a blockade through repeated drone strikes targeting al-Obeid, its infrastructure and the main highway out.

Recent attacks have hit the main power station and fuel depots, plunged neighborhoods into darkness and shut down water pumps.