International Conference Rallies Aid for Sudan after 2 Years of War, but Peace Is Elusive

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (C) chairs the London Sudan Conference 2025 at Lancaster House in London on April 15, 2025. Senior international officials gather in London aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties. (AFP) 
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (C) chairs the London Sudan Conference 2025 at Lancaster House in London on April 15, 2025. Senior international officials gather in London aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties. (AFP) 
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International Conference Rallies Aid for Sudan after 2 Years of War, but Peace Is Elusive

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (C) chairs the London Sudan Conference 2025 at Lancaster House in London on April 15, 2025. Senior international officials gather in London aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties. (AFP) 
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (C) chairs the London Sudan Conference 2025 at Lancaster House in London on April 15, 2025. Senior international officials gather in London aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties. (AFP) 

Britain and the European Union pledged hundreds of millions of dollars Tuesday to ease suffering in Sudan, on the second anniversary of a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 14 million and pushed large parts of the country into famine. 

The African Union, which co-hosted the daylong conference in London with Britain, France, Germany and the EU, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. But UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy acknowledged that achieving peace would take time, renewed international effort and "patient diplomacy." 

The main aim of the conference was not to negotiate peace, but to relieve what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. 

The conference hosts said participants had committed more than 813 million pounds (more than $1 billion) for Sudan and its neighbors this year. That includes 522 million euros ($590 million) from the EU and its member states and 120 million pounds ($158 million) from the UK. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the conference that "no amount of humanitarian assistance will be sufficient if this war continues." 

Attendees included officials from Western nations, international institutions and neighboring countries, but no one from Sudan. Neither the Sudanese military nor the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) it is fighting was invited. 

Lammy told delegates that "many have given up on Sudan," concluding that continued conflict is inevitable. He said a lack of political will is the biggest obstacle to peace. 

"We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country and to put peace first," Lammy said. 

Sudan plunged into war on April 15, 2023, after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and the RSF. Fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing at least 20,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. 

Last month the military regained control over Khartoum, a major symbolic victory in the war. But the RSF still controls most of the western region of Darfur and some other areas. 

More than 300 civilians were killed in a burst of fighting in Darfur on Friday and Saturday, according to the UN. 

More than 3 million people have fled to neighboring countries including Chad and Egypt. Both sides in the war have been accused of committing war crimes. 

The World Food Program says nearly 25 million people — half of Sudan’s population — face extreme hunger. 

Aid agency Oxfam said the humanitarian catastrophe risks becoming a regional crisis, with fighting spilling into neighboring countries. It said that in South Sudan, itself wracked by recent war, the arrival of refugees has put more pressure on already scarce resources, "which is deepening local tensions and threatening the fragile peace." 

Lammy said the conference would try to "agree a pathway to end the suffering," but the UK and other Western countries have limited power to stop the fighting. 

In a closing statement, the host countries and organizations said that "neighboring states are directly affected by the conflict in Sudan and those present supported efforts to find a solution." 

Sudan's government criticized conference organizers for excluding it from the meeting. 

The US was represented at the conference, though the Trump administration has cut almost all overseas aid programs. Britain also has cut its aid budget from 0.5% of gross domestic product to 0.3% to fund an increase in military spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Sudan, along with Ukraine and Gaza, will remain a priority for British aid. 



US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi group said early Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis. The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.
Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen's Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The strikes come after US airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the group threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.