Sudan Bans Travelers from India, Imposes COVID Curbs

Cargo containing a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at an airport in Sudan. Reuters file photo
Cargo containing a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at an airport in Sudan. Reuters file photo
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Sudan Bans Travelers from India, Imposes COVID Curbs

Cargo containing a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at an airport in Sudan. Reuters file photo
Cargo containing a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at an airport in Sudan. Reuters file photo

Sudan on Tuesday banned travelers arriving from India and imposed new coronavirus restrictions including closing schools, as coronavirus cases rise.

"Entry will be prevented for all travelers arriving directly from India or through any other country after having visited India in the past 14 days," said the country's ruling council in a statement.

Travelers from Egypt and Ethiopia will be re-tested upon arrival, it said.

India is experiencing elevated numbers of Covid-19 cases following the spread of a variant which has been classified by the World Health Organization as a "variant of concern."

Sudan has registered 34,707 Covid-19 cases including 1,116 fatalities as of May 16.

Authorities fear the virus caseload would exceed 100,000 during the first and second weeks of June if people fail to take the necessary measures, according to the statement.

"The Supreme Health Emergencies Committee ... ordered the suspension of all universities and schools for a month," it said.

Mass prayers and rituals will also be put on hold.

In March, the country began inoculating healthcare workers after receiving AstraZeneca vaccinations through the Covax initiative which provides jabs to poor countries.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
TT

EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."