Sudan's Hemedti Visits Moscow

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
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Sudan's Hemedti Visits Moscow

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemedti, was in Moscow on Thursday for talks with the Russian government.

The official visit comes at a testing time for both countries. Russia is facing new Western sanctions after ordering troops into eastern Ukraine, while the United States has threatened Sudan's military with sanctions after the coup.

"Through this visit, we hope to advance relations between Sudan and Russia to broader horizons, and strengthen the existing cooperation between us in various fields," Dagalo said in a tweet.

The Sudanese delegation's visit to Moscow fell "within the framework of exchanging views and discussing ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between Sudan and Russia," the ruling Sovereign Council said.

The delegation, which also includes Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim as well as senior energy and trade officials, would hold a series of talks with Russian counterparts during the visit, it said in a statement.

Russia was due to send a shipment of wheat to Sudan as humanitarian aid, Sputnik News reported in January.

Military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who visited Russia in 2019, said in December that relations with Russia were strong and that an agreement on a Russian naval base on the country's Red Sea coast was under discussion.

The visit is the latest in a string of diplomatic trips Hemedti has made this year, including to the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Sudan has found itself increasingly isolated since an October 25 coup that has seen foreign aid cut as part of the international community's response to the military takeover.



Israel Bombs Power Station and Two Ports Controlled by Houthis in Yemen

 Black smoke raises following airstrikes on Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
Black smoke raises following airstrikes on Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Bombs Power Station and Two Ports Controlled by Houthis in Yemen

 Black smoke raises following airstrikes on Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
Black smoke raises following airstrikes on Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)

Israeli warplanes bombed a power station and two ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen on Friday in retaliation for Houthi drone and missile strikes against Israel, and pro-Houthi media said at least one person had been killed and nine wounded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iran-backed Houthi militias were "paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for their aggression against us".

A series of airstrikes targeted the Red Sea port of Ras Issa and six others the major port of Hodeidah, said Al Masirah TV, the main news outlet run by the Houthis, while Harf Sufyan District in Amran province also came under air attack.

An employee at the Ras Issa port was killed and six others were injured, the outlet said.

Earlier, British security firm Ambrey said airstrikes on the Ras Issa port targeted oil storage facilities in the vicinity of shipping berths, though no merchant vessels were reported to have been damaged.

The supply of petroleum derivatives is stable, the Houthi government spokesperson Hashem Sharaf Eddine said after the attack.

Thirteen airstrikes also targeted the Hezyaz central power station in Yemen's capital Sanaa, Al Masirah TV reported. It said three citizens had been injured, including a worker at Hezyaz, and a number of homes had been damaged.

An Israeli military statement confirmed the targets, saying the power station served as a "central source of energy for the Houthi terrorist regime in its military activities". It added that the targets struck were examples of the "Houthis' exploitation of civilian infrastructure".

Within the past 48 hours, the Houthis have fired three drones at Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and more drones and missiles at the US aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.

The Houthis have targeted Israel, hundreds of kilometers to the north as well as international shipping in waters near Yemen since November 2023 in support of Palestinians at war with Israel in Gaza.

Israel has responded with airstrikes in Houthi-held areas of Yemen, as have British and US forces in the region.

Netanyahu said last month Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis.