UK Touts ‘Very Successful’ Sudan Airlift after Final Flight

A member of the medical team from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is seen during the evacuation of British citizens, at Wadi Seidna airport, Sudan April 27, 2023.(UK MOD /Handout via Reuters)
A member of the medical team from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is seen during the evacuation of British citizens, at Wadi Seidna airport, Sudan April 27, 2023.(UK MOD /Handout via Reuters)
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UK Touts ‘Very Successful’ Sudan Airlift after Final Flight

A member of the medical team from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is seen during the evacuation of British citizens, at Wadi Seidna airport, Sudan April 27, 2023.(UK MOD /Handout via Reuters)
A member of the medical team from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment is seen during the evacuation of British citizens, at Wadi Seidna airport, Sudan April 27, 2023.(UK MOD /Handout via Reuters)

The UK vowed Sunday to maintain support for Britons trapped in Sudan but said conditions had grown too dangerous to continue evacuation flights.

The final Royal Air Force (RAF) flight left the Wadi Saeedna airfield north of Khartoum late on Saturday, four hours behind schedule, taking to 1,888 the number of Britons and their relatives evacuated since Tuesday.

"The evacuation that we've conducted is the longest and largest evacuation of any Western nation," Transport Secretary Mark Harper told Sky News.

"And so we've taken out 1,888 British nationals and their dependents, which I think is a testimony to a very successful evacuation effort.

"And we will continue providing consular support from Sudan," he said, noting that the Foreign Office had set up an office in Port Sudan for those seeking to escape by sea to Saudi Arabia.

The UK government denies it has abandoned anyone in Sudan, after it was accused by opposition parties of repeating the mistakes of its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

One Turkish aircraft was shot at in Sudan last week, Harper said, "demonstrating that that evacuation was not without risk, and we therefore can't stay there indefinitely".

"But we were clear with British citizens about the need to get to the airfield to evacuate."

Some 2,000 Britons in Sudan had signed on to a Foreign Office list, and anyone eligible was given until Saturday morning to reach the airfield for processing and boarding of the final flights.

After strong criticism at home, the government late Friday allowed Sudanese doctors working in Britain's crisis-wracked National Health Service to join the flights.

Sudanese doctor Abdulrahman Babiker, who works in a hospital in the northern English city of Manchester, was one of those refused a place at first before he was allowed to join an RAF flight to Cyprus.

"I am happy that I am finally in a safe place, away from a war and on my way back to the UK," Babiker told the BBC.

"At the same time I feel down that my family -- my dad, mum, brother and sister -- are still endangered by this deadly fighting in my country," Babiker added.

"I am thinking about them now and trying to work out what I can do to help them escape the danger zone."



Reports: US to Withdraw All Troops from Syria

A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
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Reports: US to Withdraw All Troops from Syria

A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)

The United States is planning to withdraw all of its 1,000 troops from Syria over the next two months, according to US media reports.

Washington will end its presence in the country after the Syrian government extended its control over the country and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces once key to fighting ISIS pledged to integrate into the state, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Television network CBS also reported on the plan, citing unnamed US officials.

The decision comes after US forces recently withdrew from some bases
in Syria including Al-Tanf and Al-Shadadi, which were used in the US-led international coalition's fight against ISIS, AFP reported.

The US is building up its military capabilities near Iran, where officials have vowed to respond to any attack by laying siege to American military outposts in the region.

US media reported Wednesday that Washington will be ready to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend, though Trump has reportedly not made a final decision yet.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Canada Eases Sanctions on Syria

13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
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Canada Eases Sanctions on Syria

13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand said on Wednesday that Canada had amended its economic sanctions on Syria ‌to ease ‌restrictions related ‌to the ⁠import and export ⁠of goods, investment activities and the provision of financial and other ⁠services, according to Reuters.

"The amendments also ‌remove ‌24 entities and ‌one individual from ‌the Syria Regulations to reduce barriers to economic activity and ‌to enable transactions with state-affiliated entities ⁠in ⁠key sectors critical to Syria’s recovery," Anand said in a statement.


Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
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Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)

The UN’s top envoy for Libya, Hanna Tetteh, has informed the Security Council that despite active United Nations engagement, the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State have failed to make progress on the first steps of the agreed political roadmap, including establishing a mechanism to select the board of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and advancing electoral legislation.

Briefing the Council in New York on Wednesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General said: “Their inability to use their agreed mechanism and follow-on unilateral actions has further eroded their credibility."

Tetteh added that Libyan public perceptions reflect a growing belief that the bodies are “unable or unwilling” to deliver.

She told Council members that she has begun consultations with key actors on an alternative two-step approach aimed at restoring momentum. Should a smaller group of Libyan representatives fail to agree on the roadmap’s milestones, she warned, a broader convening would be required. “We cannot wait indefinitely,” she emphasized.

The UN envoy also issued a stark warning about escalating tensions within Libya’s judicial system.

She said “contradictory, parallel judicial decisions put into jeopardy the unity of the legal and judicial systems,” cautioning that the situation “is a red line that if crossed can undermine the unity of the state.”

She urged Libyan leaders to refrain from further escalatory steps and called on the Council to hold accountable those taking actions that threaten to fracture the judiciary.

Tetteh also warned that transnational criminal networks continue to expand, turning Libya into a major transit hub for drug trafficking and sustaining illicit economies linked to corruption and armed groups.