Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
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Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)

Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman and Army Chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, reaffirmed on Thursday that the military is committed to creating the necessary conditions for a democratically elected civilian government to take power.

During a meeting with Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Heiko Nitschke, Burhan emphasized that the armed forces have no intention of engaging in political affairs.

A statement from the Sovereign Council said both sides discussed efforts to initiate an inclusive national dialogue and form a technocratic government to oversee preparations for elections, in line with the recently announced roadmap.

For his part, the German envoy expressed Berlin’s readiness to support Sudan’s reconstruction efforts and collaborate with international partners on post-war rebuilding, according to the statement.

Over the past month, the Sudanese army has reclaimed key areas in the capital, Khartoum, including the presidential palace, all ministerial headquarters, the Central Bank of Sudan, and other major government institutions. Meanwhile, columns of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters were seen withdrawing from the capital, crossing Jebel Aulia Bridge toward White Nile State.

Residents reported that the army launched airstrikes in Omdurman on Thursday, following its declared victory over the RSF in a two-year battle for control of Khartoum.

The war has devastated large parts of Khartoum, displaced over 12 million Sudanese, and pushed nearly half of the country’s 50 million people into severe hunger, in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Sudanese army now controls most of Omdurman, home to two major military bases, and appears focused on eliminating the remaining RSF units to secure full control over Greater Khartoum. Thursday’s artillery strikes targeted southern Omdurman.

The Sudanese army and RSF were once allies, having jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup that derailed Sudan’s democratic transition following the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. However, their alliance quickly unraveled, plunging the country into a devastating civil war driven by a bitter power struggle.



Gaza Parents Urged to Stop Kids Flying Kites After Israel Warning to Hamas

Palestinians make a kite at a tent camp sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, August 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians make a kite at a tent camp sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, August 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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Gaza Parents Urged to Stop Kids Flying Kites After Israel Warning to Hamas

Palestinians make a kite at a tent camp sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, August 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians make a kite at a tent camp sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, August 25, 2026. (Reuters)

Gaza parents have been warned to stop their children flying kites in the war-ravaged enclave, after Israel threatened a forceful response if the Hamas group revives a tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.

The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-government organizations and charities that run Gaza displacement camps and shelters, issued the warning in a statement late on Monday.

The announcement was coordinated with Hamas authorities, a source in the movement ‌said.

"We are ‌working tirelessly on the ground and doing everything possible ‌to ⁠stop this practice, ⁠not to restrict the childhood of our children, who have already been deprived of the most basic rights to play and live in safety, but to protect their innocent lives," the statement said.

In 2018, Gazans sent incendiary balloons and kites over the border, causing fires across hundreds of acres of open fields and farmlands, in what they said was in protest at the ⁠Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled enclave.

KITES SCARE ISRAELI VILLAGERS

In ‌the past month, several kites that ‌were not reported to be carrying incendiary materials were spotted drifting from Gaza into Israel, ‌alarming Israelis who live in the nearby villages which came under ‌attack by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 assault that sparked the Gaza war.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas that unless that stopped immediately, "those responsible" for launching kites, balloons or drones toward Israel would be targets of assassination and ‌that areas from which they are sent will be ordered to evacuate.

Umm Mohammed, a mother from Gaza ⁠City who spoke ⁠with Reuters over a chat app, said she was worried her son could be hurt.

"Every summer, my kid, Ahmed, 10, and the kids in the street fly those kites to entertain themselves, but I will not allow him to, not anymore," she said.

A senior Israeli defense official said that Hamas was trying to provoke Israel by encouraging Gazans to fly kites across the border.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group has complained to ceasefire mediators that "Israel was making fake pretexts to continue the war on Gaza."

Israel complained to US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which oversees the implementation of the 2025 Gaza ceasefire deal, about the kites, according to a second Israeli official.


Strikes in Gaza Kill 4, Including 2 Children, a Week After US Asked Israel to Curb Attacks

A Palestinian inspects the old Abu Salim mosque a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian inspects the old Abu Salim mosque a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
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Strikes in Gaza Kill 4, Including 2 Children, a Week After US Asked Israel to Curb Attacks

A Palestinian inspects the old Abu Salim mosque a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian inspects the old Abu Salim mosque a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 25, 2026. (AFP)

Palestinian residents of war-battered Gaza fled homes and businesses as Israeli strikes and tank fire killed at least four people Monday, including two children, hospital officials said, a week after a US delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks.

After evacuation warnings by Israel's military, a strike hit a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. One family was unable to flee and a 4-year-old child was killed, according to Awda Hospital, where he was taken. His mother and sister were wounded. There was no Israeli military comment.

Israeli strikes hit three other buildings across the territory after residents said they received evacuation warnings. Some people sprinted away, with mothers carrying children, while others moved amid the rubble in wheelchairs or with canes.

Smoke rose over the already devastated landscape.

Israel's military said it carried out strikes in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City and in Deir al-Balah after issuing warnings, targeting what it described as two Hamas weapons storage facilities inside mosques. The military did not provide evidence but said the facilities contained dozens of “Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and additional military equipment.”

An earlier Israeli strike on a tent in Deir al-Balah killed a man, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where his body was taken. Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit.

A man was killed and five others were wounded in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the casualties.

And Israeli tank fire hit an area east of Khan Younis, killing a 10-year-old girl, according to the hospital, where her body was taken.

Israel's military did not immediately comment on the strike in Khan Younis and said it was not aware of the incident with the child.

Israel has continued to carry out targeted killings in the week since a US delegation met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to push last year's ceasefire deal forward.

US negotiator Jared Kushner asked Netanyahu to draw down Israel’s attacks in Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said last week, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief journalists.

Israel has announced strikes on six of the seven days since that meeting.

While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since the ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 1,288 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and fighters.

Gunmen have carried out shooting attacks on Israeli troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other ceasefire violations. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

Palestinian officials have reported strikes on homes and police stations, and Hamas has claimed that attacks are designed to destabilize Gaza and prevent progress on the ceasefire's next steps, which include demilitarizing and reconstructing the territory and the deployment of an international stabilization force.

Israel warns against kites sent from Gaza

In the period before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war, burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza into Israel, causing fires and other damage.

Now Israeli officials are expressing concern after several kites were found in a kibbutz near Gaza. No weapons or dangerous materials were attached.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement Sunday threatened to ramp up strikes on Gaza unless Hamas ensures the kites stop flying toward Israel.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has called the kites “essentially children’s toys” and accused Israel of using them as “an attempt to justify the continuation of aggression and violations against our people.”

The Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. All hostages or their remains were later released. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,422 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.


Al-Zaidi: Iraq Will Not Become a Platform to Harm Others

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers his speech at the event in Baghdad. (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers his speech at the event in Baghdad. (INA)
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Al-Zaidi: Iraq Will Not Become a Platform to Harm Others

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers his speech at the event in Baghdad. (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers his speech at the event in Baghdad. (INA)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi stressed on Monday that his government is forging ahead in building a “free” and “sovereign” Iraq, adding that international coalition forces will complete their withdrawal on September 30.

“Since assuming responsibility for the government, we have pledged to move toward building a fully sovereign Iraq in which the people enjoy all the foundations of respect, dignity and security, and whose citizens cooperate in protecting the country and safeguarding its wealth and the future of its generations,” he said during a speech at an event in Baghdad marking the Prophet Muhammed’s birthday.

Iraq will declare the completion of its sovereignty over its entire territory on September 30, he announced, reported Iraq’s state news agency INA.

Moreover, he said: “Iraq should not be a platform for harming others.”

“Our region has lived for decades amid ongoing tensions that have led to divisions in the approaches and governing visions of the countries of the Arab and Islamic world,” remarked al-Zaidi.

“Our government program included a clear approach to construction and reform, combating corruption and strengthening a productive working environment, alongside building security institutions operating under the framework of the Constitution.”

Earlier, al-Zaidi received in Baghdad Commander of German Forces Deployed Abroad Gunter Schneider.

The PM highlighted “the importance of transitioning toward multidimensional relations with the coalition countries.”

The meeting reviewed preparations for completing the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq.

Al-Zaidi commended Germany’s longstanding role in assisting Iraq in its fight against terrorism, particularly during the war on ISIS.