Norway Aid Group: Sudan, DR Congo Top World's Most Neglected Crises

Sudanese refugees from Al-Fashir, displaced by ongoing conflict in Sudan, gather at sunset at the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sudanese refugees from Al-Fashir, displaced by ongoing conflict in Sudan, gather at sunset at the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Norway Aid Group: Sudan, DR Congo Top World's Most Neglected Crises

Sudanese refugees from Al-Fashir, displaced by ongoing conflict in Sudan, gather at sunset at the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Sudanese refugees from Al-Fashir, displaced by ongoing conflict in Sudan, gather at sunset at the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia top the list of the world's most neglected displacement crises, the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group said on Thursday.

Sudan, which since 2023 has been ravaged by a bloody conflict between two rival generals competing for power, has more than nine million internally displaced people, the prominent aid organization said in a statement.

A further four million Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries and nearly 19.5 million people there are also suffering from hunger, the NRC said.

"It is incomprehensible that a displacement crisis of similar proportions to the crises in Syria and Ukraine at their peak can continue to worsen almost unnoticed," NRC chief Jan Egeland said.

"Countries have become much more inward-looking, more nationalist.

Rearmament is now an absolute priority because we have to ensure our own security in Europe. There is Putin threatening us, and so on," Egeland said in comments to the NRK broadcaster.

"But people then forget that there will be pandemics, migratory movements, and enormous loss of human life if we don't invest in hope on other continents."

"Africa is just across the Mediterranean, where we go on holiday. And if the continent collapses, we will also suffer the consequences."

Relatives mourn during the funeral of a person who died of Ebola in Bunia, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 03 June 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE

The Democratic Republic of Congo, where an Ebola epidemic has added turmoil to the east of the country ravaged by decades of conflict, appears on NRC's list for the 10th year in a row.

In 2025, only 27.4 percent of the funding needed for DR Congo has been secured, leaving more than 21 million people in need, according to the NRC.

"This is a testament to the world's failure to respond to crises that are not regarded as strategically important for rich countries," Egeland said in the NRC statement.

"Millions of people are being abandoned because we have chosen not to act, not because we cannot."

The NGO's list is based on three criteria: lack of humanitarian funding, lack of media coverage, and lack of political will within the international community.

Several African countries -- Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Mali and Nigeria -- have featured on NRC's list six or more times, pointing to "a systemic pattern of deliberate neglect", NRC said.

The 10 most neglected crises for 2025 are Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Honduras, Ecuador, Cameroon, Nigeria and Mozambique, spanning three continents and tens of millions of people.



Pope’s Plane in Spain Delayed by Technical Glitch

Pope Leo XIV (L) and King Felipe VI disembark from the plane that was supposed to take the pontiff back to Rome after his seven-day trip to Spain, due to technical problems preventing its takeoff from Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, 12 June 2026. (EPA)
Pope Leo XIV (L) and King Felipe VI disembark from the plane that was supposed to take the pontiff back to Rome after his seven-day trip to Spain, due to technical problems preventing its takeoff from Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, 12 June 2026. (EPA)
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Pope’s Plane in Spain Delayed by Technical Glitch

Pope Leo XIV (L) and King Felipe VI disembark from the plane that was supposed to take the pontiff back to Rome after his seven-day trip to Spain, due to technical problems preventing its takeoff from Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, 12 June 2026. (EPA)
Pope Leo XIV (L) and King Felipe VI disembark from the plane that was supposed to take the pontiff back to Rome after his seven-day trip to Spain, due to technical problems preventing its takeoff from Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, 12 June 2026. (EPA)

Pope Leo XIV's departure from Tenerife at the end of a week-long visit to Spain was delayed Friday by a technical problem with the plane which led him to disembark, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Spain's King Felipe VI, who had just said goodbye to the pontiff on the runway, boarded the Iberia airline plane and both disembarked and returned to the terminal.

About 80 journalists remained on the jet, along with Vatican officials and members of the clergy.

"The departure of the papal flight has been delayed by half an hour due to a technical problem with the aircraft," the communications service for the papal trip in Spain said in a brief statement at 1545 GMT.

The pilot initially told passengers there was a technical fault but later specified a "startup failure of the engine", which he said was likely caused by wind conditions.

"Our maintenance team suggests towing the aircraft, positioning it into the wind, and attempting a new engine start," the pilot told those on board.

"We will try this. If it is successful, we can depart."

Pope Leo XIV had been due to return to Rome after a seven-day trip to Spain.

He arrived on Friday in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands from the nearby island of Gran Canaria, where he had been since Thursday.


UK PM Starmer Says He Has Not Lost Authority, Will Fight to Stay in Job

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during the Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London, Britain, June 10, 2026. (House of Commons/Handout via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during the Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London, Britain, June 10, 2026. (House of Commons/Handout via Reuters)
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UK PM Starmer Says He Has Not Lost Authority, Will Fight to Stay in Job

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during the Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London, Britain, June 10, 2026. (House of Commons/Handout via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during the Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London, Britain, June 10, 2026. (House of Commons/Handout via Reuters)

British Prime ‌Minister Keir Starmer on Friday rejected the idea that he had lost authority in his role, and said he would fight to keep his job, adding that anyone who wanted to replace him would have to deal with the same financial constraints.

The comments come a day after defense minister John Healey delivered a fresh blow to the prime minister's already weakened leadership ‌by quitting ‌and accusing Starmer of being ‌unable ⁠to commit the resources ⁠needed to keep the country safe, in a dig at the authority the PM has over his ministers.

"I'm not going to walk away," Starmer told the BBC, making his first public comments since Healey's shock resignation.

With rivals ⁠expected to launch a contest ‌to replace him ‌in the coming weeks or months, Starmer said he would ‌fight any challenge to his role.

"Let me ‌just be clear with you, that's not about personal vanity, it's not about stubbornness, it's out of a very deep sense of duty. I was ‌elected to serve this country, notwithstanding the difficult circumstances. That is what I ⁠am doing," ⁠he said.

Starmer rejected Healey's criticism, saying defense and security were his top priorities and would remain so every time the government had to make spending decisions in the future.

He said he had already made "hard-edged" choices to cut other departments' budgets in order to put more money towards defense investment.

"Whoever is prime minister is going to face the same prevailing winds as I am facing. None of that is going to change," Starmer said.


US-Iran Deal 'Never Been Closer', Says Iranian FM

27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg:  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
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US-Iran Deal 'Never Been Closer', Says Iranian FM

27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg:  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)
27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. (Kremlin/dpa)

The United States and Iran have "never been closer" to a deal on ending the war in the Middle East, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

"The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer," Araghchi wrote on X, referring to the Pakistani capital which hosted previous US-Iran talks.

"Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content," he added, after purported details of the accord were published by Iranian media.

"In line with our responsible and transparent approach, all details will be shared with the public in due course," Araghchi added.

Expectations have grown in recent days that the two sides are on the verge of an accord, even if tensions and sticking points remain.

US President Donald Trump had earlier lashed out at the leaks in Iranian media, saying on Truth Social "they have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing".