Category World News

At least 104 civilians have been killed in drone attacks across Sudan’s Kordofan region as fighting between rival military factions reached deadly new heights in the brutal civil war deep into its third year.

The attacks have battered the central region since early December, right up to Friday, following the capture of a significant army base by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Babnusa after a week of intense fighting.

The escalation has displaced tens of thousands and overwhelmed health facilities already strained by cholera and dengue outbreaks, as the main fighting shifts from Darfur in the west to the vast central region of Kordofan.

The deadliest attack was reported from a kindergarten and a hospital in Kalogi, South Kordofan, where 89 people were killed, including 43 children and eight women. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” and warned that targeting medical facilities violates international humanitarian law.

Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the UN mission were killed when drones hit their base in Kadugli, South Kordofan’s capital, on December 13. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he termed “horrific drone attacks”, noting that attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute war crimes under international law”.

A day later, Dilling Military Hospital came under fire, with casualty figures varying. The Sudan Doctors Network reported nine deaths and 17 injuries, calling it “systematic targeting of health institutions”.

UN officials said six people were killed and 12 wounded, many of them medical staff.

The government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has blamed the RSF for the attacks, though the paramilitary group has not responded to the accusations.

Epidemics on the rise

The violence has created severe humanitarian consequences beyond the immediate death toll. North Kordofan’s Health Minister Iman Malik reported that the state has recorded 13,609 cholera cases and 730 dengue fever infections, with 30 percent of health facilities no longer functioning due to the conflict.

More than 40,000 people have fled North Kordofan, while civilians remain trapped in besieged cities, including Kadugli and Dilling.

In nearby Heglig, which the RSF captured before handing it to South Sudan’s army under a tripartite agreement with the army, nearly 2,000 people were displaced to White Nile state.

The fighting in Kordofan represents a significant expansion of the conflict following the RSF’s October seizure of el-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur. Researchers at Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) found in a new report that the RSF killed civilians attempting to flee the city, then systematically began destroying evidence by burying, burning and removing bodies.

The escalation comes as international efforts to broker peace have restarted. SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on December 15, expressing readiness to work with United States President Donald Trump on peace efforts.

The following day, Egypt and the US jointly rejected “any attempts to divide Sudan” and called for a comprehensive ceasefire.

OG Anunoby scored 28 points as the New York Knicks ended their 52-year trophy drought with a 124-113 NBA Cup final victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.

Forward Anunoby rattled in five three-pointers and point guard Jalen Brunson finished with 25 points as New York clinched their first silverware since the 1973 NBA Finals at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

San Antonio went into the final brimming with confidence after upsetting top seeds and reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City in Saturday’s semifinals, thanks to a superb display from French prodigy Victor Wembanyama.

But a dogged all-round performance from New York thwarted San Antonio’s hopes of crowning their cup campaign with victory.

The Knicks limited Wembanyama to 18 points while delivering a balanced offensive performance to pull clear in the fourth quarter after trailing by 11 points late in the third.

Seven Knicks players finished in double figures, with Anunoby and Brunson backed by Karl-Anthony Towns (16 points), Jordan Clarkson (15), Tyler Kolek (14) and 11 points apiece from Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges.

Mitchell Robertson provided a valuable defensive cameo from the bench, hauling in 15 rebounds with two blocks.

“OG Anunoby, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, Mitchell Robertson – they played their as**s off tonight,” said Brunson after being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“Without them we don’t win this,” Brunson said. “We got down 10 or whatever it was and we found a way to win. That’s going to be our motto going forward: We’re going to find a way.”

San Antonio had looked to be motoring towards victory when Wembanyama knocked down a 27-foot three-pointer with just more than two minutes left in the third period to put the Spurs up 92-81.

But Clarkson and Kolek drained three-pointers to trim the Spurs lead to five points, and the Knicks then cut loose in the fourth quarter, outscoring their opponents 35-19 to seal the win.

Last one standing

Knicks head coach Mike Brown said winning the title augured well for the team’s hopes of mounting a championship run at the NBA Finals in his first season in charge.

“Any time you can participate in an event where you’re the last one standing and you’re able to hang up a banner, especially at iconic MSG (Madison Square Garden), you take that seriously,” Brown said. “And all of our guys took it seriously.”

San Antonio’s scoring was led by Dylan Harper with 21 off the bench, while De’Aaron Fox was the pick of the starters with 16 points.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson blamed collective shortcomings for the defeat rather than Wembanyama’s performance.

“I think we struggled more as a team… We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, which hurt us getting out in transition,” Johnson said.

“When we played with the appropriate space, but the right spacing and the right tempo, we got some really good looks. And we missed them. I think it was probably more of a team thing than I thought Victor was individually struggling.”

Johnson, though, believes San Antonio have plenty to build on as they set about pursuing leaders Oklahoma City in the Western Conference.

“Playing really competitive games against really, really good teams,” Johnson said. “Seasoned, experienced teams that have been in similar situations. To be able to feel those games, work those games, be in the moment in those games, I think is a valuable experience.”

A new report has found unprecedented temperature rises and significant loss of snow and ice in the Arctic, a region now described as “warming far faster than the rest of the planet”.

The annual Arctic Report Card published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Tuesday found that surface air temperatures across the Arctic between October 2024 and September 2025 were “the warmest recorded since 1900”.

Last year’s unusually high temperatures capped off a decade of record highs in the region surrounding the North Pole, according to the report, which was a collaboration of 112 authors from 13 different countries.

In the 47 years that satellite images have been used for recording and measurement, winter sea ice reached its lowest levels in March 2025, while snow cover over the Arctic in June was half what it was six decades ago, the report found.

The report card was the 20th to be released annually by NOAA, a US government agency that appears to have undergone changes to its scope of work under the Trump administration.

The report’s authors presented their findings at a news conference where a reporter asked about statements made by NOAA officials under previous US administrations, linking environmental changes in the Arctic to fossil fuel pollution.

Steven Thur, NOAA’s acting chief scientist, responded to the question without referring to fossil fuels or climate change directly.

“We recognise that the planet is changing dramatically. Our role within NOAA is to try to predict what’s going to occur in the future by documenting what’s occurring today,” Thur said.

According to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, multiple federal agencies have scrubbed references to climate change from their websites under the second Trump administration.

This has included “the entire page on climate change on the White House website” and “content that provided assessments on an area’s vulnerability to wildfire” on the US Department of Agriculture’s website.

Federal researchers have also “seen their studies disappear from agency websites”, the Sabin school said.

Arctic countries planning to expand oil drilling as ice melts

Despite the cascading environmental harms caused by climate change, several countries, including the US, Russia and Norway, are reportedly planning to expand mining operations in the Arctic region.

In October, Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on X that a 112km (70-mile) “railroad and cargo link” between Siberia and Alaska would “unlock joint resource exploration” between the two countries.

“Certainly, Russia is eyeing the opportunity of joint Russia-China-US projects, including in the Arctic region, specifically in the energy sector,” Dmitriev said in remarks reported by Russia’s TASS state news agency a month earlier.

The Trump administration has also announced new offshore oil drilling plans that include 21 new five-year offshore oil and gas leases from the Gulf of Alaska to the High Arctic, according to the Alaska Beacon newspaper, fulfilling Trump’s election promise to “drill, baby drill”.

The plans from the US and Russia contrast with the results of a 2024 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University poll, which suggested that 80 percent of people surveyed worldwide want to do more to address climate change.

Australian authorities say they have charged a man who opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people, with “terrorism” and murder charges, as mourners gathered to begin funerals for the victims.

Police and local courts said on Wednesday that 59 charges are being introduced after the deadly shooting that also wounded dozens of others, including two officers.

Among the offences are “committing a terrorist act”, murder, wounding with intent to murder, placing an explosive, and discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

There are 20 people receiving care in Sydney hospitals for injuries sustained in Sunday’s shooting, according to NSW Health. That includes one patient in critical condition and several in critical but stable condition.

Two attackers, identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, carried out the attack using six firearms owned by the former.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said police were still waiting for the medication to wear off before formally questioning the son, who was shot but survived the shooting.

Naveed Akram reportedly woke up from a coma on Tuesday afternoon. Sajid Akram died at the scene of the shooting.

“For his fairness, we need him to understand what is exactly happening,” he said.

New South Wales state police said in a statement on Wednesday that they will say in court that the man “engaged in conduct that caused death, serious injury and endangered life to advance a religious cause and cause fear in the community”.

“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia,” the police said in a statement, referring to the armed group also known as ISIL.

First funeral held as legislation advances

The first funerals were held on Tuesday to remember the victims of the attack, which took place during the Jewish festival of lights.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan were hailed by their family and peers, including during a ceremony at a local synagogue.

Syrian Australian man Ahmed al-Ahmed tackled one of the gunmen during the attack, wrestling a shotgun from his grip and turning it on the attacker.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that he is “the best of our country” for saving countless lives as he visited the hospital where the man was being treated for gunshot wounds.

Tens of thousands of people have donated to al-Ahmed in a fundraising page established by Australians who have never met him, with the campaign raising more than 2.3 million Australian dollars ($1.5m).

Al-Ahmed was shot several times in the arm, and faces several months of recovery after undergoing surgery and having more operations scheduled.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told a news conference that he is calling parliament back next week to deal with “urgent legislation” in light of the shooting, before Christmas.

He said the government is proposing a bill on gun reform, with possible measures including capping the number of firearms a person is allowed to own and reclassifying shotguns.

Military-ruled Myanmar has said the country’s jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health” amid concerns about the health of the pro-democracy leader who was removed from power by a coup in 2021.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health,” a statement posted on the military-run Myanmar Digital News said on Tuesday, using an honorific for the country’s leader.

The military, which offered no evidence or details about Aung San Suu Kyi’s condition, issued the statement one day after her son, Kim Aris, told the Reuters news agency that he had received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing.

“The military claims she is in good health, yet they refuse to provide any independent proof, no recent photograph, no medical verification, and no access by family, doctors, or international observers,” Aris told Reuters on Wednesday in response to the military’s statement.

“If she is truly well, they can prove it,” he said.

A Myanmar regime spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Interviewed in October, Aris told the Asia Times news organisation that he believed his mother, who has not been seen for at least two years, was being held in solitary confinement in a prison in the capital Naypyidaw and “not even the other prisoners have seen her”.

Aung San Suu Kyi was detained after the 2021 military coup that toppled her elected civilian government from power, and she is now serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges that are widely believed to be trumped-up, including incitement, corruption and election fraud – all of which she denies.

Aris also said the military was “fond of spreading rumours” about his mother’s health in detention.

“They have said she is being held under house arrest, but there is no evidence of that at all. At other times, they said she has had a stroke and even that she has died,” he told Asia Times.

“It’s obviously hard to deal with all this false information,” he said.

A civil war has gripped Myanmar since the 2021 coup, but the military plans to hold elections at the end of this month that analysts and several foreign governments have dismissed as a sham designed to legitimise military rule.

While fighting rages across the country, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), Myanmar’s largest political party, remains dissolved, and several anti-military political groups are boycotting the polls.

On Wednesday, the military said it was pursuing prosecutions of more than 200 people under a law forbidding “disruption” of the election, legislation that rights monitors have said aims to crush dissent.

“A total of 229 people” are being pursued for prosecution “for attempting to sabotage election processes”, the military regime’s Home Affairs Minister Tun Tun Naung said, according to state media.

Convictions under election laws in Myanmar’s courts can result in up to a decade in prison, and authorities have made arrests for as little as posting a “heart” emoji on Facebook posts criticising the polls.