Foreign
In Sudan, some women, girls are choosing suicide to avoid rape
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is tragically appropriate to take stock of two decades of war and genocide in Sudan and to commit to ending the violence against civilians, including the raping of women and girls.
Since 2003, the leaders of Sudan and others throughout the world have been failing to protect the women and girls of Sudan. Without hope or protection, they have nevertheless continued to choose life, but the horror and trauma of rape, gang rape and other sexual violence as a weapon of war is pushing more of them to commit suicide.
In 2003, Mukesh Kapila, while serving as the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, was one of the first such officials to recognize this millennium’s first genocide and to report the mass rapes against the women of Darfur. He recently told PassBlue that “the continuing criminality and inhumanity is a story of impunity foretold.”
After all, Kapila says, today’s perpetrators are “the direct ideological descendants of the Janjaweed.” He fears that “never again” is becoming “again and again” not only in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan but in far too many other places in the world.
Many of the atrocities in Darfur have been and continue to be committed by the Janjaweed militias, which in 2013 metastasized into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), when the former Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir formalized the militias into parallel forces to fight the armed rebel groups with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
After Al-Bashir was overthrown in a popular uprising in April 2019 and the military establishment refused to hand over power to a transitional civilian administration in October 2021, the SAF and the RSF ruled jointly until April 2023. Since then, they have been at war against each other and against the people of Sudan.
Although the SAF and RSF signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan in May 2023, the civilian toll has been staggering: more than 20,000 people have been reportedly killed, tens of thousands more injured and more than a hundred thousand more may have died of starvation and preventable diseases.
In October 2024, the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan concluded, inter alia, that while there are documented cases involving the SAF, “the majority of rape and sexual and gender-based violence was committed by the RSF — in particular in Greater Khartoum, and Darfur and Gezira States.”
Stephen Rapp, a former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes and ex-prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was the first to achieve convictions of sexual slavery and other sexual and gender-based violence as crimes against humanity in an international tribunal.
“Sudan teaches us that impunity breeds further impunity,” he wrote to PassBlue. “The guilty parties commit their atrocities against the most innocent because they have seen that they can do so without consequence.”
Rapp fears that “crimes against women and girls will not only continue but may even increase in brutality until the international community prioritizes accountability in Sudan and breaks the cycle of impunity as it did in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.”
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In June 2024, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to protect civilians in Sudan. But the text downplayed the sexual and gender-based violence by expressing alarm at the incidences only once, in the preamble. On Nov. 18, the Security Council was ready to adopt another resolution that would have demanded the RSF to immediately halt all attacks against civilians and for both the SAF and the RSF to “take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimize civilian harm.” Having abstained in June, Russia surprisingly vetoed the draft resolution in November.
Without enforcing binding resolutions adopted by the Security Council and longstanding warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, including against Al-Bashir, there will be no end to war, to genocide or to rape in Sudan. It is no longer possible to deny that despite two decades of sanctions and referrals to the court; peacekeepers and special envoys; fact-finding missions and human rights commissions; and nonbinding declarations and binding resolutions, the world continues to leave Sudanese civilians at the mercy of inhumane and iniquitous forces.
So, it is tragically appropriate on the 25th anniversary of this International Day to acknowledge that the women and girls of Sudan have been raped and murdered for 21 of those 25 years.
Hala Al-Karib, the regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, presciently warned the Security Council in October 2023 about women and girls committing suicide, noting that “life after experiencing violence and torture at the hands of the RSF is unbearable.”
A year later, in October 2024, 130 women in Al Gezira State, central Sudan, reportedly committed mass suicide to avoid being raped by the RSF. Since then, news of women committing suicide by drowning themselves in the Nile have flooded social media. Al-Karib and her colleagues corroborated several cases of women killing themselves in the river rather than being raped, as well as “other cases of women drinking local hair dye after being raped by RSF in front of their male family members in one of the Al Gezira villages.”
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Al-Karib noted that the rapes and massacres in El Fasher in North Darfur and in El Geneina in West Darfur “left hundreds of women and teenage girls suffering from physical agony, injuries and trauma.”
More recently, Dominique Isabelle Hyde, director of external relations for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, reported that when 180 Sudanese attempted to flee from El Geneina, almost all were murdered, and most of the women were raped. Of the 17 people that survived the massacre, one woman died in childbirth and six women committed suicide, leaving “only 10 that arrived safely in Chad.”
Even when Sudanese refugees reach relative safety in neighboring Chad, many women and girls are sexually exploited and abused by the men sent to protect them. The Associated Press recently reported allegations that “humanitarian workers and local security forces have sexually exploited them in Chad’s displacement sites, offering money, easier access to assistance and jobs.”
Niemat Ahmadi, the founder and director of the Darfur Women Action Group, highlighted in the Security Council in April and in November the failure of the international community to protect the women of Sudan against sexual violence, “leaving them without option or hope for protection.”
As the UN promised when it adopted the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, it must recommit to the protection of women and girls and ensure accountability for perpetrators of crimes against them.
The Security Council can do this, Ahmadi says, by calling on all parties to stop targeting civilians and to stop all rapes and other sexual violence. She urged the Council to make all forms of sexual and gender-based violence “an explicit criterion for imposing sanctions” and “central to all criminal accountability processes.”
Finally, she also urged the Council to demand “the full and meaningful participation of Sudanese women in all processes regarding the future of Sudan.”
As for the rest of the world, let us “UNiTE” to stop rape and other sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur, in the rest of Sudan and everywhere where women pay the price of war. When such protection of civilians and the pursuit of justice and accountability prevail in Sudan, women and girls will choose survival over suicide. They will have hope for a future, where their dignity and worth as human beings and the sanctity of their lives as civilians are preserved.
This is an opinion essay.
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A court in Equatorial Guinea has delivered a significant ruling, convicting Ruslan Obiang Nsue, one of the sons of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, for the unauthorized sale of an aircraft that belonged to the country’s national airline.
This decision, confirmed by a court official, marks a notable event in the nation’s ongoing struggles with corruption and governance.
The ruling, announced on a Tuesday, mandates that Obiang Nsue serve a six-year prison sentence unless he repays the state for the missing plane, as stated by Hilario Mitogo, the press director of the Supreme Court, in a WhatsApp message to the media.
The 50-year-old, who previously held the position of director for Ceiba Intercontinental, the national carrier, was found guilty of selling an ATR 72-500 aircraft to a Spanish company while illicitly pocketing the proceeds from the transaction.
Since 2023, Obiang Nsue has been under house arrest, a situation instituted by his half-brother, Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, highlighting the complex family dynamics involved in the country’s political landscape.
According to Mitogo’s announcement, the court’s decision allows Obiang Nsue to evade incarceration if he compensates the airline approximately $255,000, in addition to covering damages and a state-imposed fine.
Notably, he was acquitted of separate allegations that included embezzlement and abuse of office.
Obiang Nsue has had a varied political career, previously serving as the secretary of state for sports and youth. He is the son of the world’s longest-serving president, who has maintained a grip on power in the oil-rich central African nation for an astonishing 46 years.
More than 20 people have died on Wednesday in a torrential spell of monsoon rain in Pakistan, where downpours have swept away entire villages over the last week, killing more than 400.
Eleven people died in the touristic northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan and 10 others in Karachi, the financial capital in the south, due to urban flooding that caused house collapses and electrocution, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
Schools remained closed in the city of more than 20 million, as the meteorological department predicted more rain till Saturday.
Amir Hyder Laghari, chief meteorologist of the Sindh province, blamed “weak infrastructure” for the flooding in big cities.
As Karachi’s crumbling pipes and sewer system struggled to cope with the downpours, rush-hour drivers were caught in rising waters late Tuesday, and multiple neighbourhoods experienced power cuts.
By Wednesday morning, the water had receded, an AFP photographer reported.
Between 40 and 50 houses had been damaged in two districts, provincial disaster official Muhammad Younis said.
“Another (rain) spell is to start by the end of the month,” NDMA chairman Inam Haider Malik.
More than 350 people have died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a mountainous northern province bordering Afghanistan, since last Thursday.
Authorities and the army are searching for dozens missing in villages that were hit by landslides and heavy rain.
– ‘Children are scared’ –
The floods interrupted communication networks and phone lines in flooded areas, while excavators worked to remove debris clogging drainage channels.
“We have established relief camps where we are providing medical assistance. We are also giving dry rations and tents to all the people,” army Colonel Irfan Afridi told AFP in Buner district, where more than 220 people were killed.
Authorities have warned that the rains will continue until mid-September.
“The children are scared. They say we cannot sleep at night due to fear,” said Anjum Anwar, a medical camp official in Buner. “The flood… has destroyed our entire settlements.”
Landslides and flash floods are common during the monsoon season, which typically begins in June and lasts until the end of September.
This year, nearly 750 people have died since the season started, according to authorities.
Pakistan is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is increasingly facing extreme weather events.
Monsoon floods submerged one-third of Pakistan in 2022, resulting in approximately 1,700 deaths.
PUNCH
Nathalie Rose Jones, a 50-year-old woman from Lafayette, Indiana, was arrested on August 16, 2025, after travelling to Washington, D.C., allegedly planning to “kidnap and assassinate” President Donald Trump, according to Punch.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia published on August 18, 2025, Jones posted graphic threats on Facebook and Instagram, including a post stating, “I am willing to sacrificially kill this POTUS by disembowelling him and cutting out his trachea with Liz Cheney and all The Affirmation present.” She also referred to an “arrest and removal ceremony” scheduled for Trump.
The U.S. Secret Service launched an investigation after identifying Jones as the author of these posts.
During an interview on August 15, she reportedly admitted to making the threats and told agents she would attempt to kill the president “if given the opportunity,” citing a desire to avenge lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. She later recanted, claiming she no longer intended to harm Trump.
Jones has been charged with threatening the life of the president and transmitting interstate communications containing threats to kidnap or injure another person.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, both are federal offences that carry potential penalties of up to five years in prison each. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro stressed, “Threatening the life of the President is one of the most serious crimes and one that will be met with swift and unwavering prosecution.”
Reports indicate that Jones has struggled with mental illness, which she acknowledged in her social media posts. As of now, there is no public record of her legal representation.
Russia is thought to have passed the one million casualty mark earlier this year, according to Ukrainian and Western estimates.
Trump went on to reveal that Russian forces had lost approximately 112,500 troops since the beginning of 2025. That would mean that Moscow has been losing an average of around 16,000 troops per month since January.
It is unclear whether by that number Trump refers to the number of Russian troops killed in action, rather than total casualties. If Trump’s 20,000 number refers solely to Russian troops killed in action, that number would align more closely with Ukrainian estimates, which have put Russian total monthly casualties at around 40,000 per month since January—for a total of approximately 267,000 casualties thus far in 2025.
Militaries generally consider casualties to be troops killed in action (KIA), wounded in action (WIA), missing in action (MIA), and prisoners of war (POW). Statistically, wounded troops make up the greatest portion of the total casualties. The “WIA” classification is broad by design; it includes both troops that will eventually be able to return to the fight, and those severely wounded that will not.
The President stressed that Ukraine “has also suffered greatly”—putting the number of Ukrainian troops killed in action at 8,000 since January 1, not including troops missing in action. If these figures are accurate, it highlights a huge disparity in losses in favor of the defending Ukrainians.
“Ukraine has also lost civilians, but in smaller numbers, as Russian rockets crash into Kyiv, and other Ukrainian locales,” Trump added.
Trump’s remarks reflect a grim reality for the Russian forces.
According to figures released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Russian military, paramilitary units, and pro-Russian separatist forces lost approximately 1,010 troops killed and wounded over the last day. Materiel casualties over the past 24 hours were equally heavy; according to the same data, the Russian forces lost approximately 85 tactical vehicles and fuel trucks, 77 unmanned aerial systems, 28 artillery pieces and multiple launch rocket systems, 8 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 1 main battle tank, and 1 cruise missile.
Moreover, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) recently conducted a special operation with drones against a Russian air base in occupied Crimea. SBU claimed that the attack struck five aircraft, destroying one Sukhoi Su-30M fighter jet, damaging another, and hitting three Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bombers.
In total, Kyiv estimates that the Russian forces have lost approximately 1,057,140 troops since the war began on February 24, 2022. In spite of these gargantuan losses, events have shown that the Kremlin is willing and able to withstand them—and pour more men into the fray in order to achieve its goals.
Brazil’s Supreme Court put former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest on Monday ahead of his trial for an alleged coup plot, underscoring the court’s resolve despite escalating tariffs and sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the target of U.S. Treasury sanctions last week, issued the arrest order against Bolsonaro. His decision cited a failure to comply with restraining orders he had imposed on Bolsonaro for allegedly courting Trump’s interference in the case.
Bolsonaro is on trial before the Supreme Court on charges he conspired with allies to violently overturn his 2022 electoral loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Trump has referred to the case as a “witch hunt” and called it grounds for a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods taking effect on Wednesday.
The U.S. State Department condemned the house arrest order, saying Moraes was using Brazilian institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy, adding the U.S. would “hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.”
It did not provide details, though Trump has said the U.S. could still impose even higher tariffs on Brazilian imports.
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The Monday order from Moraes also banned Bolsonaro from using a cell phone or receiving visits, except for his lawyers and people authorized by the court.
A press representative for Bolsonaro confirmed he was placed under house arrest on Monday evening at his Brasilia residence by police who seized his cell phone.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement they would appeal the decision, arguing the former president had not violated any court order.
In an interview with Reuters last month, Bolsonaro called Moraes a “dictator” and said the restraining orders against him were acts of “cowardice.”
Some Bolsonaro allies have worried that Trump’s tactics may be backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for Bolsonaro and rallying public support behind Lula’s leftist government.
However, Sunday demonstrations by Bolsonaro supporters — the largest in months — show that Trump’s tirades and sanctions against Moraes have also fired up the far-right former army captain’s political base.
Bolsonaro appeared virtually at a protest in Rio de Janeiro via phone call to his son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in what some saw as the latest test of his restraining orders.
Moraes said that the former president had repeatedly made attempts to bypass the court’s orders.
“Justice is blind, but not foolish,” the justice wrote in his decision.
On Monday, Senator Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil that Monday’s order from Moraes was “a clear display of vengeance” for the U.S. sanctions against the judge, adding: “I hope the Supreme Court can put the brakes on this person (Moraes) causing so much upheaval.”
The judge’s orders, including the restraining orders under penalty of arrest, have been upheld by the wider court.
Those orders and the larger case before the Supreme Court came after two years of investigations into Bolsonaro’s role in an election-denying movement that culminated in riots by his supporters that rocked Brasilia in January 2023. That unrest drew comparisons to the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol after Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat.
In contrast with the tangle of criminal cases which mostly stalled against Trump, Brazilian courts moved swiftly against Bolsonaro, threatening to end his political career and fracture his right-wing movement. An electoral court has already banned Bolsonaro from running for public office until 2030.
Another of Bolsonaro’s sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman, moved to the U.S. around the same time the former president’s criminal trial kicked off to drum up support for his father in Washington. The younger Bolsonaro said the move had influenced Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on Brazil.
In a statement after the arrest on Monday, Congressman Bolsonaro called Moraes “an out-of-control psychopath who never hesitates to double down.”
Trump last month shared a letter he had sent to Bolsonaro. “I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” he wrote. “This trial should end immediately!”
Washington based its sanctions against Moraes last week on accusations that the judge had authorized arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppressed freedom of expression.
The arrest could give Trump a pretext to pile on additional measures against Brazil, said Graziella Testa, a political science professor at the Federal University of Parana, adding that Bolsonaro seemed to be consciously provoking escalation.
“I think things could escalate because this will be seen as a reaction to the Magnitsky sanction” against Moraes, said Leonardo Barreto, a partner at the Think Policy political risk consultancy in Brasilia, referring to the asset freeze imposed on Moraes last week.
Reuters
On Monday, protesters convened outside the Trump International Hotel in New York City to express their opposition to Israel’s policies regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This demonstration, organized by the Jewish-American anti-occupation group IfNotNow, attracted hundreds of participants to Columbus Circle under the slogan “Trump: Jews Say No More.”
The protestors advocated for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza and called for increased access to essential humanitarian aid for affected populations.
Protesters also held signs reading “Stop ethnic cleansing,” “Never again is now,” “Stop starving Gaza,” and “Not in our name,” Britain’s The Guardian reported.
“Let’s not mince words, the Israeli government’s blockade of Gaza is a policy of ethnic cleansing by way of forced mass starvation,” said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow’s interim executive director, in a speech.
She added that the US government needs to “use its considerable leverage to end these horrors.”
The New York Police Department intervened in the protest, arresting more than 40 people.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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