Sudan starts trial of ousted president Bashir for 1989 coup

17:09, July 21, 2020

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  Female student studies for basic school certificate examinations in Khartoum, Sudan

  A female student studies for the basic school certificate examinations under candle light after a blackout in her area under programmed power cuts in Khartoum, Sudan, July 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir) .

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  Fresh killings in Darfur as Sudan prepares to send troops

  UN officials on Sunday reported a fresh massacre of more than 60 people in Sudans West Darfur, as the countrys prime minister promised fresh troops for the conflict-stricken region.File photo:Tires are set ablaze by Sudanese protesters during a rally in the capital Khartoum to condemn the "massacre" of five demonstrators including four high school students at a rally in the central town of Al-Obeida on July 29, 2019.Attackers targeted members of the local Masalit community, looting and burning houses and part of the local market, a statement said.Around 500 armed men attacked Masteri Town, north of Beida, in Darfur on Saturday afternoon, said the statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)."This was one of the latest of a series of security incidents reported over the last week that left several villages and houses burned, markets and shops looted, and infrastructure damaged," said the statement, from the OCHAs Khartoum office.Following Saturdays attack on Masteri, around 500 local people staged a protest demanding more protection from the authorities.On Sunday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the government would send security forces to conflict-stricken Darfur to "protect citizens and the farming season"."A joint security force will be deployed in the five states of the Darfur region to protect citizens during the farming season," Hamdoks office said in a statement after he met a delegation of women from the region.The force will include army and police forces, it said.Land conflictOn Friday, armed men drove into a village and killed 20 civilians returning to their fields for the first time in years, an eyewitness and a tribal chief told AFP.The impoverished western region has seen years of conflict since an ethnic minority uprising prompted the government to launch a scorched-earth campaign that left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million.Violence...

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  Evidentiary stage of Israeli PM's trial to begin in January 2021: court

  JERUSALEM, July 19 -- Witness testimonies in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criminal trial will begin in January 2021, the Jerusalem District Court announced on Sunday.Under Israeli law, Netanyahu is expected to be present at every session.The trial has resumed on Sunday morning after