Author: National Tone

Sudan’s violent power struggle between the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army looks even and could carry on for months, even years, analysts say. That trajectory threatens to fracture the country as well as splinter the very forces fighting each other. Over time, experts told Al Jazeera, the army is likely to gain the upper hand in the conflict – thanks to its aerial advantage and the logistical support it receives from Egypt – but not a decisive victory. However, the RSF will have enough regional help – mostly from the United Arab Emirates  – to survive…

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Several of Raab’s colleagues in Westminster had complained about his professional behaviour.British Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab resigned on Friday, following an independent investigation into formal complaints about his behaviour. In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak published on Twitter, Raab said the inquiry had set a dangerous precedent, but that he would remain supportive of the government. “I called for the inquiry and undertook to resign, if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever. I believe it is important to keep my word,” Raab said. He complained about employees leaking details of his behaviour to…

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Tunis, Tunisia – Rached Ghannouchi finds himself behind bars this week, leaving the Tunisian opposition leader’s daughter worried for his health, and his party worried about what happens next. “They insisted that he can be held for 48 hours without lawyers present,” Yusra Ghannouchi said, detailing her father’s initial interrogation on Monday. Tunisia’s President Kais Saied had chosen one of the holiest nights on the Islamic calendar to make his latest move against the Tunisian opposition – the 27th of Ramadan. Ghannouchi was detained, and the offices of his self-described “Muslim Democrat” Ennahda party, as well as the opposition coalition…

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Famous figures including Pope Francis and Bill Gates lose blue tick as Elon Musk pushes paid service.After months of delays, Twitter has begun removing its signature blue checkmark from verified users who have not signed up for its paid subscription service Twitter Blue. Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue last year after buying the social media platform for $44bn, introducing an $8 monthly charge for the blue tick as well as a number of other features. Accounts with checkmarks that pre-dated Musk’s takeover, known as “legacy accounts”, were given the option to pay for the subscription following its rollout or risk…

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With the active Covid-19 caseload currently standing at 65,286, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Covid Flash update on April 20, 2023 stated that in the last 24 hours, 12,591 new cases were recorded in India. Further, the daily positivity rate stands at 5.46 per cent as against the weekly rate of 5.32 per cent. Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh continue to report more than 250 cases, according to the Ministry’s Covid-19 State-wise Status check. While the active cases stand at 0.15 per cent, the recovery rate has been recorded at 98.67 per cent. Despite these numbers, doctors, however, suggest…

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Medan, Indonesia – Marta Dewi, a housewife in Central Java province, became an advocate for Indonesia’s sex workers by accident. Dewi lives in Bandungan, a small mountain town known for drawing thousands of sex workers from all over Indonesia. Living side-by-side with the women trying to make a living, Dewi empathised with their situation. “I’ve never worked as a sex worker but I care about my environment and, in my area, there are so many sex workers,” Dewi told Al Jazeera. “Once I got to know them, I realised that they did these jobs out of necessity and shouldn’t be…

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The right-wing conspiracy theorist and pillow entrepreneur has become a central figure in the US ‘stolen election’ myth.An arbitration panel in the United States has ordered MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to pay $5m to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claims proves China interfered in the 2020 US presidential elections, tipping the outcome to Joe Biden. But Lindell told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has no intention of paying and expects the dispute to land in court. Lindell has been a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines…

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Tampa Bay Lightning star defenceman Victor Hedman did not take warmup and will not play in Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hedman left Game 1 after the first period with an undisclosed injury but was considered day-to-day for Game 2. The Lightning are also without defenceman Erik Cernak, who was injured on a hit by Michael Bunting in Game 1. Bunting was suspended three games for the infraction. Forward Michael Eyssimont, who was injured in Game 1 after a hit from Jake McCabe, is also not in the lineup for Game 1. Defencemen Haydn Fleury and Zach Bogosian…

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Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has received separate phone calls from the United States, Saudi and Qatari foreign ministers, also from the Turkish president and the Egyptian intelligence chief, an army statement reported. The calls came amid efforts to get both the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to agree to a three-day ceasefire across the Muslim Eid that starts on Friday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also appealed to Sudan’s warring factions to observe a ceasefire over the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday to allow civilians to reach safe areas as rival forces battled for a sixth day…

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard won’t play for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Phoenix Suns in Game 3 of their Western Conference playoff series Thursday night. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; He was listed as having a sprained right knee on the NBA’s injury report that came out several hours before tipoff in Los Angeles. That leaves the Clippers without both of their star players against the Suns’ trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul. Paul George hasn’t played since March 21, when he sprained his right knee in a game. Leonard is averaging…

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