Sudan unrest: latest updates - CNN

Thousands took to the streets Thursday morning in Sudan to celebrate the anticipated ouster of President Omar al-Bashir. 

A CNN stringer on the ground saw thousands marching towards the military headquarters in the capital, dancing, drumming and chanting against the government. Cars honked their horns in support and women ululated in celebration.

People chanted: “He is a coward and he is fallen!”

There is heavy deployment by the Rapid Security Forces in the capital especially on the main bridge on connecting Khartoum with Um Dorman. They didn’t engage with the crowds, CNN’s stringer reported. 

Military troops however responded to the celebrating protesters, flashing the victory sign. One soldier was seen patting a protester’s back to congratulate him.

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2019-04-11 08:54:00Z
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Sudan’s Military to Make Announcement as Protests Swell Against Omar Hassan al-Bashir - The New York Times

GULU, Uganda — Sudan’s state news media said Thursday that the military would make an important announcement, a development that comes as protests against the decades-long rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the country’s authoritarian leader, have engulfed the nation.

“The armed forces will present an important statement shortly,” a television anchor said on state media. “Be ready for it.”

Mr. al-Bashir, who has long been regarded as a pariah in the West and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges in connection with atrocities in Darfur, has ruled Sudan longer than any leader since the country gained independence in 1956.

The state news media report, accompanied by patriotic music, was made as protesters demanding Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster gathered outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum, the country’s capital.

Protests swelled on Thursday morning. Those calling for Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster would not be satisfied if he were simply replaced by another general, said Sara Abdelgalil, a spokeswoman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which is organizing the protests.

“We have asked for people to continue the sit-in in front of army base — headquarters — and the uprising continues,” she said.

The protests will continue “ until there is a complete step down of the whole regime,” she said. “We insist on a civil government and we don’t support any coup.”

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Mr. al-Bashir has ruled Sudan longer than any leader since the country gained independence in 1956.CreditAshraf Shazly/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

One protester wrote that there was dancing in the streets, with people chanting, “We won, we won.”

Mr. al-Bashir came to power as a little-known general in 1989 during an Islamist and military-backed coup. In the following years, he purged Islamists and insiders from his party, and demonstrated a knack for political survival.

Protests began in December over rising food costs but quickly expanded to a broad challenge to Mr. al-Bashir’s hold on power. In recent days, rival factions within the security services have battled each other, raising fears of a complete breakdown in order as armed military groups fight for control.

A striking photo of one protester standing on a car and wearing a white thoub, a long robe, and gold earrings as she urged on a crowd this week was called an iconic image of the demonstrations and was shared widely online.

Mr. al-Bashir’s three decades of rule have been marked by famine and war, with the country dividing and a new nation, South Sudan, gaining independence in 2011. South Sudan and Libya, Sudan’s neighbor to the northwest, are each now gripped by armed conflict, raising the threat of widespread regional instability should Sudan also fall into civil war.

For months the security services have detained and attacked protesters in an effort to prevent the demonstrations from swelling, but in recent days, crowds opposed to Mr. al-Bashir have grown outside the compound in Khartoum that houses his residence and the military’s headquarters.

Mr. al-Bashir is the only active leader to be wanted by the International Criminal Court. As word of his possible ouster emerged, human rights groups called for him to face trial over his role in crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur region.

“If the Sudan military’s important announcement is that Pres Bashir will finally step down, it should demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and an end to mass atrocities by delivering him to the International Criminal Court to face charges,” Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter.

Sudan is also listed by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism, although it does cooperate with the United States on some counterterrorism efforts, the State Department said in a 2017 report.

Last week another leader in the region, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, stepped down as president of Algeria after weeks of street protests, bringing an end to his 20-year rule.

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2019-04-11 07:52:30Z
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White House preparing to roll out Kushner's Israeli-Palestinian 'peace plan': Sources - ABC News

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection victory secured, the Trump administration is preparing to roll out Jared Kushner's "peace plan" as early as this month, sources familiar with the plan tell ABC News.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the plan, which Kushner and a small "peace team" have been quietly working on for months. The text itself remains a closely guarded secret -- even within the White House -- and has only been seen in its entirety by four people within the administration, the sources said.

The text hasn't even been shared with allies, including the Israeli government, the U.S. officials said.

Those familiar with the plan said it aims to bring a non-traditional approach to addressing the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict by including a robust economic development package for the Palestinian people and seeking to address political elements of the conflict.

The White House declined to comment when asked about details of the plan.

(MORE: Israeli elections: What you need to know)

(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, FILE) White House senior advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, walk to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Oct. 30, 2018.

Kushner and his team traveled to several Arab countries in February to brief diplomats on the economic aspects of the peace plan. An official said some of the broad economic concepts of the plan were warmly received, in principle, during that trip.

Though the plan's release could come this month, sources cautioned a release date has not been finalized and that the administration is weighing a variety of factors. Potential causes for delay could include the upcoming holidays of Passover and Ramadan.

Early in his presidency, Trump tasked his son-in-law with working on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as one of his high-profile assignments in the White House. In describing his hopes of achieving peace, Trump has referred to a prospect as "the ultimate deal."

Trump expressed optimism Wednesday for peace plan's prospects now that Netanyahu has been reelected.

"The fact that Bibi won, I think we'll see some pretty good action in terms of peace," Trump said at the White House when asked by a reporter if Netanyahu's victory meant he would soon release the administration's peace plan.

(MORE: Trump flouts chummy relations with Netanyahu ahead of Israeli election)

(Carlos Barria/Reuters) President Donald Trump gestures to gathered news media as he welcomes Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, March 25, 2019.

Two weeks ago, the president received Netanyahu at the White House in an effort to shore up support for his friend in the final stretch of a tough reelection bid.

"Everybody said you can't have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians," Trump said Wednesday. "I think we have a chance. And I think we have, now, a better chance with Bibi having won."

Netanyahu has said he welcomes an opportunity to review the plan.

"I look forward to receiving the plan, and we will look at it once it's presented," Netanyahu said in February, during a meeting attended by Vice President Mike Pence and Kushner in Poland. "I have to say that I know the Trump administration seeks to ensure the security of Israel for generations."

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2019-04-11 08:03:45Z
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Harry Kazianis: Trump summit with South Korea president could bring progress in North's denuclearization - Fox News

President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet Thursday at the White House to discuss efforts to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to get rid of his nuclear weapons and long-range missiles and forge a lasting peace with the South and the United States.

Accomplishing this won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible. Dealing with North Korea has been a foreign policy and military nightmare since Korea was split into two nations in 1948 – the communist North aligned with Russia and China, and the South aligned with the U.S.

In fact, we are still technically at war with the North. The Korean War, begun in 1950, ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Offering Kim a peace treaty as part of a deal on denuclearization could be one of several incentives to get him to give up his nation’s status as a nuclear power.

TRUMP TO MEET WITH SOUTH KOREA’S MOON IN APRIL, WHITE HOUSE SAYS

Tensions rose considerably between Washington and Pyongyang in the dark days of 2017 when Trump and Kim traded threats of military strikes. But since then the two leaders have met in two summits in a so-far unsuccessful effort to resolve their differences.

Having no diplomatic relations makes things harder, with simple messages taking days to travel between key policymakers in the U.S. and North Korea. Establishing diplomatic relations would be a big win for Kim – and could be another incentive for him to make major concessions on denuclearization.

The good news is that if President Trump is willing to take a small leap of faith, there is a clear path forward that could guarantee a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and a real end to the Korean War, ensuring that the nuclear threats of the past remain in the history books.

The good news is that if President Trump is willing to take a small leap of faith, there is a clear path forward that could guarantee a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and a real end to the Korean War, ensuring that the nuclear threats of the past remain in the history books.

This is where South Korea’s President Moon can make a difference.

The Moon Miracle, or what many refer to as Seoul’s strategy to facilitate a détente between the U.S. and North Korea, has been transformative.

Moon played a key role in a historically successful Winter Olympics in South Korea last year, three inter-Korean summits, a comprehensive inter-Korean military de-escalation agreement along the Demilitarized Zone, and the normalization of dialogue between the two Koreas.

These successes have done much to ensure the dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang moves forward. In engineering them, Moon has put his own legacy in clear jeopardy, while weakening his own position back home. He will be judged either a great success or an enormous failure, depending on how the North responds to his overtures.

Now we will find out if Moon’s miracle can be truly be sustained. On Thursday he will try to ascertain where President Trump stands on several key issues that could determine the future of relations with North Korea.

First, Moon will seek to figure out if Trump is really committed to a concrete diplomatic negotiation with North Korea, or only willing to deal with the Kim regime if it will surrender its nuclear weapons before getting any relief from economic sanctions.

Next, Moon must find out who is the key decision-maker on Trump’s team when it comes to dealing with North Korea. It is clear that there is not unanimity among Trump’s advisers.

It will be important for Moon to know if National Security Adviser John Bolton – a hardliner on dealing with the North – is just trying to project an image of strength, or whether he is truly the man driving the Trump administration’s negotiation strategy.

If Bolton is in the driver’s seat he will most likely demand what amounts to North Korea’s complete nuclear capitulation for any sort of concessions. A demand like this will most likely result in Kim ending any sort of talks for the foreseeable future.

Assuming Bolton is not driving administration policy, Moon needs to know if Washington is committed to absolutely no sanctions relief until full denuclearization – something that could take a decade or more to achieve – or if there is some middle ground that could be found.

If there is a middle ground, here is where Moon can truly make a difference. Moon should propose a compromise deal to provide limited sanctions relief to the North.

Under such a deal, North Korea would be required to close all facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex under international supervision, including a delegation of U.S. nuclear experts. In return, Pyongyang would be granted a temporary suspension of select sanctions.

Some U.N. Security Council resolutions could be suspended and the two Koreas could be allowed to work together on one or two joint economic projects under such a deal. The relaxation of sanctions on specific inter-Korean economic projects could include the linking of railways and roads across the North-South border.

This limited sanctions relief would cost the U.S. very little and be a significant boost to Moon’s separate inter-Korean reconciliation initiative. And it could accelerate the prospects of a peace agreement on the Korean Peninsula.

This play on words – calling the action “a temporary suspension of select sanctions,” matters tremendously and could be the key to a compromise deal.

President Trump would be able to say that he is not dropping any sanctions, at least not formally. Also, the Trump administration could embrace the role of the reasonable adult in the room and offer the North Koreans enough flexibility to prove that its intentions towards peace and denuclearization are more than just talk.

This would allow Washington to grant Pyongyang a key concession while throwing the ball on North Korea’s side of the court to demonstrate its sincerity.

There is, however, one catch to this agreement. The U.S. would need to insist on a snapback provision for sanctions. This way, if the Kim regime does cheat, America and South Korea can reapply sanctions quickly.

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This is a deal President Trump should embrace. Now that any immediate danger from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has passed, Trump surely would love to change the media narrative and focus the American people’s gaze on something much more positive, especially with the 2020 elections right around the corner.

There is no bigger accomplishment that would allow Trump to claim a real legacy than helping bring real peace to the Korean Peninsula along with denuclearization. Here’s to hoping that the U.S. and South Korean presidents get a real shot at making history, and maybe even a Nobel Peace Prize.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY HARRY J. KAZIANIS

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2019-04-11 03:24:02Z
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EU leaders, UK agree to extend Brexit deadline until the end of October - CNBC

European Union leaders and the U.K. government have agreed to a "flexible extension" of the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said this development provides an "additional six months for the UK to find the best possible solution."

@eucopresident: EU27/UK have agreed a flexible extension until 31 October. This means additional six months for the UK to find the best possible solution.

The emergency summit was convened after Prime Minister Theresa May requested a further delay to the U.K.'s departure from the bloc. U.K. lawmakers have rejected May's agreement three times but they've also failed to reach a majority in support of alternative options.

May has been holding talks with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the hope that a compromise or alternative plan can be found, but this has so far proved elusive.

After two years of Brexit negotiations, the U.K. was meant to leave the EU on March 29. With Parliament not backing the deal on offer, the government asked for a short delay to April 12 in order to get backing for an alternative Brexit strategy.

As that has failed to materialize, May was forced last week to ask for a longer delay to June 30 in order to prevent the U.K. leaving the bloc without a deal.

The EU had already warned that a longer delay would mean that it has to take part in European Parliament elections in late May. The U.K. would have to take part in those elections and vote on representatives to the European Parliament. Those members would stop working for the EU on the day the U.K. leaves the bloc.

A source familiar with the negotiations told CNBC that France was the toughest to convince. Diplomatic sources told Reuters that French President Emmanuel Macron said a delay beyond June 30 would undermine the bloc. Some diplomats expressed frustration with his stance, suggesting that Paris was adding more uncertainty to the summit.

This is a breaking news story, please check back later for further updates.

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2019-04-11 00:10:35Z
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Benjamin Netanyahu likely to win Israeli prime minister election after opposition party concedes - Fox News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears more likely than ever to be headed to a fifth term Wednesday after the party of his top rival conceded defeat in the country’s parliamentary elections.

The Blue and White party, headed by former army chief of staff Benny Gantz, drew even with Netanyahu's Likud party, but the incumbent prime minister is poised to form a government with his larger bloc of allies.

Gantz said his party "founded a true alternative rule to Netanyahu,” but its No. 2 figure, Yair Lapid, told reporters Wednesday that it “did not win in this round”.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, says President Trump has called to congratulate him on his election win from Air Force One.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to his supporters after polls for Israel's general elections closed in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday.

Netanyahu's office issued a statement Wednesday saying Trump "warmly congratulated" Netanyahu, who thanked the president for his "great support for Israel," including the White House's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu campaigned on his foreign policy victories and close relations with world leaders — Trump in particular.

Israel's president also said Wednesday that his talks with political parties are to begin next week, in the run-up to picking the leader he thinks has the best chance of forming a stable governing coalition.

Reuven Rivlin added that, for the first time, his meetings with party leaders would be broadcast on live television "in the name of transparency."

Although the president acts largely in a ceremonial capacity, he is charged with choosing a candidate for prime minister after hearing recommendations from the heads of all factions, according to the Associated Press. Rivlin will then task the leading candidate with forming a government within 42 days.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears poised to be the president's choice.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-04-10 17:35:34Z
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The E.U. Seems Ready to Put Brexit on Ice. But for How Long? - The New York Times

BRUSSELS — European leaders are coming to Brussels on Wednesday evening as they would go to the dentist — unhappily, but necessarily — to give the embattled British prime minister, Theresa May, another extension on Brexit.

Britain’s scheduled withdrawal from the European Union will be delayed, senior European officials and diplomats say, to avoid a “no-deal” hard Brexit on Friday night. The main discussion will be for how long the extension of the process should last.

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, have suggested an extension until June 1, 2020, diplomats say. If Britain’s Parliament were to pass the withdrawal agreement that the government has negotiated with the bloc any time sooner, the country would leave the bloc on the first of the next month, this proposal goes.

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The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, center left, and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, have suggested a lengthy extension to the Brexit deadline.CreditEmmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

European leaders stressed that, whatever should happen in the process of withdrawal, or Brexit, the British Parliament would still have to pass the withdrawal agreement before there could be any discussions about the future relationship — even if Britain had left without an agreement first. The terms would include the major sticking point for pro-Brexit lawmakers, the so-called backstop to prevent a physical border between Northern Ireland and the south.

The agreement covers technical issues concerning the withdrawal and is not up for renegotiation, European leaders say, while an associated “political declaration” covers things like trade and customs and could serve as the basis for negotiations on the future.

The leaders of the other 27 member states will decide on the length of any extension and other matters late Wednesday night after hearing out Mrs. May. The debate will be mostly over tactics: whether this long extension puts more pressure on Parliament to pass the withdrawal agreement quickly, or whether, as Austria and a handful of other countries believe, an extension just until the end of June would be the best way to accomplish that goal.

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The leaders of the other 27 member states will decide on the length of any extension late Wednesday night after hearing out Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain.CreditJack Taylor/Getty Images

“That is a tactical issue and a political decision, and the leaders will come to a decision on that,” a senior European diplomat said. “But no one favors a no-deal Brexit on Friday.”

With any extension under consideration, Britain would have to hold elections for the European Parliament on May 23. Mrs. May has regarded that prospect, three years after the British voted for Brexit, as absurd, but she now accepts it as the inevitable price of avoiding a no-deal Brexit and the damage that would do to her country’s economy.

A central argument for a long extension is that it would relieve European leaders of the burden of constant emergency sessions on Brexit, allowing them to deal with other pressing issues, like migration, the next seven-year budget and the European elections, as well as the choice of a new president for the council, the decision-making body at which the bloc’s heads of government meet; new leaders for the commission, the bloc’s executive arm; and a new central bank head.

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European leaders stressed that Britain’s Parliament would still have to pass the withdrawal agreement before there could be any discussions about the future relationship, even if the country left without an agreement first.CreditDan Kitwood/Getty Images

One argument against a long extension, which France makes, is that Britain could create difficulties with a new budget and other key issues, since it would remain a member with all of a member’s rights and responsibilities. President Emmanuel Macron is seeking some form of guarantee from Mrs. May that Britain would behave responsibly.

Mr. Macron has suggested quarterly “reviews” of Britain’s behavior during any long extension, which others find difficult legally. But it may be that as a compromise, diplomats suggest, the extension would run only to the end of October.

The idea is to give time for Britain to sort itself out and decide what kind of future relationship it wants. But in any case, European officials emphasize, the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish backstop, designed to guarantee no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, will not change.

There is little expectation in Brussels that Mrs. May’s current negotiations with the opposition Labour Party will come to a positive conclusion, hence the willingness for a long extension. But whether that means the end of Mrs. May’s premiership and new elections is not Europe’s concern, the officials say.

The difference now, in contrast to the last emergency council meeting last month, is that the European leaders have decided to take control over the length of any extension. What might happen at the end of it — including a no-deal Brexit, or a decision to stay in the European Union — would be up to Britain.

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2019-04-10 17:26:15Z
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