World News
IOM warns of impending crisis in Sudan
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that about 4 million people have voluntarily returned across Sudan, many hoping to rebuild their lives after months of conflict. The UN agency warned that without urgent investment to restore essential services, rebuild infrastructure and revive livelihoods, these returns risk becoming unsustainable,.
Returns have been concentrated particularly in Aj Jazirah and Khartoum, driven by a combination of factors, including improved security in some areas, economic pressures, family reunification, limited services in displacement sites, and growing challenges faced by Sudanese living in neighbouring countries. While these movements reflect people’s determination to return home, many are arriving in places still deeply affected by conflict and collapse.
“For many people, returning home should mark the beginning of recovery. Instead, too often it means confronting destroyed services, damaged homes and new uncertainty,” said IOM Deputy Director General for Management and Reform SungAh Lee, during her visit to Sudan. “People need access to basic services, safe housing and ways to restore their livelihoods. Without that support, safe and dignified returns become much harder to sustain.”
Across Sudan, evolving patterns of displacement and spontaneous return continue to reshape communities and strain already weakened systems. At the height of the conflict, nearly 12 million people fled heavily affected areas, particularly Aj Jazirah, Khartoum, and parts of Sennar and Kordofan, seeking safety in other regions; more than 4 million fled to neighbouring countries.
Eastern states such as Kassala, Gedaref, and Red Sea, as well as Northern and River Nile states, became critical reception areas, hosting internally displaced persons, and migrants, while also serving as key transit points within wider regional mobility routes. Today, nearly 9 million people remain internally displaced.
The influx of displaced populations places persistent pressure on services and resources in host communities. Health systems, water infrastructure, protection services, and livelihood opportunities remain stretched. Host communities, many already facing economic hardship and climate-related challenges, are carrying increasing social and economic burdens.
In Khartoum, returns are rising rapidly, placing additional strain on urban infrastructure already damaged by months of fighting. Water systems, electricity networks, health facilities, and housing remain heavily affected, complicating efforts to restore basic services.
In Aj Jazirah, one of Sudan’s most important agricultural regions, returnees are confronted with damaged systems and equipment. These conditions threaten livelihoods and food production at a critical moment for recovery, against a wider backdrop of food insecurity and economic turmoil.
These challenges affect returnees, displaced populations, and host communities alike. As populations move between areas of displacement, transit and return, pressure on services, livelihoods and social cohesion continues. Displacement and return are not separate dynamics, but deeply interconnected realities that require coordinated responses across regions.
During her visit, DDG Lee met with key government actors, including the Ministers of Water and Irrigation, Health, and Education. Through close partnerships with national authorities and local actors, IOM is working to help communities move beyond emergency assistance toward recovery, stability, and longer-term peace, in furtherance of the UN Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement.
This includes supporting life-saving humanitarian assistance while investing in solutions and resilience to strengthen local systems and communities over time. Reliable data and coordinated responses remain essential to monitor movements, identify needs, and help ensure assistance reaches communities most affected by displacement.
However, with IOM Sudan’s 2026 Crisis Response Plan underfunded by USD 97.2 million, and with more than 2 million additional people expected to voluntarily return to Khartoum alone this year, the work to stabilize areas of return in Sudan has just begun. Sustained partnership, coordinated action, and adequate resources are essential to support Sudan at this pivotal moment and to ensure that return movements contribute to long-term recovery and stability.
Report by ewtnvatican.com says the Pontiff will undertake an apostolic journey to France from Sept. 25 – 28, a visit which will include a stop at the headquarters of UNESCO.
The trip was officially announced on May 16 by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. The Holy See did not immediately release the full itinerary of the trip.
The pope had already visited Turkey and Lebanon (in late 2025) and Monte Carlo (in March 2026).
In April he undertook a major voyage to Africa — with the trip spanning Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea — and is scheduled to visit Spain from June 6 – 12.
He is widely expected to also visit Latin America in the fall.
The last visit by a pope to France dates to Dec. 15, 2024, when Pope Francis travelled to Ajaccio, Corsica.
Many world leaders have been killed while in power in the last 63 years. Will there ever be an end to this?
See list below.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939–2026)
On February 28, 2026, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, was killed during a massive joint airstrike by the US and Israel on Iran. He served as both the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guards. He was one of the longest-serving rulers in the world.
Anwar Sadat (1918–1981)
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, while attending a victory parade in Cairo. He was killed by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, likely because of Sadat’s peace initiative with Israel and the United States.
Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995)
On November 4, 1995, Yigal Amir, an Israeli law student and right-wing extremist, shot and killed Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister of Israel. Amir opposed Rabin’s peace initiative, particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with Kennedy’s murder, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby before he could be brought to trial.
Indira Gandhi (1917–1984)
Indira Gandhi served as the prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards, apparently in revenge for Operation Blue Star—the removal of Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991)
Rajiv Gandhi, who took office as prime minister after his mother’s death, also met a violent end. He was killed on May 21, 1991, by a female member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who detonated a bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi and at least 14 other people.
Park Chung Hee (1917–1979)
Park Chung Hee served as the third president of South Korea from 1963 until his assassination on October 26, 1979. His killer was Kim Jae-gyu, director of the country’s National Intelligence Service.
Olof Palme (1927–1986)
The assassination of Olaf Palme on February 28, 1986, remains unsolved. Palme, the prime minister of Sweden, was shot and killed while walking home from a cinema with his wife in central Stockholm. In 1989, Christer Pettersson was convicted of the murder, but acquitted on appeal the following year. Despite police naming and arresting other suspects, no one else was charged with Palme’s murder.
Laurent Kabila (1939–2001)
Congolese rebel and politician Laurent Kabila served as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassination on January 16, 2001. It’s believed one of his bodyguards gunned him down. The investigation into Kabila’s death led to the arrest and subsequent jailing of 23 soldiers linked to the murder.
Hendrik Verwoerd (1901–1966)
Often referred to as the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd served as prime minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966. Verwoerd had survived a previous assassination attempt in 1960, but six years later was stabbed to death in Cape Town by a man called Dimitri Tsafendas.
Adapted from report by Stars Insider
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