An airstrike targeting civilian areas in southeastern Sudan has left more than 20 people dead and dozens of others wounded, authorities in the embattled Sennar state said, as civil war rages between the country’s army and a paramilitary militia.

At least 21 civilians were killed and 63 injured in the air raid on Sunday, Sennar’s acting governor Tawfiq Muhammad Ali said Monday, according to state-run news agency SUNA.

The aerial bombing, blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was also confirmed by activist group Emergency Lawyers, which keeps track of human rights abuses and civilian casualties. The lawyers’ group said more than 30 people were killed in the RSF attack, which it said targeted a market and other civilian locations.

The RSF, which assumed near-total control of the city after capturing it in July, has yet to comment on the claims.

The activist group also attributed a similar airstrike in the nearby al-Souki town that killed four people to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

The conflict has left at least 18,000 people dead and displaced more than 10 million others since April 2023. The fighting has also triggered “one of the worst humanitarian disasters” according to the United Nations, with over half of the country’s population facing acute hunger.

On Friday, a UN inquiry into the Sudanese conflict found that both warring factions have committed “an appalling range” of human rights abuses that “may amount to war crimes.”

Some of those violations by the SAF and RSF included “indiscriminate and direct attacks carried out through airstrikes and shelling against civilians, schools, hospitals, communication networks and vital water and electricity supplies,” according to the UN report.

The report called for the deployment of an independent force to protect civilians as well as a nationwide arms embargo.

Those recommendations were rejected by the Sudanese foreign ministry which denounced the UN report.

A beluga whale discovered with a harness strapped around its neck in Norwegian waters five years ago – and found dead on August 31 – had a stick stuck in its mouth and its death was not related to human activity, police said on Monday.

The body of Hvaldimir – a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin – was spotted a week ago floating in the sea by a father and son fishing in southern Norway.

The animal became the subject of media attention when it was discovered off Norway’s Arctic coast in 2019 wearing a harness with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera.

Norway and Russia share a maritime border in the Arctic, leading to jokes that the whale was a Russian spy.

Norwegian police had opened an investigation into the death of the animal after two animal rights groups filed a complaint.

An autopsy showed a stick measuring 35 centimeters in length (14 inches) and 3 centimeters wide (1.2 inches) was stuck in the whale’s mouth, police for the South West district said in a statement.

“The autopsy showed that its stomach was empty. In addition, most organs had broken down,” police said.

“There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir’s death.”

As a result, police would not investigate further, they added.

The animal rights groups had alleged the whale had been shot dead. On Monday, police said Hvaldimir had sustained some injuries but that they were “completely superficial,” adding “there was no evidence suggesting that Hvaldimir was shot.”

A full report will be ready in two weeks, it said.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, has said she has completed her chemotherapy and is “doing what I can to stay cancer free,” as she plans to return gradually to public life in the coming months.

Catherine, who revealed in March she has been diagnosed with cancer, said in a highly personal video released Monday that she is entering a “new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.”

The princess, known as Kate, has made just two public appearances since her diagnosis, which came after she underwent major abdominal surgery shortly after Christmas.

“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” said Kate, 42, who is married to the heir to the British throne, Prince William.

“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,” she continued. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”

In a video message showing scenes from the English summer, Kate, William and their three children – Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George – are seen walking through forests, picnicking, playing among sand dunes and wading in the sea.

“The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family,” she says in the video, filmed last month in Norfolk, on England’s eastern coast. “The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you.”

“This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved,” Kate says in the video message.

She said she is looking forward to returning to work and will be “undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can,” keeping a light schedule to allow her to recover fully.

She is expected to attend the annual Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in London in November, honoring those who have served in war.

Kensington Palace initially said Kate’s surgery had been for a non-cancerous abdominal condition but, following frenzied speculation about her wellbeing and prolonged absence from public life, Kate revealed her diagnosis in a video message in March.

Her diagnosis stunned the country, coming just weeks after King Charles III announced in February that he had also been diagnosed with cancer. Neither royal has specified the type of cancer for which they are receiving treatment.

In June, Kate said she was making “good progress” in her recovery and that she expected her treatment to continue “for a few more months.”

The next day – making her first public appearance since Christmas Day – Kate joined Charles and family members on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour ceremony in June, marking the monarch’s official birthday.

Before her appearance at the ceremony, Kate said she was making “good progress” in her recovery and that she expected her treatment to continue “for a few more months.”

In July, she received a standing ovation from the Centre Court crowd as she attended the Wimbledon men’s singles final with her daughter Princess Charlotte.

Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic content.

A 14-year-old boy lies in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, severely burned from an Israeli airstrike. Doctors say nearly his entire body is affected. His wounds have now become infested with maggots.

When the boy’s dressings are changed, maggots fall to the floor. This happens every time, Dr. Mughani said.

There’s nowhere else for the boy to go. According to the United Nations, an estimated 12,000 patients are waiting to leave Gaza to receive urgently needed medical care, but medical evacuations have been suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt four months ago.

This case is a testament to the deteriorating sanitary conditions for the Palestinians trapped in the besieged enclave after 11 months of war, both within and outside hospitals.

Even as the campaign to vaccinate Gaza’s children for polio continues, the United Nations and aid agencies warn of deteriorating public health conditions.

On Sunday, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN body in charge of the Palestinian territories, said on X: “While we vaccinate children against polio, many other diseases continue spreading in Gaza.”

“Piles of trash grow higher next to tents & shelters. Sewage keeps flooding the streets. Access to hygiene products is increasingly limited. Sanitary conditions are inhumane,” UNRWA said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned last week that limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities, coupled with the lack of affordable hygiene items, was aggravating Gaza’s public health crisis.

In July, the price of soap had reportedly increased by nearly 1,200% across the strip from a year earlier, with the price of shampoo almost 500% higher in the same period, OCHA said.

“Humanitarian partners have been working to ensure that hundreds of thousands of hygiene kits can reach people in need, but those efforts continue to be hampered by active conflict, access restrictions, the lack of public order and safety, and evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities,” OCHA said.

Families who have been displaced face extreme difficulties in maintaining basic hygiene in overcrowded shelters and displacement sites, the agency said, while critical facilities, such as health centers, community kitchens, child-protection spaces, nutrition centers, and schools, lack the necessary tools to ensure safe and sanitary conditions. This situation is likely to deteriorate further during the winter.

Selling homemade soap

Some residents have taken to making soap and detergents, and selling them.

“There is no alternative. There is nothing that can be brought in. There is nothing ready-made. Everything is closed,” Al-Taweel said.

But he was worried that the raw materials may also run out in the coming days.

“The ready-made product was cheap and available, but everything is expensive… People complain.”

“The shampoo is 15 shekels ($4). We used to sell it for 10 shekels.”

But she said they were often poor quality and very expensive.

“We have epidemics and a high (rate of) infections, parasites and fungal infections in children. There is no hygiene,”  Shahoura said.

UN agencies and partners are attempting to restore wells that were damaged due to fighting in Deir Al-Balah in late August, which reduced groundwater production by 75%. Eight wells were significantly damaged, four of which cannot be repaired at present, OCHA said.

As of this month, daily clean water production in the enclave was at a quarter of pre-war supply, OCHA said, citing agencies involved in public health in Gaza.

The volume of water transported through trucking operations however doubled between 19 August and 1 September. Even so, it is far less than can be generated from wells – and delivery has been hampered by fuel shortages and persistent traffic congestion in the AlMawasi area, where thousands of internally displaced have moved.

Saeed Rayyan, a Gaza resident, sells chlorine to sterilize tents and clothes.

Supplies of liquid chlorine were hard to come by, he said, so they often had to resort to powdered chlorine and caustic soda to try to preserve hygiene.

“There are no alternative materials to eliminate diseases. There is no shampoo,” Rayyan added. People used dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent to try to stay clean.

“Due to the spread of epidemics and diseases and the lack of cleanliness in the tents, as well as the large accumulation of garbage in the country, there is no cleaning…  of the bathrooms and there is no (hygiene) supervision in the markets in general,” he said.

A man wanted for allegedly throwing scalding coffee on a baby in an unprovoked attack at a park in the northern Australian state of Queensland is now the subject of an international manhunt.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said Monday that officers were working with international partners to find the man, identified as a 33-year-old foreign national, who is known to have fled the country four days after the alleged attack.

A nine-month-old boy, known only as Luka, suffered serious burns on his face, arms and legs when the man allegedly threw the piping hot drink on him as he sat with his mother on the grass at Hanlon Park in Brisbane on August 27.

Closed circuit television video released by police shows the man running from the scene, wearing a blue plaid shirt, black hat and glasses.

Dalton said early investigations were delayed by false information about the man’s name and the suspect’s own surveillance of the police operation.

“It soon became apparent to us that this person was aware of police methodologies, was certainly conducting counter surveillance activities, which made the investigation quite complex,” Dalton told reporters.

After the attack, the man took a cab to Brisbane’s city center, then drove by car across the state border to New South Wales before flying from Sydney Airport on August 31.

“It wasn’t until the first of September that we were able to put a name to the face in the CCTV,” said Dalton, who declined to name the man or his destination for fear of hampering the investigation.

Dalton said police had identified the man shortly after he fled, telling reporters: “I was in the investigation center when we put a name to the face, and it was a very happy room, only for us to do a check in 15 minutes and find out we lost him.”

Dalton described the man as an “itinerant worker” who had come and gone from Australia on various visas since 2019 and had last entered the country in January 2022.

Police have been unable to determine the man’s motive.

“I’m continually scratching my head. We can’t find a motive,” Dalton said. “A rational, normal person, you would think, wouldn’t do something like that. But that’s not always the case.”

The boy’s mother, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, told local media at the time it was “all very quick and chaotic.”

“I didn’t really understand what had happened at the time, but I just started screaming for help and yelling out that it was hot and that my son was burnt,” said the mother.

Onlookers rushed over with water to douse the child before he was taken to hospital, where he has since reportedly undergone multiple surgeries for severe burns to his chin, neck, chest and back.

At the time, police released CCTV video of the man with a request for people who recognized him to come forward.

“The footage is quite clear. I’m very confident that if you’re looking at that footage and you know that person in there, you’re going to know who it is,” Dalton told media on August 28.

The investigation took police to New South Wales and Victoria, where the man had lived at several addresses on various work and holiday visas.

Police said they’d spoken to his colleagues about his movements.

Pope Francis arrived in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of East Timor on Monday for the penultimate stop on a marathon trip through Asia and the South Pacific for the 87-year-old leader.

But clerical sexual abuse is also hanging over this leg of the pope’s visit to the region as revelations of abuse concerning high profile East Timor clergy emerging in recent years.

East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, is one of the world’s youngest countries and has deep ties to the Catholic Church, which was influential in its tumultuous and bloody fight for independence from Indonesia.

The country of just 1.3 million people is the second most Catholic country in the world, with 97% of the population identifying as Catholic – the highest share outside of the Vatican.

The government of East Timor allocated $12 million for Francis’ first visit to the deeply devout country, which has been criticized as an exorbitant burden given it remains a small economy and one of Asia’s poorest nations.

The pontiff’s visit also puts fresh scrutiny on the scourge of sexual abuse in the church and on whether Francis will directly address the issue while he’s in East Timor, as he has done in other countries.

Two years ago, the Vatican acknowledged that it had secretly disciplined East Timor bishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Carlos Ximenes Belo, after he was accused of sexually abusing boys in his home nation decades before.

In past trips abroad, Francis has met with victims of abuse. Though not on the official program of his visit, some analysts have said if Pope Francis addresses the abuse while in East Timor, it would send a strong message to survivors and those who have not come forward both in the country and around the region.

A regional bastion of Catholicism

Pope Francis’ 12-day visit to Asia includes Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore – underscoring a significant shift inside the Catholic Church as it pivots to Asia.

He is the second pope to visit East Timor, after Pope John Paul II in 1989, but it’s the first papal visit for the country since it gained independence in 2002. The visit comes less than a week after the country marked the 25th anniversary of its vote to secede from Indonesia.

Located between northwestern Australia and Indonesia, the country occupies half of the island of Timor and was used by the Portuguese since the 17th century as a trading post for sandalwood.

Four hundred years of ensuing Portuguese colonial rule led to the widespread spread of Catholicism in East Timor and other cultural differences from Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Today, East Timor’s economy is heavily reliant on its oil and gas reserves, and still contends with high levels of poverty following decades of conflict.

Like other countries in the region, East Timor is in the middle of the United States and China’s push for influence in Asia, with US ally Australia at the forefront in providing assistance.

East Timor is also on track to become the 11th member of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, which could happen next year.

Bishop Belo and sex abuse allegations

A leading pro-democracy figure during the Indonesian occupation was Bishop Belo, the former head of the Catholic Church in East Timor, who won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside President Jose Ramos-Horta in 1996 for their work in bringing a peaceful end to the conflict.

In 2022, the Vatican confirmed that it had sanctioned Belo two years prior, following allegations from two men who said the bishop raped them when they were teenagers and gave them money to buy their silence.

The Vatican said that Belo — who is understood to be based in Portugal — had been placed under travel restrictions, “prohibition of voluntary contact with minors, of interviews and contacts with Timor Leste.”

While the allegations against Belo date back to the 1980, the Vatican said it first became involved in the case in 2019.

Dutch newspaper, De Groene Amsterdammer, broke the news and said its investigation found that other boys were also allegedly victims of Belo’s abuse dating back to the 1980s.

Belo has never been officially charged in East Timor and has never spoken publicly about the accusations.

In a separate case, in 2021, a court in East Timor sentenced defrocked American priest Richard Daschbach to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing young, vulnerable girls in his care.

Daschbach, a missionary who ran a shelter for orphaned children in a remote part of the country, admitted to sexually abusing girls in 2018. The Vatican expelled him from the church following his confession.

It was the first time that allegations of sexual abuse committed by a priest had gone to trial in East Timor.

Many abuse victims in East Timor have been reluctant to come forward due to the church’s deep connection to the independence struggle, and because of the government’s treatment of the few who have been convicted.

Since Pope Francis became the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in 2013, multiple reports detailing decades of sexual abuse, systemic failures and cover-ups across multiple countries have been released.

While he was criticized for some of his actions – such as when he defended a Chilean bishop accused of covering up a sex scandal in 2018, a decision he later described as a “grave error” – he has since taken a firm stance on the issues and introduced some reforms, including provisions for holding lay leaders of Vatican-approved associations accountable for cover-ups of sexual abuse.

The church and East Timor’s independence struggle

Amid civil war, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia in 1976 and declared the country’s 27th province following Portugal’s democratization and its decision to shed its colonies the year before.

Between 1975 and 1999, more than 200,000 people – about a quarter of the population – were killed in fighting and massacres or died as a result of famine as Indonesia’s occupying forces tried to brutally assert control.

Indonesia was condemned by the international community for its crackdown, including in 1991 when its troops massacred young independence supporters at the Santa Cruz cemetery in East Timor’s capital Dili. The capture and jailing of Timorese guerilla leader and now Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao the following year further fanned a resurgence in opposition to Indonesian rule.

It was Indonesian President Suharto’s fall from power in 1998 and an ensuing shift in policy toward East Timor that paved the way for a UN-sponsored referendum on East Timor’s independence – which passed with more than 78.5% support in 1999.

Soon after the vote, pro-Jakarta militias backed by the Indonesian military went on a killing and looting rampage in the capital, attacking churches, and targeting priests and those seeking refuge as they hunted down independence supporters.

Much of East Timor’s infrastructure was destroyed in the violence and about 200,000 people were forced to flee their homes. An Australian-led international peacekeeping mission ultimately intervened and East Timor officially won independence in 2002.

During Indonesian occupation, the Catholic Church played a huge role in defending people from attacks and pushing for a vote on independence – its church workers and the clergy paying a bloody price as a result.

Israeli airstrikes in central Syria have killed three people and injured at least 15 others, state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported Sunday.

SANA said there had been several explosions and “air defense engagements” in the central region of Syria, including in the Tartous and Hama governorates, that resulted in multiple civilian casualties.

The Syrian news agency cited a military source as saying “the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region” shortly before 8.30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The source said Syrian air defenses had intercepted and shot down some of the missiles.

SANA said the strikes had damaged the Wadi al-Uyun highway in Masyaf and caused a blaze that firefighters were working to control.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Filipino pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is wanted by both the FBI and local law enforcement officers on sexual abuse and human trafficking charges, has been arrested weeks after a standoff with the police.

In posts on Facebook, the Philippines’ Interior Minister Benhur Abolos, confirmed that the preacher, who had been on the run for three years, “has been caught.”

National police arrested Quiboloy, a self-styled “appointed son of God” and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church (KOJC), along with four of his aides in the southern city of Davao after they surrendered, according to Filipino state media.

At 1:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), the detainees were issued a 24-hour ultimatum to come out from the church’s sprawling 30-hectare (75 acre) compound. They surrendered four hours later, Philippine News Agency reported.

They have since been transported out of Davao by military aircraft, with booking procedures taking place at police headquarters in Quezon City near the country’s capital, Manila, according to state media.

“I thank him (Quiboloy) for the realization to face the law. I also thanked the KOJC members and supporters for their cooperation and I hope this is the start of healing,” Director of Police Regional Office 11, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, said, according to Philippine News Agency.

Police had been attempting to arrest the preacher and five of his alleged accomplices in a raid that began more than two weeks ago in Davao.

Nearly 2,000 officers had surrounded the church compound, where Quiboloy was believed to be hiding, in a violent standoff with the preacher’s followers. His followers allegedly threw stones at officers and blocked a highway with burning tyres, Davao police said on Facebook.

A 2021 US indictment accused the 74-year-old preacher and his alleged accomplices of running a sex trafficking ring that coerced girls and young women to have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.” Quiboloy has denied all the charges against him.

Three Israeli border guards have been killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, the Israeli Emergency Services said Sunday.

The identity of the assailant is unknown at this time, and the Jordanian Interior Ministry said it begun an investigation.

The manager of the crossing, Alex Chen, said the shooter was a Jordanian driver, adding that the crossing has been closed until further notice. “The terrorist shot dead three employees of the Allenby terminal at close range,” before being killed by a security guard, he said.

All three land crossings between Israel and Jordan were closed following the attack, the Israel Airports Authority said. The Allenby crossing mainly serves Palestinians and foreigners, with Israelis not permitted to use it.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “a terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.”

“Three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” the IDF said, adding that the assailant had been shot dead. The IDF also published a photograph of the hand gun it said was used in the attack.

Israeli police spoke of “several casualties at the scene,” and also said the shooter had “been neutralized.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting, saying the border guards were murdered by a “despicable terrorist.”

In remarks at the beginning of the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was “surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil.”

The incident on Sunday comes almost two weeks after Israel’s military launched one of its most expansive operations in the West Bank in years, carrying out raids, bulldozing highways, and launching airstrikes in multiple parts of the occupied territory.

Clashes in the West Bank have become more frequent since Israel began its war in Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Israeli troops and settlers have killed nearly 700 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, whose figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1994. It has been highly critical of Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Jordan is a close ally of the United States, from which it receives substantial military aid.

Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm this year, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in northern Vietnam, China’s Hainan and the Philippines, claiming dozens of lives, according to preliminary reports.

Vietnam’s meteorological agency issued the downgrade on Sunday but cautioned about the ongoing risk of flooding and landslides as the storm, the strongest to hit the country in decades, moves westwards.

On Saturday, Yagi disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, causing extensive flooding, felling thousands of trees and damaging homes.

The government said the storm has led to at least three deaths in Hanoi, a city of 8.5 million, with these figures being preliminary. Fourteen people have died in Vietnam so far, according to reports, including four from a landslide in the province of Hoa Binh, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Hanoi.

A 53-year-old motorcyclist was killed after a tree fell on him in the northern Hai Duong province, state media reported. At least one body was recovered from the sea near the coastal city of Halong, where a dozen people were missing at sea, with rescue operations expected to start on Sunday when conditions allow.

Yagi has claimed the lives of four people on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, according to the latest update from local authorities. The civil defense office in the Philippines, the first country Yagi hit after forming last week, raised the death toll there on Sunday to 20 from 16 and said 22 people remained missing.

Risk of flash floods

After it made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, Yagi triggered waves as high as 4 meters (13 feet) in coastal provinces, leading to extended power and telecommunication outages that have complicated damage assessment, the government said.

The meteorological agency warned of continued “risk of flash floods near small rivers and streams, and landslides on steep slopes in many places in the northern mountainous areas” and the coastal province of Thanh Hoa.

Relative calm returned on Sunday morning to Hanoi, where authorities rushed to clean up streets from toppled trees scattered across the city center and other neighborhoods.

“The storm has devastated the city. Trees fell down on top of people’s houses, cars and people on the street,” said 57-year-old Hanoi resident Hoang Ngoc Nhien.

Hanoi’s Noi Bai international airport, the busiest in northern Vietnam, reopened on Sunday after closing on Saturday morning.

In Hainan, preliminary estimates suggested significant economic losses and widespread power outages, according to emergency response authorities cited by state-run Hainan Daily.