Domestic Politics
Eastern Libyan forces led by Khalifa Haftar have announced a ceasefire for the holy month of Ramadan. [The Guardian]
International Relations
According to Al Jazeera, several UAE security officials reportedly visited Sudan on Wednesday to rally support for Libya’s Khalifa Haftar, departing for Abu Dhabi the same evening. A Sudanese government official, however, has denied the news. [Al Jazeera]
Germany has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and banned all activity by the group on its soil. The police conducted raids on mosques in four German cities early this morning as officials believe that around 1,050 people in the country are part of the Lebanon-based outfit’s extremist wing. [Reuters]
On Saturday, Sudan’s Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan made the first official admission that Ethiopian militias have occupied agricultural land in the country’s Gedaref Governorate. He also confirmed that one Sudanese soldier has been killed and two others injured during a recent cross-border skirmish with the same forces. [Middle East Monitor]
Internal sources from the Egyptian administration have revealed that the country is looking to undermine and remove Sudan’s incumbent Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in an effort to end negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project. This is reportedly because Hamdok supports the Ethiopian vision and has close ties with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. [Middle East Monitor]
Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has urged Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which has declared self-rule in the country’s south, to end their declared emergency and abide by an agreement to end a standoff with the Saudi-backed government. [Gulf News]
Health
On Tuesday, Iranian officials said that as many as 728 citizens have died so far after consuming toxic neat alcohol in an ill-informed bid to cure the coronavirus, despite a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol for Muslim citizens in the country. Since 7 April, 128 people have died after consuming illicit and tainted alcohol. [Anadolu Agency]
On Wednesday, Yemen reported its first two deaths from COVID-19 after announcing its first case on 10 April. The UN has previously voiced its fears of the virus spreading undetected in the country, where famine and a lack of healthcare resources could exacerbate its impact. [Reuters]
Image Source: Reuters