An international conference rallies aid for Sudan after 2 years of civil war

LONDON (AP) — Britain and the European Union have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to ease suffering in Sudan. The conference in London on Tuesday came on the second anniversary of a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 14 million. Large parts of Sudan have been pushed into famine. The conference hoped to relieve what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The conference hosts said participants had committed more than 813 million pounds (more than $1 billion) for Sudan and its neighbors this year. Neither the Sudanese military nor the rival paramilitary it is fighting was invited, and Western countries have limited power to stop the fighting. Regional neighbors such as Egypt have more.

Israeli airstrike hits hospital entrance in Gaza, killing medic and wounding 9

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike has struck the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing a medic and wounding nine other people. The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital, in the Muwasi area, where hundreds of thousands have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. A hospital spokesman said the wounded were all patients and medics. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has struck hospitals on several occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas militants of hiding out in them or using them for military purposes. Hospital staff have denied the allegations.

Four journalists who were accused of working for Navalny are convicted of extremism

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court has convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and sentenced them to 5 1/2 years in prison each. Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger were found guilty of involvement with a group that had been labeled as extremist. All four maintained their innocence, arguing they were being prosecuted for doing their job as journalists. The closed-door trial was part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached an unprecedented scale after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

People detained in Myanmar after release from scam compounds attempt an escape

BANGKOK (AP) — They walked out of the compound in Myanmar not knowing where they would go. Though they were aiming for the river that separated them from Thailand and freedom, they didn’t know if they would make it across. A group of more than 270 some men and women, who were rescued from forced labor in scam compounds two months ago but remain in detention in Myanmar, attempted a mass escape Sunday out of fear that they may end up being sent back to prison-like compounds where they face beatings, torture and potentially even death.