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Port Sudan, Sudan — Paramilitary forces battling Sudan's regular army for more than a year said Saturday they had taken a key state capital in the southeast, prompting thousands to flee, witnesses said. "We have liberated the 17th Infantry Division from Singa," the capital of Sennar state, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on the social media platform X. Residents confirmed to AFP: "The RSF have deployed in the streets of Singa," and witnesses reported aircraft from the regular army flying overhead and anti-aircraft fire. Earlier Saturday, other witnesses said there was fighting in the streets and "rising panic among residents seeking to flee." Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict in the country of 48 million has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The latest RSF breakthrough means the paramilitaries are tightening the noose around Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army, government and U.N. agencies are now based. The RSF controls most of the capital Khartoum, Al-Jazira state in the center of the country, the vast western region of Darfur and much of Kordofan to the south. Sennar state is already home to more than 1 million displaced Sudanese. It connects central Sudan to the army-controlled southeast. Posts on social media showed thousands of people fleeing in vehicles and on foot, and witnesses told AFP, "Thousands of people have taken refuge on the east bank of the Blue Nile" river east of Singa. RSF forces are also besieging the town of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. On Thursday, a report cited by the United Nations said nearly 26 million people in war-torn Sudan are facing high levels of "acute food insecurity."  

THESSALONIKI, Greece — About 15,000 people attended the annual EuroPride parade Saturday, police said, in support of the LGBTQ+ community in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki amid a heavy police presence. The parade, whose motto is "Persevere, Progress, Prosper," was staged on the ninth and last day of a series of events across the city. It was to be followed later Saturday by a concert and a series of parties. "This participation from across Europe sends a message," parade participant Michalis Filippidis told the Associated Press. "It is very, very good. We are all united like a fist and, despite many things happening, we are all here to fight for our rights." Participants marched through the city center, ending up at the city’s waterfront, at the statue of Alexander the Great, the most famous ruler of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia. The nearby White Tower, once part of the city’s fortifications but now a standalone monument, emblematic of the city, was dressed in the colors of the rainbow. There was a heavy police presence to prevent counterdemonstrations. In the end, police said, 15 people were detained for shouting obscenities at parade participants and, in one case, trying to throw eggs at them. Police prevented them from getting too close to parade participants. Some Greek participants in the parade chanted at the counterdemonstrators: "For every racist and homophobe, there is a place in Thermaikos," the gulf on whose shores the city is built. A 34-year-old man who had called for an anti-gay demonstration, despite the police’s ban on such an action, was arrested and will appear in court Monday on charges of inciting disobedience and disturbing the peace. He was visited in prison by the head of Niki, an ultra-religious political party, one of three far-right parties that elected representatives to the European Parliament in elections earlier in June. Nationalism and religious fervor are more pronounced in Thessaloniki and other northern Greek areas than the rest of the country. The far right’s strong showing in elections was in part due to passage earlier in the year of a law legalizing same-sex marriage. The law, strongly backed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was opposed by nearly a third of the lawmakers from his conservative New Democracy party, and was backed by much of the left opposition, except for the Communists, who voted against it. The EuroPride parade had strong official backing. The city was a co-sponsor and several foreign ambassadors attended. "I am proud to be here ... for EuroPride 2024," said U.S. Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis. "This is about human dignity, this is about acceptance, this is about love, this is about equality. And, frankly, we need more love, more acceptance, more kindness in this world." "I am here to show our support for diversity and equality for all. You are who you are, and you can love who you love," said Dutch Ambassador to Greece Susanna Terstal. "I welcome the ambassadors ... and all the participants to Thessaloniki, a multicolored, friendly city that considers human rights non-negotiable," said Mayor Stelios Angeloudis. Next year's EuroPride will take place in Lisbon. 

ESSEN, Germany — Leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany on Saturday reported a surge in membership and vowed to build on the party's success in the European Parliament election, as they target wins in three state votes in the east this year. The AfD jumped to second place in nationwide polls last year amid frustration with infighting in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition, worries over sluggish growth in Europe's largest economy, and concerns over the impact of the war in Ukraine. While a string of scandals and anti-extremism protests has dampened the AfD's support in recent months, the nationalist, Eurosceptic party nonetheless came second with 15.9% in the European vote this month, ahead of the three parties in Scholz's coalition. AfD membership had grown by 60% to 46,881 members since January 2023, co-chief Tino Chrupalla told nearly 600 delegates at a party convention in the western city of Essen. Some 22,000 people had joined while 4,000 had left. "Despite all the harassment you have to endure as a member of the AfD, this is an absolutely sensational figure," Chrupalla told the convention. The figure is still a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of members boasted by the "big tent" parties in Germany, Scholz’s Social Democrats and the opposition conservatives. The congress was held despite resistance from city authorities — marked by the rainbow and EU flags flying on flagpoles outside the convention center — and protesters who sought to prevent AfD delegates from making it there. Two riot police officers who had been escorting a politician were seriously injured after protesters kicked them in the head after they fell to the ground and had to be hospitalized, police reported. A further seven officers were also injured. 'We are here to stay' "Melt the AfD snowball before it becomes an avalanche" and "AfD = Despiser of mankind" read some of the signs that protesters carried at an anti-AfD march through the city. The interior ministry estimated some 20,000 people participated in the demonstration, state broadcaster ZDF said. The party congress will run until Sunday, the same day neighboring France holds the first round of a snap parliamentary election that could bring the far right to power. "We will not be intimidated," said co-chief Alice Weidel. "We are here, and we are here to stay." The AfD is on track to come first in elections in the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September, according to polls, which will likely further complicate governance there as other parties refuse to form a coalition with it. In discussing the party's policy platform, Weidel said AfD's future allies in the European Parliament should oppose the disbursal of taxpayer money to the "debt states" of Europe — a reference to countries such as Italy and Greece — and the idea that Ukraine belongs to the European Union, after it opened membership talks this week. The AfD is on course to form a new political group in the European Parliament — a move which would require 23 MEPs from at least seven EU countries — after being expelled from the Identity and Democracy grouping last month, Weidel said. 

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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — At least 18 people were killed and 30 others were injured after a series of attacks by suspected female suicide bombers in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state on Saturday, the head of the local state emergency management agency said.  Borno is at the center of a 15-year Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. Although the Nigerian military has degraded the capabilities of the militants, they still carry out deadly attacks against civilians and security targets.  Barkindo Saidu, director general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, said suspected suicide bombers separately attacked a wedding, funeral and hospital, killing and injuring several people in the town of Gwoza.  Saidu said 18 deaths had been confirmed, a toll that included children, adults and pregnant women.  "The degree of injuries ranges from abdominal ruptures, skull fractures, and limb fractures," he said.  No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.  Borno state police were not immediately available for comment.  Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, are the most active militant groups in Borno, a large swath of rural hinterland the size of Ireland. 

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Beryl strengthened into a hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the southeast Caribbean, with forecasters warning it was expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday or early Monday.  A major hurricane is considered a Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 178 kph. Beryl is now a Category 1 hurricane.  A hurricane warning was issued for Barbados, and a hurricane watch was in effect for St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while a tropical storm watch was issued for Martinique, Dominica and Tobago.   "It's astonishing to see a forecast for a major (Category 3+) hurricane in June anywhere in the Atlantic, let alone this far east in the deep tropics. #Beryl organizing in a hurry over the warmest waters ever recorded for late June," Florida-based hurricane expert Michael Lowry posted on X.  Beryl's center is forecast to pass about 45 kilometers (about 28 mi) south of Barbados, said Sabu Best, director of the island's meteorological services.  On Saturday, Beryl was about 1,160 kilometers (about 721 mi) east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph. It was moving west at 35 kph.  "Rapid strengthening is now forecast," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.  Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher.  Beryl is the strongest June tropical storm on record that far east in the tropical Atlantic, noted Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.  "We need to be ready," Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. "You and I know when these things happen, it is better to plan for the worst and pray for the best."  She noted that thousands of people were in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final in the capital, Bridgetown, on Saturday.   Some fans, such as Shashank Musku, a 33-year-old physician who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were rushing to change their flights to leave before the storm.  Musku has never experienced a hurricane: "I don't plan on being in one, either."  Meanwhile, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a public address Saturday that shelters will open Sunday evening as he urged people to prepare. He ordered officials to refuel government vehicles and asked grocery stores and gas stations to stay open later before the storm.  Beryl is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeast Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.  Mark Spence, manager of a hostel in Barbados, said in a phone interview that he was calm about the approaching storm.  "It's the season. You can get a storm any time," he said. "I'm always prepared. I always have enough food in my house."  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.  Beryl is expected to drop up to 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) of rain in Barbados and nearby islands, and a high surf warning of waves up to 4 meters (13 feet) was in effect. A storm surge of up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) is also forecast. 

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taipei, taiwan — Taiwanese singer and activist Panai called Saturday — at one of the most prestigious entertainment events in the Chinese-speaking world — for people not to forget China's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square.  Chinese artists in recent years have largely stayed away from Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards given renewed tension between democratically governed Taiwan and China, which views the island as its own territory, and the reference to Tiananmen is unlikely to endear Beijing to the ceremony.  Taking the stage after winning for best Taiwanese language album at the ceremony in Taipei, Panai said this was the 35th anniversary of the awards.  "The Tiananmen Square incident is also exactly 35 years old, let's not forget," she said.  Chinese tanks rolled into the square before dawn on June 4, 1989, to end weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers. Public discussion of what happened is taboo in China, though it is freely talked about in Taiwan.  China says it "long ago" reached a clear conclusion about the events of 1989, and China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Panai has campaigned for years for the rights of Taiwan's Indigenous people.  "Democracy is a lengthy and not an easy journey, we are pressured as we don't know if we will be bullied by a 'bigger' power," she told reporters backstage after her win.  "The reason why I mentioned that event on stage is because Taiwan's democracy is a process that all of us need to cherish; our freedom and freedom of speech is what we need to protect."  No Chinese singers attended this year's awards, despite several high-profile nominations, including Xu Jun winning for best composer.  Another Chinese singer, Jude Chiu, did arrive in Taiwan but returned to the country before the awards for health reasons, Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported.  While Taiwan has only 23 million people, its pop music scene has an outsized cultural influence across East Asia, especially in China, in part due to creativity unencumbered by censorship.  The awards celebrate not only Mandopop but artists singing in Taiwanese — also known as Hokkien — Hakka and Indigenous languages like Bunun, a visible sign of the Taiwan government's efforts to promote once suppressed tongues. 

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toronto — Canada's second largest airline, WestJet, says it has cancelled at least 150 flights affecting 20,000 passengers beginning Saturday after the union of maintenance workers announced it has gone on strike.  The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said its members started to strike Friday evening because the airline's "unwillingness to negotiate with the union" made it inevitable.  The strike came after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday. That followed two weeks of turbulent discussions with the union on a new deal.  On Thursday, WestJet said the union "confirmed they will abide by the direction. Given this, a strike or lockout will not occur, and the airline will no longer proceed in cancelling flights."  The surprise strike affecting international and domestic flights is happening during the Canada Day long weekend.  Calgary, Alberta-based WestJet said it was "extremely outraged" and will hold the union 100% accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs.  In an update to its membership, the union negotiating committee referenced an order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board that does not explicitly bar any strikes or lockouts as the tribunal undertakes arbitration. 

helsinki — Estonia's ruling center-right Reform Party has chosen Climate Minister Kristen Michal to replace outgoing leader Kaja Kallas as prime minister of the Baltic country Saturday.  The unanimous decision to nominate Michal was made following a closed-door meeting by the party's governing board, only two days after the European Union tapped Kallas to become the bloc's new foreign policy chief.  Kallas, Estonia's first female prime minister since January 2021, currently heads a three-party coalition government. Under her leadership, the Reform Party won overwhelmingly the March 2023 general election.  She has proposed an extraordinary party meeting to elect her replacement as a party chairman on July 14, with Michal expected to take over after his main rival Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Hanno Pevkur bowed out Friday.  Michal's nomination for Estonia's top job will then have to be approved by President Alar Karis and the 101-seat Riigikogu, or Parliament, where the coalition holds a comfortable majority.  He has been serving as the minister for climate affairs since April last year.  Estonia under Kallas' rule has been one of Europe's most vocal backers of Ukraine following the Russian invasion that started in February 2022.  "The people of Estonia need assurance that our home and land are protected and that the country is well-run," Michal said in a press statement following the party meeting, adding that national security would remain a key issue for the new Cabinet in the country of 1.3 million that neighbors Russia.  The 48-year-old Michal, a former economics and justice minister, also vowed to improve the country's economic competitiveness as prime minister. He also hinted that the current 4-year government program the coalition had already agreed on would likely be revised under his leadership.  The climate minister is a seasoned politician who has been active among the ranks of the Reform Party, Estonia's key political establishment, since the late 1990s. Apart from Cabinet posts, Michal has served as Reform's party secretary, a member of Tallinn City Council and an adviser to ex-prime minister Siim Kallas, Reform's co-founder and Kaja Kallas' father.  He is known for a long and acclaimed political career focused on Estonia's internal affairs but lacks international experience — almost the complete opposite of Kaja Kallas who has excelled on international arenas with her foreign experience but was clearly out of her comfort zone in domestic politics, leading to a major dip in her popularity among Estonians.  Kallas acknowledged Michal's strong domestic political experience as an asset. He is "much stronger in political tactics than I've ever been," she told news portal Delfi on Saturday.  The Reform Party said that Kallas will represent Estonia as a prime minister at the NATO summit in Washington in July. 

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NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Mauritanians went to the polls Saturday to elect their next president, with the incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani widely expected to win after positioning Mauritania as a strategic ally of the West in a region swept by coups and violence.  Ghazouani, who is seeking reelection on the pledge of providing security and economic growth, is a former army chief and the current president of the African Union. He came to power in 2019 following the first democratic transition in the country's history, and Saturday promised to respect the results of the vote.  "The last word belongs to the Mauritanian voters," Ghazouani said after voting in Ksar, the suburb of the capital. "I commit myself to respecting their choice."  Although his opponents accused him of corruption and mismanagement, he remains popular among Mauritanians who see him as a beacon of stability. The vote is taking place in a particularly tense regional climate, with Mauritania's neighboring countries shaken by military coups and jihadi violence.  "We must not let ourselves be fooled by the slogans of the candidates who are not reassuring," said Marieme Brahim, a 38-year-old company executive, who voted for Ghazouani. "Mauritania must vote for continuity and stability and its security in a troubled environment, and it is not these candidates without experience in governance who will give us confidence."  Some 2 million people are eligible to vote in a nation of 5 million. Ghazouani is facing six opponents, including an anti-slavery activist, leaders of several opposition parties, and a neurosurgeon who accused the government of corruption and clientelism.  Mauritania is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. It is poised to become a gas producer by the end of the year, with the planned launch of the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project at the border with Senegal.  Yet almost 60% of the population live in poverty, according to the United Nations, working as farmers or employed in the informal sector. With few economic opportunities for young people at home, many are attempting to cross the Atlantic to reach Europe, and some are even trying to get to the United States through Mexico.  Mohamed Lemine Ould Moktar, 45, who voted for an opposition candidate, has two young sons who remain unemployed despite having university diplomas.  "I just voted for change, we have had enough of identical regimes which squander the people's assets and maintain corruption," said Ould Moktar. "Just look at more than 40,000 young Mauritanians take the path of immigration to the United States by jumping the border wall between Mexico and the United States. This is why I am voting for change."  Saturday's vote was unfolding peacefully, according to observers, with the polls due to close at 7 p.m. Partial results were expected Sunday.  "We have not noticed any anomalies or problems," declared Taghiyouallah Ould Ledhem, spokesperson for CENI, the independent electoral commission. "People are voting smoothly and easily, we have not received any complaints so far." 

WASHINGTON — U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire anytime soon in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With that in mind, American and European officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah, which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident, about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say. They are warning that the group should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon. And Hezbollah should not count on its fighters' ability to handle whatever would come next. On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the region's best-armed fighting forces, appeared at least to level off this past week. While daily strikes still pound the border area, the slight shift offered hope of easing immediate fears, which had prompted the U.S. to send an amphibious assault ship with a Marine expeditionary force to join other warships in the area in hopes of deterring a wider conflict. It's not clear whether Israel or Hezbollah has decided to ratchet down attacks to avoid triggering an Israeli invasion into Lebanon, said Gerald Feierstein, a former senior U.S. diplomat in the Middle East. Despite this past week's plateauing of hostilities, “it certainly seems the Israelis are still ... arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict ... an entirely different magnitude of conflict," he said.  The message being delivered to Hezbollah is “don't think that you're as capable as you think you are,” he said. Beginning the day after Hamas' October 7 terror attacks on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel and vowed to continue until a cease-fire takes hold. Israel has hit back, with the violence forcing tens of thousands of civilians from the border in both countries. Attacks intensified this month after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and Hezbollah responded with some of its biggest missile barrages. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths used the word “apocalyptic” to describe a war that could result. Israel and Hezbollah, the dominant force in politically fractured Lebanon, have the power to cause heavy casualties. “Such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said as he met recently with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East.” Gallant, in response, said, “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness on every possible scenario.” Analysts expect other Iran-allied militias in the region would respond far more forcefully than they have for Hamas, and some experts warn of ideologically motivated militants streaming into the region to join in. Europeans fear destabilizing refugee flows. While Iran, which is preoccupied with a political transition at home, shows no sign of wanting a war now, it sees Hezbollah as its strategically vital partner in the region — much more so than Hamas — and could be drawn in. "Obviously if it does look like things are going seriously south for the Israelis, the U.S. will intervene,” Feierstein said. “I don't think that they would see any alternative to that.” While the United States helped Israel knock down a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones in April, it likely would not do as well assisting Israel's defense against any broader Hezbollah attacks, said General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is harder to fend off the shorter-range rockets that Hezbollah fires routinely across the border, he said. The Israeli army is stretched after a nearly nine-month war in Gaza, and Hezbollah holds an estimated arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, have pledged to unleash Gaza-like scenes of devastation on Lebanon if a full-blown war erupts. White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein, President Joe Biden's point person on Israel-Hezbollah tensions, has not been successful so far in getting the two sides to dial back the attacks. The French, who have ties as Lebanon's former colonial power, and other Europeans also are mediating, along with the Qataris and Egyptians. White House officials have blamed Hezbollah for escalating tensions and said it backs Israel’s right to defend itself. The Biden administration also has told the Israelis that opening a second front is not in their interest. That was a point hammered home to Gallant during his latest talks in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Austin, CIA Director William Burns, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Hochstein and others. “We’re going to continue to help Israel defend itself; that’s not going to change,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. “But as for a hypothetical — specifically with respect to the northern border line ... again, we want to see no second front opened, and we want to see if we can’t resolve the tensions out there through diplomatic processes.” White House officials, however, are not discounting the real possibility that a second front in the Mideast conflict could open. In conversations with Israeli and Lebanese officials and other regional stakeholders, there is agreement that “a major escalation is not in anybody’s interest,” a senior Biden administration official said. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about White House deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity, bristled at the “purported logic” of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah arguing that Israel would see an end to Hezbollah attacks by reaching a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in Gaza. But the official also acknowledged that an elusive cease-fire deal in Gaza would go a long way in quieting tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

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