The RSF dismissed claims of defeat, framing their withdrawal from Khartoum as a tactical decision. Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced the “liberation” of Khartoum after expelling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the capital.

In a televised address from the presidential palace, he proclaimed, “Khartoum is free,” marking a turning point in the nearly two-year conflict. The army regained control of strategic sites, including the airport and key neighborhoods, for the first time since April 2023.

The RSF dismissed claims of defeat, framing their withdrawal from Khartoum as a tactical decision. Adviser Basha Tabiq said the relocation to Omdurman was driven by strategic, logistical, and operational factors, asserting their combat capabilities remain intact. However, the move signals a shift in battlefield dynamics as government forces reclaim territory.

Sudan’s government, now based in Port Sudan, has intensified military operations beyond Khartoum. Recent advances include retaking control of critical regions like Al-Jazira, White Nile, North Kordofan, Sennar, and Blue Nile states. These gains highlight the army’s momentum, though the RSF retains influence in other areas.

The war between al-Burhan’s army and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has caused over 20,000 deaths (per the UN) and displaced 14 million people. Independent studies estimate fatalities at 130,000. The conflict has ravaged 13 of Sudan’s 18 states, with millions facing famine due to disrupted aid and food shortages. International bodies continue urging an immediate ceasefire.

UNICEF issued an urgent alert about 825,000 children trapped in Darfur’s El Fasher and Zamzam camp, calling the situation a “living hell.” Half of the 1.65 million people in these areas are minors, enduring severe malnutrition, water scarcity, and violence. Over 457,000 children suffer acute malnutrition, with 146,000 at risk of death without urgent intervention.

Despite the army’s proclaimed victories, Sudan’s humanitarian disaster shows no signs of abating. The RSF’s continued presence in strategic zones and the government’s fragmented control underscore the conflict’s complexity. With millions displaced, starving, and lacking basic services, international calls for aid and diplomacy grow louder, yet tangible progress remains elusive.

Keo* is hiding out in one of Bangkok’s 400 Buddhist temples. “We had no choice,” says the Cambodian dissident, who fled to Thailand two years ago with his wife and three sons to escape persecution by the Phnom Penh regime. Since mid-March, the family has been sleeping in a makeshift 130-square-foot room provided by local monks after they were forced to leave a secure apartment once funded by the NGO Manushya Foundation.

The Manushya Foundation, which relied on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for 75% of its operating budget, lost access to $560,000 in funding after U.S. President Donald Trump shuttered the agency. Unable to cover rent or operational costs, the NGO has already laid off seven of its 15 staff members in Bangkok. The organization is now scrambling to find new sources of funding to rehouse 35 political refugees from authoritarian regimes in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

‘People's lives are at risk’

“All the donors tell me we’re not the only ones asking for help — and that we need to accept this new reality,” said Emilie Palamy Pradichit, the foundation’s director. But on the ground, she warned, “people’s lives are at risk.” A last-minute boost from existing donors and a modest private foundation grant have kept the organization afloat for now. “We’ve bought a little time to diversify our funding,” she said.

Leon de Riedmatten, director of The Border Consortium (TBC) that supports 108,000 Mynmar refugees in western Thailand, called the fallout from USAID’s collapse “a total fog.” Sixty percent of TBC’s budget was tied to U.S. aid. In response, de Riedmatten travelled to Australia and New Zealand in search of alternative backers. While he was heard, there were no major commitments. As for Europe? “More money is going to defense,” he said — and humanitarian aid is paying the price.

Given the uncertainty, de Riedmatten is pushing for refugee integration in Thailand. “We’re urging the authorities to let refugees work outside the camps,” he said. Meanwhile, he noted, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ordered the federal government to resume payments to NGOs frozen under the Trump administration. Whether Washington will follow through remains unclear.

‘Time for NGOs to support each other’

“This is the end of development aid as we knew it,” said Pradichit, acknowledging the sector’s overdependence on U.S. support. From Manila, Ryan Silverio, who coordinates the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus — a Southeast Asian LGBTQ rights group — is calling for cross-sector collaboration. “With democracy in retreat and the climate crisis worsening, it’s time for NGOs across sectors — child welfare, human rights, environmental — to support each other.”

In what she describes as a “more isolationist world,” Grace Stanhope, a researcher at Australia’s Lowy Institute, sees a broader trend: “We’re witnessing a general decline in aid,” she said. “The U.S. withdrawal and shrinking European contributions may signal to Southeast Asia that the West is abandoning what was once called the liberal international order.”

(*Name has been changed for security reasons)

Over a thousand protesters gathered near Tufts University on Wednesday after masked plainclothes immigration agents snatched Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Ph.D. student and Fulbright scholar, from the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts. Surveillance video shows agents approaching her on the streets near her home Tuesday evening and handcuffing her while she screamed for help. Tufts University’s president said the school had no prior notice of her arrest.

Last March, Ozturk co-wrote a piece in the student newspaper criticizing the Tufts administration’s response to Palestinian solidarity protests on campus that were calling for divestment from Israel. Democracy Now!'s Hany Massoud and Ariel Boone were in Somerville at Wednesday's protest.

“One of our community members was taken by armed agents of the state who kidnapped her from right outside her home,” said Lea Kayali, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement. “People are here to stand up for the movement that she was punished for supporting.”

And I'm always like "It's better this way than to have a shitton of fake friends", but fuck, do I feel alone and isolated these days. Then I watch some news or read articles about Palestine and I quickly don't care about the cowards and assholes who "used to be my friends" anymore. I'm glad hexbear exists, I think I would've given up already without it.

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, described the surprising leak of sensitive military information in an article today. The National Security Council confirmed that the messages were real and said it is investigating how Goldberg was added to a thread in which the war information was discussed.

"The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen," Goldberg wrote. "I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing."

Goldberg's article quotes numerous messages that appeared to come from Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth, and other Trump administration officials. Goldberg was first added to the text chain on March 11 by Michael Waltz, Trump's national security adviser.

Goldberg initially "didn't find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me," though he considered that "someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me." But over the next few days, Goldberg became increasingly convinced that the messages were authentic. Vance: “I just hate bailing Europe out again”

The text chat was labeled "Houthi PC small group," and a message from Waltz indicated that he was convening a principals committee for top officials to discuss plans.

"I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans," Goldberg wrote. "I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior US officials, up to and including the vice president."

Using Signal in this way may have violated US law, Goldberg wrote. "Conceivably, Waltz, by coordinating a national-security-related action over Signal, may have violated several provisions of the Espionage Act, which governs the handling of 'national defense' information, according to several national-security lawyers interviewed by my colleague Shane Harris for this story," he wrote.

Signal is not an authorized venue for sharing such information, and Waltz's use of a feature that makes messages disappear after a set period of time "raises questions about whether the officials may have violated federal records law," the article said. Adding a reporter to the thread "created new security and legal issues" by transmitting information to someone who wasn't authorized to see it, "the classic definition of a leak, even if it was unintentional," Goldberg wrote.

The account labeled "JD Vance" questioned the war plan in a Signal message on March 14. "I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now," the message said. "There's a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc."

The Vance account also stated, "3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does," and "I just hate bailing Europe out again." The Hegseth account responded that "I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC," but added that "we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this."

An account apparently belonging to Trump advisor Stephen Miller wrote, "As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn't remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return." “Shocking recklessness”

Goldberg was mostly convinced that the text chain was real before the detailed war plans were sent. "After reading this chain, I recognized that this conversation possessed a high degree of verisimilitude," Goldberg wrote. "The texts, in their word choice and arguments, sounded as if they were written by the people who purportedly sent them, or by a particularly adept AI text generator. I was still concerned that this could be a disinformation operation, or a simulation of some sort. And I remained mystified that no one in the group seemed to have noticed my presence. But if it was a hoax, the quality of mimicry and the level of foreign-policy insight were impressive."

Goldberg declined to directly quote from the Hesgeth message containing war plans. "The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command's area of responsibility," Goldberg wrote. "What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing."

The Vance account responded, "I will say a prayer for victory," and two other users posted prayer emoji, according to Goldberg. Shortly after the bombings, Waltz posted in the Signal chat that the operation was a success, and several members of the group responded positively.

"The Signal chat group, I concluded, was almost certainly real," Goldberg wrote. He removed himself from the group and contacted administration officials about the information leak. NSC reviewing how “inadvertent number was added”

Ars contacted the White House today, and we quickly received a response containing two statements about the Goldberg incident. The statements are the same as those included in The Atlantic article.

"This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," said a statement attributed to a National Security Council spokesperson. "The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security."

The other statement came from a spokesperson for Vance. "The Vice President's first priority is always making sure that the President's advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations," the statement said. "Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration's foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement."

According to Goldberg, The Atlantic spoke with several former US officials who said they used Signal to share unclassified information, but "they knew never to share classified or sensitive information on the app, because their phones could have been hacked by a foreign intelligence service."

"I have never seen a breach quite like this," Goldberg wrote. "It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters—not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action. And, of course, I've never heard of an instance in which a journalist has been invited to such a discussion."