The Latest Breaking News from Sudan

Liz Tait has told of her heartache for a woman forced to leave her terminally ill husband behind.

I asked the pilot to deviate from our approved flight path and go low over Darfur. It was 2003 and I was the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sudan investigating reports of violence. What I saw was a genocide unfolding on my watch.

The United Nations human rights chief on Wednesday described the situation in Sudan as "heartbreaking" and made a direct call to the two warring generals to stop sexual violence and spare the lives of civilians.

Clashes between rival military factions broke out on Wednesday in Sudan's capital Khartoum, residents said, threatening to shatter a fragile ceasefire designed to allow for the delivery of aid and create conditions for a more lasting truce.

Some Eritreans are reportedly missing in Sudan, raising fears of kidnappings by Eritrean authorities or traffickers.

Alleged violations of the ceasefire agreed by Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are being discussed by the Saudi Arabia-based monitoring panel and the United States, as well as the warring sides, the State Department said on Tuesday.

A weeklong ceasefire designed to allow the delivery of aid is at stake as residents report ongoing fighting.

Clashes and air strikes were reported in Karthoum just minutes after a one-week ceasefire was due to come into effect.The UN had called on military factions to honour the seven-day truce in order to enable humanitarian aid efforts reach civilians.

Questions about who mediates in a conflict – and when – are crucial. Mediation is about trust, an awareness of regional realities and insights into complex politics. It should happen before conflict reaches a mutually damaging stalemate. This spares lives and political disintegration of the kind seen in Libya and…