UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council opened a debate Thursday on Middle East tensions ahead of the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with Israel and the Palestinians clashing over Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. As Israel indicated that the Gaza pullout, due to begin in mid-August, …

EL FASHER (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded and received an apology from Sudan Thursday after officials and press accompanying her were “manhandled” by security staff at President Omar Bashir’s residence. “They had no right to manhandle my staff and the press,” Rice told reporters after the …

A NEW TECHNIQUE using satellite radar images may hold the key to providing the water needs of 200,000 Sudanese living in sweltering heat in camps along the Chadian border. Alain Gachet, a geologist who spent most of his working life exploring for oil and mining companies, has developed a system …