While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 23
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Smoke rises from buildings in Khartoum, amid clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Foreign states start evacuations from Sudan as battle rages
Some foreign nationals began evacuating from Sudan on Saturday after a week of strife that has killed hundreds of civilians, even as the army used air strikes against a rival paramilitary force during battles in central Khartoum.
The bloody onslaught of urban warfare has trapped large numbers in the Sudanese capital. The airport has been repeatedly targeted and many residents have been unable to leave their homes or get out of the city to safer areas.
The United Nations and foreign states have urged rival military leaders to honour declared ceasefires that have mostly been ignored, and to open safe passage both for fleeing civilians and for the supply of badly needed aid.
With the airport closed and skies unsafe, thousands of foreigners - including embassy staff, aid workers and students in Khartoum and elsewhere in Africa’s third largest country - have also been unable to get out.
Zelensky signs ban on Russian place names in identity struggle
AFP
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has signed two laws that strictly reinforce his country’s national identity, banning Russian place names and making knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship.
The moves late on Friday were Ukraine’s latest steps to distance itself from a long legacy of Russian domination, an increasingly emotional subject since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year.
They also show how forceful Ukraine’s government has become about protecting its cultural identity in a conflict shaped by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to wipe it out.
New photos of Prince Louis mark fifth birthday
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate have published two new photographs of their youngest son Louis to mark his fifth birthday on Sunday.
The photographs of Louis were taken by Millie Pilkington earlier this month in Windsor.
In one, he is seen being pushed in a wheelbarrow by his mother, while the second is a close-up of a smiling Louis looking off to the side of the camera.
Gymnastics icon Simone Biles marries NFL’s Jonathan Owens
US gymnastics star Simone Biles and NFL Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens announced their marriage on Saturday with photos of their special day posted on social media.
It’s a happy ending for Biles, the 2016 Rio Olympic all-around champion and a five-time world all-around champion, and Owens, who signed for the Texans in 2019.
The couple announced their engagement in February of last year and among the pictures posted was one with them in front of a minister.
Riyad Mahrez treble fires Man City into FA Cup final
Action Images via Reuters
Riyad Mahrez fired Manchester City into the FA Cup final as the Algerian’s hat-trick sealed a 3-0 win against Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday.
Mahrez’s superb display dispatched the Championship underdogs, ensuring City ended their run of three successive FA Cup semi-final defeats.
The 32-year-old shattered United’s resistence with a penalty late in the first half and completed his treble with two clinical finishes after the interval.
