He added that the city has been under siege-like conditions for 18 months, with summary executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence taking place along routes used by people fleeing the conflict.

“The signs from el-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan,” Turk said last week in an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of US-based Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, told the BBC that el-Obeid was strategically significant for the warring sides, lying between the RSF-controlled west of the country, with the east mostly in the hands of the army.

“If you control el-Obeid, you control the road to the capital, Khartoum and [its twin city] Omdurman, and so the army has to defend el-Obeid,” he said.

A doctor at a hospital in the city told the BBC they were struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.

“We receive injured patients after almost every drone attack. Most of the injuries involve limbs while some patients suffer from head injuries,” she said.

One of the most distressing cases the doctor has treated was a seven-month old baby.

“Her hand had to be amputated because of the severity of the injury, but sadly she did not survive.

“The situation is frightening. You leave your house as if you will never return,” the doctor said, trying to hold back tears. “We are really suffering from the drones – no-one knows how and when they will die.”

Amnesty International secretary-general Agnès Callamard has warned that al-Obeid could face violence on a scale similar to that seen in el-Fasher when the RSF captured it after laying siege to it, also for 18 months.

“What happened in el-Fasher is not an oddity. It is not a moment of madness. It is a playbook,” she said.

The UN said early last year that the conflict in el-Fasher bore the “hallmarks of genocide,” with more than 6,000 people killed in just three days, with the mostly Arab RSF fighters accused of slaughtering non-Arab groups.

The RSF has repeatedly denied these accusations. In a statement responding to warnings of an impending massacre in el-Obeid, the paramilitary group said it would “work diligently” to ensure the full protection of the city’s residents, and that it was operating in full compliance with international law.

But Raymond said that el-Obeid does not currently display the same ethnic dynamics that characterised the violence in el-Fasher, adding: “Right now, we don’t see any indication of a large-scale plan by RSF to attack.”

Acled’s Nohad Eltayeb said the RSF had effectively encircled the city from the north, west and south, but the army had reinforced its positions with allied militias to “continue to hold a vital supply corridor connecting the city with eastern territories”.

“While it is very likely that the RSF will attack the city, this logistical lifeline and reinforcements render a complete RSF takeover improbable,” she said in a report released on 30 June.

Sarah said the drones strikes have mainly targeted fuel stations or fuel tankers, with other residents saying that water and sewage trucks, apparently mistaken for fuel tankers, have also been hit.

Raymond said satellite imagery showed that at least eight fuel stations had suffered damage consistent with bombardment between late May and late June.

As a result, fuel is starting to run short in the city leading to huge price rises.

El-Obeid’s main electrical substation, as well as residential neighbourhoods and markets, also came under attack in an apparent attempt to cripple daily life, he added.

“Without fuel and electricity, the water pumps in the city will stop working and civilians, including internally displaced people, will start drinking water that could be contaminated and cause waterborne disease,” Raymond told the BBC.

The study estimated that this costs West African nations a combined $10bn in lost revenues, and risks the food security of millions of people. Commentators say that the situation has not improved in the subsequent two years.

Thomas Turay, president of Sierra Leone’s Fishermen’s Union, says that the average catches for his members are down some 40% in recent years. And he’s in no doubt where the blame lies.

“The illegal fishing is too much,” he says. “The sea belongs to us, but for the foreign trawlers, they come at night and violate the seven-mile exclusion zone, they come right into the shore here.”

As we talk in Tombo harbour close to Freetown, he points out to a few large trawlers on the horizon. The vessels anchor outside the exclusion zone he says, but will come in almost every night.

He then introduces me to a group of fishermen, many of whom have a story to tell.

Abou Waisissé, 70, describes an attack in which he says multiple small, local fishing boats saw their nets cut. Mohamedi Kamara, 55, tells me that a large, international trawler damaged his craft in a collision.

AFP via Getty Images

So, what are nationalities of the international ships off the coast of Sierra Leone?

Steve Trent, CEO and co-founder of global campaign group Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), says the vast majority are from China.

“In the past, we’ve seen South Korean vessels there, we’ve seen Taiwanese, we see European vessels there doing bad things. But now when you look across that region, it is overwhelmingly Chinese”.

Kamara says local fishermen “do complain [to the Fisheries Ministry], but our claims go nowhere. Nobody listens”.

Turay blames official corruption. “Government authorities are afraid to help the local fishermen,” he tells me. “I know that somebody who is doing this illegal business has the money to bribe and pay.”

These allegations are strenuously denied by Sheku Sei, director at the Sierra Leone Ministry of Fisheries. “Our illegal fishing, it used to be a big problem,” he says. “But we’ve put in place measures, so it’s reducing.”

Sei points to the fact that all international vessels now have to carry transponders that track their movements, and that there are government inspectors who routinely check on them.

When I point out that shipping around the world is repeatedly accused of switching off transponders – for example to avoid international trade sanctions – Sei tells me this doesn’t happen in Sierra Leone’s waters.

Celebrations in the US capital were delayed because of a thunderstorm, which forced an evacuation of the National Mall earlier in the evening.

Guests attending the Salute to America, the Great American State Fair and Fifa fan zone were asked to seek temporary shelter in nearby buildings.

• Brutal heat cancels 4 July events across US

Once the storm had passed, festivities began again, including a flyover featuring the new Air Force One and a concert.

The grande finale – the fireworks show – was marked by a massive flurry of blasts, concluding at about 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT). The small crowd on Capitol Hill cheered before rapidly walking towards the exits as it began to lightly rain.

People travelled across the country to attend, including Tammy Wapshott, who travelled from South Carolina and had been planning her trip to Washington DC since last November.

She told the BBC she had come to celebrate “the best country in the world” where all were “free to do what we wanna do”.

Around 400 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were seen carrying US flags while marching in unison through the streets of the capital.

Videos posted on social media show the masked, uniformed members marching near the Capitol building and Union Station, the city’s main passenger rail hub.

Reuters

Reuters

Concerts and naturalisation ceremonies

Accusations that Trump had politicised the anniversary arose from his launching Freedom 250, a privately funded events committee to compete with the America 250 commission established by the US Congress.

Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC

Joe, killed on 28 June, was attacked outside his shop in the city of eMalahleni, the ministry said.

Abuja said it was placing the South African government “on notice” and that “all options remain on the table… if the uncultured and provocative trend of intolerance and apartheid-style behaviour of South Africa against foreigners is not addressed”.

Nigeria has said it will seek compensation from South Africa for its citizens who have left the country, adding that Abuja had begun documenting businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians.

However, at a media briefing on Friday, South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said her government would not pay compensation and that Nigerians can sell registered properties they left behind on the South African market.

She also said: “We would be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are, so they can show us where they have been holding the drugs so we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently.”

Nigeria’s foreign ministry strongly condemned this comment in their statement on Sunday, calling it “unacceptable”.

“Such derogatory, unprofessional and uncensored generalised public statements by highly placed government officials constitute hate speech,” the ministry said.

AFP via Getty Images

Nigeria’s foreign ministry also accused protest groups in South Africa, including March on March and Operation Dudula, of inciting violence and hatred against other Africans.

It warned that those responsible could face regional and international legal action, though it is unclear steps Nigeria would take and whether it plans to raise the issue with the African Union.

Some anti-migrant groups in South Africa had given undocumented foreigners a deadline of 30 June to leave the country.

Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria are among African countries which repatriated some of their citizens ahead of the deadline.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world – at more than 30% – and anti-migrant sentiment has been rising in recent months.

The continent’s most developed economy remains a magnet for people from poorer countries seeking work often in low-paid jobs.

Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC

Authorities said alongside the 22 attackers that were killed, another four were wounded. They added that 20 suspects had been arrested.

A large cache of weapons including RPG-7 launchers, AK-47 rifles, explosives, grenades, communications equipment and thousands of rounds of ammunition were also reportedly seized.

Armed local residents joined the manhunt, though witnesses told the BBC that security personnel attempted to stop civilians getting involved.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “The attackers mixed in with the local population, so finding them was not easy. Civilians picked up machetes and sticks to defend themselves and to strike anyone they did not recognise who came their way.”

The airport vicinity had been locked down on Thursday afternoon, with security forces searching vehicles entering and leaving the area.

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf “strongly condemned” the assault and praised Nigerien forces whose actions “made it possible to repel the attack and secure the airport facilities.”

Diori Hamani international airport is one of Niger’s most sensitive security installations, serving as both a civilian aviation hub and a military base.

It also hosts facilities linked to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which comprises Niger and its neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso.

All three countries are run by juntas which came to power in part because of a failure to deal with years of jihadist violence in the region.

In January’s attack on the airport, four military personnel were injured and 20 attackers were killed, Niger’s defence ministry said.

At the time, the head of Niger’s military government, which has been in power for three years, thanked Russia for its help in foiling the attack. Abdourahamane Tiani also accused the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast of backing those responsible.

He did not give details of what help Russia had provided, or provide any evidence to support his accusations against the other countries.

In recent weeks, authorities in Niger have demolished neighbourhoods near the airport, citing “terrorist risks”.

They have also extended the airport’s perimeter fence and installed more than 350 surveillance cameras, AFP reports.

Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC

It also binds both sides to achieving a final deal in a “maximum” of 60 days, which could be extended with mutual consent.

The official signing ceremony had been set to take place in Switzerland on Friday. However, mediator Pakistan told the BBC it had been cancelled because the deal had already been signed remotely. US and Iranian representatives are still expected to meet in Switzerland for further talks.

A White House spokesperson said on Thursday evening that the US Vice-President JD Vance would not be departing tonight.

Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing earlier, Vance said the deal had come into effect, triggering the 60-day period of further talks, and that he would likely head to Switzerland for “technical negotiations”.

He did not confirm when, adding that Iran was “not an easy country to get out of” and that they were “trying to figure out exactly when that was going to happen”.

The White House spokesperson said the US was “looking forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible”.

Trump’s decision to end the war with Iran has raised criticism from some in the US, including Republicans dismayed by the terms of the deal – especially the provision of a reconstruction fund for Iran.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy described the agreement as the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.

“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works,” he said.

Vance defended the deal on Thursday, saying that Iran will not receive money or sanctions relief unless it meets obligations set out in the agreement.

He said the deal, known as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), requires Iran to destroy its stockpile of enriched uranium, and show it will not fund proxy groups in the region.

Vance also castigated members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet for criticising the Iran deal, saying they should “wake up and smell the reality”.

“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” the vice-president told reporters.

In an interview with the New York Times also published on Thursday, Vance named Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich as critics of the deal.

He said: “I guess my response to them would be – what is your exact proposal? You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”

Netanyahu himself stressed the importance of maintaining Israel’s close ties with the US on Thursday, saying Washington had stood “shoulder to shoulder” with the country during the war with Iran.

But both Israel and Hezbollah have carried out strikes against each other since the US-Iran agreement was announced, including strikes reported in Lebanon on Thursday that killed three people.

Israel argues its conflict against Hezbollah is separate from its war on Iran. Hezbollah has also rejected the terms of the deal between Iran and the US.

Vance told reporters that Israel would have to respect the peace process with Iran, which he said was good for them, stating that attacks in Lebanon’s capital Beirut that kill civilians are “not acceptable”.

Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC

One of several gravediggers hard at work at the cemetery tells me that 15 families were currently attending burials – but there is none of the usual crowds, ceremony, singing and other rituals.

One traditional practice that is now strongly discouraged is the washing of dead bodies by family members before burial.

It is a tricky and sensitive job to get grieving families to understand why these changes need to be made.

Julienne Anoko, an anthropologist with the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), says mourners would usually dress a dead body in smart clothes while funeral rites could last several days.

She explains that most communities in Ituri believe a dead person needs to look their best as they are “travelling from one world to the other world – to the world of the ancestors”.

“Women are dressed in a wedding dress with make-up… They sing, they celebrate that person, because it’s a journey, it’s not the end of the life,” she tells the BBC.

But in the case of someone who has died of Ebola, they must immediately be put in a leak-proof body bag for burial.

Maria Munoz-Bertrand, public health emergency co-ordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), says efforts are being made to accommodate the needs of families.

In Ituri this means that coffins are used – with the body bag placed inside. The coffin has a few transparent panels on the side to allow mourners to be able to see inside.

Another change has been to body bags, which now have clear film at the top so the face inside can be seen.

“We need to be very close to the communities and engage with them very closely and make sure that they understand what’s going on, they’re informed and they consent,” says Munoz-Bertrand.

“If the family asks for something special to be included in the procedure, as long as it respects the infection prevention and control measures, and it doesn’t put anyone at risk, we will try to accommodate the wishes of the family as much as possible, because we understand that it’s a very difficult time for families.

“We want to be as supportive as possible, while at the same time protecting them, the community, and our volunteers.”

I joined a team of IFRC volunteers as they went to an Ebola treatment centre at a hospital in Bunia to pick up a body for burial.