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fb777 120 com The escalating famine in Sudan is expected to spread to five more areas by May 2025, according to the global hunger monitor Tuesday as humanitarian aid fails to reach the famine-hit regions worsening the disastrous situation as regional parties war against each other. Famine conditions were confirmed in Abu Shouk and al-Salam, two camps for internally displaced people in al-Fashir, the besieged capital of North Darfur, as well as in residential and displaced communities in the Nuba Mountains, according to the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC). The committee also found that famine, first identified in August, persists in North Darfur's Zamzam camp. The five-member review committee vets and verifies famine findings produced by technical analysts. In its Tuesday report, the review committee predicts famine will expand to five additional areas in North Darfur — Um Kadadah, Melit, al-Fashir, Tawisha and al-Lait — by May. The committee identified another 17 areas across Sudan at risk of famine. The IPC estimated about 24.6 million people, about half of all Sudanese population, urgently requiring food aid through May, a sharp increase from the 21.1 million originally projected in June for October through February. The findings were published despite the Sudanese government's continued disruption of the IPC's process for analysing acute food insecurity, which helps donors and humanitarian groups direct aid where it is most needed. On Monday, the government announced it was suspending its participation in the global hunger-monitoring system, saying the IPC issues "unreliable reports that undermine Sudan's sovereignty and dignity." The IPC is an independent body funded by Western nations and overseen by 19 large humanitarian organisations and intergovernmental institutions. A linchpin in the world’s vast system for monitoring and alleviating hunger, it is designed to sound the alarm about developing food crises so organisations can respond and prevent famine and mass starvation. ALSO READ: World Food Day 2024: These 9 countries most affected by hunger and malnutrition The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are engaged in a civil war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and are adamantly opposed to a famine declaration for fear it would result in diplomatic pressure to ease border controls and lead to greater foreign engagement with the RSF. In a Dec. 23 letter to the IPC, the famine review committee and diplomats, Sudan’s agriculture minister said the latest IPC report lacks updated malnutrition data and assessments of crop productivity during the recent summer rainy season. The growing season was successful, the letter says. It also notes "serious concerns" about the IPC's ability to collect data from territories controlled by the RSF. Under the IPC system, a "technical working group," usually headed by the national government, analyses data and periodically issues reports that classify areas on a one-to-five scale that slides from minimal to stressed, crisis, emergency and famine. In October, the Sudanese government temporarily stopped the government-led analysis, according to a document seen by Reuters. After resuming work, the technical working group stopped short of acknowledging famine. The Famine Review Committee report released today said the government-led group excluded key malnutrition data from its analysis. ALSO READ: UN Chief warns of famine risk in 4 countries A recent Reuters investigation found that the Sudanese government obstructed the IPC’s work earlier this year, delaying by months a famine determination for the sprawling Zamzam camp for displaced people where residents have resorted to eating tree leaves to survive. The civil war that erupted in April 2023 has decimated food production and trade and driven more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis. The RSF has looted commercial and humanitarian food supplies, disrupted farming and besieged some areas, making trade more costly and food prices unaffordable. The government also has blocked humanitarian organisations’ access to some parts of the country. "We have the food. We have the trucks on the road. We have the people on the ground. We just need safe passage to deliver assistance," said Jean-Martin Bauer, director of food security and nutrition analysis for the UN's World Food Program. In response to questions from Reuters, the RSF said the accusations of looting were "baseless." The RSF also said millions of people in areas it controlled were facing "the threat of hunger," and that it was committed to "fully facilitating the delivery of aid to those affected." The government said that problems delivering aid were caused by the RSF. The IPC report says both parties to the conflict have imposed "bureaucratic procedures and approval processes" that "severely limit both the reach and scale of humanitarian efforts.” Only 10% of people in the areas the IPC reviewed received food assistance in the last three months, the IPC report says. At least a dozen aid workers and diplomats contacted by Reuters for this story said tensions increased between the Sudanese government and humanitarian aid organisations after the IPC determined Zamzam was in famine in August. The sources said the government is slowing the aid response. The government’s general and military intelligence services oversee aid delivery, subjecting international aid approvals to the SAF's political and military goals, the sources said. The government is slow to approve visas for aid workers, and several aid workers said it has discouraged NGOs from providing relief in the hard-hit Darfur region, which is largely controlled by RSF forces. The government has told aid organisations "there are no legitimate needs in Darfur, so you should not work there, and if you continue to respond to needs there, you should not expect visas," said one senior aid official, who asked not to be named. The number of visa applications awaiting approval for non-UN aid workers has skyrocketed in the last four months, and the percentage approved has plummeted, according to data maintained by Sudan's INGO Forum, which represents and advocates for international non-governmental organisations in the country. The government didn't respond to specific questions about the blocking of visas. In the past, it has said that the majority of visa requests are approved. In October, the Sudanese government pressured the UN to remove the top humanitarian aid official for Sudan's embattled Darfur region after the person traveled there without government authorisation, three sources told Reuters. Requests for authorization had stalled, the sources said. The government told the UN it would throw the official out if he was not withdrawn, the sources said. The government didn't respond to questions about the aid official's removal. A UN spokesperson said the organisation doesn't comment on staff "working arrangements."

NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Wenkers Wright ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns and No. 13 Illinois State knocked off North Dakota for the first time, 35-13 in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday. The Redbirds are 9-2 (6-2 Missouri Valley Conference) and are looking to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2019 and sixth time in Brock Spack's 16 seasons as head coach. Illinois State opened the game with some trickery. Eddie Kasper pulled up on a fleaflicker and launched a 30-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Loyd to cap a seven-play, 70-yard opening drive. Simon Romfo tied it on North Dakota's only touchdown of the day, throwing 20 yards to Nate DeMontagnac. Wright scored from the 10 to make it 14-7 after a quarter, and after C.J. Elrichs kicked a 20-yard field goal midway through the second to make it 14-10 at intermission, Wright powered in from the 18 and Mitch Bartol caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rittenhouse to make it 28-10 after three. Seth Glatz added a 13-yard touchdown run to make it 35-10 before Elrichs added a 37-yard field goal to get the Fighting Hawks on the board to set the final margin. Rittenhouse finished 21 of 33 passing for 187 yards for Illinois State. Loyd caught eight passes for 121 yards. Romfo completed 11 of 26 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown with an interception for North Dakota (5-7, 2-6). Illinois State faced North Dakota for just the fourth time and third time as Missouri Valley Conference opponents. The Redbirds lost the previous three meetings. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballThanksgiving Weekend Sports Guide: Your roadmap to NFL matchups, other games, times, oddsIt’s been a long road back to the highest levels of motorsport for Canadian driver Robert Wickens. Six years after he was paralyzed in a violent wreck, Wickens will again be behind the wheel against some of the best drivers in North America. Wickens, from Guelph, Ont., was named the newest driver for DXDT Racing earlier this week, moving the 35-year-old up to IMSA GTD competition for 2025, the highest class on the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series. His promotion was made possible by a new hand control braking system created by Bosch Electronics, with help from GM Motorsports and Corvette Racing/Pratt Miller. “It’s not going to be easy but I wanted to get to the highest levels of motorsport again because, frankly, that’s where I was when I was injured,” said Wickens, who crashed at Pocono Raceway in 2018 during IndyCar’s ABC Supply 500. “But not only that, I want to prove to myself and other generations of people with disabilities that you can really do anything. “Maybe you’re having a hard time getting back to your place of work after a life-altering accident and — whatever your discipline, it doesn’t even have to be athletics — but I know it’s possible as long as you align yourself with a strong support system.” For Wickens, that’s been his wife Karli Wickens, his family and, in his professional life, organizations like Bosch and GM. Wickens’s crash left him with a thoracic spinal fracture, a neck fracture, tibia and fibula fractures to both legs, fractures in both hands, a fractured right forearm, a fractured elbow, four fractured ribs, a pulmonary contusion, and an indeterminate spinal injury that combined to make him a paraplegic. As he has slowly recovered some movement in his legs, Wickens has eased back into motor racing. He drove the parade lap of the 2019 Honda Indy Toronto, competed in the IndyCar iRacing Challenge during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then in January 2022 it was announced he would drive in the Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport. He and co-driver Mark Wilkins won twice in the Michelin Pilot Challenge’s TCR category with three podiums in 2022. In 2023 the pairing didn’t win, but they reached the podium seven times to earn the TCR championship. All of Wickens’s post-accident cars have been fitted with hand controls. Those conventional systems rely on paddles around the steering wheel that activate pneumatics that then press the foot pedals. Hand controls like that are acceptable for regular road vehicles and even lower levels of motorsports but in the highest classes, like IMSA GTD where cars top out at more than 280 kilometres, the lag between the driver toggling the paddle and the car responding is unacceptably slow. That’s where the Bosch electronic system comes in, with the controls linked directly to the car’s braking system, removing the pneumatics as an intermediary. “When you hit the brakes to slow the car down for each corner that was always a big challenge for me where (with) the Bosch electronic system, the latency is milliseconds not tenths of a second,” said Wickens. “It’s basically as accurate as I would be if I was an able-bodied driver wanting to apply the brake. “Honestly, it’s just better in every facet imaginable. It’s just been a true blessing.” Advances in physical rehabilitation from spinal cord injuries as well as the ongoing development of vehicle technology has made Wickens’s return to competitive motorsport possible. “I’m very fortunate in the timing of my paralysis and my career,” Wickens said Wednesday from Tampa, Fla. “If this was even a decade ago we’d be having a very different conversation today.” The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has four classes of vehicles: two sports prototype categories and two grand tourer classes. GTD is considered the highest of the four classes because each team must have at least a silver or bronze driver and more than one platinum-rated driver on a team is prohibited. “I want to win,” said Wickens. “I think the big thing for me on this journey back was I wanted to race again because I truly felt like I could still win. “I want to raise awareness for spinal cord injury and disability, not by just being a participant, but by being the guy. I want to win races, fight for podiums, win championships, every time I’m sitting in the car.” Wickens said he won’t just be a role model for people living with paralysis or other mobility disabilities, but the technology his car will employ in 2025 will likely become commercially available for use in road vehicles. “Motorsports and the automotive racing industry were founded to be a proving ground for everyday automotive vehicles,” he said. “From there you make road cars and road safety better. “Hopefully we can provide the technology and have regularly available components that can make any race car accessible for anyone that needs hand controls or any other form of disability.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. Follow jchidleyhill.bsky.social on Bluesky.

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