April 18, 2023

*) UN says nearly 200 dead, 1,800 wounded in Sudan as rival forces battle Fighting between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan has killed around two-hundred people and wounded one-thousand-eight-hundred, damaging hospitals and hampering aid after three days of urban warfare. A weeks-long power struggle exploded into deadly violence on Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup. Battles have taken place throughout the vast country, and there are fears of regional spillover. *) Ennahda's leader Ghannouchi arrested for interrogation in Tunisia Tunisia’s security forces have arrested the country’s largest political party Ennahda’s leader Rached Ghannouchi, taking him in for interrogation at a National Guard building in the capital Tunis. Tunisian authorities have yet to comment on the arrest. On February 21, Ghannouchi appeared before the Judicial Pole of Counter-Terrorism in Tunis to answer accusations of incitement against security forces, but he was set free after giving testimony. *) Iran invites Saudi King Salman to visit Tehran amid thaw in ties Iran formally invites Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to visit Tehran, following a reconciliation agreement reached last month between the two sides. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said President Ebrahim Raisi had “invited the Saudi King to visit Iran” adding that the Iranian president had already received an invitation to visit the kingdom. The spokesman also expressed hope that Iran and Saudi Arabia would reopen their respective diplomatic missions by May 9th, as scheduled in the China-brokered agreement. *) As a trade bridge, Istanbul can link financial markets: Turkish president With a new landmark financial centre in Istanbul, Türkiye’s president has said that the metropolis could help to form ties between financial markets in the world. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the first phase of the Istanbul Finance Center, Erdogan said the centre of global finance was clearly shifting from West to