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Residents in Qatar experiencing normal stress responses amid regional developments can maintain mental well-being through routine, community support and limiting exposure to distressing information, a mental health expert has said.Dr Naif al-Mutawa, clinical psychologist and founder of Socoon Clinic, said many of the emotional and physical reactions people are experiencing are natural responses to uncertainty.“What most people are experiencing right now is actually very human,” he said. “Heightened anxiety, difficulty concentrating, disrupted sleep and a constant sense of unease are all signs that the mind and body are trying to adapt.”He added that some individuals may experience stronger reactions, particularly those with previous exposure to stress or trauma.“In some cases, this can show up as hypervigilance or intrusive thoughts,” he said. “There is also something we don’t talk about enough, survivor’s guilt, where people feel uneasy about being safe while others are struggling.”Dr al-Mutawa stressed that these responses should not be seen as weakness. “These are not signs that something is wrong with you,” he said. “They are signs that your system is responding to uncertainty.”He highlighted the importance of maintaining routine as a key coping mechanism.“When everything around you feels unpredictable, routine becomes your anchor,” he said. “Simple habits like waking up at the same time, maintaining meals and continuing daily activities help stabilise the mind.”Sleep, he noted, is another critical factor. “Sleep is often the first thing affected during stressful periods. When sleep is disrupted, anxiety increases and coping becomes more difficult. Protecting sleep should be a priority.”He also cautioned against excessive exposure to social media and constant news updates.“Overexposure can lead to what we call psychological flooding,” he said. “Set boundaries, check updates at specific times and rely on trusted sources. Stepping away from the news is not avoidance, it is self-regulation.”For families, particularly those with children, emotional regulation plays a vital role.“Children don’t need perfect parents, they need regulated ones,” Dr al-Mutawa said. “They absorb the emotional tone around them, so consistency and calm behaviour from parents help create a sense of safety.”He advised parents to keep communication simple and age-appropriate, while maintaining stability in routines and emotional support.Community support also remains a key protective factor. “Human beings are not designed to go through stress in isolation,” he said. “Even small moments of connection can significantly reduce the intensity of anxiety.”In addition, faith and spiritual practices can provide grounding during uncertain times.“Practices like prayer and reflection offer perspective and emotional stability,” he said. “They help people find meaning rather than feeling overwhelmed.”Dr al-Mutawa added that while uncertainty can be challenging, it can also build resilience over time.“Resilience develops when people face challenges and realise they can move through them,” he said.He encouraged residents to focus on what they can control. “The goal is not to feel calm all the time,” he said. “It is to stay functional, connected and grounded.”A workshop on Wartime Stress Management led by Dr al-Mutawa will be hosted by Gulf Times on March 24 at 5pm, offering practical tools to help individuals and families navigate stress during uncertain periods. 

At a school-turned-shelter in Port Sudan, rehearsal is a modest affair, but three years of war and the humble surroundings do little to dampen the sweet tunes rising from the two musicians.With piles of bedding pushed to the side, the lone singer croons along to the melodies of a keyboardist — part of a group of some 120 Sudanese artists who fled the brutal fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.In the courtyard downstairs, actors, screenwriters, painters and directors work in the sunshine, before retreating to their dormitories at night."It's like our own little cultural centre," says visual artist Mohira Fathi, who fled the central state of Al-Jazira with her husband and son.But the El-Rabat centre is a far cry from the countless other shelters in the army's wartime capital of Port Sudan, where disease outbreaks and unrelenting hunger stalk tens of thousands.Across the country, over 9mn people are internally displaced and a record 33.7mn are in need of aid.Like everyone else, these artists came to the army's wartime capital of Port Sudan on the Red Sea exhausted, traumatised and destitute."When I arrived, there weren't even any fans to help with the sweltering heat. People were sleeping on mats on the floor, with no access to water," musical troupe director Hossam al-Din al-Taher told AFP.Slowly, as the war dragged on, word spread of a makeshift artists' commune forming, and people started flocking to the school in the hopes that being around fellow artists would help keep their careers alive."We didn't have instruments or costumes," Taher remembers, and artists had to take on odd jobs to earn a living, pooling their money together to buy a guitar here, a set of paints there.Now, Taher conducts a small orchestra between piles of luggage.For filmmaker Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, "it's a blessing that all of these artists found each other in the same place."They share everything: food, money, mid-rehearsal coffees, living quarters separated only by fabric sheets, and every gig that comes their way.Three years of war have destroyed Sudan's cultural scene. Theatres, studios and museums have been shut down or looted, while many of Sudan's top artists have fled across borders.But El-Rabat's artists make do. They've put on shows for the neighbourhood, held local photography exhibitions and, this Ramadan, had some of their actors return to the airwaves in a modest radio drama."We've learned there is no giving up," musician Assem Abdel Aziz told AFP after rehearsal."We have dreams here, that yard outside is full of dreams, full of energy," he says, flanked by a drum kit to his left and a mosquito net-covered cot to his right. 

Nigerian troops backed by air support repelled a co-ordinated assault by insurgents ‌on a military base in ​the northeastern state ‌of Borno, killing at least 80 ‌fighters ⁠including ‌senior commanders, the army said ‌Wednesday.Boko Haram and Islamic State ⁠West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have intensified attacks on military bases in recent weeks in Borno, the epicentre of Nigeria's 17-year insurgency. Wednesday's assault followed multiple suicide bombings on Monday in Maiduguri, the capital ​of Borno, that killed at least 23 and left more than 100 wounded. The attacks ‌on the northeast's most heavily ⁠defended ​city suggested that the militant ​groups have shifted tactics to counter intense government operations against them.The pre-dawn attack targeted an army position in Mallam Fatori near the border with neighbouring Niger, with insurgents advancing on foot and deploying armed drones, military task force spokesperson Sani Uba said in a ‌statement.Troops had anticipated ‌the assault and ⁠mounted what Uba described as an "offensive-defensive" response, ⁠beating ⁠back the attack with ground fire and air support.Nigeria's air force carried out precision strikes, while allied Nigerien jets hit retreating insurgents. Four soldiers were wounded and evacuated for ​treatment, Uba said, adding that airstrike damage assessments were ongoing.The military said three "high-profile" insurgent commanders were killed, though Reuters could not independently verify the claims.Troops also recovered a large cache of weapons, including assault rifles, RPG launchers, machine guns, ammunition, improvised explosive devices, ‌and armed-drone ​components, Uba said. 

China signalled it will maintain economic support but refrain from ramping up stimulus next year, underscoring a shift from defending against US tariffs to securing growth in the longer term.The leadership will “flexibly and efficiently” use interest rate and reserve requirement cuts to ensure sufficient liquidity, and maintain a “necessary” level of budget deficit and government spending in 2026, according to an official readout released Thursday following the conclusion of the Central Economic Work Conference.The language of the meeting suggests a desire to keep stimulus measured after China emerged from a trade war with the US largely unscathed, thanks to booming exports to the rest of the world. It shows policymakers are content with current policies, allowing them to stick to a manufacturing-led growth strategy even as they take steps to boost consumption.“Economic policy was in an emergency mode a year ago due to external uncertainties. This year, policies are focusing more on the longer term,” said Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia for Standard Chartered Plc. “There’s no reason for policies to be more expansionary.”Attended by senior officials including President Xi Jinping, the conference sets economic policy priorities for the coming year. In a sign of greater recognition of several growth headwinds, officials vowed to stop the sharp slump in investment, steady the deteriorating housing market and stabilise the dwindling new births.The latest policy signals come as the world’s No 2 economy is set to conclude a surprisingly resilient year. The strength in exports propelled economic growth, with the annual goods trade surplus exceeding $1tn for the first time.Other headwinds are also growing. Fixed-asset investment saw an unprecedented collapse in the second half of 2025, deepening worries over languishing domestic demand. To counter that, officials pledged to increase central government’s budget spending on investment projects.China may find boosting infrastructure investment a more worthwhile endeavour, given the waning impact of consumer subsidies on retail sales. The conference mentioned the subsidy policy will be “optimised,” suggesting limited space for its expansion in size. Some economists predict the programme may be extended to cover services spending, as the sector receives increasing government attention.Meanwhile, officials promised to “pay due attention” to addressing local government fiscal strains and advance efforts to resolve local debt risks in an active but “orderly” way. Multiple measures will be taken to reduce the operational debt risks of local government financing vehicles, they added.Another major concern is growing troubles in the property market, after state-backed developer China Vanke Co shocked markets with a proposal to delay bond repayment.The conference laid out a clear destocking mandate for the sector, pledging to “control new supply.” Policymakers explicitly encouraged the acquisition of unsold commercial housing to be converted into affordable housing. Previously, Bloomberg reported that China was considering new measures such as providing new homebuyers mortgage subsidies for the first time nationwide.“The emphasis on property stabilisation is a pleasant surprise,” said Michelle Lam, Greater China economist at Societe Generale SA. “Of course we still need to know how forceful the property measures are but it shows policymakers are mindful about the downside risks. So that should help to alleviate the downtrend in property prices.”Policymakers reiterated a long-held pledge to maintain the basic stability of the yuan exchange rate. That signals an aversion for any sudden or significant moves, despite growing calls for China to strengthen the yuan to reduce its massive trade surplus and rebalance toward consumption.The latest reiteration of a “more proactive” fiscal policy comes after the augmented deficit expanded to 8.7% of gross domestic product in the first three quarters of this year — the highest level in data back to 2010.Many economists expect Beijing to set the official budget deficit at around 4% of GDP, the same as in 2025, which was the highest level in more than three decades.Monetary policy would target a “reasonable recovery in prices,” according the conference, acknowledging the drag caused by weak domestic demand and entrenched deflation.Despite the pledge on monetary easing, the People’s Bank of China has in fact turned more cautious with policy this year. Its policy interest rate cut has disappointed markets, and in a November report it downplayed the slowdown in loan growth and signalled a more patient approach with the economy’s transition.A year ago, the work conference also pledged to adopt rate cuts and RRR reductions — which lower the amount of cash banks must keep in reserves and free up money for lending — the first mention of the tools in such occasions in at least a decade. The PBoC ended up cutting rates and RRR about six months after the meeting.“The meeting did mention rate cuts, but in terms of the actual extent of it, markets don’t really have high expectations,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “I don’t think this meeting will significantly boost people’s expectations for rate cuts next year.” 

President Volodymyr Zelensky Monday sought to reinforce European support for Ukraine at a potentially pivotal moment in Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion, meeting President Emmanuel Macron in Paris as Washington pushed a plan to end the war. Zelensky held talks with Macron at the Elysee, with Ukraine weighing its options over the plan championed by US President Donald Trump but which European countries fear risks caving in to Russian demands. The situation has been further complicated by a corruption scandal that has rocked Zelensky’s inner circle and forced the removal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff Andriy Yermak. Over three-and-a-half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, Kyiv is also under pressure on the battlefield as Russia’s offensive grinds forward.US and Ukrainian negotiators held hours of what both sides called “productive” talks in Florida on Sunday, with Trump declaring on Air Force One “there’s a good chance we can make a deal”. “The work for peace continues,” Macron wrote in a brief post on X after welcoming Zelensky for talks “There are some tough issues that still have to be worked through,” Zelensky wrote on social media earlier Monday, following new telephone talks with Finland President Alexander Stubb, who has warm relations with both the American and Ukrainian leaders. Zelensky described the talks in the United States as “very constructive”, adding that decisions would be taken on Ukraine’s “further activities” once the delegation returning from there had been debriefed. “It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy. We heard Monday that the talks in America were difficult but productive,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added at a meeting of EU defence ministers. Washington put forward an initial 28-point proposal to halt the war, drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies and regarded as too close a reflection of Moscow’s maximalist demands on Ukrainian territory. It would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian. After talks in Geneva just over a week ago, the United States updated the original blueprint following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear. In an article for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper published at the weekend, Ukraine’s former armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny offered a downbeat assessment of Ukraine’s predicament, saying that “we are in an extremely difficult situation, where a rushed peace will only lead to a devastating defeat and loss of independence”. Zaluzhny, now ambassador to London and seen by some as a domestic rival of Zelensky, said that without security guarantees including Ukrainian membership of Nato, the “war will probably continue” with Russia’s goal “the abolition of Ukraine as an independent state.” Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow for follow-up talks and is expected to discuss Ukraine with Putin today. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the Florida talks were “very productive” but there was “more work to be done”. “There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr Witkoff travels to Moscow,” he said. The diplomatic push comes as the war — which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians — shows no sign of easing. A Russian missile attack killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others Monday in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the governor of the region said. Local officials released images of the aftermath showing emergency services responding at the scene, cars destroyed and buildings with their windows blown out. Zelensky is due today to make his first official trip to Ireland, which is not a Nato member but takes over the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2026. 

His Excellency Chairman of Qatar Media Corporation Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani met Monday with Ambassador of the Republic of India to Qatar, Vipul. During the meeting, they discussed media relations between the two countries and ways to support and develop them.

The number of patients benefiting from Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Post-Discharge Follow-Up Programme has increased from 658 in 2023 to 1,200 in 2025 representing a growth of more than 80%.HMC has announced a major expansion of its for older acute care patients for enhancing their safety and ensuring continuity of healthcare services. This programme aims to ensure a safe and smooth transition from hospital to home.It is a patient support service that provides guidance and rapid access to clinical support after hospital discharge to ensure a safe recovery. This programme uses virtual communication and other methods to maintain continuity of care.Its goal is to reduce readmission rates and ensure patients understand their care plans, including medication and follow-up instructions. Follow-up calls are made within 48 hours of hospital discharge by case managers and geriatric specialists to assess patients’ health, ensure access to medication, confirm adherence to the treatment plan, reassure patients and caregivers, and respond early to any medical concerns.The programme was launched at Rumailah Hospital in April 2020. More than 3,250 older patients with acute conditions benefited from the programme’s follow-up calls at Rumailah Hospital between April 2020 and December 2024. In 2025, the service expanded to include all acute older patients from Al Wakra Hospital, Medical Care and Research Centre, and the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research.In the first ten months of this service expansion, over 1,200 additional patients were supported.The initiative reflects strong collaboration between the various care teams at HMC. By maintaining contact after discharge, the programme helps ensure older patients continue to receive guidance and rapid access to clinical support when required.The Post-Discharge Follow-Up Programme is one of HMC’s key initiatives to strengthen continuity of care for older people and enhance patient experience throughout recovery at home. As demand for geriatric services continues to grow, follow-up support remains an important part of helping patients stay safe and informed after being discharged from hospital.

More than half of Sudan's population is in need of humanitarian aid, the head of the Danish Refugee Council said, as fighting ravages the northeast African nation.Since breaking out in April 2023, the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 mn and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises."We see a situation where more than 30mn people are in need of humanitarian assistance. That is half of the population of Sudan," Danish Refugee Council Secretary General Charlotte Slente told AFP by phone this week after a visit to a border region in neighbouring Chad."The suffering we see is unimaginable." Sudan had a population of around 50mn people in 2024, according to the World Bank.The aid official's comments came after a field visit to an area in Chad that borders Sudan's western Darfur region, which has seen fierce fighting of late.Violence has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with the RSF seizing control of the key town of El-Fasher — the army's last stronghold in Darfur — after an 18-month siege and reports of atrocities multiplying."There are violations that cross all international humanitarian laws," she added.Slente said the NGO had seen evidence of mass killings and sexual violence in Sudan.**media[382270]**"We see detentions, we see abductions, forced displacement and torture," she said.She accused the international community of not doing enough."Statements have a very limited impact both on the ongoing humanitarian needs on the ground, and they have not been able to stop the violence," she said.She warned that there were other cities still under siege that were not receiving the same level of attention.The town of Babanusa, the last army stronghold in West Kordofan state, has been under siege for several months, as have North Kordofan state capital El-Obeid and South Kordofan's Kadugli and Dilling."The international community must stop managing the consequences of this conflict and must start preventing the atrocities," said Slente.

His Excellency the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani met Thursday with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ghana Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is currently visiting the country. They reviewed bilateral relations and ways to support and enhance them, in addition to discussing a number of topics of common interest.

Residents of the southern Sudanese city of El-Obeid have said they are living in fear as paramilitaries appear to prepare for an assault, with the army reporting shooting down a drone targeting the city on Saturday.The North Kordofan state capital, about 400km southwest of the national capital Khartoum, is a regional hub and a strategic prize for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with Sudan's army since April 2023.While the RSF announced Thursday it had accepted a truce proposal put forward by mediators, the UN subsequently said it saw "preparations for intensified hostilities", issuing a warning about the deteriorarting situation in the Kordofan region in particular."We are especially worried after what happened in El-Fasher," Soaad Ali, from El-Obeid's Karima neighbourhood, said referring to the RSF's capture of the last army stronghold in western Darfur after an 18-month siege.That takeover was followed by reports of mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and looting, triggering fears the conflict could spread into oil-rich Kordofan.El-Obeid, which hosts an airport, sits on a key supply route linking Darfur and Khartoum.Last month, the RSF captured Bara, north of El-Obeid, forcing more than 36,000 people to flee that town and four others in North Kordofan in less than a week, according to the UN.The group said last week it had massed forces in Bara to retake El-Obeid, "advising civilians to steer clear of military targets"."We are living in fear," said a resident of El-Obeid's Qubba neighbourhood, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons."Officials try to reassure us, but... after what happened in Bara, our fears are growing."The fall of El-Fasher two weeks ago gave the RSF control of all five state capitals in the vast western region, in addition to parts of the south.The army controls most of Sudan's north, east and centre, including Khartoum.Since El-Fasher's fall, more than 80,000 people have fled the city and surrounding areas, according to the UN.The General Coordination for Displaced People and Refugees in Darfur, an NGO, said that more than 16,000 people had arrived in Tawila and were in dire need of food, water and medical care.El-Fasher had a population of around 260,000 before the RSF takeover.Little is known about the fate of thousands still trapped in the city, which has been largely cut off from communications.Mathilde Vu, advocacy manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Sudan, told AFP that many families arriving in Tawila came with "children who are not their own".The children, she said, "have lost their parents on the way, either because they've... disappeared in a chaos, or they've been detained, or they've been killed".Survivors said that women and men were separated on the way out of El-Fasher, and that hundreds of men were detained in nearby towns.Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Saturday visited displaced people from El-Fasher in Al-Dabba city, about 1,000km north.

Over 36,000 Sudanese civilians have fled towns and villages in the Kordofan region east of Darfur, according to the UN, as the paramilitary warned that its forces were massing along a new front line.In recent weeks, the central Kordofan region has become a new battleground in the two-year war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).Central Kordofan is strategic because it is located between Sudan's Darfur provinces and the area around the capital Khartoum.The widening of the war comes just over a week after the RSF took control of El-Fasher -- the army's last stronghold in Darfur.The RSF has set up a rival administration there, contesting the pro-army government operating out of the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.In a statement late Sunday, the UN's migration agency said an estimated 36,825 people have fled five localities in North Kordofan between October 26 and 31.Residents on Monday reported a heavy surge in both RSF and army forces across towns and villages in North Kordofan.The army and the RSF, at war since April 2023, are vying for El-Obeid, the North Kordofan state capital and a key logistics and command hub that links Darfur to Khartoum, and hosts an airport.The RSF claimed control of Bara, a city north of El-Obeid last week."Today, all our forces have converged on the Bara front here," an RSF member said in a video shared by the RSF on its official Telegram page late on Sunday, "advising civilians to steer clear of military sites".Suleiman Babiker, who lives in Um Smeima, west of El-Obeid, told AFP that following the paramilitary capture of El-Fasher, "the number of RSF vehicles increased"."We stopped going to our farms, afraid of clashes," he told AFP.Another resident, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal, also said "there has been a big increase in army vehicles and weapons west and south of El-Obeid" over the past two weeks.Awad Ali, who lives in al-Hamadi on the road linkinig West and North Kordofan, said he has seen "RSF vehicles passing every day from the areas of West Kordofan toward El-Obeid since early October".Kordofan is a resource-rich region divided administratively into North, South and West Kordofan.It "is likely the next arena of military focus for the warring parties," Martha Pobee, assistant UN secretary-general for Africa warned last week.She cited "large-scale atrocities" perpetrated by the RSF, adding that "these included reprisals against so-called 'collaborators', which are often ethnically motivated."She also raised the alarm over patterns echoing those in Darfur, where RSF fighters have been accused of mass killings, sexual violence and abductions against non-Arab communities after the fall of El-Fasher.At least 50 civilians, including five Red Crescent volunteers, were killed in recent violence in North Kordofan, according to the UN.Both the RSF, descended from Janjaweed militias accused of genocide two decades ago, and the army face war crimes allegations.The United States under Joe Biden in January this year concluded that "members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan".But international action on Sudan has largely been muted and peace efforts have failed so far.The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million more and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Survivors fleeing the Sudanese city of El-Fasher told AFP on Saturday that paramilitary fighters separated families and killed children in front of their parents, with tens of thousands still trapped following the city's fall. Germany's top diplomat Johann Wadephul described on Saturday the situation in Sudan as "apocalyptic" while fresh satellite images suggested mass killings were likely ongoing, five days after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized El-Fasher. At war with the regular army since April 2023, the RSF pushed the military out of its last stronghold in the vast Darfur region after a grinding 18-month siege. Since the takeover, reports have emerged of summary executions, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting and abductions, while communications remain largely cut off. "I don't know if my son Mohamed is dead or alive. They took all the boys," Zahra, a mother of six who fled El-Fasher to the nearby town of Tawila, told AFP in a satellite phone interview. Before reaching the nearby RSF-controlled town of Garni, she said RSF fighters stopped them and took her sons, aged 16 and 20. "I begged them to let them go," she said, but the fighters only released her 16-year-old son. Another survivor, Adam, said two of his sons, aged 17 and 21, were killed in front of him. "They told them they had been fighting (for the army), and then they beat me on my back with a stick," he told AFP. In Garni, RSF fighters saw the blood of Adam's sons on his clothes and accused him of being a fighter. After hours of investigations, they let him go. The survivors' full names have been withheld for their safety. The UN says more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday but tens of thousands remain trapped. Around 260,000 people were in the city before the RSF's final assault. "Large numbers of people remain in grave danger and are being prevented by the Rapid Support Forces and its allies from reaching safer areas," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said. The group said that only 5,000 people had managed to make their way to Tawila, about 70 kilometres to the west. The numbers of people arriving in Tawila "don't add up, while accounts of large-scale atrocities are mounting", MSF's head of emergencies Michel Olivier Lacharite said. Several eyewitnesses told MSF that a group of 500 civilians, along with soldiers from the military and the army-allied Joint Forces, had attempted to flee on Sunday, but most were killed or captured by the RSF and their allies. Survivors reported that people were separated based on their gender, age or presumed ethnicity, and that many were still being held for ransom. Darfur is home to a number of non-Arab ethnic groups, who make up a majority of the region's population, in contrast to Sudan's dominant Sudanese Arabs. Hayat, a mother of five who fled the city, previously told AFP that "young men travelling with us were stopped" along the way by paramilitaries and "we don't know what happened to them". The UN said on Friday the death toll from the RSF's assault on the city may be in the hundreds, while army allies accused the paramilitary group of killing over 2,000 civilians. Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab suggested on Friday that mass killings were likely continuing in and around El-Fasher. The lab, which uses satellite imagery and open-source information to document human rights abuses during wars, said fresh images from Friday showed "no large-scale movement" of civilians fleeing the city, giving them reason to believe much of the population may be "dead, captured, or in hiding". The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects consistent with human bodies between Sunday and Friday, across neighbourhoods, university grounds and military sites. "Indicators that mass killing is continuing are clearly visible," the lab said. At a conference in Bahrain on Saturday, Wadephul said Sudan was "absolutely an apocalyptic situation, the greatest humanitarian crisis of the world". The RSF said on Thursday that it had arrested several fighters accused of abuses during the capture of El-Fasher, but UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher questioned the group's commitment to investigating atrocities. Both the RSF -- descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago -- and the army have faced war crimes accusations over the course of the conflict. The US has previously determined that the has RSF committed genocide in Darfur. Meanwhile, the army has drawn on support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. El-Fasher's capture gives the RSF full control over all five state capitals in Darfur, effectively splitting Sudan along an east-west axis, with the army controlling the north, east and centre. UN officials have warned that the violence is now spreading to the neighbouring Kordofan region, with reports emerging of "large-scale atrocities perpetrated" by the RSF. The wider conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 12 million and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.