The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched an investigation into reports of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and other crimes committed in Sudans ongoing internal conflict. 

The courts top prosecutor Karim Khan told the UN Security Council on Thursday that we now are in peril of allowing history to repeat itself, in Darfur as violence in the western region surges. 

We are not on the precipice of a human rights catastrophe, we are in the midst of one, he said. 

ICC prosecutors will examine reports of extrajudicial killings, burning of homes and markets, and looting, in el-Geneina, West Darfur, as well as the killing and displacement of civilians in North Darfur and other locations across Darfur," said a report by Khan's office. 

Allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes, including mass rapes and alleged reports of violence against and affecting children," will also be reviewed. 

A mass grave of at least 87 people allegedly killed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was found in Sudan's Darfur region, the UN said on Thursday. 

According to what the UN Human Rights Office described as credible information, the victims from the non-Arab ethnic Masalit group were killed by the RSF and allied armed groups between 13 and 21 June outside the city of el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state. 

Locals were forced to bury 37 bodies on 20 June in a one-metre-deep mass grave. An additional 50 bodies were buried at the same site the following day.

The bodies of seven women and seven children were among those buried in el-Geneinas Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts.

Volker Turk, OHCHR's high commissioner, called the RSF and warring parties in Sudan to allow searches for the dead and ensure they get a decent burial.

I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individua...

Britain imposed a raft of sanctions on Wednesday on businesses it says are linked to military groups fighting in Sudan. 

The sanctions cover six businesses associated with leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been at war with one another since 15 April.

Three of the commercial entities targeted are connected to the army and three to the paramilitary RSF.

The move by the British government follows the announcement by the United States at the beginning of June of its own sanctions, which targeted four commercial operations. All four of these are included in the UK sanctions.

In a statement, the British government said the measures would cut funding to the two sides and allow the parties to engage in a peace process, as well as facilitate access to humanitarian aid. 

"These sanctions are dire...

Sudan's foreign ministry has dismissed a regional African summit's bid to deploy peacekeeping forces to protect civilians as the country enters its fourth month of armed conflict.

The ministry, which is attached to the Sudanese army led by military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had turned down calls from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to deploy a peacekeeping mission.

The decision on Wednesday dealt a blow to efforts to resolve the armed conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in mid-April.

IGAD is an East African regional body that called on all Sudanese parties on Monday to start new peace negotiations during a summit in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa. IGAD made a bid to deploy the joint East Africa Standby Force (EASF) to protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid. 

The Sudanese army boycotted the IGAD mediation efforts on Monday and rejected the call by IGAD on Wednesday for Sudan to accept peacekeepers.

Iraq is set to start paying for Iranian gas imports with oil in order to avoid falling foul of US sanctions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday said that Baghdad and Tehran had signed an agreement following several days of talks for "the import of Iranian gas to fuel Iraqi power plants, in exchange for Iraqi crude oil".

"The agreement aims to address the gas supply crisis for power plants, while tackling payment issues and complications arising from US sanctions," said the statement from the prime minister's office.

Iraq is reliant on Iranian gas for a third of its energy needs, but is unable to directly pay for it as a result of US sanctions on Iran, forcing the country to resort to a complicated mechanism for transferring funds.

According to the mechanism, payments were to be held in a bank account and - following approval from Washington - be used by Tehran to fund imports of food and medicines, a method which left Iraq in heavy arrears.

Earlier this month, Iran halved its supply of gas to Iraq because of unpaid bills of more than $12 billion, according to Sud...