Around The World Thousands flee as new ceasefire attempt fails in Sudan

Anew ceasefire attempt between Sudanese troops and paramilitary forces in Khartoum has so far been unsuccessful, heightening concerns over diminishing food provisions and a breakdown of essential medical services.

The 24-hour ceasefire –lobbied for by countries trying to evacuate their citizens after days of conflict – was supposed to come into effect at 18:00h local time (16:00 GMT). However, eyewitnesses in Khartoum said fighting has continued on Wednesday.

“We can still hear shelling in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the general command of the military,” Al Jazeera correspon- dent Hiba Morgan said.

“The ceasefire is not unconditional, with both sides saying they will abide by it only if they are not fired at by the other party,” she added.

Earlier in the day, continuous bombardments could be heard in central Khartoum around the compound housing the army headquarters –where Sudan’s military ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had said he was based earlier in the week. It was not clear if he was still there.

“The armed forces are responding to a new attack in the vicinity of the General Command,” an army statement said.

There was another heavy

3 Alabama teens charged with murder in sweet 16 party shooting

exchange of gunfire in the Jabra neighbourhood of west Khartoum, where homes belonging to paramilitary leader General

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, and his family are located, Reuters news agency reported. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Chinese actress Jiang Mengjie praised for revealing upskirting blackmail

Three Alabama teenagers have been taken into custody and charged with murder in last week’s shooting at a sweet 16 birthday party that left four dead and 32 wounded, State Police said on Wednesday.

Two suspects – Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16 – both from Tuskegee, were arrested on Tuesday night and charged with four counts of reckless murder, Sergeant Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said during a news conference.

The agency said a few hours later that a third person had been arrested.

Wilson LaMar Hill Jr, 20, of

Auburn, was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon and charged with four counts of reckless murder, the agency said in a press release.

The shooting on Saturday took place at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in Dadeville, a community of 3200 people about 80.5 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Montgomery.

“Make no mistake. This is Alabama and when you pull out a gun and you start shooting people, we’re going to put you in jail,” Burkett said. “We’re tired of going to mothers and having to tell them these kids aren’t coming home.”

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Jiang Mengjie has won praise for reporting the crime to the police and speaking out

Chinese actress Jiang Mengjie has been praised for sharing she was the victim of upskirting and was blackmailed over footage that circulated of her.

Upskirting – involving a device such as a camera phone to take explicit images underneath a victim’s clothing without permission – often goes undetected.

Jiang Mengjie told her eight million followers on social network Weibo the video had been filmed “many years ago”.

She found out after her staff spotted comments about the footage online.

Jiang commented that a friend had subsequently sent her a video, leaving her feeling “angry and disgusted, along with a feeling of powerlessness”.

“Some web users have told me that videos have been posted to many groups… and the number of views has exceeded one million,” she said.

Jiang further revealed that she had begun receiving private messages blackmailing her over the footage “saying that they would send the video to major film and TV companies and brands, and ruin the rest of my life”.

(Excerpt from BBC News)