Sudan's hospitals deliberately targeted by RSF fighters

Sudan: RSF's Systematic Destruction of Medical Facilities in El Fasher

A BBC investigation has documented how the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) methodically dismantled healthcare in El Fasher during an 18-month siege of the city. The BBC's log of attacks lists more than 40 incidents, including cases where precision-guided drones were used to strike the same facility multiple times. When medical staff relocated clinics to new premises, those sites were targeted too.

Doctors who remained in the city, including surgeon Dr Mohammed Suleiman, testified that the RSF was deliberately cutting off access to healthcare in order to force residents to flee. "It was intentional, not accidental," one doctor said. Another surgeon, Dr Ezzeddin Ahmed Daoud, revealed that he had survived an RSF raid on his hospital by playing dead after being beaten, and described drones pursuing people who were carrying the wounded.

BBC presented its findings to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who called them "very alarming" and said the repeated attacks on El Fasher's medical facilities could constitute war crimes. The RSF's health minister, Ala'a al-Din Nugoud, countered that the hospitals were legitimate military targets because they had been used as bases, but BBC was unable to independently verify that claim.

Footage also exists of an RSF press conference held shortly after the fall of El Fasher, staged to portray the "liberation" of healthcare workers. One of the doctors shown, Al-Haj Mohammed Ahmad, later said he had been brought there by force and threatened with being shot if he spoke out of turn.

West Bank: Two Israeli Soldiers Killed in Hebron Shooting

In the early hours of 23 October, two Palestinian gunmen got out of a car near a military checkpoint close to Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank and opened fire, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three. Both attackers were shot dead at the scene.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to the soldiers and announced that the neighbourhood in Hebron where the attackers were from would be demolished house by house. He also declared that Israel would launch its largest military operation in the West Bank since the Six-Day War. Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who visited the scene, called for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled.

Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher noted that with Israeli elections just days away, Netanyahu was using the incident to reinforce his image as a security guardian.

FIFA: Infantino Secures Asian Backing for Fourth Term

FIFA president Gianni Infantino received a significant boost for his bid for a fourth term — with the election scheduled for March 2027 — when Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa announced the full support of all 47 AFC member nations at a confederation meeting in Tokyo. "As one Asian family, we are ready to move forward," Sheikh Salman said.

The endorsement is a striking reversal. Just two months ago, Sheikh Salman had co-signed a letter with the presidents of UEFA and CONCACAF describing Infantino's plan to sell World Cup commercial rights to private investors as "a betrayal of trust" and an act of deception. The nomination deadline is 18 November, and no rival candidate has yet declared, leaving open the possibility of an uncontested re-election.

Personalised Skin Cancer Vaccine Cuts Recurrence Risk by 42%

An international clinical trial has found that a personalised vaccine — manufactured from each patient's own tumour sample using mRNA technology — reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% over two years when used alongside the immunotherapy drug Keytruda.

Tony Chapman, who lives near Corby in the English Midlands, noticed something wrong on his chest in 2019, had surgery, then experienced a recurrence three years later requiring a second operation before enrolling in the trial. Dr Pippa Corrie, who ran the trial at Cambridge, described personalisation as "a leap to the next step" and called the results "the first proof of concept."

Participants came from hospitals across the UK and beyond. Researchers believe that if the approach proves effective in melanoma, it could be extended to other cancer types. However, some independent experts have called for longer follow-up studies, regulatory approval is not expected before next year at the earliest, and the cost of personalised manufacturing remains a significant challenge.