South Sudanese military police officers monitor the area during a South Sudanese Unified Forces deployment ceremony at the Luri Military Training Centre in Juba (AFP)
Sudan asked the United Nations on Thursday to "immediately terminate" the UN political mission in the country (UNITAMS), Sudan's acting Foreign Minister Ali Sadeq told the Security Council in a letter.
"(The) government of Sudan requested that the United Nations immediately terminate the UNITAMS mission. At the same time, we would like to assure you that the Government of Sudan is committed to engaging constructively with the Security Council and the Secretariat," he wrote in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The purpose of establishing the mission (was) to assist the transitional government of Sudan after the December 2018 revolution," he wrote, adding that the mission's performance in implementing its objectives "was disappointing".
When asked about Sudan’s decision, Guterres spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the letter had been received and circulated to the Security Council.
A war erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces after weeks of rising tension between the two sides over a plan to integrate forces as part of a transition from military rule to civilian democracy.
The UN special envoy to Sudan announced in September that he was stepping down, more than three months after Sudan declared him unwelcome after disagreements between rival factions erupted into war.
Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km of the border between the countries in a message posted on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early on Friday.
The US House of Representatives rejected an effort on Thursday to stop President Donald Trump's air war on Iran and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by Congress, backing the Republican president's military campaign.
Multiple Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, have announced their successful interception of several drones targeting their territories and airbases.
Foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union have strongly condemned the Iranian attacks targeting GCC states, calling them a direct threat to regional and global security.
The southern Indian state of Karnataka, home to the tech hub of Bengaluru, has banned the use of social media by those under the age of 16, state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday, becoming the first in India to do so.