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As the UK government begins evacuating British citizens from Sudan, many have made their own way out to safety.

Hotels across Djibouti have become places of refuge for those fleeing devastation and bloodshed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated and brought here by international rescue missions. A sleepy port city turned global military base and now a gateway for those scrambling to long-term safety.

Battles rage as fears grow of looming catastrophe – Sudan latest

In just one building in the centre of town are dozens of Irish citizens and their immediate family members – the last place I was expecting to see a friend from Khartoum, NHS doctor Iman Abugarja.

Like others in the lobby, her eyes were round with disbelief and red from tears. When we embraced, her head shook from side to side. “No, no, no,” her head signalled. A rejection of the horrifying reality.

Dr Iman Abugarja is a British citizen and was able to leave Khartoum by sheer perseverance.

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Her son is an Irish national and received a note from the embassy that an evacuation mission was under way.

When she arrived with him and her 17-year-old daughter at the embassy where the European Union effort was being organised – an extremely hard-hit area in Khartoum – an injured man was being taken into safety on a mattress.

Dr  Iman Abugarja and her daughter Sarah
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Dr Iman Abugarja and her daughter Sarah and son have fled Sudan

She offered her help as a doctor and was ushered in by the security guard. Once she was in the building, the head of the mission welcomed her on board the flight in a gesture of generosity.

“They took me in to meet the consul and I said: ‘I’m British – I am not EU.’ He said: ‘No, you’re still in the European Union’, which I thought was very, very kind,” says Dr Abugarja with a watery smile.

“But I couldn’t go out again to say goodbye to my mother or my sister,” she added.

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Streets of Khartoum are devastated

Dr Abugarja had to face an unthinkable decision: to stay with her elderly, sick parents or get her children to safety.

The agony of the choice hangs between her brows and the corners of her mouth.

She is riddled with worry and guilt as another US-brokered ceasefire fails to end the violence in her hometown where her closest family remain.

“My 96-year-old grandmother is also with my parents there,” she says. “These are the people we have left behind – the most vulnerable – and it is just heartbreaking.”

‘People are still trapped’

Her 17-year-old daughter is also feeling the cost of her own survival.

“Honesty, I feel really really guilty. Leaving my grandparents there is really hard,” says Sarah, holding her mother’s hand. She was planning to go to medical school in Khartoum next year.

“Sarah was saying last night that she feels bad because it almost seems as if it was too easy for us. People are still trapped, exposed to missiles and bombs,” says Dr Abugarja.

Read more:
Britons face perilous escape from Sudan
Ceasefire under way as UK warned ‘not to miss window’ for evacuations
Irish woman’s dramatic escape – as she leaves husband behind

She has plans to head back to Khartoum to retrieve her parents if plans to evacuate her family fail.

She says her elderly father would rather die in his home than live his life abroad as a refugee.

Dr Abugarja adds: “When they do get out we need to ensure they can live in a dignified manner. That they have shelter, food and drink and their medical needs are taken care of – and that is very, very difficult.”

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

Pic: Reuters
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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

Read more:
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global market sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

Read more from Sky News:
Highs and lows of Five-Year Keir
MP tells Sky News she was targeted online by Tate brothers

More on South Korea

The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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