‘Death will come to you anywhere’ – mayhem at Port Sudan as some return home and others flee civil war
Mayhem is unfolding on the docks of Port Sudan.
Hundreds are gathered from countries all over the world – fresh from the hell of Khartoum’s violence.
They are gathered in front of Port Sudan’s Maritime Social Club. It’s now an announcement and registration centre for evacuation ships.
Every so often a name and passport number are loudly called and the hopes of hundreds are raised for a fleeting moment and – for all but one – abruptly dashed.
A Saudi Arabian ship in the Port of Sudan
The Sudanese faces in the crowd are few compared to the masses of Yemenis and Syrians registering to board an incoming Saudi Arabian military evacuation vessel.
They fled their own war to seek refuge in Sudan and feel as though it followed them here.
Map of Sudan
“We are suffering,” says Raiida. “We didn’t even see war like this in Syria.”
Raiida was in Sudan visiting her brother for a week and became trapped by the conflict.
The war has collapsed Sudan’s capital Khartoum and killed hundreds of people and injured thousands.
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“Life there can not be endured. Basic means are not available – no pharmacies, no hospitals. Food and water are completely depleted and houses near us were demolished,” says Mutaz Abbas, a Khartoum native who left his hometown behind.
The sheer scale of people displaced is yet to be fully comprehended.
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Sudan: ‘It’s sheer chaos’
As we discuss the details of destruction, an older lady pleas with us: “Don’t talk about the conflict. Talk about asylum! We need asylum.”
Hours earlier in the stifling heat of the seaside afternoon, a ferry pulls into Othman Digna Port in Suakin city.
The passengers have made a ten-hour journey from Saudi Arabia to Sudan. It is the first transport route to open out of the country and reserved for those who cannot afford to wait until airports reopen.
Many of them are pilgrims returning from Makkah and say they were offered temporary amnesty but instead rushed to return home.
“Death will come to you anywhere,” says Ibrahim Eltayeb as the ferry cuts through the deep waters of the Red Sea towards Sudan.
“It is important to be with our families.”
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
Trump criticises Putin – latest updates
Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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