SUDAN: The army intensified air strikes in the capital Khartoum yesterday despite talks brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States talks aimed at halting the fighting.

The lack of progress at the talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah dashed hopes for resolution of the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

NIGER: The military governments of Niger and Mali have announced plans to cancel their decades-long tax agreements with France within the next three months.

The two military regimes said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were ending the tax pacts due to “France’s persistent hostile attitude” towards their countries and “the unbalanced nature of these agreements, which result in a considerable loss of revenue for Mali and Niger.”

Niger’s deal with France dates from 1965, while Mali’s has been in place since 1972.

NETHERLANDS: Military police found 47 illegal migrants hidden in a lorry that was about to board a ferry to Britain, the force said yesterday.

The men, women and children of various nationalities were discovered  on Tuesday night in the town of Hook of Holland after a sniffer dog alerted officers, authorities said in a statement.

ALBANIA: The opposition spoke up at the Constitutional Court yesterday against the ratification of a deal that the government has signed with Italy to jointly process some asylum applications of migrants arriving in Italy by sea.

Last month, the two countries announced a five-year deal in which Albania agreed to temporarily shelter up to 3,000 migrants a month while Rome fast-tracks their requests for asylum in Italy.