Only one person survived the destruction of the village of Tarseen in the mountainous Jebel Marra area of the Darfur region, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army

International News via Reuters:

An armed group that controls part of western Sudan appealed on Tuesday for foreign help in recovering bodies and rescuing residents from torrential rain, after it said at least 1,000 people were killed when a landslide buried a mountain village.

Only one person survived the destruction of the village of Tarseen in the mountainous Jebel Marra area of the Darfur region, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.

SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help collect the bodies of victims, including men, women and children.

“Tarseen, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground,” the group said in a statement. Continuing rains have made travel in the region difficult and could impede any rescue or aid efforts.

“Nearby villagers are overwhelmed with fear that a similar fate might befall them if the … torrential rainfall persists, which underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive evacuation plan and provision of emergency shelter,” the group’s leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, said in a separate appeal.

A statement by the U.N.’s resident coordinator put the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports.

Arjimand Hussain, regional response manager for the development group Plan International, said the last 45 km of the route to Tarseen were impassable to motor vehicles and could only be negotiated on foot or by donkey.

Nine bodies were recovered by volunteers, said Abdelhafiz Ali from the Jebel Marra Emergency Room, who noted that the village had hosted hundreds of people displaced by fighting.

The SLM/A has remained neutral in the battle between the main enemies in Sudan’s civil war, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two foes are fighting over control of al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, which is under siege from the RSF and has suffered famine.

Residents of al-Fashir and nearby areas have sought shelter in Jebel Marra, though food, shelter, and medical supplies are insufficient and hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the rains. Tawila, where most have arrived, is in the throes of a cholera outbreak, as are other parts of Darfur.

The two-year civil war has left more than half of Sudan’s population facing crisis levels of hunger and driven millions from their homes, leaving them especially exposed to the country’s damaging annual floods.

Sudan’s army-controlled government expressed its condolences and willingness to assist.

The prime minister of a newly-installed RSF-controlled rival government, Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, said he would be coordinating with the SLM/A on the delivery of aid supplies to the area.

Pope Leo sent his condolences and said he was praying for those affected, according to a Vatican statement.

Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; writing by Enas Alashray and Nafisa Eltahir; editing by Andrea Ricci, Stephen Coates, Peter Graff and Mark Heinrich

Freixe was fired due to an undisclosed relationship with a subordinate, exactly a year after he replaced Mark Schneider, plunging the Swiss food giant into turmoil

International News via Reuters:

Nestle staff complained in May about improper favouritism by former CEO Laurent Freixe towards an employee with whom they alleged he was romantically involved, a senior executive said on Wednesday, two days after Freixe was sacked.

Freixe was fired due to an undisclosed relationship with a subordinate, exactly a year after he replaced Mark Schneider, plunging the Swiss food giant into turmoil.

Chief Financial Officer Anna Manz said the relationship between Freixe and the employee, who has not been named, was first examined in an internal investigation following concerns raised via Nestle’s internal reporting system, called Speak Up.

“Back in May, we received a Speak Up through our internal channels alleging a romantic relationship with an employee and improper favouritism,” Manz told a Barclays investor conference.

The matter was investigated by the board, but no evidence was found, she said.

“And it was at that point that Laurent also made a personal statement stating that there had been no such thing,” Manz said, referring to the concerns about Freixe raised by whistleblowers.

But complaints continued to be made, Manz said, leading to a second, broader inquiry being launched with help from Swiss lawyers Baer & Karrer.

“And it was that that triggered information that led to the board believing that there had been a breach of conduct and that they needed to act to change the CEO,” she said.

Freixe, who had denied the relationship throughout the course of both investigations, was dismissed on Monday following a board meeting, and will not receive an exit package.

He could not be immediately reached for comment.

Investors and analysts have described the dismissal of the 39-year company veteran as a crisis of historic proportions at Nestle, traditionally seen as a pillar of the Swiss business establishment.

‘STRATEGIC, THOUGHTFUL LEADER’

Freixe was replaced by Nespresso boss Philipp Navratil. Manz said he will bring a fresh perspective to the company.

Navratil, 49, has spent 24 years at Nestle, mainly in its coffee business, and joined the executive board in January.

“He’s a really strategic, thoughtful leader. He’s also very pragmatic and executionally focused,” Manz said.

Nestle denied reports Manz’s appearance had been hastily arranged to present the company’s side of Freixe’s sacking to investors. The company said Freixe had also been due to attend the conference with Manz before his dismissal.

The company, famous for KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe instant coffee, has been struggling since the tenure of Freixe’s predecessor Schneider, the first outsider to lead Nestle since 1922.

Some analysts accused Schneider of focusing too much on acquisitions and cutting spending in vital areas.

Schneider was fired in August 2024 following Nestle’s slow post-pandemic recovery, triggering what has become one of the messiest managerial periods in the 159-year-old company’s history.

Manz said Navratil’s quick appointment was possible because the Nestle board had already begun succession planning due to the fact that Freixe is 63.

Navratil would be present for Nestle’s third-quarter results on October 16, and would likely meet investors before then, Manz said.

Reporting by John Revill;Editing by Dave Graham and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Carney, speaking to reporters ahead of a cabinet retreat in Toronto, also said a senior team of Canadian officials was in Washington for the latest round of talks

International News via Reuters:

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said he had a lengthy and productive conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, covering trade issues and other topics.

Carney, speaking to reporters ahead of a cabinet retreat in Toronto, also said a senior team of Canadian officials was in Washington for the latest round of talks on a new trade and economic relationship with the United States.

Reporting by David Ljunggren and Promit Mukherjee