World News Roundup: Airstrikes, artillery continue as Sudan fighting enters third week; Tickets to popular China tourism sites sold out as Labour Day holiday begins and more

The conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has not spared her village Ayatine, in western Darfur region where a two-decade-old conflict and simmering violence has been re-ignited by the fighting. Pope, meeting Ukrainian refugees, says better future possible Pope Francis on Saturday met Ukrainians who fled the war on Hungary's eastern border, telling the refugees that a different future is possible.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Fire at Crimea fuel depot extinguished after apparent drone attack - governor

A fire at a fuel storage facility in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, caused by an apparent drone strike, has been extinguished, the Moscow-installed governor there said on Saturday. "Open fire was extinguished in an area of 1,000 square meters," Mikhail Razvozhaev said on the Telegram messaging app.

Analysis-Sudan risks long conflict as entrenched rivals struggle for control

Sudan's warring factions are locked in a conflict that two weeks of fighting shows neither can easily win, raising the spectre of a drawn-out war between an agile paramilitary force and the better-equipped army that could destabilise a fragile region. Even with hundreds of people killed and the capital Khartoum turned into a war zone, there has been little sign of compromise between army commander Abdul-Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commonly known as Hemedti.

Tickets to popular China tourism sites sold out as Labour Day holiday begins

Passenger travel on the first day of China's five-day Labour Day holiday surged 151.8% from the same day last year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. The number of air, road, waterway and railway trips rose to 56.99 million on the first day of the holiday that runs through Wednesday, CCTV said.

Airstrikes, artillery continue as Sudan fighting enters third week

The sounds of air strikes, anti-aircraft weaponry and artillery could be heard in Khartoum early on Saturday and dark smoke rose over parts of the city, as fighting in Sudan entered a third week. Fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force continued despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension on Friday, when strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Ombdurman.

Paraguay's women battle to break political glass ceiling

In Paraguay's election on Sunday, Soledad Nunez, a 40-year-old engineer and former minister, is looking to break into the South American country's male-dominated political arena as its first elected female vice president. Paraguay - which has a reputation for misogynist 'machista' culture even within the often conservative region - has been tough for women seeking to enter politics. Only 15% of lawmakers are women, below the Latin American regional average of around a third.

Nigeria again postpones first census in 17 years

Nigeria has postponed a census due to take place next week and a new date will be set by the incoming government, the information ministry said on Saturday as it announced the latest delay to the country's first census in 17 years. The census had been scheduled for May 3-7, but the ministry said more time was needed to plan for it. It will now be conducted by the new government of President-elect Bola Tinubu, who will be sworn in at the end of May.

Head of regional force tackling east Congo violence resigns, Kenya denies

The Kenyan commander of a regional force set up to tackle militia violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said he had resigned due to obstruction and threats to his safety, adding to doubts over whether the mission can be effective. In the letter dated Thursday, Major General Jeff Nyagah said he was quitting due to an "aggravated threat" to his safety and a "systematic plan" to frustrate the force's efforts.

A race to the border after childbirth as fighting forces Sudanese to flee

As armed militias attacked and pillaged her village near the town of El Geneina in the western Darfur region of Sudan, pregnant 23-year-old Zamzam Adam was stranded, in labour, and alone, as neighbours fled across the border into Chad. The conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has not spared her village Ayatine, in western Darfur region where a two-decade-old conflict and simmering violence has been re-ignited by the fighting.

Pope, meeting Ukrainian refugees, says better future possible

Pope Francis on Saturday met Ukrainians who fled the war on Hungary's eastern border, telling the refugees that a different future is possible. Francis met with about 600 refugees, poor and homeless people in a visit to St. Elizabeth's church in Budapest on the second day of his visit, which began on Friday when he pointedly warned of the dangers in Europe.

UN envoy sees Sudan combatants more open to talks

Warring sides in Sudan are more open to negotiations and have accepted the conflict that erupted two weeks ago cannot continue, a U.N. official told Reuters on Saturday, a possible flicker of hope even as fighting continued. Volker Perthes, U.N. special representative in Sudan, said the sides had nominated representatives for talks which had been suggested for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or Juba in South Sudan, though he said there was a practical question over whether they could get there to "actually sit together".

(With inputs from agencies.)