As Sudan's civil war enters its third year, diplomats and aid officials met in London on Tuesday to address what the U.N. calls the "world's worst humanitarian crisis." The summit, hosted by Britain, France, Germany, the EU and the African Union, coordinated "hundreds of millions of dollars" for the 14 million people displaced and facing famine, said The Washington Post. But with no diplomatic breakthrough coming out of it, the present and future of Sudan remain dire. 

What did the commentators say?
Summit organizers understood the chances of a significant development were "slim," not least because the "warring parties" — the Sudanese government and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, paramilitary group — weren't invited, said The Telegraph. But diplomats knew they couldn't "just park it in the 'too complicated' pile," one aide said to the outlet. "That's what the world has done for two years." 

"Additional pressure" will need to be applied on those "supplying or enabling" the warring sides, as well as on the warring sides themselves, said the Middle East Institute. The U.S. could help by pressing its allies in the Gulf — the UAE and Egypt — to "stop fueling the conflict." But there's "no shortcut" to sustainable peace. Agreements will not be useful if Sudan stays "mired in conflict, criminality and extremism". 

As fighting continues, the prospect of partition also looks increasingly likely. In February, the RSF announced plans to form a rival government. Yet "recent Sudanese history has shown that partition is not a risk-free solution to civil war," said The Conversation. Since South Sudan seceded in 2011, it has faced "enormous difficulties," including its own civil war, "intergroup violence, food insecurity and sanctions resulting from human rights violations."

What next?
The two sides remain a "long way from seeking peace," said The Guardian. For now, diplomacy is focused on "securing a consensus among rival external backers that a ceasefire must be demanded and impunity for war crimes will end." However, a "harsh spotlight" falls on the impact of President Donald Trump's recent USAID cuts, which have hit humanitarian aid to Sudan.

The magnitude 5.2 earthquake that shook most of Southern California on Monday did not result in any reported injuries or damages. But the stronger-than-expected tremor has brought into focus its source, the more obscure but dangerous Elsinore fault.

What's the Elsinore fault?
California has long been a hotbed of seismic activity, with notorious San Andreas being the largest fault. However, the state has several other faults that can perpetuate earthquakes, including the Elsinore, which is "one of the largest in southern California" and "has been one of the quietest," said the Southern California Earthquake Data Center. But quiet does not mean harmless.

The Elsinore fault zone runs 190 miles long and "extends from near the U.S.-Mexico border through San Diego County to the northern end of the Santa Ana mountains near Los Angeles," said The San Diego Union-Tribune. The northern part of the fault zone divides into two segments, the Chino fault and the Whittier fault. The recent quake was the largest along the Elsinore in over 100 years. 

What are the dangers?
The Elsinore fault is capable of producing up to a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which is approximately 200 times larger than this week's quake. The estimated time between major ruptures (magnitude 6.5 to 7.5) along the fault zone is between 250 and 600 years. 

"We think the last major rupture along the fault was in the 1700s," Mark Benthien, the associate director of public education and preparedness at the Statewide California Earthquake Center, said to East County Magazine. "So we are over that time period." 

A particularly "frightening and plausible prospect" would be an earthquake that moves up the Elsinore fault onto the Whittier fault, which would "pour all the energy straight into the L.A. Basin," said seismologist Lucy Jones to the Los Angeles Times. The Elsinore fault "can be thought of as a sibling of the San Andreas, along with the sizable San Jacinto fault." The three faults "all move at relatively fast rates on average," meaning each is "more likely to rupture during the span of a human lifetime."