♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Sudan crisis: Thousands of school children go without breakfast

July 29 – 2018 DABANGA SUDAN Thousands of pupils and students in Sudan currently do not enjoy breakfast as their parents can no longer afford the costs.
“Most of the students are skipping lessons because of hunger,” a teacher in eastern Sudan said.
Parents in El Qaneb locality in Red Sea state pointed to their inability to provide breakfast for their children because of the soaring food prices and the widespread unemployment.
Various displaced community leaders in Darfur confirmed that large numbers of students left school because of hunger and the high tuition fees. About 90 per cent of the students living in the camps are surviving on one meal a day. A janitor of a school in Darfur reported that hungry pupils are eating ripe or raw fruits of jujube and desert date trees in the school yards.
Mothers in the poor districts around Khartoum as well complain about having to send their children to school without a proper meal because of poverty. “More than 70 per cent of the school children in the area do not buy breakfast at school,” a mother them explained. “My children now share one sandwich after the price of three loaves reached five Pounds.”
The minimum wage in Sudan lies around SDG 625 ($22.20). Yet according to economists in Sudan a family of five needs SDG 13,000 ($460) a month to cover the basic necessities of life.
Apart from skyrocketing prices, the majority of the Sudanese are suffering from continuing fuel shortages, a scarcity of wheat and medicines, repeated power cuts and drinking water outages.

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♦  ‘500 Russian troops on CAR-Darfur border’

July 31 – 2018 UM DAFUG Several sources from the Um Dafug area of South Darfur which borders on the Central African Republic (CAR) have reported the presence of about 500 Russian soldiers who have been received and hosted by the government in a camp 15 kilometres south of Um Dafug.
Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the Russian forces had 50 vehicles with other military equipment. They said that the forces are using a sandy area on the border of South Darfur to receive helicopters. Government, military, and security officials regularly visit them in the area. The exact purpose of the Russian presence on the border with CAR for five months has remained unknown.
Western diplomatic sources have previously spoken of a Russian-Sudanese cooperation in the CAR crisis, prompting reservations by France and the USA, which reject any Russian presence in the region.
On July 13, President Omar Al Bashir travelled to Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks between the two presidents focussed on enhancement of the joint cooperation in political and economic fields, increasing investment opportunities, and implementation of the Russian-supported programme of modernisation of the Sudanese army.

More news from Radio Dabanga:

Sudan Call to map road ahead at Paris meeting July 31 – 2018 PARIS Next month, the members of the Sudan Call coalition of opposition parties and armed movements will hold a meeting in the French capital Paris to discuss the preparation of a future work strategy. …

Sudan, UNDP, Unicef launch peacebuilding project in Darfur’s Jebel Marra July 30 – 2018 KHARTOUM The government of Sudan, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) have launched a new joint peacebuilding and development project in Golo, …

Sudan rainy season: Four drown in floods, more than 200 homes collapse July 30 – 2018 ABU ZABAD / EN NAHUD / SHEIKAN / KASSALA Torrential rains caused the death of four people in West Kordofan over the weekend. More than 200 houses were destroyed in North Kordofan and …

Darfur rebels claim govt. troops killed in Jebel Marra July 29 – 2018 EAST JEBEL MARRA The Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) says its combatants killed a number of government troops in South Darfur’s East Jebel Marra …

Cancer on the rise among Sudanese children July 29 – 2018 KHARTOUM The number of cancer cases among children is steadily increasing, says the Sudanese Children’s Cancer Hospital in Khartoum. In a statement last week, specialists at the hospital pointed to …

Sudan charges woman activist with ‘crimes against the state’ July 29 – 2018 KHARTOUM The authorities in Khartoum charged journalist and human rights activist Nawal Omer with violating public morals and prostitution last week. The charges may also include “crimes against …

West Kordofan: Suspected cholera spreads July 27 – 2018 EL AHMAR The medical isolation centre of El Ahmar east of Abu Zabad has received seven new cases of acute watery diarrhoea suspected of cholera on Wednesday and Thursday. Activists reported …

Prior NISS censorship of newspapers restored in Sudan July 26 – 2018 KHARTOUM Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) has restored prior censorship of newspapers after a five-year hiatus. Prior censorship means that officers from the security …

Initiative for reconciliation after El Gedaref tribal clashes July 26 – 2018 EL GEDAREF New details have emerged from El Gedaref about the tribal clashes that took place at El Hamra area of Eastern El Galabat locality on Monday in which at least 11 people were killed …

Bread, fuel crisis deepens across Sudan July 26 – 2018 SUDAN The crisis of bread and fuel, particularly diesel, has escalated to the highest levels in the capital, Khartoum and the states amid surge of prices for essential commodities in the …