♦ This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
♦ Measles patients in West Darfur overcrowd hospital
October 26 – 2018 EL GENEINA A number of people in West Darfur have been infected with measles. Most of the patients are children. The hospital in the state capital is overcrowded. Relatives of the patients told Radio Dabanga that El Geneina hospital has received dozens of measles patients, most of them children. They complained about the lack of medication in the hospitals and rise of prices in the commercial pharmacies. A medical source told Radio Dabanga that “all official efforts are focusing on malaria, which aggravated the conditions of patients with measles”.
People in South Darfur reported at the end of August that there was a spread of measles, especially among children. Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.
Meanwhile, power outages in El Geneina in West Darfur have entered the third week, trying the patience of residents and traders. The city has been left in total darkness after sundown for the last three weeks, and there is also a severe drinking water shortage.
♦ NISS chiefs appointed high roles for USA, France relations
October 25 – 2018 PARIS / WASHINGTON DC Sudan's appointment of General Mohamed Atta El Mawla, the former chief of the notorious National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to head its embassy in Washington earlier this month is “a shocking affront to Americans who care about human dignity and religious freedom,” according to an op-ed by John Prendergast. He is the founding director of the Enough Project and co-founder of The Sentry. “Under Gen. Atta, NISS has been deployed in the regime’s arrest and persecution of Christian priests, churchgoers, and other religious and ethnic minorities, operating jails and secret detention facilities where systematic torture and abuse of detainees are routine. […] Atta, as the head of NISS, has been working at the very center of activities that give the lie to its repeated promises of cooperation with the U.S. in the war on terror.” Continue reading
Meanwhile Lt Gen Salah Abdullah, the current director of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) recently visited Paris in France. Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) released an article by Sudanese journalist Rashid Saeed which explores Saleh’s visit. It included dinner with the French Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. French authorities insist that the visit was “technical” and had no political dimensions. Three regional dossiers were the main focus of the visit, however: the developments in Ethiopia which are closely followed by France, the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic, and the Libyan dossier including illegal migration. Continue reading
More news from Radio Dabanga:
October 30 – 2018 YEMEN Four Sudanese soldiers were killed and 21 were wounded in an attack in Yemen on Sunday, according to sources in…
Journalist locked-up for articles by Sudan press court
October 30 – 2018 KHARTOUM The Press and Publications Court in Sudan sentenced a former newspaper editor-in-chief to a prison term…
“My return not linked to deals with Khartoum”: NUP leader El Mahdi
October 30 – 2018 LONDON Imam El Sadig El Mahdi, the head of the National Umma Party and chair of the Sudan Call alliance, has denied …
North Darfur rape attempt: One dead as RSF fire on angry residents
October 29 – 2018 MUZBAD A man has died of gunshot wounds in Muzbad in North Darfur on Friday after members of the Rapid Support …
Sudan: Medical operation for tortured student
October 28 – 2018 KHARTOUM NORTH Darfuri student Asim Omar will have an operation on his ear on Wednesday. His hearing was damaged…
West Darfur women protest ‘all-male cabinet’ in the state
October 28 – 2018 EL GENEINA The lack of representation of women in the new government of West Darfur has led to large-scale protests by…
Eastern Sudan floods leave one dead, hundreds homeless
October 28 – 2018 PORT SUDAN / HAYA One man died and five others were wounded in major floods that have ravaged parts of Port Sudan…
Al Bashir revokes ban on Egyptian imports
October 26 – 2018 KHARTOUM President Omar Al Bashir announced to lift the bans on Egyptian industrial products and the entry of food…
More students beaten, arrested at solidarity speech
October 26 – 2018 EL GEZIRA Members of the security apparatus beat and arrested a number of Darfuri students who participated in…
Bread shortage as gas supply runs low in El Gedaref, Sudan
October 24 – 2018 EL GEDAREF / KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN El Gedaref has been experiencing a severe shortage of cooking gas for the last…
Moderating committee brings no respite in rise of US Dollar against Sudanese Pound
October 24 – 2018 KHARTOUM The Market Makers Committee (MMC), established by the Sudanese government earlier this month to …
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