Out of One, Many
NEED TO KNOW
Out of One, Many
SUDAN
Late last month, Sudan’s army (SAF) entered the central Sudanese city of Wad Medani and pushed out its rivals, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in an advance that could become its biggest gain since the East African country’s descent into war almost two years ago.
The advance on the strategic city, the capital of El Gezira state, an agricultural, trading, and supply hub that lies at a crossroads of several states, would mark a turning point in the war if the SAF could take the entire state and also the country’s capital, Khartoum, wrote Reuters.
Even so, it may come too late for Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, which is on the verge of collapse, analysts say.
There are now “at least four de facto areas of administration” in Sudan, Jonas Horner of the European Council on Foreign Relations told the Economist, detailing how the country has been carved into pieces by the Sudanese government, the RSF, and other rebel militias. “Sudan’s break-up is on the horizon.”
Following a popular revolution in 2019 that ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was in power for 30 years, a transitional civilian council took over the country before being deposed by another military coup in 2021. Afterward, protesters continued to fight for a transition to democracy. As that transition was being discussed, power struggles grew between the army commander leading the country, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan of the SAF, and his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), head of the paramilitary RSF, a force formed from the Arab Janjaweed militia in western Darfur that killed thousands of people there in the 1980s.
In April 2023, war broke out over the integration of the two forces. In the two years since, the fight has been brutal, killing about 60,000 people, while creating one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, displacing more than 12 million people. In January, the UN announced that unstable South Sudan is now hosting one million Sudanese refugees. It has also left half of the 50 million Sudanese people still in the country facing starvation. The Sudanese, concluded the UN, have endured “unimaginable suffering and atrocities.”
On Jan. 7, the United States placed sanctions on the RSF, its commander, and seven linked companies, labeling its campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, targeting non-Arab farming tribes known as the Massalit, as genocide. A week later, the US sanctioned the SAF for war crimes and said it suspects the SAF of using chemical weapons. “Neither man is fit to govern a future, peaceful Sudan,” a US official said.
Both the SAF and the RSF have targeted civilians and indiscriminately shelled residential areas, hospitals, and schools. Both forces are accused of summary killings, rampant looting, systematic sexual violence that includes widespread gang rapes and sexual slavery, and laying siege to entire towns to deny inhabitants food and other basic supplies.
The state of Gezira has seen some of the RSF’s bloodiest attacks on civilians and like many parts of Sudan, much of it lies in ruins. Recently, the Washington Post verified videos after the retaking of Wad Medani that showed horrific, torturous, and deliberately brutal retaliatory killings of civilians by the SAF.
But the army also burned fields and flooded irrigation ditches to disrupt crops. The area is particularly vulnerable to famine due to the blockades of humanitarian supplies imposed by the SAF as punishment, as well as drought, flooding, and locust invasions that have caused disruptions in agriculture.
As the International Crisis Group detailed, the SAF controls the north, the east, parts of the capital of Khartoum, and Sennar state in the south. The RSF controls most of the west of the country, where it is fighting the army over control of al-Fashir, its last stronghold in the resource-rich Darfur region, and parts of the south and center. The two forces are also actively fighting over the White Nile state in the south of the country and the capital. Meanwhile, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), another rebel militia, is based in Kauda, the self-designated capital of the self-governing state of South Kordofan. It fights both the RSF and the SAF. Elsewhere in the country, there are other rebel groups and tribal militias holding on to smaller fiefdoms.
As the government forces try to get a hold of the country again and make deals with Russia –for a naval base on the Red Sea – and Iran, the rebel militias are trying to solidify their gains, especially in Darfur, which could be the next part of Sudan to break off – South Sudan became independent in 2011 after decades of war with Sudan. To that effort, the RSF is working on nation-building, creating a system of taxation, setting up its own currency, and also a government. In the south, the SPLM-N has already had a bureaucracy set up for years.
Last month, the SAF issued new banknotes in areas it controls, aimed at undermining its paramilitary rivals and bolstering its finances, reported Agence France-Presse. It has caused long lines at banks, disrupted trade, and entrenched division. The RSF has banned the new notes in areas it controls, and accused the army of orchestrating a “conspiracy to divide the country.”
But Kholood Khair, founder of Sudanese think tank Confluence Advisory, says it’s already too late.
“The move has catalyzed the already existing trajectory towards a split,” she told AFP.
“A split would be the beginning of the end for Sudan,” she added. “The country would disintegrate immediately, and there would be less of an opportunity to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Cracks in the Foundation
UKRAINE
The United States aligned with Russia, North Korea, Iran, and 14 other nations to vote against a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week that condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine and called for the return of occupied Ukrainian territory, marking a significant shift in US policy on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Washington Post reported.
The General Assembly vote on Monday, led by Ukraine and co-sponsored by dozens of nations, passed with 93 votes in favor, 65 abstentions, and 18 against. It was the first such resolution on the war that Washington did not support.
European nations, Australia, and most of Latin America voted in favor, while China, the Gulf nations, and much of Africa abstained. The US delegation also abstained from voting on its own competing resolution, which had originally called for an end to the war without assigning blame to Russia, after it was amended by European countries with stronger anti-Russian language.
In a second vote at the UN Security Council later that day, the United States reintroduced its original resolution calling for an end to the war but without blaming Moscow.
The 15-member Security Council approved it with 10 votes in favor, while France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia abstained. Russian diplomats praised the resolution as “a step in the right direction” and an indication of the Trump administration’s willingness to contribute to a peaceful settlement.
European attempts to introduce stronger language, including the phrase “full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” were vetoed by Russia.
US interim Ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea defended the resolution’s neutral language, calling it “elegant in its simplicity” and emphasizing that it was not a peace deal but a statement on ending the war.
“This is a moment of truth,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa told the assembly, “a historic moment not only for Ukraine” but also for Europe and “for the entire democratic world,” saying that the way Russian aggression, atrocities, and crimes are answered now would define “our entire future.”
Observers noted that the US vote marked a major break with its European allies and raised concerns about the credibility of Western unity in responding to Russia’s invasion. The shift in US policy may complicate ongoing diplomatic efforts, including those within NATO and the Group of Seven.
Analysts described the divide between the US and Europe over the vote as “the biggest split among Western powers at the UN since the Iraq War.”
Reactions from US allies were sharp: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas remarked that the messaging from Washington was closely aligned with Russian narratives, according to the BBC.
US President Donald Trump has pursued direct engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that US sanctions on Russia could be lifted, while also proposing a deal in which Ukraine would sign over rights to half of its rare earth mineral wealth to offset US defense spending.
‘Itself by Itself’
SYRIA
Syria’s long-awaited “national dialogue” conference kicked off in the capital on Tuesday in an attempt by the country’s new leaders to move forward in rebuilding the shattered country after the fall of the previous regime and almost 14 years of civil war, the Associated Press reported.
Former Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – responsible for ousting former President Bashar Assad last December and now leading the nation – invited more than 600 people from different minority groups of Syria to join the conference in Damascus, but it is not clear how many participated. Meanwhile, the Syrian Kurds, which hold most of the northeast and a large portion of the country’s oil fields, were notably not invited.
“Just as Syria has liberated itself by itself, it is appropriate for it to build itself by itself,” said HTS leader and current President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the conference, insisting on the importance of serving the interests of the Syrian nation and people.
Among Syria’s challenges are rebuilding the economy and war-wrecked infrastructure, along with setting up a new constitution, government, and legal system – the latter must include a mechanism to try those accused of war crimes, analysts say.
Syrians and the international community are watching closely to see if the new rulers will follow through on their promise of creating an inclusive political transition.
One issue is funding for reconstruction even as Western economic sanctions remain in place. However, earlier this week, the European Union eased sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport, and banking sectors in an attempt to assist in the adjustment period after the fall of the Assad regime, France 24 reported.
The EU’s decision to ease sanctions comes with conditions that the new Syrian government commits to upholding democracy and respecting minorities’ rights.
Many minority communities in the country are skeptical of the HTS and are afraid for their own futures, even if the group broke ties with al Qaeda years ago and the interim president is pledging peaceful coexistence for all Syrians.
One of the HTS’s main challenges will be uniting former insurgent factions into one national army. For now, the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have refused to disarm and dissolve, and continue to demand self-rule.
No Kid, No Pay
CHINA
A Chinese chemical company this month rescinded a controversial policy that threatened unmarried or divorced employees with termination if they remained single by the end of September, after facing public fury and government intervention in a case that highlighted China’s worries over its demographic challenges, the South China Morning Post reported.
Last month, the Shuntian Chemical Group in eastern China announced the policy as part of an effort to increase marriage rates among its staff. The company, which employs more than 1,200 people, warned unmarried and divorced workers that they were required to “resolve (their) personal marriage issues” by Sept. 30.
Those who failed to do so would first be required to submit a written self-criticism, then undergo an internal evaluation, and ultimately face termination if they remained unmarried.
The notice also criticized employees for “not responding to the national call” to marry and have children, as well as accusing them of being “disloyal and disobedient to parental advice.”
Chinese netizens quickly slammed the announcement, prompting officials from the local human resources and social security bureau to visit the firm earlier this month.
Authorities ruled that the policy violated Chinese labor laws, leading the company to withdraw it.
A company representative told NBC News that the notice was withdrawn “because some of the words used were inappropriate.”
Legal analysts said that Chinese companies are not supposed to ask job applicants about plans for marriage or childbirth under the country’s labor laws. However, violations occur, they added.
Over the past few years, the Chinese government has been trying to encourage young people to get married and have children because the country faces a severe demographic crisis.
Last year, China saw the number of marriages drop by a fifth to 6.1 million, a record low compared with 7.68 million a year earlier. Birth rates have also been falling.
In 2023, India surpassed China as the world’s most populous country.
Authorities have introduced a series of measures to address the crisis, including financial incentives to encourage marriage, a proposal to lower the legal age of marriage to 18 years of age, and even creating a university degree in marriage.
The legal age for marriage in China is 22 for men and 20 for women.
Even so, many social media users question whether lowering the marriage age will help, with some noting the high unemployment rate among the young.
DISCOVERIES
Dancing Navigators
Sea turtles aren’t just expert navigators, but also surprisingly expressive when they expect a meal.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered that loggerhead sea turtles can memorize the magnetic signatures of geographic locations, a study that could help explain how these reptiles navigate thousands of miles of ocean.
And how did scientists crack the code? By watching turtles do an excited little dance.
“When they get really excited, they stick their heads out, they slap their flippers wildly, they spin in place sometimes,” lead author Kayla Goforth explained in a statement.
This “turtle dancing behavior” turned out to be the key to unlocking a major scientific breakthrough, she added.
The researchers conditioned turtles to associate specific magnetic fields with food, feeding them in one magnetic signature while withholding food in another.
When exposed to the “feeding” magnetic field months later, the turtles immediately began their dance routine, expecting a meal.
“That’s how we figured out what to measure, just by watching them do this as we were feeding them in the lab,” Goforth noted.
This behavior suggests that loggerheads can learn and recall magnetic signatures much like humans drop pins on a GPS map.
While scientists have long suspected that birds and other migratory animals use Earth’s magnetic field for navigation, this study is the first to show that an animal can actually learn and recall specific magnetic locations.
The findings also showed that the marine creatures use two distinct mechanisms to interpret Earth’s magnetic field. One acts as a map that guides them to specific places, while the other works similarly to a compass, helping them swim in a particular direction.
Further experiments showed that an oscillating magnetic field disrupted the turtles’ compass but had no effect on their map sense, suggesting the two mechanisms evolved separately.
That means sea turtles don’t just inherit a natural sense of direction, but also build their own mental maps over time.
“These results provide some strong evidence to support these two different, independent sensing abilities along with the fact that turtles seem to make use of both of them,” Charles Woodward, a chemist, and biophysicist who was not involved in the study, told the Washington Post.