Africa

By Harry Verhoeven, Columbia University | – Sudan stands on the brink of yet another civil war sparked by the deadly confrontation between the Sudan Armed Forces of General Abdelfatah El-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”). Much of the international news coverage has focused on the clashing ambitions of the […]

military

Sudan’s People are caught between the Anvil of the Army and the Hammer of the RSF Militia

Middle East Monitor

Amira Abo el-Fetouh ( Middle East Monitor ) – The fighting between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, Vice President of the Sovereignty Council, is no surprise. […]

Sudan

Explainer – Sudan Conflict and What Worries Neighbors, the US and Others

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – A conflict raging in Sudan is rattling neighbouring countries and worrying the United States and others for reasons ranging from concern about shared Nile waters and oil pipelines, to the shape of a new government and a new humanitarian crisis in the making. Sudan, which relies heavily on foreign aid, is no […]

military

Sudan created a paramilitary Force to destroy Government Threats – but it became a major Threat itself

The Conversation

By Tsega Etefa, Colgate University | – Sudan is in crisis. Fighting continues between Sudan’s military leader, Abdelfattah Al-Burhan, and his deputy on Sudan’s ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, who commands the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Sudan historian and conflict expert Tsega Etefa to […]

Far Right

Sudan crisis Explained: What’s behind the latest Fighting and its Roots in the Past

The Conversation

By Christopher Tounsel, University of Washington | – Days of violence in Sudan have resulted in the deaths of at least 180 people, with many more left wounded. The fighting represents the latest crisis in the North African nation, which has contended with numerous coups and periods of civil strife since becoming independent in 1956. […]

Africa

DNA Study Sheds Light on Arab Expansion in Africa, Axum and other Empires

The Conversation

By Nancy Bird, UCL | – Pre-colonial African history is alive with tales of civilisations rising and falling and of different cultures intermingling across the continent. We have now shed more light on some of these societies using the science of genetics. In a study published in Science Advances, my co-authors and I used DNA […]

Archaeology

DNA Study: Medieval Iranian Merchants account for Half of the Ancestry of Swahili People of East African Coast

The Conversation

By Chapurukha Kusimba, University of South Florida and David Reich, Harvard University | – The legacy of the medieval Swahili civilization is a source of extraordinary pride in East Africa, as reflected in its language being the official tongue of Kenya, Tanzania and even inland countries like Uganda and Rwanda, far from the Indian Ocean […]

Africa

Tunisia: Racist Violence Targets Black Migrants, Refugees

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Tunis) – President Kais Saied’s recent attempt to mitigate the serious harm that a speech he made on February 21, 2023, caused Black African migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Tunisia does not go far enough, Human Rights Watch said today. Measures announced on March 5 fall far short of the […]

Africa

Tunisia’s wave of racist attacks: ‘I’m afraid. I can just disappear’

Middle East Monitor

Amelia Smith amyinthedesert ( Middle East Monitor ) – One student in Tunis fears most for his female colleagues; a story is circulating that Tunisian men pretending to be police are approaching sub-Saharan African women, luring them away and then raping them. Another student, Modeste from Benin, says he and his friends recently […]