World Tour: Sudan’s parallel government

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

AUDIO: [Sound from meeting]

ONIZE ODUAH: Sudan parallel government — We start today in Sudan—Egypt’s southern neighbor—where members of a paramilitary force have signed a government charter with other armed groups and political allies.

The Rapid Support Forces—or RSF—have been fighting against the Sudanese military since April 2023 for control of the country. The conflict has displaced more than 12 million people.

The RSF now controls most of the western Darfur region and parts of the Kordofan region.

Suleiman Sandal is one of the RSF supporters who attended the signing ceremony.

SANDAL: [ARABIC] This charter is a binding covenant that embodies the Sudanese wishes to build a new Sudan that is based on secularism, justice and equality among all citizens, and the implementation of the rule of law.

He says the charter embodies the people’s wish to build a new country founded on justice, equality, and secularism.

The agreement also called for a democratic state with a single national army, but still carved room for armed groups to exist.

The Sudanese army has condemned any formation of a parallel government.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty also rejected the agreement.

ABDELATTY: [ARABIC] The territorial safety of Sudan is a red line for the Egyptian side and we cannot take this lightly.

He says that Egypt does not take the territorial safety of Sudan lightly.

AUDIO: [Sound of protest]

Indonesia student protests — Next, to Indonesia. Thousands of students crowded the streets last week in several cities to protest against the government’s budget cuts.

President Prabowo Subianto’s administration has slashed travel and amenities for government workers. Authorities have also reallocated funds from the education and health sectors to fund other projects, including a free lunch program for school children.

University student Rahman Hakim joined the protest in the capital city of Jakarta.

HAKIM: [BAHASA] Food prices are rising, fuel prices are rising, social discrepancies are increasing, and education is becoming even more inaccessible. This is a serious note to us all.

He says food and fuel prices are rising while education has become more inaccessible.

France fugitive — Next we head to Ukraine’s southern neighbor on the Black Sea.

AUDIO: [Sound of police van doors closing]

In Romania, authorities have detained a fugitive French prisoner who staged a deadly escape nine months ago and sparked an international manhunt.

Romanian police detained Mohamed Amra during an operation near a shopping center in the capital city of Bucharest. He was extradited to France on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old was serving a burglary sentence when armed assailants helped him escape from a prison convoy in Normandy last May. Two guards died during his escape.

Amra was also facing investigation for other offenses, including attempted organized homicide and a kidnapping that resulted in death.

Prosecutors said he also has connections to organized crime syndicates in Marseille and possibly heads a drug trafficking network.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed his arrest as a tremendous success.

MACRON: [FRENCH] First of all, I'd like to thank all my European colleagues and congratulate the French investigating services, who have been tracking down Mohamed Amra for months and months.

He also thanked his European colleagues and French forces for persevering on the case.

SOUND: [Music from orchestra]

Venezuela orchestra — We wrap up today in Venezuela where over 4,000 young musicians staged a nearly two-hour free concert to mark a key anniversary.

This year marks 50 years since the founding of a network of youth orchestras known as El Sistema or The System.

José Antonio Abreu began the program in 1975 to offer free classical musical education to children. It’s grown since then and produced some world-renowned musicians like the Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel.

Nineteen-year-old Anairoger Andrade was among the performers.

ANDRADE: [SPANISH] A privilege to be in the front rows, eh, and a nervousness as always. But super happy, super happy for this opportunity that the system gave us and that our nucleus and our nucleus director too.

She says despite her nerves, it was a privilege to be in the front row and to have such an opportunity to perform.

The government-funded program has faced accusations of serving as a propaganda scheme for Venezuelan authorities. It has also faced allegations of sexual harassment from some former participants, though other former students defend the group.

El Sistema currently serves more than 1 million children in Venezuela.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

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