Millions of Sudanese displaced by war face a new fight – against deadly diseases
A woman turns up at the entrance of the tented cholera quarantine ward in Kassala Teaching Hospital. She has a small baby in her arms.
“Does your baby have cholera?” an anxious health worker asks. The woman says no. “Then move away from here,” he yells.
These are extreme conditions that require a stern tone. Sudan‘s eastern states, areas of relative safety in a country torn apart by war, are facing a battle of their own. A fight to combat the spread of life-threatening illness like cholera – soaring in unsanitary conditions aggravated by heavy rains, mass displacement and crumbling infrastructure.
Inside the ward, health workers move quickly to triage incoming patients. Most of them are too weak to walk or talk.
One man collapses as he tries to walk from one room to the next. He is put in a wheelchair and moved to a room a few steps from where he fell. As soon as his helpers release him, he drops down onto a hard bed. There is no strength to sit up without support.
“This is the first time the state experiences something like this. At least in recent years, there has not been a cholera outbreak like this,” Dr Ali Adam, Kassala Minister of Health, tell us in the quarantine ward.
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Massacre on the streets of Sudan
He has granted us rare access to the facility despite the dire conditions around us.
“There is extreme pressure on the state’s services. Kassala is home to three million people – a number that has nearly doubled.”
Despite the despairing state of the people being treated behind him, those who can make it to this ward are the fortunate ones. With rehydration therapy and monitoring, they are very likely to survive.
The latest figures from Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health show that cholera cases are surging. On the 26 September, 15,557 cases had been reported since late July. By yesterday that had jumped to 24,116 reported cases – a 55% increase in just two-and-a-half weeks.
Cholera-related deaths in the same reporting window are also on the rise. 681 people have died – a 34% increase from 507 deaths.
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‘They started killing people in the streets’
Experts and frontline responders told us these figures are still likely to be a gross underestimate.
Sudan’s cholera outbreak is a growing, grim reality – fuelled by armed violence and the ongoing displacement of people to densely populated safe zones.
The country is currently experiencing the world’s worst internal displacement crisis.
“The main issue in cholera is overpopulation,” says Chiara Lodi, MSF Spain’s Sudan country director. “The movement from one state to another impacts the health system because it cannot absorb and impacts the infrastructure – the city or the village – because they do not have enough space for everyone and they are not built to have so many people.”
Movement of critical supplies and humanitarian support has also been hampered by state bureaucracy in the wartime terrain.
“If we need to intervene in 24 hours as we normally do, it is impossible because we need to follow certain procedures,” says Chiara.
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As the chaos of this conflict continues to unfold, the millions of vulnerable people impacted by the spread of deadly diseases are falling through the cracks.
“In this kind of setting everyone is focussed and worried about a certain kind of patient and then we forget that actually the population that is most impacted by what is happening is not the people that are getting blast injuries,” Chiara adds.
“It is children, mothers and elderly who have to escape and find themselves without anything in a place that is not built to cope with them and a health system that is heading to collapse.”
Banned from Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will hold a rival international song contest on Saturday, with an emphasis on “traditional values”.
Instead of camp, think conservative – patriotic pop with a PG-rating.
“Intervision” was launched under the order of Vladimir Putin, with the hope it would serve as an expression of Moscow’s international pulling power.
Intervision decorations in Red Square, Moscow, ahead of the contest
There are contestants from 23 countries, which are a mixture of Russia’s allies old and new, including Belarus, Cuba and Tajikistan as well as China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The odd one out is the United States, who’ll be represented by an artist called “Vassy”. She’s not part of an official delegation, but an American voice is still a coup for the Kremlin, which will seek to use this contest as proof of the West’s failure to isolate Russia on the global stage.
‘War whitewash’
Intervision is not entirely new. It was originally launched in the 1960s as an instrument of Soviet soft power, before largely fading from view in the 1980s.
According to Moscow, its revival has nothing to do with politics. But Ukraine has condemned it as propaganda, and an attempt to whitewash Russia’s war.
It was a point I put to some contestants after their final press conferences, but it didn’t go down well.
“We don’t think like that, we are here to spread peace,” India’s Rauhan Malik told me, when I asked if his participation was a show of support for Russia’s invasion.
Malik, one of the contestants
“Are you not turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggression?” I countered.
“I have no idea about it,” he said. “I have no idea about the current situation that’s happening. I don’t want to speak about that as well.”
Eurovision legends Abba would almost certainly not make the Russian contest guest list. Pic: AP
Really? He had no idea? But before I could go on, I felt a forceful hand on my shoulder and a minder stepped in.
The intervention was even quicker when it came to speaking to Brazil’s act. As soon as I mentioned the word Ukraine, I was drowned out by shouts of “no, no, no, no” and the duo were ushered away.
Brazilian contestants, duo Luciano Calazans and Thais Nader
Where’s the glitter?
Intervision is not just a reaction to Russia’s recent exclusion from Eurosivion, however, it’s also a reaction to the contest’s values and what it’s come to represent.
Its celebration of sexual diversity and LGBTQ+ rights are seen as a symbol of what the Kremlin calls the West’s moral decline. In contrast, Intervision organisers say their contest will promote “traditional, family values.”
Judging by the costumes on show ahead of last week’s draw, that translates to less glitter, more embroidery, with a thematic emphasis on national heritage.
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So what do Russians think of Intervision’s resurrection? Can it replace Eurovision?
“We don’t miss Eurovision,” Galina and Tatiana say, underneath a collection of purple and pink ‘Intervision’ flags near Red Square.
“It was so horrible, especially lately. We didn’t like watching it at all.”
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Why are countries boycotting Eurovision?
Polina agrees, believing Russia’s version will be “more interesting”.
“Many countries that participated in Eurovision want to boycott it, so it’s interesting to see a more peaceful event now,” she says.
Igor is more circumspect. “I’d like to believe that this isn’t a political event,” he says, “but rather an event that unites nations and people.”
Intervision will succeed in uniting some nations. But at the same time, it may only deepen divisions with others – further evidence that Russia and the West are singing very different tunes.
Donald Trump will introduce a new $100,000 application fee for foreign worker visas.
A White House official said the US President is preparing to sign a proclamation today that will require a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visa, which covers highly-skilled foreign workers.
The charge is part of a broader immigration crackdown.
H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified Americans and other permanent residents.
The programme has drawn criticism for becoming a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for wages lower than those typically paid to US technology workers. Critics also argue that companies use H-1B visas to overlook Americans for jobs.
First lady Melania Trump, the former Melania Knauss, was granted an H1-B work visa in October 1996 to work as a model. She was born in Slovenia.
What is a H-1B visa?
The H-1B programme has been crucial for technology and staffing companies who rely on foreign workers.
Historically, these visas – 85,000 per year – have been doled out through a lottery system.
Donald Trump will introduce the charge as part of an immigration crackdown
India, the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounted for 71% of approved beneficiaries.
China was second with 11.7%, according to government data.
Shares of IT services company, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, fell by over 5% on Friday.
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