ORGANISERS of pro-democracy protests in Sudan have dismissed a call by ruling generals to resume talks amid a violent clampdown.
The country’s military council had said ruling generals were ready to resume negotiations, after three days of violence against protesters that left at least 60 dead.
Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which is leading the demonstrations, said the protesters “totally reject” the call from General Abdel-Fattah Burhan (pictured below) for talks.
“This call is not serious,” Al-Mustafa said. “Burhan and those under him have killed the Sudanese and are still doing it. Their vehicles patrol the streets, firing at people.
“We will continue in our protests, resistance, strike and total civil disobedience.”
Demonstrators forced the military to remove Sudan’s long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in April. It then kept protests going, demanding that the generals who took power hand authority to civilians.
At least 326 people are believed to have been wounded in clashes in the past two days.
ELSEWHERE, a clean-up expedition on Mount Everest has removed 10.9 tonnes of rubbish and four dead bodies, Nepalese officials said. Cleaners spent weeks collecting food wrappings, cans, bottles and empty oxygen cylinders. Some of the waste was flown to Kathmandu and handed to recyclers in a ceremony to officially conclude the cleaning campaign.
Officials called it a successful mission but said more rubbish still needs to be collected. Some is covered by snow and is only exposed when temperatures rise.
Officials have not been able to estimate exactly how much waste is on the mountain. The four recovered bodies were exposed as snow melted and carried to base camp before being flown to Kathmandu for identification.
MEANWHILE, another body has been recovered from a sunken tour boat in the Danube River, officials in Hungary announced.
Divers found the body in Budapest while checking the wreck ahead of its possible retrieval with a floating crane.
The death toll stands at 13, with 15 people – mostly South Korean tourists – still missing.
Only seven people are known to have survived when the Hableany collided with a river cruise ship a week ago. It capsized and sank in about seven seconds.
AND finally, North Korea will suspend the latest edition of its famous mass games after the premiere was strongly criticised by leader Kim Jong Un.
Simon Cockerell, of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, said it was informed that the show, The Land Of The People, will be suspended for days or weeks as of Monday while organisers make adjustments.
Rowan Beard, a tour manager at Young Pioneer Tours, said his company heard the same information and that no dates were given for when the show would resume.
“We assume it will halt so some tweaks and improvements can be made to the performance,” he said.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim seriously criticised the creators for a “wrong spirit of creation and irresponsible work attitude” after Monday’s opening performance at Pyongyang’s 150,000-seat May Day Stadium.
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