From TLDR News, this is your daily briefing for Monday 17th April 2023. Good afternoon. In today's spotlight story, we run through the violence in Sudan. This isn't the only thing happening in the world though, so we'll run through three of today's other important stories.
And in our exclusive Nebula section, Jack, Thomas and Scarlett have a fun discussion. But first, what's caused the violence in Sudan? Upwards of 100 civilians have been killed in Sudan, as clashes between rival armed factions have continued into a third day, crushing hopes for the already tentative plan for a peaceful transition to civilian rule. The violent clashes, which broke out in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in the country on Saturday, are between the country's armed forces and a powerful paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
At the head of the power struggle is the de facto leader of Sudan and military chief General Abdul Fatah Al-Buhan and the leader of the RSF, General Mohammed Hamdan Tagalog, known as Hamadi. The pair had nominally been allies, with Hamadi serving as the deputy chair of the Transitional Sovereign Council and Burhan as the chair. The armed forces and the RSF have cooperated in the 2019 coup that overthrew the three decades rule of the Sudanese dictator Omar Al-Bashir. The planned transition to democracy was disrupted two years later in 2021, when Burhan and the military dissolved the joint military civilian government and took full control.
The fighting between the RSF and the army that has taken place in the last new days is the result of rising tension between the military factions. One of the central disputes is the plan to integrate the RSF into the country's regular armed forces, and who would have authority over who, within the new hierarchy. The 100,000-person strong RSF has a notoriously dark past. It grew out of the Jandjurid militias used by the government during the war in Danfur in the 2000s.
It's long been accused of atrocities linked to the brutal conflict. It officially became the RSF in 2013, and was legitimized as an independent security force in 2017. In 2019, it was accused of shooting and killing more than 100 pro-democracy demonstrators in Khartoum. Speaking on Monday morning, after a couple of days of violence, the central committee of Sudanese doctors said almost 100 civilians had been killed so far.
Most of them in Khartoum. Both sides have claimed to have control of certain key locations, including the presidential palace and Khartoum's international airport. The World Food Programme said three of its staff had been killed in North Darfur, and one of its planes was significantly damaged in Khartoum. There was a brief UN brokered pause in fighting on Sunday, but it was only temporary.
The UN, US, EU, Russia and China have urged both sides to end the fighting, and the African Union has called for an immediate ceasefire, adding a warning that it could escalate into a full-blown conflict. OK, so that's our main story for today, but there's a lot more going on around the world. So here's a rundown of three other stories. On Saturday, Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors, following more than two decades of trying to phase nuclear power plants out.
Europe's largest economy has, since 2002, wanted to try and completely phase out nuclear power production, a name that was only made at high priority, following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Following the nuclear reactors being disconnected from the grid shortly after midnight, the RWE energy firm said in a statement that, it's an end of an era. The German Environment Minister, Stephie Lenke, explained that, the risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable. Green MP Jürgen Tritten added that, we are putting an end to a dangerous, unsustainable and costly technology.
Going forward, these three nuclear reactors that have been switched off and disconnected from the grid will need to be decommissioned. There's more on the way, but be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the daily briefing part of your daily routine, or just search for us on your podcast app to listen along. On Saturday, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed away from a campaign event after a crowd member threw what appeared to be an explosive device at the Prime Minister. Kishida emerged unharmed and has resumed campaigning since the incident.
A 24-year-old suspect was wrestled to the ground and arrested after throwing what transpired to be a smoke bomb. The ability for someone with a potentially dangerous device to get so close to the Prime Minister has raised concerns about security procedures, especially as the incident came less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead at a local campaign event. After Abe's assassination, police admitted to security failures and the country's police chief resigned. Japan is currently hosting G7 foreign and climate ministers and will host G7 leaders next month.
Kishida has vowed to provide maximum security during the summit. It's been reported this morning that Vladimir Karo Merzer has been sentenced to 25 years in jail in Russia. This follows his criticism of the war in Ukraine with him saying last week that, I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear. Our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realises what crimes were committed in its name.
He added that, I subscribed to every word I've said, not only do I not repent any of this, I am proud of it. Karo Merzer has been found guilty of treason, spreading false information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an undesirable organisation. He's subsequently been given a 25-year prison sentence, and denied all the charges. We end the main section in Sweden, where the vast Cold War era caverns under the city of Vastaros could provide a novel approach to heating and energy.
The caverns were used during the Cold War to stockpile oil but have been empty since the 1980s. A Swedish energy company is decontaminating the 300,000 cubic meter capacity caverns so that they can be filled with hot water and effectively act as an underwater thermos. The water will originally be heated using excess heat from a nearby biomass plant. The heat will effectively be stored in the underground reservoir from where it can be sent to the district heating network and should prove particularly useful on cold winter days where demand is high.
It won't be the first underground thermal storage facility, but it is thought to be Europe's largest. That's all we have time for on YouTube today. But if you want to see our discussion of the new Mario movie... I want to call my brother afterwards.
I love you. I just lacked it up. It's the funniest ever. You've got to take my bit.
You've got to take my bit. Just took your bit. And people are like, it's just the ferrets. I'll bleck it up.
Here. I took it like a champ. Then watch the extended ad-free edition of The Daily Briefing over on Nebula. That's the streaming service we're building with a bunch of our creator friends, many of whom you're likely to be already watching.
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