Khartoum, Sudan
Refugee exodus: The United Nations warned this week that the conflict in Sudan is threatening to turn into a “full-blown catastrophe” that could force 800,000 people to flee. Since the fighting began three weeks ago, more than 500 people have been killed and some 100,000 people have fled. But many Americans remain trapped in the country. While most other Western nations evacuated their private citizens quickly, the U.S. initially removed only diplomats and other U.S. government personnel. After an outpouring of anger from the thousands of U.S. citizens left behind, Washington arranged a bus convoy to be met by a Navy ship at Port Sudan, and about 1,000 Americans were rescued that way. The fighting shows no sign of stopping. The army, led by Sudan’s de facto leader Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Burhan’s former deputy, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.