How was RSF formed?

The group evolved from so-called Janjaweed militias, which fought in a conflict in the 2000s in the Darfur region, where they were used by the government of long-ruling President Omar al-Bashir to help the army put down a rebellion.

An estimated 2.5 million people were displaced and 300,000 killed in the conflict.

International Criminal Court prosecutors accused government officials and militia commanders of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Over time, the militia grew. It was made into the RSF in 2013, and its forces were used as border guards in particular. In 2015, the RSF along with Sudan's army began sending troops to fight in the war in Yemen alongside Saudi and Emirati forces.

[...]

In October 2021, the RSF was involved in another coup with the army, halting the transition to a democratically elected government. The move triggered new mass pro-democracy rallies across Sudan that continue until today.

What are the source of tensions between army, RSF?

The army and pro-democracy groups have demanded the RSF's integration into the regular armed forces. Adel Abdel Ghafar, a fellow at the Middle East Council, said the RSF "has resisted integration into the army, understanding it would lose its power."

Negotiations on integration been a source of tension that has delayed a final signing of a new transition agreement, originally scheduled for April 1.

Dagalo and al-Burhan reportedly remain at odds over who would be the commander-in-chief of the military during a multiyear integration period. The RSF said the commander should be the civilian head of state, a situation the army rejects.

The situation in Sudan escalated amid disagreements between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), who is al-Burhan's deputy on the council. The main points of contention between the two military organizations pertain to the timeline and methods for unifying the armed forces of Sudan, as well as who should be appointed as commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which is al-Burhan's preferred option, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists. On April 15, armed clashes between the rival military factions erupted near a military base in Merowe and in the capital, Khartoum.

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The principal and a teacher at a Flagler County, Florida, elementary school are on paid administrative leave after an assembly was held only for fourth and fifth-grade Black students, who were collectively told to improve their school performance, according to the school district - regardless of how each student was doing individually.

The two school staffers were placed on leave days after the assembly was held at Bunnell Elementary School on August 18. Only African American students from the two grades participated, Flagler County Schools spokesperson Jason Wheeler told CNN.

During the assembly, a 2023-2024 school year Goals and Objectives PowerPoint presentation was used that read in part, "AA have underperform (sic) on standardized assessment for the last past 3 years," Flagler County School Board chair Cheryl Massaro told CNN in an email.

"AA is African American, and that is one subgroup the FDOE requires annual reporting on from all Florida schools. The power point, created by one of the presenters shows the data results," Massaro said in the email.

Florida school district officials apologized Thursday for an elementary school assembly in which Black students were singled out for a presentation on low test scores.

Officials at Flagler County's school district in northeastern Florida said at a news conference that the assembly at Bunnell Elementary School was a "horrible, horrific mistake" that shouldn't have happened, and that the school's principal has been put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

"The Flagler School Board does not support segregation," said Cheryl Massaro, the school board's chair.

Bunnell Elementary staff members last Friday pulled Black fourth- and fifth-graders out of their regularly scheduled activities to attend a PowerPoint presentation about low standardized test scores.

The presentation led by two Black teachers noted that Black students had underperformed on standardized tests for the past three years.

[...]

Although there was no intended malice involved, the assembly was carried out in a way that doesn't reflect the district's values, Lashakia Moore, the interim superintendent, said in a video posted to the district's website.

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