SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Bullets, tear gas and loves: Romance blooms in the midst of Sudan protests

3/5/19: New York Times – Bullets, tear gas and love: Romance blooms in the midst of Sudan protests, by Declan Walsh

 Declan Walsh's feature piece reports on revolutionary Sudan -  "the site of extraordinary scenes... where young Sudanese are reveling in newfound freedoms — to talk politics, to party and even to find love."

 Walsh draws attention to couples that encountered each-other at protests. Samah Elnour is marrying Muntassir Eltigani, after Eltigani rushed to Elnour's aid when she lay bleeding on the street. Mohamed Hamed and Nahed Elgizouli became a couple after Nahed rinsed Hamed's face following a tear gas attack.

 Walsh cites women wearing jeans, and the use of intoxicants as an indicator that "change is reverberating far beyond the protest area," following Omar Al Bashir's Islamist rule.

However, Walsh argues that” Sudan’s new freedoms are fragile,” and their endurance is "unclear," citing the increasingly "tense" power-sharing talks between protest leaders and the military.