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Deadly new conflict just broke out in Sudan. Here’s why. · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Monday, April 17th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, deadly new fighting in Sudan, how some high-tech drugs are outpacing doctors' ability to administer them, and as the lights went down on "Phantom of the Opera," meet the guy who actually flipped the switch.
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  But first, let's take a brief look at some big domestic stories to start the week. The Fox News-Dominion Voting Systems trial is on hold for at least one day. It was supposed to start today, but "The Washington Post" and others report that it's delayed to allow for new talks about a possible settlement. Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages, saying "Fox News" defamed the company by linking it to false claims about a plot to steal the 2020 election.
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  Police in several cities are investigating deadly gun violence over the weekend. Four people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama. And in Louisville, Kentucky, three people died in two separate shootings. This comes just days after five people were shot and killed at a Louisville bank. Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey talked about the ongoing gun violence.
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  [START WHAS11 ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Paul Humphrey: This has to change. We can talk about the politics of guns, we can talk about mental health issues, we can talk about the breakdown of the family. It's all of it. We cannot sit up here and continue to blame other people for the problems that we have in our own community. This is both gun control issues, access to gun issues, multiple guns. This is mental health, this is people who have mental health issues need to be treated and have access to treatment. This is families who need to recognize that people in their families are going through things that they're struggling with, and they need to take care of it. We all need to be there to take care of this problem. There is no one solution to this problem.
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  [END WHAS11 ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  And finally, today is the Boston Marathon. On Saturday, thousands of people gathered at the finish line as bells marked ten years since the deadly bombing attack at the event.
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  [BELL TOLLS]
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  Three people were killed and hundreds injured in the 2013 explosion. Ever since, many runners in the race have been survivors of the attack or people running to raise money in memory of the victims.
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  Let's turn now to a big international story that's rapidly developing. Dozens of people are dead in Sudan, where heavy fighting between rival military commanders is raging. It's an alarming turn of events there, a country where some thought it could move toward democracy after the overthrow of its authoritarian leader. "CNN's" Larry Madowo is covering the latest violence.
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  Larry Madowo: Residential areas across Sudan have become battlefields…
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  [ARTILLERY SHOTS FIRING]
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  Madowo: …with antiaircraft weapons in the streets…
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  [ANTIAIRCRAFT WEAPONS FIRING]
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  Madowo: …and warplanes hovering overhead.
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  [CIVILIAN SHOUTING]
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  Madowo: Scores of civilians have been killed.
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  [END CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Sudan was in global headlines in the early 2000s, when the government's brutal war against rebels in Darfur captured the attention of other nations and celebrity campaigners. But there's been less international focus on Sudan lately, so to understand the new fighting, you'll need to know some of the background.
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  The country's longtime leader, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in 2019 by a loose alliance of military and civilian forces. There was a power-sharing deal in place until 2021, when the military took full control. Now, two powerful factions of the armed forces are fighting each other. The rival generals in charge of each were both former allies of Bashir. Both led forces who fought rebels in Darfur. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur. And both generals turned on him to oust him from power a few years ago.
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  Lately, the two generals have strongly disagreed over the future of the country and who will be in charge of their various forces. There was a framework deal in place to put power back in civilian hands, but talks to hammer out the details failed. Over the weekend, the tensions moved from the bargaining table to the battlefield. Heavy gunfire, airstrikes and explosions have killed and injured civilians and fighters alike.
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  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is calling for a full and immediate ceasefire and a return to talks on moving to a government run by civilians. But, for now, for the people of Sudan, the long period of war and instability appears to be the reality for the days ahead.
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  We are at a moment where we've developed high-tech medical treatments for diseases once considered incurable. But there's a problem. Some of these treatments are so cutting-edge that not enough doctors are trained to deliver them to patients. "Wall Street Journal" health and science reporter Amy Dockser Marcus told us what makes delivering these new treatments so complicated.
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  Amy Marcus: Some are gonna be administered through lumbar punctures, which isn't always a routine part of some doctors' daily practice, so they need some practice to do it. Others involve infusions of a gene that's inside a shell of virus, and that can require close monitoring of the patients. And a few of the drugs also have to be stored in special conditions.
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  That can include materials that need to be stored at negative 238 degrees in freezers that many doctor's offices just don't have. The scientific breakthroughs require hospitals and doctors to play catch-up.
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  Marcus: To address these bottlenecks, some companies and advocacy groups are launching training programs, essentially.
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  The head of a training program for doctors explained why it's so important to help them develop their skills.
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  Marcus: When she spoke with me, she said that delivering drugs isn't only a science but an art, and that it's good for doctors to practice it.
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  As one drug company executive told the "Journal": "We have groundbreaking science… But if we can't get it to these patients, the science is lost."
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  A record-breaking Broadway run has come to an end. Even if you're not into musicals, you probably recognize at least a song or two from "The Phantom of the Opera."
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  [MUSIC - "OVERTURE (FROM THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)" BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER]
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  Last night was the final show of its 35-year run on Broadway, the longest in history. "The Wall Street Journal" profiled the person who actually turned off the lights for the last time. Alan Lampel is the head electrician of the show. He's been there since the beginning, which means that he's seen "Phantom" around 13,000 times. One of his biggest jobs is looking after the 1,200-pound chandelier and its dozens of bulbs. If you've never seen the musical, you should know this is a huge deal. The chandelier is such a famous part of the play that after the final show yesterday, the chandelier took its own bow for the standing ovation.
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  Lampel says he's been able to automate parts of the lighting over the years. And sometimes, things run so smoothly that he can sneak a quick look at a Mets game. Now that "Phantom" is over, though, he's retiring. If you're a musical theater nerd, or a science nerd, check out the full article on the Apple News app. You'll learn just how tricky it is to make the fog work in the famous boat scene. As the original phantom, Michael Crawford, says, "it's magical."
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  And if you're already listening in the Apple News app right now, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next about Rupert Murdoch, which is a good listen while we have the real-life "Fox News" legal drama, as well as the current season of "Succession," which is about a very Murdoch-like media family. The "Vanity Fair" story is full of colorful details about his business and personal affairs, and that includes his divorce settlement with Jerry Hall, which has terms barring her from giving story ideas to the writers of "Succession." So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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