The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) claimed to have captured the strategic town of Kutum (the second largest in western Sudan's Northern Darfur state) and now controls it. The rebels noted that this was just another step towards the capture of Al-Fashir town, in western Sudan. 

The fighting started at 9AM and ended at 4PM on the 1st, with about 600 rebel troops taking part. The rebels claimed that 510 government soldiers were killed, many more wounded and three government gunships shot down, while only 15 SLM soldiers were killed in the fighting. Flying gunships during the rainy season is nothing new, as the Sudanese government had also put up a trio of Mi-24s during the 2002 rainy season.

Sudan is preparing for the worst floods in a century. Heavy rains that have fallen in the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands since 28 July are saturating Sudans seasonal waterways and rivers, washing away roads and disintegrating buildings. - Adam Geibel