KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese police used batons to break up protesters blocking a main road in central Khartoum in the latest demonstrations against tough austerity measures on Thursday. Student groups, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, have led rallies in the Sudanese capital against planned government spending cuts and sought to galvanize anger over price rises into a wider movement to topple military ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been in power since a 1989 bloodless coup. The Arab-African nation has faced soaring food prices and a weakening currency since South Sudanseceded a year ago, taking with it about three-quarters of the country’s economically vital oil output.
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